New To Tige and Totally New to Boating!

[UNSTUCK]

Hi All,
Last week we purchased a 2000 21v. We are pulling away (for the time being) from jeeping and trying out luck at water sports. In the past we have tried to rent a tow boat at least once a summer. Being renters we never really got into the ins and outs of boating. Every time we rented one though, we walked away wanting to own one. Three weeks ago was hopefully our last time renting a boat.

The 21v we purchased was the cleanest boat we could find in our price range. We knew we wanted a boat we could surf behind, as that will be the adults main game. My kids are 10, 9 and 3. We hope to be able to get them off the tubes soon and into the stand up sports. The boat says to have 475 hours on it. Overall it is very clean. There are a few puncture holes in the upholstery and the very front bow back rest is faded and starting to crack. It will be replaced first this winter.

We purchased it from a dealer in NV without a test drive. Just pictures and videos. Kind of scary, but I think we will be okay, after all it is 15 years old so we could never expect perfection, and knew we would need to do some work. My first impression of the boat was towing it back to Salt Lake City. It towed great. Most of the time I didn't know it was there.

We got it home last two Fridays ago and were eager to try it out. Saturday morning came around and I started to pretrip it at our home. I started hitting the different switches to turn everything on, which is when I noticed the blower would not turn on, or the radio. After messing with it a few times, I discovered if I turned all the switches on in the right order I could get everything to work. Bilge, then ACC 1, ACC 2, Radio, blower, ect... Weird. At least I knew all the items worked. I'm guessing that 9-relay controller is messed up. Common?
So we then rush to the lake only to find the marina we were going to use was super low. We watch the boat in front of us put in and then immediately destroy his prop. There was no way we were going to try that on our first outing. It was getting later at that point so we headed home, with very upset kids!

We tried our luck again at another marina on the other side of the lake this past Saturday. Went in with no problems and we had a great first time on the lake! Overall it was a good day and the kids were happy. There was few items I'd like to put past you guys and get your opinions if that's okay:

The depth gauge read between 1.5 and 1.7 ft the entire day. Utah Lake is very shallow, but it was at least 4 ft deep or deeper all day. Can they be re-calibrated?

The taps plate didn't move up or down, though the gauge did move up and down. Should the plate be flat at 1 or 9?

The trans light came on towards the end of the day. We called it after that. I read that its normal to have that on below 1000 rpm. I was running it at 3000 and the light was still on. When we got back I checked the fluid level in the "blue" transmission. The fluid was clean, but 1/2" above the full mark with the boat slightly nosed down. Any thoughts?

I'm excited to be a part of this site and start learning the ways of the Tige. I have a ton to learn.

Josh.

[mdk681]

Not sure about the depth gauge. My 21v will do that every once in a while when we are in a bunch of weeds, but other than that it works well. I am guessing the transducer is a through hull type, so follow the wire back to the bilge area and inspect the transducer puck. Also check for loose wires on the back of the gauge.

I would check the TAPS pump for fluid level. It is located in the starboard side rear locker behind the wall.

You are correct, the trans light should shut off above 800-1000 RPM. I think the light staying lit may be due to the overfill. Not sure though - wait to hear from an expert as I am sure someone will speak up on the matter.

Congrats on the new boat! Check out my thread in Ballast discussion if you are thinking of getting set up to surf. I have my 21v pretty dialed in as do plenty of others around here.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[h2osk8er00]

Welcome to the club and the forum! Wish I knew about this site before my purchase.. I love my boat and model though... She puts out a mean surf wake and is capable of so much for the amount you spend on them to fix it up. I would just keep an eye on the tower.. Somehow I have been able to keep mine in operation (knock on wood). For your trans.. I am not sure about the light coming on at 3k rpms.. but did you check it right after running the boat? From what I was always told, you need to drive around for a little bit and then you will get an accurate reading when it is hot.. Sounds like yours may be overfilled a little but like mdk681 said you should wait until someone really knowledgeable chimes in. Post some pics up of the new boat!

Mike

[007]

Welcome!

[Blaze Sr.]

Funny I came over from wheeling to boating. Kids are 3 and 5 so I have a little time before they board.

-On mine 1 on taps is slightly pointed up and 7 is slightly down. It dosent move much, 1/2" maybe...
- If your gauge is reading 1.5ft if it was real shallow with lots of weeds and debri I bet it was just that lake. Mine will glitch some times with weeds and stuff.

[UNSTUCK]

I finally got around to calling two of the Tige dealers here in town yesterday. I was flat out not impressed with either one. The first just told me to bring them the boat. He had no interest in trying to help me over the phone (I guess I can understand that, but I wont be taking it there because of that attitude). The second was very willing to help me over the phone, but had no clue about anything. I would ask a question and he kept saying he would have to look into it and call me back, or ask someone else. He just wanted to throw parts at it and "see what happens". I like to diagnose problems first and then take the appropriate action to fix the problem.

I'm a little confused with the transmission light. Some say it is a transmission warning. Some say v drive warning. Some say temperature and some say pressure. I'm leaning towards v-drive pressure, but I'll know for sure when I trace the wires from the light back to the sensor. If it is pressure, I'll pull the sensor/switch out and replace it with a gauge for this weekends trip and see what the readings are.

As for it being overfull, that was the dipstick reading on the transmission. I understand it should be ATF in it. I'm guessing it has either engine oil or hydraulic oil in it. It's very clear and light weight. Should I drain it out and replace with ATF? How about checking the v-drive? Is there a dip stick for it? I haven't had time to even look at it yet. To be honest, not even sure how. Does the floor just pull up or do I need to remove the back seat first? Some say the v-drive needs 30wt oil. Other are telling me 80-90w gear oil. Any thoughts on that?

