First, thanks for even reading this thread. It is going to be along one, but I don't know how to ask a question for help without giving up all that I know at this point. I am hopefull that people smarter than me will read through this and point me in the right direction (or even a couple of wrong directions, I am at a standstill). I am a shade tree mechanic so my greatest attribute is probably persistence and the ability to apply a little bit of logic. Beyond that, I know enough to get myself into trouble and I have a clear willingness to do so! With that background, I want to run my current situation by you to see if anyone can point me in a productive direction.
The Seadoo in question is a 2008 RXT x255. It has around 160 hours on it. Toward the end of last season, it stopped starting. When I put the key on the post, the gauges would light up and go through the process that appears to be a self check sequence (each indicator goes on and off etc) and then nothing. No beeps. After about 3 seconds, the gauges would go dim (appeared to be off) and the start button wouldn't do anything. Since it was the end of the season, I trailered the boat and planned to look at it over the winter.
As happens, I got busy and didn't look at it again until spring. At that time, I popped the key on the post and all appeared fine. The starter activated, the boat started and I put it in the water, feeling like I must have dodged a bullet. I didn't. I rode the boat from the ramp to my house and put it on the dock. The next time I went out to take it out, nothing. The symptoms were back. I decided to take it to the Seadoo dealer on my lake and have them take a look.
After some time, the shop came back and said I needed a new wiring harness. This didn't sound right to me so I queried them about their justification and they said they found corrosion and were confident that was the problem and "guaranteed" that would get it running. They said there might be other problems, but that this would get it started. I am not a certified mechanic, but the fact that the gauges would come on and then go dim about 3 seconds later didn't sound like corrosion on the wiring harness to me, but they convinced me to go ahead. $1,300 later, I had a new wiring harness and the exact same problem. Their next suggestion was the ECU. They quoted the part at $1,200 (plus labor) and said that it would be a couple of months before they could get the part. It was clear they didn't have any clue and were simply parting the machine until they got something to work or I ran out of money. This shop is AWFUL! I can share more about them if anyone is interested.
The suggestion of the computer actually made more sense to me than the wiring harness so I went out looking to see how best to figure out if that was the problem. I came across Nick at Westside Powersports in Minnesota. I reached out. They asked me to ship them the ECU, the control panel (gauges), and the keys. They said they would test the existing parts and would be able to replace any if they were bad. I did and they did exactly what they said they would do. I spoke to Nick and he confirmed that the ECU and the control panel were functioning just fine on their test bench. I was not looking forward to dropping a grand on a new ECU, but, to be honest, I would have preferred that to being back at square one. Nick was first rate; helpful, actually apologetic that he couldn't solve the problem by selling me a new part. If his shop was closer (it is in Minnesota, I am in Alabama) I would drop the boat off and not worry, but that is not an option for me.
Nick did suggest that I validate the grounding and he also mentioned that when he ran the BUDS software it showed that the boat had thrown a code for LOW VOLTAGE a couple of times. No other codes were stored.
I reinstalled the parts and paid close attention to what was going on. Here are the specifics that I made note of:
Each time I install the key on the post
When I take the key off the post
What have I done at this point.
I hate to throw myself on the mercy of the goodwill in this forum, but I am hoping that someone can provide some insight into what the problem might be or at least have suggestions on how to go about troubleshooting this. Thanks for any and all feedback.
The Seadoo in question is a 2008 RXT x255. It has around 160 hours on it. Toward the end of last season, it stopped starting. When I put the key on the post, the gauges would light up and go through the process that appears to be a self check sequence (each indicator goes on and off etc) and then nothing. No beeps. After about 3 seconds, the gauges would go dim (appeared to be off) and the start button wouldn't do anything. Since it was the end of the season, I trailered the boat and planned to look at it over the winter.
As happens, I got busy and didn't look at it again until spring. At that time, I popped the key on the post and all appeared fine. The starter activated, the boat started and I put it in the water, feeling like I must have dodged a bullet. I didn't. I rode the boat from the ramp to my house and put it on the dock. The next time I went out to take it out, nothing. The symptoms were back. I decided to take it to the Seadoo dealer on my lake and have them take a look.
After some time, the shop came back and said I needed a new wiring harness. This didn't sound right to me so I queried them about their justification and they said they found corrosion and were confident that was the problem and "guaranteed" that would get it running. They said there might be other problems, but that this would get it started. I am not a certified mechanic, but the fact that the gauges would come on and then go dim about 3 seconds later didn't sound like corrosion on the wiring harness to me, but they convinced me to go ahead. $1,300 later, I had a new wiring harness and the exact same problem. Their next suggestion was the ECU. They quoted the part at $1,200 (plus labor) and said that it would be a couple of months before they could get the part. It was clear they didn't have any clue and were simply parting the machine until they got something to work or I ran out of money. This shop is AWFUL! I can share more about them if anyone is interested.
The suggestion of the computer actually made more sense to me than the wiring harness so I went out looking to see how best to figure out if that was the problem. I came across Nick at Westside Powersports in Minnesota. I reached out. They asked me to ship them the ECU, the control panel (gauges), and the keys. They said they would test the existing parts and would be able to replace any if they were bad. I did and they did exactly what they said they would do. I spoke to Nick and he confirmed that the ECU and the control panel were functioning just fine on their test bench. I was not looking forward to dropping a grand on a new ECU, but, to be honest, I would have preferred that to being back at square one. Nick was first rate; helpful, actually apologetic that he couldn't solve the problem by selling me a new part. If his shop was closer (it is in Minnesota, I am in Alabama) I would drop the boat off and not worry, but that is not an option for me.
Nick did suggest that I validate the grounding and he also mentioned that when he ran the BUDS software it showed that the boat had thrown a code for LOW VOLTAGE a couple of times. No other codes were stored.
I reinstalled the parts and paid close attention to what was going on. Here are the specifics that I made note of:
Each time I install the key on the post
- The gauges light up normally and go through (apparent) self-check sequence.
- Roughly 3 seconds after the key is engaged, the gauges dim. It is so dim that it appears to be off unless you look closely. The dimming is abrupt and not a situation where it fades to a dim state.
- After this at roughly 16 second intervals, the self check sequence appears to repeat itself. Notably you can see the RPM indicator sweep across and return to zero. The gauges remain dim throughout. I don't know for sure, but this seems to mirror the period when the boat would normally do additional beeps when the key is left on the post.
- A couple of seconds after the self-check, the engine makes a couple of typical startup sequence sounds (clicks etc)
- This sequence appears that it would go on indefinitely.
When I take the key off the post
- On close inspection, you can see the gauges actually turn off at this point. Sometimes this takes a few seconds to happen.
What have I done at this point.
- Charged the battery and tested it to make sure it was in good condition.
- Got a new wiring harness with all the associated fuses etc (best $1,300 I ever spent... OK, maybe not)
- Had the ECU, the control unit and keys tested and verified that they are in working condition
- Created a new ground wire to test the ground condition between the battery and the engine
- Swapped out the rectifier (I had the part so figured might as well)
- Tested with different keys. I have two identical Seadoos and they are keyed to use either key.
I hate to throw myself on the mercy of the goodwill in this forum, but I am hoping that someone can provide some insight into what the problem might be or at least have suggestions on how to go about troubleshooting this. Thanks for any and all feedback.
