2001 sport nautique gt40 starter circuit issue

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  • bcd
    • May 2016
    • 16

    • Iowa

    • 2014 MC X-2

    2001 sport nautique gt40 starter circuit issue

    My friend has a 2001 Sport Nautique with the GT40. Last year, he went to start it, and it would blew the fuse up by the battery. It would repeatedly blow the fuse when trying to diagnose it. I ended up creating a jumper wire and running it to the starter solenoid, and then the boat would start and work fine. I started digging into the wiring at the starter relay, but when I started moving the wire harnesses around, the problem fixed itself. Even messing with the wires as much as I could, I couldn't get the problem to happen again. I left him the jumper wire with directions to use that if it acted up again.

    Fast forward to this last weekend, and it acted up again. It blew the fuse, but this time, the jumper wouldn't work. The starter relay would make one click and that's it. I then unhooked the positive battery cable from the starter relay and hooked it directly to the starter, which made the jumper work again. I then unhooked the 3 red cables from the starter relay that all go to the same terminal (battery, starter, and the 60 amp breaker supply), and bolted them together, hanging out by themselves. Jumper still worked. I was getting ready to blame the relay, but I ended up hooking everything back up normal and I jiggled the wires around. Magically, the boat is fixed again. I was moving/pulling on the brown, purple, and purple/red wires off the relay. I couldn't get it to act up again, no matter how much I pulled on the wires or moved them around. I have the wiring diagrams, but they don't make sense to me. It shows the purple going to EEC relay, but I can't find that. The purple wire goes into a large harness bundle/loom that loops around to the front of the engine, but I can't find where it comes back out. There are 2 relays next to the ECM, but I think that's the ECA and fuel pump relay. I unhooked both of those, and the engine still cranks. Last year I did replace the wire that goes from the neutral switch to the starter relay, mainly because it was easy to replace. I'm assuming there is a short somewhere. Any ideas where to look, or where the purple and brown wires go?
  • Fast351
    • Oct 2006
    • 315

    • Winsted, MN

    • 2001 Ski Nautique

    #2
    Same exact thing happened to me. Battery cable was corroded INSIDE the battery clamp. If you still have the factory molded lead clamps on the battery cables (particularly the positive side) wiggle it and see if you can pull it out of the clamp.

    The reason you're blowing the fuse is because the starter is trying to draw starting current through your dash wire instead of the battery lead.

    Hope that helps!
    2001 Ski Nautique / 2007 SV211 TE (gone but not forgotten)

    Comment

    • bcd
      • May 2016
      • 16

      • Iowa

      • 2014 MC X-2

      #3
      Thanks, that's an interesting failure mode. If that's the cause, I'd speculate that we disconnect the positive battery cable in between diagnostics, which probably breaks up the corrosion and that's why the problem fixes itself as we hook up and disconnect the battery.

      I'll check that out.

      Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


      Comment

      • bcd
        • May 2016
        • 16

        • Iowa

        • 2014 MC X-2

        #4
        Fast 351 for the win. Thanks for the help, not sure I would have been able to figure that one out. His boat acted up last week when I was on vacation. We looked at his battery cable before I left, but the boat was starting fine then. He took it to a battery shop when I was gone. The battery guy said the cable and connector looked fine and didn't want to change it. I got back from vacation and got to check it out this morning. I put a jumper cable on the positive terminal and then put the other end of the positive cable at the starter solenoid and the boat fired right up. Then I pulled the connector off. This is what i saw. Then I held the wires on the positive terminal, and the boat still started. He's taking it back to the battery shop to have them crimp a new connector on after they remove the corroded portion of wire.

        Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

        Comment

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