[CaptnTony]

First, we recently purchased two 1988/89 Waverunners. One works, but the other, we were told, only needed to have a new CDI installed. We found a CDI (the one replaced ended in -10 and we found a -11 to replace it...the tech we got it from said they should work in all the 'old' Waverunners).

We installed it and a new charged battery yesterday. It didn't even click. We have purchased a repair manual off eBay, but we are anxious to get to 'something'.

Issues run into:
1. Does anyone have an idea of what the YELLOW wire is for? It seems to be the only one that isn't hooking up to one of a similiar color. Is it not suppose to be hooked up to anything? We asked the tech we purchased the -11 CDI box from and he didn't see yellow wire that it would connect to either.

2. The start button has power, but the kill switch doesn't have any (either in the 'on' or 'kill' positions) - how does the system know the key is in place?

3. Is there a better manual for this sort of thing? There seems to be at least 3 different options.

Thanks in advance.



------------------------ update ------------------------------

We got brave and put the 'broken' CDI unit into the working WR500 and turned it over. It did turn over on first try. It was a -10 like the working model's CDI unit. So we're thinking it must be something else. Any ideas what we might look at next? We're guessing maybe the ignition coil assy or the starter relay. Should we try something else first?

We appreciate your help, thanks.

Todd.

 

[tnramses]

Hate to say it man but after buying my wr500 last year we had the same problem. Guy told us it needed a new battery. Well after new battery, Ignition Coil and CDI it now runs beautifully. After changing the ignition coil it would crank but no spark so we replaced the CDI in it. I wanna say parts are compatible from 89-92.

 

[CaptnTony]

Ok, an update and another question or two. I'm learning a lot by trying to fix this thing.

We got a new 'electical box' and everything inside it from a wavejammer. We hooked up our new battery and we got a clicking noise. Success! Wrong. We put the plug wires on, put it in the water and tried to turn it over. Nothing but the clikcing. Just a very short click. Nothing turns, no other noises.

The guy we bought the electrical box from joked, on our way out, that he'd see us again when we needed the stator motor. First, what is the stator motor (what purpose does it serve)? Does what we hear happening relate to the stator? I do not know the guy that sold us the skis so I'm starting to worry that the engine may be seized up. Is there a way to manually try to turn the motor to make sure it's in 'basic working order'? (I've read about people saying the removed the spark plugs and 'turned the motor' (especially when looking for water in the motor). How might I go about 'turning the motor'?

From your experience, might it be anything else?

Thanks in advance, I appreciate your help.

 

[CaptnTony]

Ok, we just got lucky enough to purchase another 1989 WR500 with trailer ($150) :>. That one had a bad neg connection to the battey so it wouldn't start. Cleaned that up, click click boom. We took it out to really try to start it, worked fine but won't get to any sort of speed. Runs in 'almost idle' the whole time. Brand new battery and plugs. We replaced the fuel filter near the gas tank. Next we're going to clean the carb out and see what happens. Any suggestions of other things to look at. This machine ran 'fine' 2 years ago. Since then, the previous owner told us it was sitting in his back yard (uncovered). There is a lot of sap on the seat so it was under a big tree most of the time. He did have it on trailer and the trailer proppep up so the machine was tilted at all times.

Back to machine #2 not starting. My brother-in-law (in-family garage mechanic) came over and tried to turn over the motor w/o the plugs in it. We had the hood up and the beast makes a loud click noise. Once per press of the start button. He told me that it probably means that the motor is ceased up since it was a 'mechanical click' not an 'electrical click'. Could it possibly be anything else? Is there a method of trying to turn the motor manually to see if it's one specific part or another?

Thanks for any ideas / help. We appreciate it.

 

[JUST-IN-TIME]

#1 rebuild the carbs

#2 sounds like starter relay, try giving the starter 12v from battery

 

[CaptnTony]

Will do, thanks for the advice.

 

[poncho2258]

If it's not the starter relay, than it is the starter I had the same problem.... Put the voltage checks on it and make sure that your getting volts from the battery to the cdi box then out of the cdi box into the starter. If the volts/amps are only like 6.5 from the cdi to the starter than the starter is bad. Change it and then the engine should crank