Finally got my ski all together today ran fine in the truck but sure enough once it hit the water it sputtered around for a bit then just quit altogether. Messed around with it a bit and found a no spark issue. Tried a different SS switch, still nothing. Not sure what to check next, all electrical is stock, OEM and ebox has not been opened.
Ski won't run in saltwater
- Thread starter yamanube
- Start date
- Location
- Melbourne, FL
get any salt water near the sparkplug boots? That'll cause problems. Dry them out and maybe spray some WD-40 to displace any water in there and use some dielectric grease if you can find any to keep them dry.
Midlake Crisis
Site Supporter
- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
Good luck
I feel your pain - the one time I tried to ride in salt (Pismo) the same thing happened to me. Even with expert assistance, new NGK boots, dielectric grease, etc. etc. I was unable to get it running. Took it home and it ran great at the lake, never did really isolate the problem.
I really hope you get yours running in time for the ride, good thing you are working on it now and not the day of.
I feel your pain - the one time I tried to ride in salt (Pismo) the same thing happened to me. Even with expert assistance, new NGK boots, dielectric grease, etc. etc. I was unable to get it running. Took it home and it ran great at the lake, never did really isolate the problem.
I really hope you get yours running in time for the ride, good thing you are working on it now and not the day of.
- Location
- King of Prussia, PA
I had that problem last season. I cut the plug wires back and put some di-electric grease in the boot caps. Problem solved. Good luck
man,im really sorry to read this. cut back the plug wires for sure and soak down everything with silicone spray.
good luck!
Idok
F1pro
- Location
- Nations oldest muthaF+++kin city
x10!
freaking SATURATE the electrics with silicone spray...then let it air out a minute as that stuff is corrosive
in the meantime, pull the intake grate and check the seal around the seal/shoe..
you guys were really muscling that thing last night...the last time I put a pump in it there was a small gap on the right hand side of the pump seal..
a s/s switch can also do funny things in the salt....you can try unplugging the stop connectors and see if that helps, but it wont tell you much just running on the trailer..
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I feel your pain. I spent most of my trip at Daytona last year troubleshooting and wheeling the ski up and down the beach. Mine was a combination of things that were basically half @ssed but worked perfectly on the lake. I had total loss though so my issues are probably quite different. I'm crossing my fingers for better luck this year.
I'd pull your flywheel cover though. It's a quick thing to check and it could be full of salt water.
I'd pull your flywheel cover though. It's a quick thing to check and it could be full of salt water.
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OCD Solutions
Original, Clean and Dependable Solutions
- Location
- Rentz, GA
We heard it from the room, I have a tube of dielectric grease in the door panel of my truck and a couple cans of WD-40. I suggest we do some waterproofing tomorrow morning.
Haha I bet, it was pretty loud bouncing off the side of the hotel. I also picked up some silicone spray, hopefully we can at least bandage it enough to get on the water tomorrow.
I don't want to be pessimistic but experience tells me that within 2 minutes of hitting salt, you'll be back to square one again. When my switch was acting up, I would tinker with everything for 10-15 minutes with no luck and then she cranked right up. Wheeled it down to the surf, put the beach cart up, and no spark again.
Might try putting some salt water in a bucket and submerge the switch in that for a minute or two. Then push all the buttons a couple times and try to crank it...if you still have spark, then that's one point of failure that has been eliminated. I know my waterbox melted the ss switch wires on the lake. It would certainly cause problems in the surf.
edit: One thing I just picked up on was "plugged in my switch". If you're using plugs, better smear that crap with dielectric grease real good!
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OCD Solutions
Original, Clean and Dependable Solutions
- Location
- Rentz, GA
I had a spare start/stop we had plugged in and it was doing the same thing so I'm guessing the problem lies in the harness.
suva
57
- Location
- Just south of the Citadel, Idaho
I had a similar experience on my dad's ski. After the first winter he owned it we went to start it and it had no spark, I disconnected the S/S and plugged it back in and it has run perfectly (salt included) ever since.