generatorlabs

I do not know if anyone has posted anything like this. If so then I apologize up front. If you are inclined to attempt a simple repair on an EMM here are some photos of the internals and major components.

DISCLAIMER: I am not an engineer. If you know about other areas of these electronics then please post your knowledge so we can all benefit. I will continue to post as I learn new pieces of this puzzle. I do not recommend anyone attempting repairs without basic electrical and soldering skills. 90% of the components on these boards are surface mounted and require special soldering equipment to remove and replace components. Proceed at your own risk.

These boards are totally encapsulated in potting material similar to ballistics gel. It is a nightmare to get the boards free without damaging anything. The boards are sandwiched in the EMM housing. You have to be patient removing the boards. It took hours to get to the point where I could take these photos. As you can see from my photos there is still a great deal of material still stuck on the boards. Be patient and go SLOW!

If someone wishes to add comments or technical advice to this thread then by all means jump in. I am still tracing out the rest of the circuits to further understand what each component is for.

I just came to understand that the two boards are autonomous. They rely on each other but are not aware of each other. I don't know why I did not realize that sooner.

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Adventure

Is there something specific your trying to repair or just educating yourself? I understand these are very expensive to replace with new and was told there is only one place in CA that will attempt to repair them.

A friend has the 2002 stx 1100 and his ski has been in the shop since the end of last summer. They keep relacing it only for it to malfunction after 1 hour of test riding. The season is ending and they still can't figure it out (lucky he has a second ski). Any one else try and repair these?

generatorlabs

I am doing this mostly for education. I want to fully understand how the ski works, however I wouldn't mind making a few bucks helping other people out. I don't want this to sound like a commercial venture though. If I wanted to make money doing this I wouldn't expose what I know so far.

All in all I want to give folks options when their EMM decides it wants to take a dirt nap. I love the whole Home Depot Do-It-Yourself mindset.

Lakeerie

Well I seem to be in the EMM boat. My 2001 1100stx has always started & run perfectly then it just stopped when we were on it. I tried all the usual suspects. Drained fuel and put new it. New battery and solenoid because they were taking a beating as I tried & tried to start. Fuel pump worked fine but the spark not so much. One was firing 2 were not. Pulled the coils, cleaned all contacts measured values (all ck out ok) gave up and took it to the dealer. Dealer could not figure it out, called Kawasaki, same answer, conclude it must be the $1300 EMM. WOWWW I can buy two VERY nice laptops for that much money. . . . . I said well OK but if you put the new one in and it doesn't work will you put the old one back while you look for the REAL problem? OH NO, Kawasaki is sure that is the problem, but if not they will still keep the $1300, so here I am looking for options????

Does anyone know someone who will test and repair these jewels or should I jump into the pool. One major concern is all of the talk about programming the EMM after it is repaired. Is that a serious constraint?

generatorlabs

I'm sorry to hear your EMM decided to take an extended vacation. The focus of this thread is to understand how the EMM functions and what internal parts make it tick. Forgive me if I am wrong but from the tone of your post it sounds like you are not interested in trying to fix it yourself. If that is the case then you may want to seek out a EMM service company like DFI. That is all they do. And they will test your EMM for free.

If you have some electronics experience then by all means jump in. If you have a hard failure like one coil not firing then it could be as simple as a transistor being fried. The only way to find that out thought is to tear it apart and it is ugly work. I would rule out any external causes before jumping into the EMM.

If I could offer any help just ask.

Lakeerie

I'm a retired engineer so I am happy to give it a go but from your comments it sounds a little intimidating. I do agree that I want to check out everything else first and that is what I tried to do before taking it to the dealer. Not sure what else I should try, ope to suggestions.
I printed off the intriguing pictures you generously posted and you highlighted the potential coil components so I guess I could start there. However you mentioned that somebody called DFI would test my unit for free. I looked on line and am not sure who they are. Would you recommend that I send it off to them first? Do you know their web site or address?

generatorlabs

The website is DI fuel injection repair - DFI Technologies, Inc.

Since you are electrically inclined I would also build the diagnostic cable and get the KADIAG software that is floating around in the forum. It will let you peer into the EMM with a laptop and see the error codes. It also will let you run some diagnostics. The cable is really easy to build with a DB9 connector on one end and some flattened ferules on the other end. There are also diagrams for the cable floating around in the forum. Just do a search for them. There is a copy of the KADIAG floating around that is questionable, as I think it is corrupt or modified.

haikhanhjr

HI GenaralLabs,
do you know where the igniter is? I have 2000 STX DI and has no spark
Many thanks,

generatorlabs

The igniters are the 3 ignition coils mounted directly beneath the seat. The EMM fires these coils via some SCR's located in the EMM. (Kawasaki may refer to the SCR section of the EMM as the igniters, I am not sure)

I don't believe all 3 of the SCR's in your unit went bad at the same time. I could believe one or maybe two. I think your problem lies in the circuit that fires the SCR's. That is beyond the scope of what I can help you with on this forum.

I am not sure I understand what happens when you "jump" your ski. Do you mean it will run when it is jumped? And do you mean when you remove the jumper cables it dies? If so them why not try the obvious first. These batteries do not last long especially if you don't run conditioning equipment on them (trickle chargers). I will tell you this; This ski will not run correctly with a suspect battery.

You have to measure the output of the alternator to make sure it is supplying the higher voltages needed for the system.

You must check the flywheel sensor to see if the EMM is seeing the cranking action.

A common failure is the regulator circuit. If you have intermittent spark then that may be your issue.

Don't open the EMM unless you are fully capable of doing circuit analysis and repair at the component level. 95% of all the components are surface mounted.

If you are sure it is the EMM then I would send the EMM to DFI for a free bench test. They can turn it around quickly if you need them to rebuild it. DFI wont repair a unit that has been tampered with so operate at your own peril.

Thanks

haikhanhjr

Many thanks for your info. I'll keep that in mind.
One more question. I saw a "KILL" circuit in the schematic in the manual, and one of the wire connected to the stop button circuit. Do you know where is the KILL circuit is? if the KILL circuit bad, does it just kill the ignition system (i.e. the engine will crank but won't start) or the whole thing?
Thanks,