ProTec Ignition stolen

[bcd]

We went down to our ski club this morning and discovered that someone stole the ProTec ignition out of my friend's 94 Nautique. They cut all the wires on the engine, and also took his spark arrestor. While they were at it, they cut out his stereo and swiped his Garmin GPS. They didn't touch the 08 Nautique sitting right next to it. I know they don't make those ignitions any more, and I believe there were a very select few years they were installed. I was looking for a little help in what year boats had this ignition. There aren't many ski boats in our area, so I'm keeping my eye out for any potential thieves' boats.

[surroundsound64]

Wow

[rolleronariver]

You might want to jump over to correctcraftfan.com. Several of those guys part out boats. Skidim might have a replacement too.

[Tom_H]

Well that sucks big time. At this point, might just be time to swap it back to a distributor (especially if it's a carb'd engine), as parts are extremely scarce. If it's TBI, might be worth the effort to track down parts, but probably still better to switch to a carb/distributor, since it'll have to be done eventually with the protec.

I think protec years were something like 92 or 93-94, so the pool is pretty minimal.

[bcd]

Thanks for the recommendations/help. I think his insurance will be footing the bill. I know he's spoken to our local dealer, who is small, but good. They were aware of the issues with sourcing parts for his ignition. From what I could find, it looks like 94 and 95 were the only years for protec with TBI. Before 94 had carbs and after 95 had multiport injection.

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[Tom_H]

Yea, TBI was mainly 94 with a few hold-overs/left-overs into 95, but very few. The GT-40 came out in 95, so that was the end of protec essentially. Protec was around for a couple years ahead of 94, but with carbs like you've seen. The Protec carbs are a pretty straight-forward and not terribly expensive switch to a distributor. The TBI pretty much doubles that cost, as you need to add a carb to the mix as well if you're eliminating the Protec, as it was also the computer for the TBI. With the amount of stuff he lost, I'd go the insurance route as well and probably just nix the Protec. The engines converted to a carb/distributor run basically just as well as the TBI did, but lose a little bit on the cold-start aspect.

[bcd]

Turns out the dealer couldn't get parts. He finally got the final decision this week - insurance is totalling his boat out. He's now searching for a replacement boat.

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[kmarine]

He could buy the boat back from the insurance company and go with a carb and distributor Or he can order A kit from FAST fuel injection and convert to an aftermarket system. Or he can take the money and find another boat It depends on if he likes his old one and how much to replace the boat.

[bcd]

I went through those options with him. He wasn't comfortable with asking us to do that much work on his boat. Plus his wife wants an open bow.

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[kmarine]

Give the wife what she wants... Hope in return you get what you want too.

[bcd]

It's not my boat, but a friend's. I think he'll be happier with a newer boat - happy wife, happy life.
I did the investigating on the repairs since he's not a big repair guy. Here's what I found as an FYI:
Aftermarket fuel injection isn't a good option since the factory system doesn't have O2 sensors. Skidim has 2 kits to buy to do the carb conversion. I priced the carb out at other locations (jegs, etc), and for the marine carb, skidim has the best price. I think the best option by far is to get their 2 kits. Between them, all of the parts are supposed to be there for the conversion. The throttle linkage is supposed to bolt right up to existing. The mechanical fuel pump goes into the engine. All you have to do is remove a cover. Total price is around $1200.

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[nobrainsd]

Wow, someone may get a good deal on that boat! My Protec ignition system started to fail and I made the switch to a distributor and carb. Really not that difficult, particularly with the information posted on CCF. Found a rebuilt Holley marine carb so my cost was considerably less. Here is the link to the thread on CCF if anyone has a Protec (which will eventually fail) and might like to replace it.

Went with a DUI distributor. So nice and an easy install. Engine runs great!