Does anyone have a make or model number for the TAPS cylinders on the trim plate? Mine say nothing. Are they rebuildable? One is leaking now, and I'm guessing I ran it out of fluid. So I'd like to rebuild both of them or simply replace them. What fluid should I put back in the system?

Mike, what are you doing to get your great wake? For my first trip out last saturday I was a bit disappointed. All the adults did was surf. The TAPS plate was not working and we only had one fat sack filled on the right side of the boat in the rear locker. It's a small bag, maybe 250 pounds. I have another bag the same size that I was thinking of putting it together with the other one. So that corner of the boat should have 500 pounds then. Is not having the TAPS working hurting me a lot? Or should I focus on more weight. Maybe the lake? I was touching the bottom most of the time, so it's not a deep lake.

I can't wait to get out there again this saturday. Thanks for all the info so far. I'm learning a lot.

Any other guys on here from the Salt Lake area?

[mdk681]

The light is for the transmission, not the v-drive. As for exactly what the light means, I am not totally sure. I was under the impression it was a fluid level sensor.

What goes in the transmission depends on which one you have, I believe there is a black one and a blue one. I have the black one which takes Dexron III ATF, not sure about what the other takes. 30 weight oil for the v-drive sounds right, but I would look up both units and see what the manual says before doing any work. You should be able to easily access both units easily by removing the center bench seat panel in the rear of the boat. There should be 2 Phillips head screws down towards the floor, and a couple 7/16 bolts up on the seat back bracket.

I think the TAPS systems is all Bennett. Search a little bit more on this site and you should be able to find some info. A lot of people have had similar issues as to what you are seeing. Standard ATF should be used in the TAPS system as well.

For my surf wave I have a custom port side surf sac that holds around 1000-1200 pounds. It fits in the port side v-drive locker and stretches forward under the port side bench seat. I put all people on the boat on that side. A 300lb sac goes in the bow walkway. Pretty awesome wave for this era of boat.

I attached a picture of my v-drive and transmissions. As you can see they are both very easy to get at when the bench seat in the back is removed. The red dipsticks is for the transmission and the black is for the v-drive. Hope this helps a little bit.IMG_0464.jpg

[chpthril]

If im not mistaken, this circled in red, is actually the pressure switch that controls the "Trans Light" on a V-drive boat, and it is actually on the v-drive, not the trans.

The transmission (red T handle) uses Dex III. The V-drive (black round knob) uses 30W non-detergent motor oil

[UNSTUCK]

Interesting. I checked the transmission level for sure then. Mine is the blue transmission with a red dip stick. It has clear fluid in it. Not ATF and it's over full.

The switch on the v drive in the picture looks like a pressure switch. I'll know for sure when I pull it out tonight. I plan on plumbing in a gauge so I can keep an eye on the pressure while we're out on saturday.

Thanks for the input guys. I'll let you know what I find.

[UNSTUCK]

So I tore into this tonight. The red circled switch from above is the "transmission" light switch. The part number is Hobbs 76061. It is a normally closed switch, meaning that it will turn the light on when it sees pressure under 2 psi plus or minus 1 psi. This explains why some guys have the light turn on while idling and some don't. Their vdrives make too much pressure for the switch to ever go back to the closed position, unless the ignition switch is on with the engine off. So if your key is on and the engine off your light better be on. If not the light, wiring, or switch is bad. If it's on while cruising above 1000-1400 rpm you have a grounded wire (not likely) bad switch (likely) or a vdrive that's not making any pressure. The only way to know for sure is by removing the switch and installing a pressure gauge. This is what I did. I'll run it this weekend and keep an eye on it.
I broke the switch removing it, so I'll be buying a new one anyways. Hoping that's all it is.
I'll report back with the results.

[UNSTUCK]

Rethinking this, does anyone know if there is a pump in the vdrive that circulates the oil or if it is just thrown around by the gears? Either way, nothing in the vdrive is turning when in neutral so no pressure is being built up. I would say that everyones light should be on any time the key is on and trans in neutral. If yours is off you may want to look into it.

[Blaze Sr.]

image.jpg
We are by no means pro surfers. But everyone I take at a beginner to intermediate level has fun on our wake. I have 500 in the rear locker 350 In the bow and norm driver and 2 adults in the boat.

[Blaze Sr.]

Here is the vid that photo was taken from.

http://youtu.be/iVQpmfwBVMc

Oh and also I pretty much always run my plate at 1. But it will get more steep on like 3-5

[chpthril]

http://tigeowners.com/downloads/walter_vdrive.pdf

[UNSTUCK]

Went out yesterday. All day long the gauge showed about 1 psi at no wake speeds, about 5 psi at 1000 rpms and 15-20 at crusing speeds. I'm happy with these numbers. I'll get a switch ordered this week.

Now on to fix my surf wave mess. All the main surfers ride goofy and we have a white cap mess. Yesterday we tried putting both of the sacks I have in left side rear locker. I'd guess that to be about 500 pounds. The rub rail was 5-6 above the water line. With me surfing there was two more adults, two teens and three youngsters in the boat, all over the place. In total maybe 900 pounds of people. The lake we were on was maybe 5' deep most of the time.
My taps system is not functioning and is stuck flat. I believe we call that taps position 1? What should I expect once I have it working? I see a lot of you saying you use it around 3-4.
We keep having fun as a family and that is what is most important, but I really want to get rid of the surf rope!