RaceCarRich
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- May 31, 2015
- Messages
- 234
'05 Sea Ray 5.0L MPI, B3. Boat is clean, wiring seems clean and untouched. I did replace ignition switch with Sierra brand in 2018 due to a very intermittent no crank issue. Don't believe I had any related issues last season. Below is my rundown as to what's recently been going on. Hoping to rely on your collective real world experience and not just start replacing parts.
Trip #1 Racing back to my marina to beat an approaching severe storm, bouncing through very choppy water. Radio (music) goes silent for maybe 2 seconds then comes back. This occurs a second time. Then soon after I get an alarm and Smartcraft reads Engine Bus Error then alarm goes off and error clears. Soon after that I start losing rpms. On the way down, it picked up for a split second and then continued to fall and stall. Felt very electrical like the ignition was shut. No sputtering or anything like fuel. I seem to recall the dash being dead, no radio, no alarm, no Smartcraft screen, etc. I turned the key to start, dead silence. Somewhat panicked, I head to the engine. Gave a good wiggle to the main harness connector that looks like a trailer plug. Also wiggled the ecm wires, relay wires, and anything else I saw. Next I pushed the 50A breaker. It didn't feel tripped. Tried jumping it with a screwdriver, no change (probably not a smart move if there really was a short being protected by a tripped breaker but storm in the distance and dead in the water). I can't recall exactly what position the key was in during that but next step I made sure it was in RUN position and jumped the remote starter slave solenoid. Boat fired up and we drove back fine into our marina just as it started raining. After tying up, I tried starting from the key and it started right up twice.
Random thoughts after Trip #1... Issue must effect both Ignition and Start circuits, perhaps the ignition switch lost power or perhaps the entire behind dash fuse panel?. Perhaps something inside the throttle assembly which contains the NSS and the kill switch (not sure if they share a common harness internally??). I understand why jumping the slave solenoid caused engine to crank but not sure why it would fix an ignition issue unless the intermittent problem had gone away and it just needed to be started? Sure hope it's nothing down near the starter because boat design prevents even seeing it and manifold would need to be pulled to even get close.
Trip #2 A week later, went to start and dead silence. Great, still tied up at the dock gives me a chance to check a few things. Checked the slave solenoid. It had power (thick wire, power circuit). Using test light, I check the yellow/red switch circuit (thin) wire while I had someone turn the key to start. Nothing. Now we are getting somewhere, no power from key to the slave solenoid. (I also checked both sides of the 50A breaker had power). I jumped under the dash to check the ignition switch and just as I got there the key alarm sounds. I may have very lightly brushed a wire positioning myself. I did a firm wiggle test on all wires and couldn't seem to have the alarm go on again or any effect. All wire screws to ignition switch seemed tight. Test light on the BAT terminal of switch showed power. Put test light on START terminal and had someone turn key to start. Boat started right up. We went out on calm water and I immediately noticed the Smartcraft LED screen was very hard to read (not much contrast even for being in bright sun) and the tach needle did not agree with the screen rpm read out. At lower rpm's I thought the tach needle was reading 50% but at higher rpm's it seemed to be reading a consistent 900+ rpm's low. The screen seemed to be accurate while the needle was not. All the other screen choices on the Smartcraft also seemed to be reading accurately and reading OK. Was on the water for a couple hours, stopped for gas, stopped for dinner, etc. Started and ran fine. On the way home from dinner, the Smartcraft screen seemed to be easier to read (although it was darker out) and the rpms agreed between the needle and the digital read out.
Random thoughts after Trip #2: I think my behind the dash diagnostics are invalid as I suspect as soon as got under there and heard the alarm, the intermittent issue had gone away, perhaps coincidence or perhaps I brushed into some wires. I also don't know too much about the Smartcraft wiring and what problems it could cause. I did have a race car once that ran terribly until we unplugged a faulty tach. Might I have two separate problems at the same time on a once reliable boat?
Trip #1 Racing back to my marina to beat an approaching severe storm, bouncing through very choppy water. Radio (music) goes silent for maybe 2 seconds then comes back. This occurs a second time. Then soon after I get an alarm and Smartcraft reads Engine Bus Error then alarm goes off and error clears. Soon after that I start losing rpms. On the way down, it picked up for a split second and then continued to fall and stall. Felt very electrical like the ignition was shut. No sputtering or anything like fuel. I seem to recall the dash being dead, no radio, no alarm, no Smartcraft screen, etc. I turned the key to start, dead silence. Somewhat panicked, I head to the engine. Gave a good wiggle to the main harness connector that looks like a trailer plug. Also wiggled the ecm wires, relay wires, and anything else I saw. Next I pushed the 50A breaker. It didn't feel tripped. Tried jumping it with a screwdriver, no change (probably not a smart move if there really was a short being protected by a tripped breaker but storm in the distance and dead in the water). I can't recall exactly what position the key was in during that but next step I made sure it was in RUN position and jumped the remote starter slave solenoid. Boat fired up and we drove back fine into our marina just as it started raining. After tying up, I tried starting from the key and it started right up twice.
Random thoughts after Trip #1... Issue must effect both Ignition and Start circuits, perhaps the ignition switch lost power or perhaps the entire behind dash fuse panel?. Perhaps something inside the throttle assembly which contains the NSS and the kill switch (not sure if they share a common harness internally??). I understand why jumping the slave solenoid caused engine to crank but not sure why it would fix an ignition issue unless the intermittent problem had gone away and it just needed to be started? Sure hope it's nothing down near the starter because boat design prevents even seeing it and manifold would need to be pulled to even get close.
Trip #2 A week later, went to start and dead silence. Great, still tied up at the dock gives me a chance to check a few things. Checked the slave solenoid. It had power (thick wire, power circuit). Using test light, I check the yellow/red switch circuit (thin) wire while I had someone turn the key to start. Nothing. Now we are getting somewhere, no power from key to the slave solenoid. (I also checked both sides of the 50A breaker had power). I jumped under the dash to check the ignition switch and just as I got there the key alarm sounds. I may have very lightly brushed a wire positioning myself. I did a firm wiggle test on all wires and couldn't seem to have the alarm go on again or any effect. All wire screws to ignition switch seemed tight. Test light on the BAT terminal of switch showed power. Put test light on START terminal and had someone turn key to start. Boat started right up. We went out on calm water and I immediately noticed the Smartcraft LED screen was very hard to read (not much contrast even for being in bright sun) and the tach needle did not agree with the screen rpm read out. At lower rpm's I thought the tach needle was reading 50% but at higher rpm's it seemed to be reading a consistent 900+ rpm's low. The screen seemed to be accurate while the needle was not. All the other screen choices on the Smartcraft also seemed to be reading accurately and reading OK. Was on the water for a couple hours, stopped for gas, stopped for dinner, etc. Started and ran fine. On the way home from dinner, the Smartcraft screen seemed to be easier to read (although it was darker out) and the rpms agreed between the needle and the digital read out.
Random thoughts after Trip #2: I think my behind the dash diagnostics are invalid as I suspect as soon as got under there and heard the alarm, the intermittent issue had gone away, perhaps coincidence or perhaps I brushed into some wires. I also don't know too much about the Smartcraft wiring and what problems it could cause. I did have a race car once that ran terribly until we unplugged a faulty tach. Might I have two separate problems at the same time on a once reliable boat?
