91 Nautique Voltage Question

[woods]

I have a 91 ski nautique. The alarm on instrument panel sounds when at idle or low RPM because of low voltage. The Gauge on the Instrument panel reads about 11 volts. I checked the voltage at the alternator and it reads 13.5 volts. I read the voltage at the battery and it reads 12.4 volts. I then pulled the instrument panel cluster and checked the voltage at the leads on the back of the voltage gauge. The volt meter reads 11.5 volts just like the gauge does. The voltage at the alternator, battery or voltage gauge do not change when I turn on the bilge, blower and radio if the boat is at idle. When I am running the boat on the lake the voltage gauge will sometimes read 13 volts, but most of the time it reads close to 12. Can anybody tell me why the voltage on the gauge reads less than what the alternator or battery reads when the boat is running?

[pj]

RE: 91 Nautique Voltage Question

The 90-93's are notorious for this problem. There is insufficient ground to the gauges. On my '91, I ended up running an additional ground wire (8 or 10 gage) from a ground terminal on one of my gauges directly to the negative terminal on the battery. That solved the problem. This problem generally gets worse if you have a perfect pass spliced into the system.

[richard]

91 Nautique Voltage Question

I just replace my voltage guage,since the old one always indicate lower voltage, some times even reads '0',worth to have a check to the guage with a voltage regulator,from 1-12v .

[dba4life]

RE: 91 Nautique Voltage Question

Interesting thread. Experiencing a very similar voltage drop in the dash. I got under there last night and realized that Perfectpass WB pro was dropping the voltage .4v when connected. Normal?

[M3Fan]

Re: RE: 91 Nautique Voltage Question

Interesting thread. Experiencing a very similar voltage drop in the dash. I got under there last night and realized that Perfectpass WB pro was dropping the voltage .4v when connected. Normal?

Sound about right. PP is a voltage hog.

[woods]

RE: Re: RE: 91 Nautique Voltage Question

I do not have Perfectpass so I am guessing that I might have a ground issue. I will pull instrument panel cluster and run a ground wire straight to the battery and see if that resolves the incorrect voltage reading at the voltage gauge. It appears that the voltage gauge is tied in series with all of the other instrument panel buttons and gauges. I will post my reults after trying this.

[woods]

RE: Re: RE: 91 Nautique Voltage Question

I checked the voltages once again with a digital voltmeter this time. The voltage at the battery is 12.6 volts. Checking the voltage with the wires plugged into the back of the gauge the voltage read 11.88. Checking the voltage at the postive terminal on the gauge and the negative battery terminal was 12.28. Unplugging the wires from the gauge and checking the voltage at the end of the wires read 12.28. The voltage on the face of the analog gauge read approx 11 volts. Now I have a new problem, the gauge on the instrument panel is now pinned to the right past 16 volts. The only thing I can figure is I crossed the positive and negative terminals when I was checking the voltage. Any suggestions?

[hopatcongnautique]

RE: Re: RE: 91 Nautique Voltage Question

my 1990 has the exact same problem, plus the temp guage like to flip out with the volt guage.

it is ground prblem. after reading a little on here i know where to look now....and know that its a common issue..

this drove me nuts for 3 years in the mid nineties...i lust gave up on it until recently.

[patoloco]

RE: Re: RE: 91 Nautique Voltage Question

While boarding last night, my buddy honked the horn with PP engaged and it shut off PP, mid-run. I'm used to getting that much drop when I just turn the key on, but couldn't believe it happend with the engine running..and a brand new red top optima.

I might try the ground wire thing. Can I just connect an additional ground wire to one of the guages then? The main ground wire runs into that massice clump behind the dash.