2000 Sport Electical Help

[mdvalant]

Hey everyone, We just purchased a 2000 sport nautique with about 100 hrs on it (hour meter doesn't work on the smart pod) The boat was bought on ebay 1800 miles away from us. It went through a ton of rain to get here. That being said...it will not start, can't get the blower to work, the bilge, the **** HORN...

It is our first experience with the "smart pod" so we thought we were just not doing something right but we are certain we are doing things correctly. A sure indicator that water got someplace it shouldn't have is the fact that all 3 little LED lights on the start side of the dash light up at the same time after some wire wiggling. When you push any button down they all get brighter. Keep pushing buttons and they all go out.

Our first assumption was the horn. Did the horn get really really wet and is shorting stuff out? (the horn always has power, even if the code isn't entered) Did the computer looking motherboard inside the breaker box get fried? It looked nice and dry in there...

Any random thoughts may help us. This is very discouraging

[jimmyj]

everything in there works indepedently i believe. for instance, my blower button is burned out, so i just rewired it to the acc switch that was free (the lead coming off the breaker box).

there should be two led on the start pad if im not missing something. one comes on when the code is entered and the boat is turned on, similar to turning the key to acc/start in the car. the other comes on when you press the start button once to get everything ready to fire (when the all the displays work, fuel pumps do their deal, pp comes on, etc).

the breaker box that everything comes into might have got jacked, not really sure exactly how that thing really works, although buying the boat and never running it (im assuming this since you said it was 1800 away), you are taking the dudes word that it ran in the first place. could be a number of issues, simple to ohh jeeze.....

not sure what not starting means, liek the boat wont stay running, will turn voer and not fire, will do absolutely nothing when pressing the start button........... this would be my first area of attack. while im writing this i thought, the start pad might be burned out completly as well, but if im correct, the bilge is on the accessory pad to teh right of the steering wheel, the blower and horn are with the start pad. so those two shoudl be independent as well.

[mdvalant]

Nothing happens. Once in a while a light will light up on the start side of the dash. horn wont blow, blower wont turn on, put code in and press start no lights light up, no motor noise no clicks, nothing. We checked power to all of the switches and there is power there. There is also power to the motor. When messing with wires we will see the start side LED's flicker a little, all go dim...sit there...push button and they all get bright...push another and they'll turn off. Feels like a short or a failure somewhere.

Do 2000 smart pods have a master kill switch somewhere?!?!?!

[gmdattilo]

How the PME and Keypads Work

First of all there could be a "master switch" on your boat. There are some models that have a bilge pump switch. I believe that that switch has three positions; PME, OFF, Bilge Pump. Being a 2000 model it probably does not have this switch. My 2000 Air Nautique does not have it. If you want to be sure follow the smaller Red wire coming from the positive battery terminal. That wire (should be 10 gauge with an inline fuse near the battery terminal) will either go to the master switch or straight to the PME.

The PME and the keypads work together to power pretty much everything on the boat. The engine gets its power thru the starter cable (the big ones, 2 gauge, from the battery) but it still needs a signal from the PME to make it crank and run.

Both keypads talk to the PME through a serial link. There are only 4 wires from each key pad going to PME; DC+, DC-, data and clock. The PME (located on the kick panel at the driver's knees) has a bunch of relays it in either turn on or turn off +DC to the various accessories on the boat. There are electronics in the PME that decode the button presses from the keypads and control the relays accordingly. The PME also controls the LEDs on the keypads over the serial link.

The left keypad functions mostly like a key switch, the horn, blower and the slide switches for the power seat are also there. As long as the PME has power from the battery you should get a flash of the green LED on the left keypad each time you press a number button. If you enter the proper code and press the start button, the green LED should come on and stay on. You are now in the accessory mode, the PME will send power to the radio and majority of the buttons on the right keypad should work. If you press one of the buttons on the right keypad at this point, its LED should turn on and that accessory should power up. If you press the start button again the PME will switch to run mode. The PME will send +DC to the Purple wire. This is the run signal to the engine and it should also power up your gauges. If you press and hold the start button again the PME will send +DC to the Yellow/Red wire which is the crank signal to the engine. This should cause the engine to crank and start. Pressing the stop button will de-energize the purple wire and the engine will stop. If you enter the code again and press the stop button, the green LED on the left keypad will turn off and the PME is in the off mode.

Its worth noting the some of the buttons on the right keypad will work even when the PME is in off mode. The bilge pump is one example.

If you have a multi-meter, measure the voltage coming into the PME. That would be between the Red wire and the Black wire that go to the screw terminals on the PME. There may be some sealant on the screw posts that you will have to pick off before you can take the measurement. Post back when you have an answer to this question.

[DanielC]

Step one, when you have a myriad of electrical problems is to clean the battery terminals. While you are in the battery box, if there is an inline fuseholder, make sure that is good, also.

Step two
I believe all the Correct Craft boats that have the touchpad switching have a three position toggle switch that powers the bilge pump only in one position, is off, and then lets power get to everything in the third position. If the wires are loose on this switch, it can also cause a lot of random problems. Make sure these wires are connected good at this switch.

Then follow gmdattilo, he has some good information.

[rcheney]

Hello mdvalant,

I know this is an old post, but what did you do to resolve your electrical problems on your 2000 Sport? I have a 2000 Pro Air and am having the exact same problems listed in this thread. Any information would be great.

[mdvalant]

Rcheney, sent you a PM. email me if you want it's my PN username@gmail