2001 Ski Nautique 196 electrical issue

[williambarnet]

Hello,
I need some ideas on what could be going wrong on our ski boat. We launched it 2 days ago and it’s been sitting in the lift since then. It started fine and made it across the lake with no issues, however when we went to start it today the only electrical component that works on it is the bilge pump. This boat has a keyless ignition - one where you put in a code to start it. We’ve had issues with this in the past so it could be the problem. There’s also a switch to turn all systems on/off and only the bilge on which may be another spot. We’ve checked the battery which has full charge.

TLDR/ No electronics work, don’t know why.

[SN206AUS]

I would start with the switch you mentioned, make sure there is 12volts coming out of it when you switch it to all on. Hopefully it is just that, easy fix.

[bturner]

I've seen several of these hitting the ski boat sites lately, must be the time of year or something.

The process is the same for all boat electrical issues. First thing to realize is that you're working with a 23YO boat that probably needs some attention electrically. Unless the battery is brand new, checking the voltage with a meter or charging it and declaring the battery good could very well set you back in your problem determination process. A load test of the battery would probably be a better start to ensure you don't have a dead or weak cell in the battery. Side stepping or declaring a component good based off observation without validation will just set you back or on your way to the dealer for them to fix the problem for you. These are the steps I would recommend and use.

• As bad as it may seem you have to start from the beginning and validate all components from one end to the other. In this case I would recommend starting at the battery. For me this means either a new battery or removing it from the boat and having it load tested at an auto parts store. They'll do this for free but it is a PITA as you'll need to remove the battery and physically take it somewhere for testing. Until it's been thoroughly tested or new, in my book its still suspect.
• The battery cables are next and are low hanging fruit for electrical problems. Grounding is always a challenge on boats and the source of many starting and stereo noise issues. At a minimum I would recommend a very close inspection and cleaning of the cables, replacing any that look remotely suspect. With a boat this age and having this type of problem, I personally would be replacing the primary cables from the battery to the starter and the engine block with marine rated cables.
• Working my way through the system the power switch is low hanging fruit as well. I've had these switches literally fall apart in my hands while removing them. There was a run of them that were failing after just a few years in service. You can test the switch with a volt meter but I've had better luck in your type of situation pulling them out then testing full operation while attached to an ohm meter. Here I'm looking for continuality though the operation of the switch. On many of them you can open them up to look at the condition of the contact points.
• From here we go to the dash and focus on the bus bars and the connections to them. A through inspection, cleaning and "nut and bolt" of all the connection points is done to ensure there are no loose connections or areas of corrosion.

One thing you can quickly look at before jumping into the electrical is the safety lanyard. These cheap switches are infamous for reeking havoc with everything from intermittent start issues to an absolutely dead boat. I've had them just quit working electrically and had one where the lanyard clip would not engage the switch when attached. The best and quickest way to test this circuit is to jumper it to remove it from the system.

If you're not interested in taking a systematic approach to resolution, for the symptoms you're seeing, the power switch and the lanyard would be the areas I would eliminate before you start pulling batteries and replacing cables.