Cranks hard after storage

[lakerunner999]

Have a Waverunner VXR that was stored for 2 years and now is not cranking. Battery is original but is fully charged and reads 12+ volts on voltmeter. When I press the start button I hear the starter engage but just a very slow rrrrrrrrrrrrrrr from the engine. It has turned a few cycles, slowly, but didn't fire up. After several attempts to start, battery runs down and then just hear clicking.

When I stored this I put Stabil in the gas and ran it for a few seconds (dry), did nothing else to winterize it. It has been through 2 upstate NY winters like that (outside but covered). I'm sure there is nothing wrapped on the impeller preventing it from turning.

Could the cylinders be gummed up/sticky? Does that happen? Is there anything else to easily check before pulling the plugs? Once I do that, how do I crank the engine by hand? Will a little gas/oil mix put into the spark plug hole help lubricate the cylinders to get things moving again?

 

[Jeff Walkowiak]

Re: Cranks hard after storage

no the battery or the cable connections are probably the problem,,, clean the ends and the ground end at the engine, place a volt meter on the battery and see what it reads while pushing the start button,, if it drops below 11 volts on the load get a new battery,