Help with new boat problem

[TL7]

This one may be hard to explain, but I'll do my best. Note - I am taking the boat to the dealership Monday morning, but I'm stumped and curious to see what the knowledge here can diagnose blindly!

Boat now has 12.6 hours. We did the normal break in (this is our second new Moomba). Somewhere between hours 5 and 6 while running around 3k RPM (guesstimate) the boat just "went dead" as if someone had turned the key off. All gauges went to zero. This lasted a second or so, then it picked back up where it left off as if nothing happened. It troubled me, but I made a note and kept going.

Somewhere between 7-9 hours this happened again. Same exact thing, but at different RPM and speed. This time it was around 10mph or so, as we were messing around with surf ballast.

Fast forward to today. First time we had a group with us (8 total). Somewhere between 10.5 and 11.5 hours it happened again, but this time it completely died and I had to restart with key. All oil pressure, temperature, and voltage was normal. Checked oil and fluids. Over the course of the next 1-2 hours it happened 3 or 4 more times. Each one was at various speeds, some while cruise was on, some while cruise was not engaged.

Now I am a bit ticked off, but also know that these things happen so I have no ill will toward Moomba or dealership. Plus I know they will take care of it as my dealer is solid. I do have to admit that it probably was a bit embarrassing more than anything with a boat full of friends that I'm trying to show off my new boat to.

So does anyone have any thoughts? My gut tells me it's definitely electrical, otherwise all the gauges wouldn't die simultaneously. Could it be a bad battery connection, some wire arcing, etc? Don't know really where to start, and will definitely let the dealer handle it.

Unrelated - definitely will be buying a new prop as the stock 14 x 18 blows with full ballast (upgraded 750's in rear) and 8 people. I had to dump nearly all of the ballast to get on plane.

[maxpower220]

I assume that you checked all of your battery connections. Have you checked your kill switch lanyard. It may be attached but allowing that microswitch to kill power. Check your seat position, I know I keep a flotation device between my seat and the lanyard.

Other than that, I would start checking connectors under the engine box (alternator, ECU, etc).

Hopefully, it is something simple.

[skiyaker]

Hopefully, it is something simple.

X2 hopefully it's a kill switch problem- that thing fools me every time the kids jack with it. But hey if not that's the benefit of buying a boat from a solid dealer. Hope you're back on the water soon.

[Ian Brantford]

Just about every electrical connection under the dash of my boat was shaken loose during the 500 km trip from my dealer (where I spent a weekend doing the initial break-in) to my local marina. Since re-seating them, they have presented no problems.

[zabooda]

First thing I disable. I had a friend where that failed while boating and took a bit to get back to shore. I prefer the key method for shutting down and works faster if the lanyard isn't attached just by natural response.

[markcr]

Yeah, this sounds like either a loose battery terminal or a kill switch issue. These boat are very reliable and I'm sure once the dealer finds the culprit, you'll be fine. If you want to check for yourself, find your battery and remove the plastic cover. You'll see the main, red wiring connected to the battery as well as a black one. Grab each of these wires, one at a time, and see if you can wiggle them. If there is any rotational play in the wire, in other words, if the battery terminal connector moves at all, then this is more than likely your problem. Using a small wrench you can tighten the battery cable connector yourself, saving you the hassle of taking it into the dealer.

[mmandley]

Id have to lean away from battery issue as these boats don't run on a battery. They run on an alternator like a car does. The battery connections are a vital role as the complete electrical circuit is threw the battery but the boat will run on a dead battery, just wont initially start.

With it stalling and then all the gauge went to Zero while running, my bet is Lose connection 8gauge wire that runs to the 50 amp circuit breaker and the main fuse panel.

Lanyard will kill the engine but the gauges will still be working and with the added effect of no gauges it means power was lost, or signal was lost to the dash.

My second thought is the ECU on the engine as this is sending all these vital signals to the dash and if it loses power or interrupts then those effects you see could be the issue as well.

[TL7]

That sounds logical. After church I will be checking all those connections, especially the ones under the dash. I really hope this is a non-issue. I don't mind as I know it's not costing me anything but time, but that's what I fear. Intermittent problems are usually the worst when it comes to finding and fixing them.

[TL7]

Just wanted to update everyone - it was indeed the kill switch. Can't really call it a faulty switch, but it was definitely an "over sensitive" switch. Basically just touching it would kill the boat. Touching the actual lanyard killed the boat as well. A new switch was installed and should be good to go now.

Thanks again to Rinker's. Dropped it off Monday afternoon and had the boat ready to roll Thursday.