Super Jet Wont start in water - Gone through everything

[Beall425]

I got a superjet back in May 2013 and to cut a long story short I still cannot get it to work. Its a "2001" 61T mainly stock with the exception of a B-Pipe, TDR Waterbox, Lightenened flywheel, and flame arrestors.

It has started up perfectly out of water since day 1, but once I put it in water it is very hard to start if I can get it to start at all. When I first got the ski it could barely even start in the water whether it was cold or warm. So I ended up a ton of parts and going through the whole ski more than once. Things I've done to it and parts ive put on:

- New Coil
- New CDI
- New Starter
- New Head
- New Battery
- New Dual Cooling Setup
- New Adjustment screws in B-Pipe so water is coming through
- All new fuel line and cooling line
- Stator just was gone through by JSS as they said it had a bad exciter coil
- Brand new Mikuni 38mm Carbs
- New Spark Plugs
- New Head Gasket
- Leak down test which held 8psi for 10 minutes.
- Compression test with about 140psi for both pistons

After I put all those parts on, it definately started better but still pretty damn bad. When the engine is cold and I put it in the water it starts okay the first time but after its warmed up I'll sit there just cranking the thing over and nothing happens. I usually have to swim it to shore and lean it completely on its side so the pump is out of the water and it will eventually start.

I really don't know where to go next and yes I have researched this to death for the last couple months and thought I have tried everything.

Please help




Also, I am ready to push this thing off my trailer going down the freeway.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Well you have certainly covered a lot of ground already. What does that waterbox look like inside? Any chance it lost a baffle and is not flowing enough exhaust?

 

[Beall425]

It looked normal, I'm not too sure exactly what its supposed to look like but i just had it off two days ago and emptied all the water out of it and cleaned it. There's a bit of a bend in my exhaust tube that makes the tube crush a little bit but it should still be flowing plenty of exhaust?

Another thing to note is that yesterday when I went out, if I did a 180 turn and gave it full throttle to pull out, it acted like the clutch was completely shot (even though they don't have clutches) and it just seemed to rev up and not go anywhere. Not sure if this problem is related to it not starting or another problem that I encountered in the many short trips I've made to test the ski on water.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Have you tried an exorcism?

 

[Beall425]

Have you tried an exorcism?

I think the Jet ski has tried an exorcism on me

 

[MarkWalker]

Years ago a friend of mine had the same problem's your having. It would start in the shop, once it was in the water, it would crank and not start. After three months of replacing parts, It turned out to be a bad crank bearing, It was tight and when the ski was in the water, the extra load of the water in the pump and the bad crank bearing created the problem. Hope this helps.

 

[Freakie]

When its in the water....pour a dribble of fuel in each carb...and see it she fires up and runs, or starts and dies....if she starts and runs....get a primer kit ...will fix the hard starting. (this is a workaround though, not a fix)....if she runs briefly and dies to the point where you have to keep cranking to try to start.....you have a fuel starving issue....could be leaking pump diaphrams, air getting into in fuel lines,...the crank case pipe to fuel pump leaking, etc

 

[OCD Solutions]

Water adds load to the scenario so that's a pretty big clue. The engine is simply not making enough power to overcome the load. Could be jetting, fuel starvation, bad crank bearing as mentioned above, could be a bad baffle in the exhaust, (we had this on a buddy's ski recently, he replaced everything as well).

You said you pressure tested it, did you happen to check the reeds?

Have you run it in the water with the hood off? (I have had exhaust and fuel leaks do similar things)

 

[westjon86]

Had the same issue. Bad/spun bearing, it was on a stock unwelded crank.

 

[tipafew]

Last time I had a similar situation it was the coil. Sounded good on the trailer but in the water it wouldn't start. If I was lucky enough to get it started it ran like crap obviously.

 

[ADDict]

I've seen broken reeds cause very hard starting situations. Good luck, keep us posted.

Edit:OCD beat me to that. Long shot but worth a try.

 

[OCD Solutions]

Problems caused by weak or bad coils or low compression will sometimes improve if you gap the plugs a little tighter. What are they currently set at?

Also, have you checked your tank for water intrusion? Pickup tubes intact and all the way to the bottom? No splits in the hoses, plugged or cracked fuel filters letting in air? You say you tried new carbs, what are your jetting specs and setup?

Never rule out multiple things or things you already did, such as coil. You said you changed it but you go new or used?

Another really important question, has this ski ever run since you bought it? Did you buy someone else's mistakes?

 

[Quinc]

Disconnect your stop wire (black and white) and see if she starts. I had an issue with my blaster where it would start fine but as soon as you got on it, it would die. Ended up being the reeds where full of holes.

Edit: I also had an issue where both my start/stop switch was having issues and my msd enhancer was intermittent. So it could be more then one problem causing you issues...

 

[tor*p*do]

What kind of "New Head" did you put on? If it is a high compression head and all you are getting is 140 psi,
the op end is worn out and you have low compression.
this would cause the symptoms you have

 

[Scraggly]

I've seen broken reeds cause very hard starting situations. Good luck, keep us posted.

Edit:OCD beat me to that. Long shot but worth a try.

lol yeah i remember when that happened. mine ate a reed. i could put it on the trailer facing out start it with throttle wide open and ride. if i ever let off i was swimming. of course that was the last thing i checked to. good luck, deff check those reeds. might just not be sealing well enough.

 

[Beall425]

Thanks for all the replies.

The coil is definately brand new OEM as well as the head. So I don't think its that I may try to killswitch thing mentioned above but I have kind of already messed with it I dont think that's it. And my fuel/fuel lines are good I already have a primer kit and drained the gas and made sure theres no water in any of the lines.

I think a bad crank bearing could possibly be the problem. For some reason I thought if I passed the leak down test everything in the lower end was okay, but maybe not. I also have not checked the reeds as they looked okay but maybe thats something I should take a look into.

It might be time to just rebuild the whole motor.

 

[Beall425]

lol yeah i remember when that happened. mine ate a reed. i could put it on the trailer facing out start it with throttle wide open and ride. if i ever let off i was swimming. of course that was the last thing i checked to. good luck, deff check those reeds. might just not be sealing well enough.

How do you check them? Dont know exactly what I would be looking for.

 

[Scraggly]

How do you check them? Dont know exactly what I would be looking for.

take the intake and off and remove the reeds. mine was very obvious since there was a missing pedal. but look at the narrow end with opening facing some light. if you see light between where it seats at the end then they should be replaced.

 

[OkaucheeMustard]

I had this happen to me once. Mine was a water leak into the motor. Check the plugs for residual water.

 

[LegDragger64]

Fresh set of battery / ground cables may be what it needs.