SXR SXR not firing up...WTF?

[Jetaddict]

So the ski was running awesome the other day, flushed it out and put it in the garage.
Tried starting it today, and all I heard was a whirring which I assumed was the starter. Briefly the motor turned over, but wouldn't start, and as soon as I tried again, dead switch. Checked the battery, and it was charged. Just to be safe, I stuck it on the charger for a while.
Went back an hour later, same thing. After pushing the start button several times, even the whirring noise went away- like it's a dead switch now. Didn't even hear the solenoid clicking. Tried spinning the impeller shaft- seems like its pretty tight- but it's been like this with this ski since as long as I remember.
I'm going to try to clean off the battery terminals tomorrow and see if that helps. Any ideas?
Tom21, I may have to bring this into you this time- I am at a loss, and hope that something more serious is not afoot in the motor itself. :aargh4:

 

[CARBONX2]

Cables gone bad?
Water in electrical box?

 

[AZRIDER]

check the seals where the wires goin to electrical box My SXR broke one of those the 2nd month I had it,

 

[djkorn1]

Wiggle cables around...clean all terminals and re-tighten down.

 

[Jetaddict]

Cables all look fine, and everything appears to be as it should. I'll be cleaning off the battery terminals and tighten everything down tonight. We shall see...

 

[Shonuff]

Wiggle cables around...clean all terminals and re-tighten down.

Yep and try a fresh battery.

 

[Jetaddict]

I think I will have to spring for one. This one has given me a lot of good years, but I think it's pretty tapped out.

 

[Jetaddict]

UPDATE: cleaned off the terminals, put some grease on the things. Charged the battery up- it reads 100% on the meter, and was not discharged at all according to the meter since I last juiced it up. Re-connected the cables and went to fire it up. Small sparks from the negative terminal, a brief whirring noise, then nothing. I am venturing to guess I either have a short somewhere, or the battery is just toasted. I'm taking the battery over to the local Batteries Plus and going to have them check it for me.

 

[djkorn1]

loose wire on the starter?

 

[CARBONX2]

Try new battery cables

 

[Hirschfelt]

yeah sounds like a loose wire. No sparks will happen off a ground wire unless there is insufficient ground or a loose connection. I have never taken a starter apart. Is it possible that the starter is going bad causing an arc? Is this even a symptom of a starter on its way out. Normally mine usually just stop working. Good luck

 

[djkorn1]

Could be the starter is full of water shorting it out.

 

[Jetaddict]

starter and cables are looking good. Gonna let the Dremel loose on the battery cable connections and make sure they are clean. Battery tested out fine. GOing to do the same on the battery terminals and try it again. Lots of corrosion on them.

 

[Jetaddict]

RESOLVED. Simple solution, fortunately. I Dremeled the contacts and the battery terminals. Although the terminals looked good, there was discoloration on them that I guess was corrosion and didn't allow a good contact. Once I got it down to bare metal, I put everything back together and it was good to go...fired right up. Thanks for the input. I was all ready to order a new battery and have someone look at it because I didn't have the time to mess with it.