Trade Great Story for 550 Help

[Pro-pulsion]

It's a little bit difficult to see what wires go to it, but if you remove the coil look for the smaller wires going into it. That one black wire going to the ground at the back of it might be one of them, but there should be another if not two. You just put your test probes on the other two to check for continuity and resistance, if you only find one other wire, then you test between that wire and one of the spots where the screws bolt the coil down. It might be internally grounded having only one wire going into it but it should have at least one entering it with a bullet connector unless Kawi built the CDI into the coil. If that's the case then I would be hopeful the coil is good. Kawi refers to those CDI/coil combos as the igniter if I remember correctly.

 

[Pro-pulsion]

I am off for the night good sir, but I will check back in tomorrow to see how your progressing

 

[Scribbleheli]

I have a ski very similar to yours. Really nothing untouched on it. I also Struggled like you.

The issues I have run into are sheared flywheel key. My ski eats them up. Which caused a tremendous backfire like yours.so make sure your key and keyway are in good shape.
Also for timing.
There is a little index mark on the stator. Line that up with the crank case bond line.

Second issue was a improperly rebuilt carb. The return wasn't working right. So the engine would flood immediately.
If your 100% sure your getting spark. Try drying out the engine completely. Remove all fuel lines to carb, take spark plugs out and cranking out over till there is no fuel in the cylinders. Mine would gyser fuel out. Then crank and manually pour in tiny amount of fuel.see if you get any life.


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[Mangles]

Just looked at some things this morning before work. The manual says the coil is built in to the cdi and it is called the igniter. The only way it says to test it is via the secondary coil by testing the ohms between the spark plug wires but that is in spec. The cdi has grey, black, red, and black with white stripe wires going to it. The black is the ground and black with white stripe goes to the stop switch relay. The resistances between the black/grey, black/red, and red/grey all read either open circuit or in the mega ohms on both cdi's I have. It's possible both are bad but the manual doesn't mention anything about it. It's possible the stop relay is bad so I'll test that later. I'll have to get a spark tester to see how good the spark is, that'll give me a good indication if the coils bad. It's also possible it's flooding and I'll try disconnecting the fuel lines and using less fuel than before. I believe the flywheel key and keyway are good but I'll check them out too


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[Mangles]

Here's some pics of the wires going to the cdi

 

[Pro-pulsion]

I learned not to trust Kawi on their electronics specs by the manual a few years back...well...10 years back lol. I worked for a Kawi dealer and thought the same, the igniter on the customer's ski was dead. I ordered in a new one, it tested exactly the same right out of the box. Kawi agreed to return the igniter without question. This lead me to believe they too can't seem to figure out their own electronics. But maybe try a swap anyway, the coil might be breaking down under load giving it a false positive test reading result.

 

[Pro-pulsion]

Also check for any fuses, I have seen the holders and fuse blocks go wonky and still give proper readings.

 

[surfjunkie]

Curious to see how this turns out. U would think with compression and spark u should be able to at least get a cough by adding fuel manually. I have a vague memory of one I wrangled with that had spark and compression but wouldn't fire and if I remember correctly it ended up being a sheared key that had my timing all messed up. Think I didn't tighten to specs and it sheared or something like that .... hope u get it figured out

 

[fastgtfairlane]

piston port engines in general are harder to start. especially with the bn carbs. its got to be something simple thats getting overlooked. how old is the fuel your using? what fuel mixture are you using? the pump gas today absolutely sucks! if its more than 30-45 days old then get new. and run 45to1 oil mix. also, what are the screws set to? hard to tell by looking at your pictures but it looks like there may be a small nick in your pulser coil insulation. its the top front coil. possilby couldve turned one of the flywheel puller bolts in too much and made contact with the coil, ive done this and mine wouldnt start either and it is a reed engne. while you have the flywheel off, take a look at the magnets and also the inside where it is against the crank snout. take the return line off at the tank and see if fuel pumps back in when you turn the engine over. when you poured gas down the cylinder its possible you have flooded it out. the piston port engines dont have reed valves to help control and help the air and fuel mix. also check the exhaust hose on the other side of the waterbox where it exits the hull. that hose has an almost 180 degree bend in it and ive seen them become kinked shut which wont allow the exhaust to breathe and it wont start.

if you have compression, and you have spark which according to your posts, you have both. it has to be a fuel delivery issue or a sheared flywheel key, which you wouldve seen when you removed the flywheel. you can figure this out without sending your ski to someone else to get running for you. besides, when you do figure it out and get it started again on your own, you'll feel that much better. There is also a much better 550 following on pwctoday.com than here. if i was closer id say bring it over and i would help you get it going again.

 

[Mangles]

She fires!

