2018 Nautique 200 H6 won't crank

[j2nh]

Ugh, put it in the water, fired up just fine. No leaks, good cooling, oil pressure fine, voltage good, off to the races. Drove the boat to the house, got the lift ready, went to start the boat and it won't crank, display etc are all working. I hear the fuel pump prime, push start and nothing. No clicks, nothing. Checked the safety lanyard, good. Checked the throttle position multiple times, good. Start button won't tell the starter to start. Looked at fuses, circuit breakers everything looks fine. Stumped. What's driving me nuts is the dang thing started 20 minutes before it didn't.

Off to the dealer on Monday but wondering if anyone has experienced this and what they found. It really feels like either a neutral safety switch or the safety lanyard but both "appear" to be okay. Had a 196 that you had to finesse the throttle into neutral to get it to start so I know how it feels to have it in the neutral position.

TIA, boats!!!!!

[ExBuGuy]

Check your battery connections. Good chance they wiggled loose on your trip and just aren’t making a good enough connection to fire the engine.

[NautiqueJeff]

Well, it sounds like you checked all of the typical stuff, as you already know. Possibly a bad neutral safety switch. Possibly a failing keypad. Did you try powering everything down and turning the batteries off for a few minutes? Maybe that'll reset something.

You could also look in the LINC on the electrical fault screen and see if anything shows up there.

[Scooter G]

Assuming you rolled the throttle lever back and forth between forward and reverse, in & out, back to neutral. Our last Supra would occasionally get a little temperamental.
Sorry to hear, hope it works out for you j2nh
Please update the forum on what you find & figure out, thanks.

[j2nh]

Good thought. Checked and they are tight. Jumped out the lanyard and no joy. Calling dealer tomorrow. I suspect it is they keypad. Given the current state of the world they are probably impossible to get. Will keep the board informed for future reference.

[j2nh]

Yup, Jeff, disconnected the battery, did the throttle magic to find the sweet spot for neutral and still nothing. Looking more like a keypad. Evidently the keypad sends out a 5 volt signal to relay for starter.

[jpwhit]

Good chance it's the throttle base assembly. A fair number of these have been failing and causing a no-start situation on the newer boats.

https://www.nautiqueparts.com/produc...base-assembly/

[j2nh]

Good chance it's the throttle base assembly. A fair number of these have been failing and causing a no-start situation on the newer boats.

https://www.nautiqueparts.com/produc...base-assembly/

Interesting. So it is probably either the keypad, $695, or the throttle base at $750. Will have to find the right part # if it is the throttle base, that part number does not fit the 200 Ski. Thanks for the tip.

Why is it never the $0.25 fuse?

[bturner]

Miami Nautique is calling this the right one for all models and is selling them for $675. That said if you use the PND discount code I believe you get a 10% discount which in this case magically makes the price $675. Based on what I've been reading lately on this masterpiece of engineering while researching the neutral lock out button issue I'm having, if I were going to roll the dice I would go with this as the culprit. Depending on what you're dealer's scheduling looks like and their labor rates rolling the dice may still be your best bet. I know on my key pad I have to hit start twice before an actual start occurs. With this I see LEDs light up to indicated the keypad input. Are you seeing any of this? If so it would really make me lean to the throttle base. I've read on the internet it's very easy to replace so it has to be true, right? If anyone has actually done this it would be great to hear how that went.

https://www.mniboats.com/THROTTLE-BA...S-p/170156.htm

As to the why on the fuse..... because we've moved to complex electronics in a wet environment. Think about it...... we went from a couple cables that rarely wore out and were simple to diagnose when they did need replacement or were malfunctioning to a computer controlled system with PDMs, electrical cables/connectors and solenoids to replace the cables. I get FBW for the throttle and all the good that comes with that for speed control and such but feel the shift control and neutral lockout were technology implemented for technology's sake. An over complicated solution looking for a problem if you will. Can't wait to see the over complicated electronic solution they'll come up with for the safety lanyard as I'm sure that's got to in the works.

[jpwhit]

I bet a simple remote starter switch like this will let you start it as a temporary solution.

https://www.amazon.com/INNOVA-3630-R...64764147&psc=1

I'd love to have a look at one of these broken Throttle Base Assemblies. I'm 90% sure I could fix it.

[jmo]

I have the exact same boat - and had the same issue, dash and keypad are energized, fuel pump kicks, no crank. The neutral safety mechanism inside the throttle base assembly went bad (it happens apparently) and thought the boat is in gear even though it’s not. Replaced it, problem solved.

you should be covered under warranty unless you are 2nd owner and didn’t transfer the warranty.

easy to replace yourself if your handy, took me a few hours as I was careful about how I I dissembled the side panel to get at it, and I did it in the dark via headlamp on the boat lift. I wrote my notes on this on ballofspray.com. Happy to talk you through it on the phone if that helps. Make sure you adjust the tension to remove the slack/play in the throttle handle once it clicks into neutral. The unit doesn’t come “pre-dialed in” from MNI or Nautique parts.

I also sent my old unit it back to livorsi to have it repaired so I have a spare.

[BasaltRMK]

Agreed with jmo on the warranty coverage (if you're still under warranty). My previous dealer preemptively replaced my throttle base assembly on my 2020 with the ZZ6 over the winter, and never fully explained why to me. I was not having any issues, but from this thread I'm guessing that it's a known failure point.

[j2nh]

Thanks jmo and others.

Cool story. So I was with a group of friends last night lamenting a broken boat and low and behold one of the guys, a good friend I don't see often enough, tells me he is in town for a couple of days and is now working as an field engineer for Enovations, the same company that did the Linc displays and software for Nautique, and has his tools with him. So, he hooked his computer up to the boat today and he is 99% sure this is a throttle base assembly which I promptly ordered overnighted from Miami Nautiuqe. Should be here tomorrow and he offered to help with the setup if I have any issues. Same guy that did the engine programing for Malibu when they developed their direct injection engine a few years ago. Now mostly working with Harley Davidson on bike controls and displays. Super guy and his first love is anything boats. He will definitely get all the pulls he wants when this is over.

I did call my dealer today and spoke to the parts department about ordering a replacement through them and also if this was a warranty item but we never got that far. Sigh. I know everyone is working as hard as they can and I love my dealer but I had to explain what a "throttle base assembly" was. We got it down to the metal stick that makes the boat go forward, neutral and reverse. Yeah. I gave them the part numbers and they were going to call me back. Good thing I did not hold my breath waiting.

So I am going to start digging it out tomorrow and see what happens. jmo, I may take you up on your offer on any tricks to disassembly and reassembly without having too many parts left over when I am done.

Good times and thanks everyone. Will update.

[bturner]

You had me thinking you were talking about the throttle body on the engine in your first paragraph "he is 99% sure this is a throttle body assembly" until I read through the second paragraph.

I know in the heat of fixing something taking notes and pictures are not the first priority but if you can step back and document the repair process I think it would really add some much needed context to this issue and repair process. Since I'm probably going to have to do this sooner or later (and it would appear many others as well) it would be very helpful for me to see this. I've seen several posts on this subject but nothing with any pictures or the actual process of replacing the parts.

[jmo]

j2nh - I sent you a private message with my cell #, give me a call once you have the replacement in hand.