Ski won't charge battery?

[keefer]

The relay does not charge the battery. The other little black box is the rectifier / regulator that is responsible for charging. If you have bad battery cables the thing should not be cranking. Those large cables carry the high current for the starter when you activate the starter relay by pushing the start button. The battery is charged back through the positive cable by the output of the rectifier module after the engine is running. If your elec. box was full of water then most likely one of the connectors is corroded or water has infiltrated one of the other components and ruined it. Clean all connectors to remove any corrosion and use a little dielectric grease when reassembling. If you are lucky this will solve your problems. Several of the previous posts have explained how to tell if the battery is charging.

 

[x-jetter]

yep i've already sanded all the eyelets on both sides of the 3 cables, and there was no melting and no corrosion. i guess i'll go through and clean up all the connections, and if that doesn't work i'll just have to send the whole thing to jss to get reworked. it starts no problem when the engines hot, but when it's a cold start it cranks real slow, and sometimes dies completely.

 

[Mouthfulloflake]

yep i've already sanded all the eyelets on both sides of the 3 cables, and there was no melting and no corrosion. if it isn't the cables i have no idea what it could possibly be. battery cables are the last option. starter, starter relay, cdi, battery, battery cables (probably), are all good. what else could cause a weak start?

you have over looked something.

no offense, but when you get to this point in your trouble shooting, and everything tests good?

well, its time to go back and test more deeply.

you are overlooking something there my freind.

I hope it is something simple and cheap.

lets start with the basics, does it turn over fast with the plugs out?

how much time on the crank?

compression?

hard to start as in takes forever? or turns slow?

have you done the voltage test on teh batter off and then again while running?

have you substituted another battery?


EDIT:

I just see you said it starts easy when hot, but slow when cold.

simlpe test, when its cold turn it by hand ( the coupler)

when its HOT, turn it by hand ( coupler)

is it easier when hot?

if so, Ill guess you have bore clearnance issue maybe?

recent machine work?

 

[keefer]

Also I have only heard him mention the CDI, starter relay, and starter. I mentioned in my previous post about the other little black box, the rectifier. Like I said this is what charges the battery. As to weak cranking, I had a Blaster that fooled me for a while when it had weird starting issues. I physically checked and ohmed out the Ground wire from the battery to the case and it seemed ok. Turns out that it was corroded at the starter end and I made a new one and all problems were solved. Intermittant electrical probs are a bitch. Keep searching it will be something simple that you have probably overlooked.:banghead: :banghead:

 

[x-jetter]

oh i'm sure i've overlooked something, it's just a question of what.

yes it has no problem turning over with the plugs out.

the crank: now there's an idea. it's got a hundred hours on it at least. i changed the seals this winter and inspected the crank and it looked fine. HOWEVER, when all this started, my original OEM starter locked up. when i went to turn the driveline coupler with my hand, it would not turn. after tapping it and turning it the other way, it spun freely in both directions. it is quite possible the crank got bent when the starter locked. are my problems symptoms of a bent crank?

compression is actually a tad higher than when i first built the engine? it was about 185-190, but now it's up to about 190-195 (could just be my cheapo gauge)

hard to start as in it cranks slow. it actually sounds like an old sea doo, where it kind of clunks first, then starts turning slowly

voltage test was good, and i tried another battery as well as a jump box



i'll try spinning the coupler by hand when it's hot next time i ride it. i don't think that's it though, because it still doesn't really crank that fast when i hot start it, but since it's hot it fires right up so i don't have to listen to it cranking forever.

i had the cylinders bored this winter by paul, but it started fine earlier this year after the machine work, so i'm sure that's not it.

 

[x-jetter]

Also I have only heard him mention the CDI, starter relay, and starter. I mentioned in my previous post about the other little black box, the rectifier. Like I said this is what charges the battery. As to weak cranking, I had a Blaster that fooled me for a while when it had weird starting issues. I physically checked and ohmed out the Ground wire from the battery to the case and it seemed ok. Turns out that it was corroded at the starter end and I made a new one and all problems were solved. Intermittant electrical probs are a bitch. Keep searching it will be something simple that you have probably overlooked.:banghead: :banghead:

yea i haven't really looked at the rectifier. it does appear to be charging the battery, i just thought it wasn't because of this slow cranking issue. but it turned out to be not the battery at all..... :frown:

 

[njfl]

How about the connections of the battery cables to the relay/solenoid. If you already removed them, check to see for corrosion on the solenoid terminals.

Since you had water in the box, I would guess that there was some sort of corrosion taking place. Corrosion can occur quickly with water in the vicinity of electricity, espoecially if you had a poor connection of the cable to the solenoid and arcing occurred.

Also, if you have the cables out, test them for resistance. It should be very low, like a couple ohms max (since they are so thick).

 

[Mouthfulloflake]

use a set of jumper cables directly from the battery to the starter and see how fast it turns.

that eliminates the boats battery cables, and switch/relay.