Back when it was running, one of the stater screws rattled out and got all jammed up in the coils and flywheel. It destroyed the coils and pushed one of the flywheel magnets over slightly. I replaced the coils and put the flywheel back on as is and it still ran so I left it. Since I'm reaching for a solution here I used a dial caliper and a crowbar to push all the magnets equal distance apart. This didnt solve the problem but it might've helped. I also adjusted the timing all the way advanced where it was originally since I knew it did run that way. Still couldn't even get it to fire off of ether

So I bought new spark plugs and a couple of spark testers to see how strong the spark was. One was the style where you put it in place of the spark plug and adjust the gap, I adjusted the gap way open and it still sparked so I know its got strong spark. The other is the type where you press it against the spark plug wire and it lights up if you have spark, everything looks all good there.
Last hope, I pull the ebox apart to inspect everything. The ground for the cdi looked a little corroded so I sanded everything and put it back together. Sure enough I finally got it to pop off of ether. Switched to spraying gas in the carb and I got it to fire a few more times. I don't understand how that ground could've made the difference since it had good spark, maybe it was messing up the timing somehow.

Now the problem is I fiddled with the carb so much that it's way out of wack. Most of the time it just pops and stops but sometimes it will start and rev crazy high then I normally shut it off so it doesn't damage anything. I'm getting fuel into the carb and coming out the return so I'm pretty sure the pumps good. It's a really fine line between not enough fuel to start and flooding it. I must've taken the plugs in and out 100 times. I tried plugging the fuel line and running it off the primer to see if I could run it long enough to set the throttle stop/idle screw but no luck. It either floods or revs crazy high. I don't even know where to begin with the mixture screws. I set them to what the manual says for now just to try to get it to run. I can see fuel dripping into the carb when it starts up but I don't know if it's too much. Does anybody have some base needle settings for a similar ski? Thanks

 

[fastgtfairlane]

the old bn carbs are pretty junky, if you plan to ride the ski a lot and keep it, spend a little money and get a sbn 44 which has removable jets and is much easier to tune. those bn carbs need a restrictor in the return line while the sbn does not and the ski will start much easier too. to tune the bn carb, you have to drill out the jet circuits and once you drill you cant go back. to tune the carb youll have to start with the idle or low speed screw, its gonna be on the bottom. hook up a water hose or you could do it on the trailer in the water. set your idle speed then adjust your low speed screw. shouldnt be any more than 1 to 1 1/2 turns from closed. start at 1 turn out which should start it and allow it to idle. then rev it up and see how the response is, if it chokes out, then open the screw, if it hesitates then its probably too rich, then close the screw 1/4 turn and repeat

 

[Mangles]

Is there a part number on that or can I use any square pump sbn 44? And where could I get a good one?

 

[fastgtfairlane]

just look up mikuni sbn44 they are all pretty much the same. i would get one without a choke that already has primer fittings. if you have the stock intake manifold, youll also need an intake spacer or an aftermarket thicker intake manifold. should be able to find the spacer on ebay.

 

[Mangles]

It already has a spacer on it. it might've had an sbn at one time. It has some kind of extension welded into the flywheel cover with a bearing in it which I believe was for an old style total loss system or something like that.

 

[fastgtfairlane]

even better, then definitely find a sbn 44, get the right jets and n/s and spring for the popoff pressure. i noticed you have the westcoast gas tank. you could also try to add a small filter to the end of your supply fuel line inside the tank. they will help with starting because it keeps the supply line primed with fuel so the weak bn fuel pump doesn't struggle to reprime the engine during cold starts or after sitting for a while.

 

[Mangles]

I got back at it today and I got it to run off the primer. I plugged off the feed line and just ran with the primer to prove that it would run. I adjusted the throttle stop/idle screw to solve the high revving problem. Then I hooked up the fuel lines and got it to run for 20-30 seconds. After that I got it to pop a few times but not run. Now I have little to no spark. Time to just start replacing parts and hope for the best. It definitely needs a flywheel and I'll probly get a coil too. Is it possible to buy a new or new old stock coil? Or should I buy a running ski and take the parts off it?


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[Scribbleheli]

I have all the parts off of 550. let me take pics this weekend. If you want them, they are yours for the cost of shipping. Whole ebox and stator, flywheel ect ect. was a complete engine that i scrapped for a 550/650 conversion.

 

[Mangles]

That'd be great, I'll definitely take whatever I can get but I don't want to steal them off you. I'll give ya something for them. Was it Running when you took it apart?

 

[Scribbleheli]

Mostly.
A piece of the cylinders broke so that there would be water ingress from the cooling jacket. I tore it down just cuz. Then just left it and the sun/weather destroyed the plastic bin it was in. So some of its not in the greatest shape. but i think the ebox parts are still good. Like I said, Ill send pics and you can let me know if its worth your time.,

 

[Scribbleheli]

So I took a look at my parts. And they aren't as clean as I last remember.
Again, they are yours for the cost of shipping. But it would be a gamble I think.

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