2000 GTX RFI Speedo Issue

[TSmith]

About to pull the trigger on purchase of a 2000 millennium edition GTX RFI. All appears to be in good shape except for the speedometer, which is not working. All other functions in the digital display appear to be working ok, including tachometer, but neither the digital nor analog speedo is working.

Does anyone have any idea what might be wrong, and what kind of cost I might be looking at to fix? I heard from someone in a separate thread that it could be as simple as a sending unit, which might be about $50 used. does this sound reasonable?

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[CReynoldsMIZ]

Probably so. They do tend to go bad. Try and spin the little wheel thing and see if your speedometer moves.

 

[TSmith]

Well, thought I had a deal. Guy texted me yesterday that he now had two 2000 ME GTX's on with working speedo and one without, and would take $4,800 for both without trailers. Then he calls me 10 minutes later and says he just showed them to someone else who definately was going to buy one and might buy both. Said he didn't want to make anyone mad, but first one with cash gets them. I was traveling on business and couldn't get there, so I lost out on the deal. He ended up selling the one with the working speedo, so Im back looking for others at this point.

Thanks again for the advice guys, I really do hope to become an Owner soon, just have to find the right machine/s.

 

[TSmith]

OK, rather than post a new thread, I thought I'd revive this one. I purchased a 2000 GTX RFI today, just not the same one I originally posted about. This one's speedo is not working either (imagine that). All other the same as above. Info center works great, but no speedo either analogue or digital. Since neither of the gauges work but the pickup wheel spins freely, I'm inclined to think the sensor or the wiring is bad, or maybe something else along the way.

Any ideas where I should begin to check?

 

[TSmith]

Tried doing a little minimally invasive fiddling to see if I could get a reaction. Spinning the wheel while pressing the start button with key off does nothing. Tried cleaning the contacts at the harnesses to no avial. Guess I need to get a volt meter to test if I'm getting anything from the sensor and go from there.

If anyone has any other ideas please let me know. I'd really like to get this fixed, or at least know if its fixable.

 

[TSmith]

OK, I've about decided that the speed sensor is bad. Do I need to purchase the entire speed sensor assembly, or just the paddle wheel assembly? How hard is it to change either of those 2 out? Looks like I might could also pick up just a paddle wheel for pretty cheap, but not sure if that would solve the problem.

 

[GTX RFI]

intresting. My speedo works but i can see that some of the wires have become bare at the back of the hull and i can't get to them without taking things apart. what colour is yours?

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

it's about $140 to replace the sender. it's not that hard, but most senders now don't have the 3rd wire which gives you water temp...

90% of the time the failure is this device. I've replaced them on my XP, not that hard... just a bit of a pain.

 

[TSmith]

Thanks. When you say "device" do you mean the sender unit as a whole or just the Paddle Wheel itself?

 

[TSmith]

I read elsewhere about a soon to be available GPS sending unit that apparently replaces the Paddle Wheel/Speed Sensor. Anyone else heard about this possibility and have any info?

 

[Spimothy Leary]

IMO GTX RFI doesn't need a speedo. If your idling your going 4.5mph, @ half throttle your going about 25, (and the speedo would bounce between 22 and 30) if your going full throttle your going 53, the speedo tell you anything between 45 and 58ish.

If you really need to know your speed, IMO I'd ignore the speedo and go with GPS, A cheap ETREX is under $50 shipped, throw it in the glove box or mount it on the handlebar, its cheaper and more importantly, its actually accurate and has additional features like Odometer and breadcrumb trails.

 

[TSmith]

I know I don't really "need" to know per se, but I'm a bit anal so I "want" to know. As for the GPS angle, that's why this new gadget possibility intrigues me. Sounds like the best of both worlds. You would get the function of the gauges back, but with improved accuracy!

 

[Spimothy Leary]

ya, i hear you, but I stop being anal about gauges right about the time that they cost 5% of the value of the ski
And to boot I always found them to be generally unreliable. Lastly, part of me says to give it a few rides out to make sure you don't have other, more expensive issues with your "new to you" ski.

However I understand completely that you would prefer to have your new ride have all the gauges working. I tend to do that as well with new truck's, pwc's, then after 6 months the novelty wears off and i don't even care about anything as long as it starts and hits max rpm.

 

[TSmith]

Thanks, appreciate the advice. I tend to be a bit of a PITA about little things like that. To me there's just something about staring at something that doesn't work or is not as it should be. Leads me to fix a lot of things around the house and garage that otherwise could be left alone.

In this case I knew of the issue going in, but got a good deal on the ski, so spending a little to fix it was in my plan all along. Just didn't think it would be this difficult to get information on doing so.