 

[x-jetter]

k i'll try that when i take the pipe back out to mess with it. i don't think the water in the box had anything to do with it because it was doing this a week ago too and just 2 days ago was the first time i got the engine compartment wet.

 

[x-jetter]

OKAY, it is officially NOT any of the following: battery, starter, solenoid, cables, wiring connections, cdi unit, rectifier.

exactly how hard is it supposed to be to turn the coupler by hand with the plugs in? it was extremely hard, i had to use two hands. is this a bad thing?

i guess i'm gonna have to take the f***ing motor apart next week and find out what the hell the problem is.

my hypothesis: magneto plate isn't on right, causing the flywheel to rub on it; bent crank/rods/something; somethings f**ed on the pistons causing them to rub; or none of the above and i have no idea

 

[douglee25]

OKAY, it is officially NOT any of the following: battery, starter, solenoid, cables, wiring connections, cdi unit, rectifier.

exactly how hard is it supposed to be to turn the coupler by hand with the plugs in? it was extremely hard, i had to use two hands. is this a bad thing?

i guess i'm gonna have to take the f***ing motor apart next week and find out what the hell the problem is.

my hypothesis: magneto plate isn't on right, causing the flywheel to rub on it; bent crank/rods/something; somethings f**ed on the pistons causing them to rub; or none of the above and i have no idea

Hold on there buddy. Take the plugs out and turn it by hand. Of course it's going to be hard to turn the motor over by hand with the plugs in. The compression is fighting you.

Doug

 

[JimTMich]

if youve been into your electrical box lately maybe you forgot to plug in your rectifier.....

that happened to me a few months ago...I got in a hurry, and the ski would run great...but I'd kill the batt by the end of the day..

LOL, I did that once.

 

[x-jetter]

Hold on there buddy. Take the plugs out and turn it by hand. Of course it's going to be hard to turn the motor over by hand with the plugs in. The compression is fighting you.

Doug

damn damn damn why do have to make things so difficult for me. it turns better with the plugs out, but still makes a funny noise. i know it's supposed to make like the gulp sound because it's sucking in the air, but it also makes like a high pitched noise like a ring is rubbing or something?

 

[JimTMich]

Hold on there buddy. Take the plugs out and turn it by hand. Of course it's going to be hard to turn the motor over by hand with the plugs in. The compression is fighting you.

Doug

Agreed.

Side note:
You said 195 psi now that your rings are broken in.... are you running pump gas? Careful, seems too high.

You are getting a lot of good help here.

 

[JimTMich]

damn damn damn why do have to make things so difficult for me. it turns better with the plugs out, but still makes a funny noise. i know it's supposed to make like the gulp sound because it's sucking in the air, but it also makes like a high pitched noise like a ring is rubbing or something?

air sucking through the carbs/reeds or something different?

 

[x-jetter]

i'm running 50/50 mix of 93 octane and 110 octane. the ski runs great if i can get it started.

the gulp/air sucking sound comes from the plug holes when they're out.

i am definately getting a lot of help and i appreciate it so much, i want to be able to ride this thing for more than 1 day at a time soooooo bad!

 

[x-jetter]

Okay i have confined the problem to just the starter/engine. i hooked up a 12v jump starter that plugs into the wall, directly to the starter, bypassing all cables, wires, relay, etc. still having the problem. i took off the flywheel to make sure everything was good there, and all seems to be just fine. the motor turns just fine with the plugs out, both by hand and by starter, but with the plugs in, it will barely crank by hand or by starter. the starter is pretty new, i bought it used but it had only been used like 2 times. i also did the wood burning thing with the starter, and i could not even get the starter to bog down, it cut right through the wood, smoking and all. then i took the starter apart, and it looks brand new and everything is in perfect condition.

anyone have any ideas? i have no idea what this could possibly be.

 

[Mouthfulloflake]

I have never heard of this wood burning test for a starter.

it sounds like a pretty good way to burn one up though?

they are designed to be running for only a few seconds..

anyway.

have you tried another KNOWN good starter?

 

[x-jetter]

this is the thread where i heard about the wood test.

http://www.pwctoday.com/showthread.php?t=75801&highlight=starter+wood

but i haven't tried another known good starter, but i would definately like to. i don't really want to go out and buy a new one though if that's not even the problem, and i don't have any laying around. anyone want to send me one to try out and i'll send it right back? :biggrin:

 

[2002zxi]

as mentioned earlier, check the voltage across the terminal both with the ski off and on and compare the two. thatll tell you if its charging. if its charging, your batt is bad. if its not charging, it could be a stator or regulator/rectifier. i had a prob with my SJ similar to yours. when i cranked it, it would sound as if the bendix is intermittantly engaging.... but only when the boots were on the plugs. remove the boots and it cranked solid. once it started, it always ran fine, but never charged itself. turned out, it was the ground wire coming from the stator in the e-box. the conductor opened up inside the insulation and was arcing.

Holy holy ********, that's exactly what's happening to my ski! I keep thinking I'm not pushing the start button hard enough.