Linc System Not Booting

[j2nh]

2018 Nautique 200 with the Linc system. When starting the boat the Linc system typically says "booting" and proceeds to load and bring up the main screen. On three occasions now the engine has started and the screen has remained blank. Engine runs fine but no Linc system. If I turn the boat off and repeat the process the system will "boot". 3 hours on boat.

Is this normal? I am new to this system and without prior experience.
Thanks to all in advance.

[charlesml3]

No, not even close to normal. You have a warranty item for your dealer...

[j2nh]

Thanks Charles. I spoke with my dealer this morning and was informed that I needed to wait up to 30 seconds for the Linc "boot" to take place before starting. I suspect that I was not waiting long enough. I am used to my 09 where it was just press the button and it starts so this is going to take some getting used to.

I am also going to have to get in the habit of not shutting the system down all the way when picking up a skier etc. so I don't have to go thru the 30 sec delay.

[Kmayotte]

This has happened in my 2016 G23 from time to time. Boat ignition is on but screen doesn't fire up. I shut down and start again including shutting off battery and the screen has booted up 100% of the time.

My boat is at the dealer now for another somewhat major issue. Thanks for the reminder to ask them about this.

[charlesml3]

Thanks Charles. I spoke with my dealer this morning and was informed that I needed to wait up to 30 seconds for the Linc "boot" to take place before starting. I suspect that I was not waiting long enough. I am used to my 09 where it was just press the button and it starts so this is going to take some getting used to.

I am also going to have to get in the habit of not shutting the system down all the way when picking up a skier etc. so I don't have to go thru the 30 sec delay.

OK. some weird information here:

- After turning the battery switch on, enter your keycode and hit Start.
- The LINC should show "Booting" and shortly thereafter, bring up the display. I suppose it could take 30 seconds but mine never has taken that long.
- Next, you hit the "Start" button again to bring up the ignition and fuel pumps.
- When you're ready to go, "Start" one last time to start the engine.

I'm not sure what you mean by "shutting the system all the way down when picking up a skier." Are you entering the keycode and then hitting Stop to shut everything down, or are you just hitting Stop to shut the engine off? All you should do is just hit Stop. This will shut down the engine, but leave everything else up. When you're ready to go, just hit Start again.

-Charles

[j2nh]

Battery switch on. I don't use a key code.
Press "start" once. Nothing happens sometimes, other times it "boots"
Press "start twice. Fuel pumps cycle.
Press "start" third time. Engine starts. No screen.

I suspect that I am so used to hitting Start multiple times fairly quickly out of habit I need to slow down the process.


When I said "shutting down the system all the way", I mean just hitting stop once and leaving the Linc system up. Not a big deal just different than my old 09.

Thanks for everyone's input. New boat, love it but it is an evolution forward in terms of electronics and that will take me some time.

[scottb7]

I looked but couldn't find it, and don't remember where it is...But the point is you turn on the battery switch and then wait a bit,,,,,and then type in the code or hit something on keypad to start the linc.

If i you turn on the battery switch and then go to keypad immediately it will sometimes not boot. Then just turn off battery switch, wait a few seconds, then turn on the battery switch...wait 15-30 seconds...

get it? I have no idea what you mean by shutting down the system to pick up skier. you don't mess with linc to pick up a skier do you? explain, and we can help you...like charles said you hit stop ONCE to turn off engine...Don't hit stop a bunch of times...

[j2nh]

I had a chance to play with it a little today.
Battery switch on.
Hit start once, system energized.
Waited 1 minute. System did not boot.
Curious I hit start again and fuel pump turned on.
Once more and engine started.

Shut system down and the second time thru the process the Linc system booted.

I think this is just going to take some getting used to, very different than any of my previous Nautiques.

[charlesml3]

I think this is just going to take some getting used to, very different than any of my previous Nautiques.

No, something is still wrong here. No matter how quickly you start the engine, the LINC should boot. Sometimes I'll just do three quick presses of the Start button to get moving. The LINC will "catch up" a few seconds later. Sounds to me like yours just refuses to boot sometimes. If you do the 3 quick presses of the Start, does the LINC ever boot? Or does it just stay black until you shut everything off and start over?

-Charles

[Infinity]

Yea, not normal that screen is not booting up that often and staying black, especially if you are not rushing the process, it's likely it just needs software update tho and there is some kind of glitch in system right now.

These are basically laptops running our boats now and I always give mine some time to make sure it does what it should.
I turn on battery switch and give it 15-30 seconds before doing anything else.
Then boot up the screen and give it roughly 30 seconds (tho I have rushed it once or twice in past and like Charles said...it will catch up and come on, just likely to have potential issues doing that IMHO, so I let it boot up fully before I fire the engine 99% of the time). There have been a couple random times where it did not boot up right...I shut it all down, turned off batteries for couple mins and all was good when restarted.
I turn my boat off between riders switching too...I stop the engine and leave everything booted up and ready to go so all I have to do is press the ignition button to restart engine and take off.

1 thing you could try...a "hard reset" of the system by removing the battery cables for like 10mins. (Just put them all back on right). Prob better to let dealer do a software update tho and that should take care of it.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

[j2nh]

No, something is still wrong here. No matter how quickly you start the engine, the LINC should boot. Sometimes I'll just do three quick presses of the Start button to get moving. The LINC will "catch up" a few seconds later. Sounds to me like yours just refuses to boot sometimes. If you do the 3 quick presses of the Start, does the LINC ever boot? Or does it just stay black until you shut everything off and start over?

-Charles

No, it just stays black. I will get the dealer to take a look when it goes in for the 25 hour check. Thanks for all the insights.

[Cstrike006]

j2nh did you ever resolve this issue? I experienceing a similar problem on a 2021 G21. I've tried toggling power, pressing the linc circuit breaker etc.

[Nautiquehunter]

You guys scare the crap out of me with the high tech electronics and high priced problems as they get older.

[charlesml3]

Quote removed by Admin for not following the Guidelines for Quoting Previous Posts in a Thread.

Oh come on. Nautique has built THOUSANDS of boats with these "high tech electronics" and the vast majority of them are working just fine.

[bturner]

This sort of, kind of reminds me of the bad engine thing. Thousands of "x model / brand" engines out there running fine but there's a small percentage that don't. I guess this is the nature of the beast but while you can write off the occasional problem child from a macro perspective it's not so easy to do at the micro level (i.e. it's your boat that has the lemon and your expense to repair). It's one thing to replace an injector or individual sensor for a couple hundred dollars, something completely different to change out a long block or screen for thousands.

While I certainly wouldn't say there's an avalanche of issues with these "high tech electronics", there are a significant number that do fail. And at $4K - $5K a pop to replace one it is something I would really consider while shopping or buying a used boat regardless if the vast majority are working fine. Without a warranty to cover the replacement I don't care if only 1 in a hundred fail if I have that one that did.

Like it or not as we continue down the display path with newer boats this is something that will be a consideration and another expensive repair if you somehow miss an issue with this system.