2003 250 HPDI Z250TURB / keyswitch issues??

[cousinabe]

Helping a friend on a 25ft Contender with dual stations and a single Z250TURB.

Started up and idled through no wake zone. Noticed the Yamaha gauges went blank. Ran for 5 minutes ~4000 rpms, throttled back through a shallow area where we hit bottom(sand) and stalled out.
Tried to start motor and the starter would not engage. Used the push button start on the upper helm to start, but the engine was now stuck in forward gear. Could not put it in neutral or reverse. When the 703 was in reverse position, motor was in forward grear. Throttle worked.
Boat was now stuck in forward gear, gauges out and now could not get up on plane. Key switch was used for off and on, no start. Upper helm control push button was used for start.

We cleaned out the thermostats to remove any sand that was picked up as I thought we might have been in an overheat condition, however, we had no gauge power to verify any alarms or lights.

After idling home a few hours later, I noticed the key switch was loose and had been spinning when you turn the key. The wires harness had to be unturned five twists before it straightened out.

We took the boat out the next day. I was able to restart the motor, the gauges came on, the motor would now shift gears and would run fine at WOT. After about 15 minutes the gauges went out, the motor was running fine at 4500 rpm but when we went to neutral, the motor was again stuck in forward. We were able to turn the key off and back to on where the gauges came on again and the motor would shift to neutral and was able to start. We did not have any reduction issues that day.

So I am guessing there is a bad key switch or wiring to the switch or something to do with the dual station rigging? The main key switch has off, on and start. Sometimes the gauges work when on, sometimes not. the motor will stay running in on position. the start position is intermittent as well. the upper helm push button start works while the key is in the on position. Just looking for some confirmation that the motor gets stuck in gear and rpms may be reduced.

Thanks for any input.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: 2003 250 HPDI Z250TURB / keyswitch issues??

cant have 703 boxes and dual stations.
unless its been seriously frankenstiened.
most likly you have 704 box's with the yamaha dual control system.
by the fact you lost guages means either power from the red wire to the ign switch or key on yellow was lost and that will affect the twin control computer and prevent any shifting.
can ya post a pic of the controls and the transfer box mounting?
it can get funny but its not hard.
I probably have as much experience than most on the east coast and way more than anyone left at Yamaha on playing with the yamaha dual control box.
and that is rather limited

 

[cousinabe]

Re: 2003 250 HPDI Z250TURB / keyswitch issues??

After looking at the Yamaha website and controls section, the 704 with the dual control system looks right.
Unfortunately I can't post any pics as the boat is in Tavernier FL and I am back in Baltimore MD. The boat is now stored for three months.
I wanted to get some ideas together for his local mechanic down there and help them with a starting place.
It makes sense about the red to the key switch losing power or the yellow from the key switch losing power.
key on yellow power loss would indicate a bad key switch correct?
Also the fact that you could turn the key from off to on a few times and eventually the gauges would come on then we would turn the key to start, seems more like a faulty key switch yellow on situation.
The key switch had been loose in its mount and spinning for the past few years too.
Thanks for your insight.