Help! Starboard engine won't start after plug blowout.

[Kooblay]

2004 ar230

So as indicated by the title, I had a clean out plug blowout. On the water I was unable to seat the plug back into place (no extra water noticed in the engine bay), and I limped the boat back to our slip.
I ended up doing the plug rebuild kit to both plugs and installed ez locks. Come time to start the boat the starboard side won't start. It cranks and sounds fine. I ended up pulling the spark plugs, they looked fine. No water in the cylinders, and replaced with new spark plugs.
I'm by no means a jet boat expert, but any tips or advice is certainly appreciated! Before this the boat ran perfectly fine

Thank you!!

 

[Rodder77]

Broken/damaged/out of adjustment saftey switch on the clean out tray lid?

 

[Kooblay]

I don't think so, it still cranks. When I open the lid it won't turnover at all.

 

[CaptRedbeard]

Double check the kill switch lanyard by the throttles. I had that happen to me where I didn't have the lanyard inserted all the way and only one motor would start, the other would only crank.

 

[Kooblay]

Double check the kill switch lanyard by the throttles. I had that happen to me where I didn't have the lanyard inserted all the way and only one motor would start, the other would only crank.

I'll double check that tomorrow! I assumed it wouldn't crank as well. I did a quick look over on it, but didn't make sure it was fully seated.

 

[jetboater4life]

I don't think so, it still cranks. When I open the lid it won't turnover at all.

I just had this problem where it cranks without spark when the clean out hatch is closed but won't turn over when the hatch is open. Those switches have 3 settings. Closed : engines start
Partially closed/open : engines turn over without spark
Open: Engines will not turn over.

Have someone fully press down the switches while the hatch is open to see if the engines start. If they do then you need to adjust the nylon nuts on top and bottom side of the switch to make it stick up more so that the hatch fully closes the switch.

 

[sunbyrned]

Regarding the plug not going back in, check the hose clamps holding the tubes. They need to be st the very top and very bottom. If they moved on you they can be pressing in on the tube. You can check through the clean out tray. I wonder if it was seated correctly to begin with. I thought this was impossible with EZ locks, but maybe I’m wrong.

 

[Kooblay]

Regarding the plug not going back in, check the hose clamps holding the tubes. They need to be st the very top and very bottom. If they moved on you they can be pressing in on the tube. You can check through the clean out tray. I wonder if it was seated correctly to begin with. I thought this was impossible with EZ locks, but maybe I’m wrong.

I installed the EZ locks after the blowout happened. The starboard engine hasn't started since getting the rebuilt plugs and ez locks installed.

 

[dgfreeze]

As was touched on a couple replies ago, the safety switches for the cleanout hatch control two circuits. One kills the spark, the other prevents cranking the engine. It's possible that one of the two circuits either failed, or the plunger isn't fully depressed, and is killing the spark while still allowing the engine to crank. If you have someone to help you, have them use their thumb, and depress the switch plunger all the way in while you crank the engine. If you don't have anyone to help you, loosen the nuts holding the switch, and adjust it up a little, so the hatch pushes the plunger down a little further when closed. As my memory goes, there are two brown wires, a black wire, and a white wire. I believe the two brown wires need continuity, while the black and white wires need to be an open circuit. I should remember better, as I made a bypass from an old switch I got from the PO, but forgive me if I'm wrong on that...

I should also note, it's possible that the switches are in the wrong holes... AKA, port switch in starboard side hole, etc. Just something to keep in mind during the diagnostics process...

 

[Kooblay]

As was touched on a couple replies ago, the safety switches for the cleanout hatch control two circuits. One kills the spark, the other prevents cranking the engine. It's possible that one of the two circuits either failed, or the plunger isn't fully depressed, and is killing the spark while still allowing the engine to crank. If you have someone to help you, have them use their thumb, and depress the switch plunger all the way in while you crank the engine. If you don't have anyone to help you, loosen the nuts holding the switch, and adjust it up a little, so the hatch pushes the plunger down a little further when closed. As my memory goes, there are two brown wires, a black wire, and a white wire. I believe the two brown wires need continuity, while the black and white wires need to be an open circuit. I should remember better, as I made a bypass from an old switch I got from the PO, but forgive me if I'm wrong on that...

I should also note, it's possible that the switches are in the wrong holes... AKA, port switch in starboard side hole, etc. Just something to keep in mind during the diagnostics process...

I'll look over the kill switches and lanyard switch this evening. I'll also make sure all cylinders have spark. Thank you!

 

[Kooblay]

Update: just wanted to say thank you for everyone that commented! I feel a bit stupid, it was the lanyard kill switch, I did look at it and it "looked" seated. However, after pulling it off, one side was more worn down than the other somehow. Also, I learned the each motor has it's own switch built into the single lanyard.

Thank you again!