Nautique brain skips a beat

[Bamaboarder]

I'm frustrated with the "computer brain" in my 2002 Air Nautique. Three weeks ago it went into "limp mode" while enjoying a day at the lake. I checked the prop, shaft and chines, but all were OK. Temperature was at 140, and both the oil pressure and the voltage guages were normal. Below 10 MPH it ran fine...above 15 MPH it vibrated and had no power (which makes sense, since it is actually runs on 4 cylinders while in limp mode).

I took it to the closest Nautique dealer for warranty repair. Three weeks later, they finally checked it out...only to find no problems. There were no error codes stored in the "brain", and it ran perfectly both in the shop and on the lake. While I can pick the boat up for this weekend, I've still lost three weeks of the summer season. What's worse is that the intermittent problem with the brain will most likely come back eventually. That will mean another 2 hour round trip back to the dealer, another wait in line for repair. and no guarantees that they can reproduce (and fix) the problem.

I can't blame the Nautique dealer. I know they can not fix what doesn't act broken when it is at their shop. It is simply very frustrating. Lots of $ tied up in a boat that does not act dependably.

There is probably nothing anyone can suggest, but I will ask anyway...Any suggestions???

[SGY]

Something is wrong. I'd start calling folks at the factory if it happens again. You are entitled to a boat that operates with dependability.

Also, why did it take three weeks to have your boat checked out. That is way too long. IMHO, a good dealer would give you a date to bring the boat in and have it fixed right away. If they can't get to it in for three weeks, it shouldn't sit there and wait. A good dealer doesn't make you bring your boat in and sit around until they get to it. You could have been using the boat for the three weeks. (I know that you thought it wasn't working but now you know that this is an intermittant thing that maybe resets itself. Make your dealer give you a firm date to bring the thing in for a quick check should it happen again.)

Good luck.

[tryan]

do a search on the knock sensor torque.

[AbunDiga909]

I second was SGY said about the amount of time it took you to get your boat fixed. 3 weeks is way to long and assuming you bought your boat from him, it shouldn't take more than a week at most, especially since your boat is relatively new....

[nms1991]

which engine do you have?

[Bamaboarder]

The GT-40.

[tryan]

have you tried to tighten the knock sensor to specs?

[Bamaboarder]

Given that the boat is under warranty, I will let the Nautique dealer do all of the maintenance. Just to update the post...The dealer ran the boat for almost two hours and could not reproduce the problem that I had. He did replace the oil pressure sensor since he has known a few of these to go bad.

I ran the boat all day Saturday and it did not miss a beat. I have no way of knowing, but I hope that the oil pressure sensor was the problem. For now, there is nothing else to do but use the boat as much as possible and see if the problem re-occurs.

[skinautique]

have you tried to tighten the knock sensor to specs?

Hey Tryan,
There is no knock sensor on the side of the block for the GT-40. Only the chevy has one that you can torque down and the setting is 14.

[nms1991]

acualy the only two sensors that will send the GT-40 into limp mode is the oil pressure switch and the temp switch. did the check engine light come on when it went into limp mode. anyways these two sensors will not set a code in the computer if they are bad.

[SGY]

Yep, loved the GT-40. No knock sensor and gobs of torque. Shame on Ford for stopping production. I must say, the Chevy motor is pretty dang nice--despite that knock sensor. Maybe in a next generation motor, PCM will figure a better place to put the sensor so we don't have to worry about it when we drain the block.