fluctuating volt meter

[Tip]

I've got an 03 22v with the Millienium dash so the volt meter is combined with the fuel gauge, oil pressure and engine water temperature gauge.

My volt meter is very erratic, and never reads above 13 volts. At idle it normally drops to 10 volts. I have a two battery system and I normally run the switch in the "both" position.

This summer will be my third season with the boat, the gauge has always been this way. I've never had a problem with a dead battery and I've been known to run the stereo (2 amps, 8 speakers + sub) for an hour at a time just on the batteries. Should I be concerned? If so, what I can I check to troubleshoot?
Could it be just a problem with the gauge?

Thanks for the help.

Tip

[GIZMO]

Its most likley a gauge, Check the voltage at the battery with a volt meter. Just above idle you should have about 14.5 volts. At idle it should be 12 to 13 volts

[Tip]

I'll give that a shot, thanks for the help.

Tip

[Tip]

I took some readings today and yesterday. At idle I'm getting 13.1 - 14.0 volts depending on whether I have the tower lights turned on. At about 1000 rpms I get 14.0 13.5 with the tower lights on and 14.2 with them turned off. 14.2 was the highest reading I saw under any conditions.

The volt meter in the dash still fluctuates. I was able to check the voltage at the battery when the voltmeter in the dash was indicating around 8-10 volts and voltage at the battery was reading 13.1 volts.

This pretty much confirms that the problem is not with the alternator, any ideas on why the volt meter fluctuates like this? Is anyone else experiencing this?

I probably should just be happy that the boat works but I spent 16 years as a military pilot so I tend to pay close attention to my instruments, this problem is very distracting for me.

Thanks for the help,

Tip

[raythompson]

Check the connections to the meter and make sure they are clean and tight.

[smendez]

Tip:

If I properly remember, your 2003 has a limited lifetime warranty on all gagues. Call your dealer.

Saulo

[Tip]

Yeah, the gauges are supposed to have a lifetime warranty. My dealer is driving up to do the 150 hour service in a couple of weeks, I'll just add this to the list.

Thanks for the help,

Tip

[bigairsteve]

TIP

there may be something shorting the wire intermitently. One way you can see if its the wire is to take another wire and run it from the alternator sending post and run it up to the post for the volt part of the guage if it is no longer jumping around you just need to just run a new wire for it.

bigair

[Tip]

Good idea. How do I identify which post on the alternator to use?

Tip

[Tip]

I finally figured out what was causing the volt meter to fluctuate, it was the canon plug that connects the ignition wiring harness to engine. I started the engine, jiggled the canon plug and the volt meter started registering a steady 14 volts. I took the boat for a test drive and the meter stayed steady at 14 volts.

The question now is do I need to replace the canon plug assembly? Has anyone else had any trouble with the canon plug assembly?

Tip