Strange Electrical problem

[twinturbostroker]

2008 22VE
Marine Power 340
228.60 hours


Been having a strange electrical issue the last two times out, LCD display in the center of my gauge pods will intermittently flash off then back on after about 3-5 minutes of run time. While this is happening the LCD readout located within the MPH gauge which reads, oil PSI, voltage, and engine hours, drops the top line (oil PSI) goes to 0.00 on volts second line, and moves the decimal one place to the left resulting in a engine hour reading of 22.86 -vs- (228.60 actual) third line. The left gauge LCD display and readings remain unaffected, which displays depth, air temp, and water temp. After flashing on and off a with their correct readings and then their false ones a few times, both LCD display locations, seem to revert to a default hold on these false readings.
There seems to be a little hiccup in performance when this takes place although on the last outing when this problem initially occurred, I only operated the boat for 15-20 minutes, (essentially driving it back to the dock) but it did seem to be low on power.
Pulled both batteries load tested and charged them,(both considerably low on power, even after refreshing them both prior to my last outing). After full recharge, reinstalled batteries back into the boat only to have the problem return after about 4-5 minutes of run time. I limited the run time to (1000 RPM) in gear while on lift to allow for assembly to warm up to operating temps. (Currently 80deg air, 76deg water) During warm up, alternator was reading a solid 13.6 volts and would intermittently increase to 13.7, no voltage change with rpm, from 900rpm - 2000rpm, battery voltage at gauge set on startup reads 12.3 volts.

I'm leaning towards the voltage regulator within the alternator and searched the forums and couldn't locate any previous inquires within similar symptoms.

Any insight or guidance will be appreciated.

[twinturbostroker]

56 views and no replies..

It appears that I may be all alone on this one.

[KoolAid]

Glad you check the voltages first and validated they are good. My first thought is a canbus issue, meaning bad connection on the two can wires. Pull the 20 pin connector at the engine and inspect the pins for corrosion and be sure the female side has the pins sitting flush with the connector. Then check the dash side. I believe it was the old 12 pin connector at the helm. It should be the blue and the white wire. The screen isn't restarting, its just losing communication it sounds like.

[KoolAid]

I didn't ask, what does the screen in the center do during this issue? Re-reading you post it makes me think the issue is more with the gauge harness than canbus.

[tigetim]

I once had voltage/instrument issue on my 2004 22V while underway...but couldn't replicate on the lift...eventually found the connection on the wire from the alternator to the "Batt" was corroded...I imagined intermittent connectivity on the waves...re-did the connection and that problem went away...good luck to you

[twinturbostroker]

Thanks for the replies, I will look at these wiring locations today.

When I duplicated the issue last round it was stationary on the lift.

My center guage turns off and then back on, completely, while the first 1-2 cycles of this intermittency seems to be independent of the incorrect LCD readout upon my speedo guage. But after the first 1-2 cycles they seem to sync up when the center display goes out the lcd within my speedo drops the top data set completely and the second and third data sets default to incorrect readings.

Initially I assumed this was the ECS communicating an active fault code through the lcd speedo gauge readout.

[KoolAid]

So the center screen reboots when it does this and shows the tige logo on start up? If so its a power/ground issue somewhere. If the screen goes clear then pops back up with different or same text then its a communication issue.

[twinturbostroker]

it does not reboot, just off and on with same data.

where is this 12 pin connector located that has been referred to in this thread?

[dj2]

Mine started doing the same thing, then it was gone for good and I had to replace the effin' medallion control box.

[twinturbostroker]

Mine started doing the same thing, then it was gone for good and I had to replace the effin' medallion control box.

Where is that located on the boat?

Do you recall the component cost?

[dj2]

It is under the helm, cost was around $300- $400, I can't remember specifically.

[KoolAid]

Its a black rectangular box about 1.5" thick and 5x10. Should be right under the dash. The gauge/screen harness plugs into it.
The white plug will be in that area as well. Most likely tied to the rack for the steering.

[twinturbostroker]

Ok, I was finally able to get out and check these harness plugs and the plug for the medallion, all connections are free of corrosion and plugs were secure. The medallion connector seemed to have a bit of wiggle to it, so I unplugged and resecured it.

The problem returned nearly within the same time after startup and continued while I worked my way around the rig with a multimeter.

I opted to trip the two main breakers upon the court panels under the dash while checking voltage.

13.43 cranking battery
12.43 house battery

3 prong distribution box in engine compartment.
left 13.58 volts
center 14.58 volts
right 13.58 volts

After checking all these areas (again) the two locations on my instrument panel that had been giving me trouble were now back to normal and remained with the correct reading while I drove around for about 1.5 hours.

Still have little idea what is creating this issue, but I seem to be getting a little closer to the solution.

Maybe it is the medallion box.

I'm going to turn the circuit breakers back on next trip out to see if this generates the fault.

Darn Gremlins..

I still got the wife to drag me around for a couple laps on the wakeboard, which is always nice.

[KoolAid]

Still seems like bad connection from black box to screen. If it was a bad ground/power to black box it would reboot every time it went off.

[ewh95]

same problem with my 2007 24ve,did you find out what the problem was?