PWC starter question

cwiert

cwiert

Active Member
May 7, 2008
560
Chester, CT
Boat Info
1998 400 Sedan Bridge
Engines
CAT 3116 - 350HP
I posted this in a PWC forum specific to Tigershark PWCs, but turns out there's not a lot of traffic for 21 year old, discontinued PWCs. lol. So, I thought I'd try here. Here's the post:

Last summer, I hit a rock, broke off the guard plate on the bottom, unknowingly. That night while tied to the dock, my Tigershark Daytona 1000 sank in salt water. I fished it out, brought it home and after lots of fresh water and lots of mystery oil, she came back to life and ran again. I fixed the plate, the hole, went for a ride on the lake and all was well again...sort of.

Towards the end of the season last year, the starter would spin when i hit the start button but not turn over the engine. With a few knocks on the starter with a piece of wood, it would engage and I could get it to start. I winterized it and that was that.

Thinking the starter was bad, I replaced it this week. After doing so, it still just spins when I hit start and no amount of hitting the new starter changes anything. What could be causing the starter not to engage?

Any thoughts/suggestions are appreciated.
 
Are you sure it's an identical replacement ? If so, you should bench test it to make sure the pinion gear is extending to full reach. Compare the new and old gear and clutch. Maybe the engine is frozen and the starter clutch is slipping with the 2 gears engaged.
 
Bad starter drive (bendix).

If I remember right the starter drive and starter are 2 separate units on those. You have to take off the front cover and the flywheel to get the starter drive off.
 
dlvwill said:
Bad starter drive (bendix).

If I remember right the starter drive and starter are 2 separate units on those. You have to take off the front cover and the flywheel to get the starter drive off.
Click to expand...

I believe you are correct. I got a response from the PWC forum and that's what they confirmed as well. Unfortunately, they also said that I need to pull the engine in order to get that cover off. Soooo.... that may very well be the end of that jet ski for me. Sad day. :(
 
Why? It is just nuts and bolts.......pick a rainy day, take lots of pix and dive in. Worst thing that happens is you are where you are right now.........a PWC that won't run that you must dispose of.
 
Agree, it's not that big a job to yank the engine on those. Sounds worse than it is.....
 
This might help you decide.
 

Attachments

  • t640770.pdf
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Yeah, I guess I can give it a shot.
That's a neat little PDF about engine removal. Where'd you find that? I don't suppose there's one for the 1000, is there?
 
dlvwill said:
Here you go
Click to expand...
Wow. You da man. Thx.

BTW - I love the warning at the top of this doc. Greeeeeaaaaaat. ;)
Warning: This is a very difficult engine to swap. If you do not have experience with replacing other PWC engines, have a professional do the engine swap.
 
I know nothing specific about your tiger shark. However, I have a Kawasaki stand up of the same era. On the Kawasaki motors there is a plastic plug on the flywheel cover. Similar to a oil drain plug in a car, except it is on the top front. It is an inspection port for the flywheel teeth. It is also a lube hole. If you can get it to start (or even if you can't), a liberal spay of WD40 will do wonders. You probably got water in there when you submerged it. I have done the same thing, and a good 20-30 second spray, followed by 2nd dose a few minutes later will do wonders. It is actually listed as a maintenance after dunking procedure in the manual.

You can run a PWC out of the water at idle for up to a minute without any overheat worries. Good luck
 
Thanks. I know the plug you speak of. Maybe some WD40 and mystery oil would help. Worth a shot, I suppose.
 
randmhall said:
I know nothing specific about your tiger shark. However, I have a Kawasaki stand up of the same era. On the Kawasaki motors there is a plastic plug on the flywheel cover. Similar to a oil drain plug in a car, except it is on the top front. It is an inspection port for the flywheel teeth. It is also a lube hole. If you can get it to start (or even if you can't), a liberal spay of WD40 will do wonders. You probably got water in there when you submerged it. I have done the same thing, and a good 20-30 second spray, followed by 2nd dose a few minutes later will do wonders. It is actually listed as a maintenance after dunking procedure in the manual.

You can run a PWC out of the water at idle for up to a minute without any overheat worries. Good luck
Click to expand...

UPDATE: I did exactly as you outlined above and she started! I think I'm going to regularly spray some WD-40 in that hole to keep it lubed up. Thanks for the suggestion! Saved me a lot of time and aggravation.
 
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