yamaha waverunner vxr 1992 missing then quit running and now wont start

Joined
Aug 21, 2011
Messages
24
was looking to buy neighbors 1992 vxr 650 he just spent a bunch of cash on it they put on a new wiring harness and rebuilt carb and new batt ect ..took it out wife was riding it quit on her i got it started had to choke ran prretty good for a little bit then started missing and cutting out finally after a few felt like it was runnign on 1 cyl then quit had to tow bak to dock got started again but couldnt keep runnig had to tow and put on trler to house tryed starting fluid hit one time then nothing any ideas ?:(
 

frozenokie

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Feb 4, 2008
Messages
309
Re: yamaha waverunner vxr 1992 missing then quit running and now wont start

Pull the plugs and see what condition the motor is burning in. Are the plugs new? If not, for as cheap as they are, go ahead and buy new ones, install, and get it to run again if you can. After that, pull them again immediately afterwards and check the burning condition. You should be able to tell if it's burning too much oil and fouling plugs.

I just bought a 97 Yam GP760 that basically did the same thing (without dying) on my maiden voyage. I bought new plugs before the trip and stuck them in the storage compartment just in case. Good thing I did, because once I pulled the old ones out (which didn't show indication of malfunction) and put the new ones in, she came to life! Then it was just a matter of tuning in the carbs from there.

Over the years, buying different boats and PWCs, I have found that in most cases, they all needed some type of carburetor adjustment. I can only figure that some - if not most - people attempt adjusting the low and high mixture needles and get them wrong almost every time. Once I look in the manual and get the correct settings, then it just takes a few minutes to dial them in and they run like they are brand new motors :D

If you know the plugs are not new, it's the simplest and one of the cheaper things you can check. Who knows - you might just fix the problem by doing that alone ;)
 

Smoofers

Cadet
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
Messages
14
Re: yamaha waverunner vxr 1992 missing then quit running and now wont start

was looking to buy neighbors 1992 vxr 650 he just spent a bunch of cash on it they put on a new wiring harness and rebuilt carb and new batt ect ..took it out wife was riding it quit on her i got it started had to choke ran prretty good for a little bit then started missing and cutting out finally after a few felt like it was runnign on 1 cyl then quit had to tow bak to dock got started again but couldnt keep runnig had to tow and put on trler to house tryed starting fluid hit one time then nothing any ideas ?:(

Honestly it sounds like your start stop switch is going bad. When they get old, the rubber diaphrams that seal the switch internals crack and let water in. The lanyard post switch is notorious for this. When they start malfunctioning, the kill signal will flutter on and off, killing spark or causing intermittent spark.

To check if your switch is bad, look for two pairs of wires coming out of the electrical box. You should see a red & tan pair and a black & white pair. Along these wires will be a connector for each pair (this is where the start stop switch plugs into them). Disconnect the connector for the black and white wires and try to start your ski. If it fires right up, it is probably a bad start stop switch or the connector you just unplugged is getting corroded. If it does start, YOU MUST PLUG THE CONNECTOR BACK TOGETHER TO KILL THE MOTOR.
 

frozenokie

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Feb 4, 2008
Messages
309
Re: yamaha waverunner vxr 1992 missing then quit running and now wont start

I probably have to watch for that myself :eek:
 
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