jet ski mechanic
 

I am having some problems with my 06 seadoo. It is on a lift at my dock. In the past I would tow it to a boat ramp and then put it on a trailer to bring it to Irwins in Alton. I no longer have my truck with the tow hitch so thats a pain. Does anyone know of a good mechanic who makes house calls and can work on it right on the lift?

I sent you a private message.

I have a similar problem with a seadoo and I'd love to have a seadoo mechanic make a house call. Any ideas? (center harbor/moultonborough area)

Shreddy,

Can you provide me with the info on the Jetski guy.....got some problems with ours....My sister is on vacation now and then I am heading up.....we are looking to try and get this fixed (soon)!

Thanks....
eillac@dow (allie)

Please PM info to me as well.

Thanks!

Hi
My neighbor is having a problem with thier Polaris
Their grandson forgot to put the drain plug back in and it sank halfway, and since then have not been able to turn it over. We need someone in the lakes region to take a look at it, we do have a trailer for it

Did you make sure it's not hydrolocked? Pull the spark plug and see if it turns over.

we did, it will crank and sounds like it wants to turn over but will not fire up, even tried the old starter fluid in the spark plug holes.

I honestly think there is an electrical problem, I do not think he is getting a spark, but did not have time to check the wires, i will troubleshoot more Saturday morning, got any good ideas on how to check for spark on the jetski, a safe back yard mechanic way?

You should be able to just pull the plug and hold the outer part against the engine block and crank the engine to see if you're getting a spark.

In my experience (15 years out of date), the ignition system was pretty finicky on most 'skis. I'd start there also.

Check the four basics (Air, Fuel, Compression, Spark) and you should be able to at least get it to chug a bit. At least if you get it that far when you take it to a mechanic you'll have eliminated 1/2 the diagnosis effort...

oh yeah she will chug, just not turn over
when you say outside part what you do mean of the wire or the plug I am confused on that?

Sorry for the confusion.

Remove the spark plug from the cylinder (probably want to do this for each cylinder).

Reattach the spark plug wire (because you probably had to remove it to get the plug out).

(Make sure the wire is DRY so you don't get a shock (it's not severe, just startling).

Hold the wire, and make sure the outer metal part of the spark plug is touching an unpainted metal part of the engine.

Crank the engine. You should see the spark jump across the electrode of the plug. Usually the spark is pretty visible, but still you probably don't want to do this in bright sunlight.

Also, this is a statement of the obvious, but by doing this test you're igniting a spark in open air. If the bilge of the 'ski smells like gas fumes, it's probably not the best idea to do this test :)

brk is right on when testing for spark. One thing I would NOT advise is using starter fluid/ether in a 2-stroke engine. Although it might give you a temporary start, it's doing more damage than good most of the time. Where are you located? I might be able to take a look at it if I can free up some time.

When it sank, was the engine running, or did whoever was driving it manage to kill the engine before it sucked in water?

thta is what I figured but wanted to make sure, I and a back yard mechanic for cars, but i have left the watercraft alone for the most part

I will have to double check, I believe it was sitting at rest without the engine running

do you advise using any type of fluid that is like a starter fluid to see if it can turn over?

Although they are not PWC experts they have a great deal of knowledge and have resource they can tap that are.... Goodhue Marine will make house calls... give Brett a call, he will send the boys over....

I would suggest completely pulling apart the carbs and cleaning them. If you can prime the carbs, that should help you to make sure you're getting fuel. Often times I'll remove fuel lines and hookup and air compressor and shoot some air through the lines. If you have compression, more often than not, it's a fuel related issue. Again, double check if you have spark to to eliminate that problem. If the engine was not running, you should be in pretty good shape depending on how long it was submerged. Keep us updated!

Thanks Shreddy
I will let you know after this weekend
I think it will be a fun project to be honest
compression is definatley there, so just fuel and elecrtrical to check

When I did the same thing to mine,it turned out it was the starter solenoid.It got fried when I tried to start it while it had a lot of water in the engine compartment.I think it cost me about $100 to have it repaired at a dealer.

I just confirmed that it was at rest without the motor running when it went down and it only sank about halfway before it was rescued

On the starter solinoid did yours just click without cranking the engine? Or did it still try to turn it over

also Can I bypass the solinoid like a car one?

If I remember it did click but that have been a relay I was hearing before the solenoid.I did not get involved in the repair so I don't even know the location and if you could bypass it.I don't see any reason it couldn't be bypassed because a solenoid is really just a powered switch.

Why me???
 

So...got jet ski problems.....dropped it off.....and it took quite a while for a diagnosis. Then the diagnosis proved to be wrong. Latest diagnosis is engine is gone. So I am thinking about bringing it somewhere else for service.

So my question is.....what are your thoughts on DaSilva or HK in Laconia? I have heard DaSilva is "pricey" and honestly, don't have a whole lot of cash to spend. Anyone got opinions on these two places or any other recommendations of where I should try? I am in the Moultonboro area.

Thank you everyone. :)

daSilva knows their stuff. Only have a couple of very experienced tech's, and located in M'boro. Factory trained service does cost a bit more, but in the long run worth it vs. guessing or replacing parts and hoping.

I've heard mixed reviews on HK and everytime I've gone there they are way too busy to offer good customer service.

One friends machine blew up after having it serviced there, they did eventually fix it but it was a big fight the whole way.

Got it running thanks folks!!!
Did the spark plug test, all three wires sparked
cleaned the electrical connections
in the wires and cleaned the plugs

cranked her dry a couple of times and have water spray out of the plug holes,
let it sit for a couple minutes

used just a little starter fluid in the sparkplug holes
adjusted the choke a little bit back and forth

And she turned over, let it warm up and took it around the Bay, she ran like a top!!

Again thank you for all your help

Way to go!