New Boat with Tons of Questions... Aftermarket stereo wiring, fuel gauge fix, etc.

[csaba1589]

Hello all,

I have recently purchased my first boat (1999 Seadoo Challenger 1800).

I want to install an aftermarket stereo and speakers. Wiring doesn't too bad except for the two orange wires from the boat wiring harness. I assume these are power. If my aftermarket harness only has a single power line, do I just connect both the power (orange) cables from the boat harness to this single power line? The wiring diagram for the boat stereo is attached to this post.

Also, are there any videos or step by step instructions for fixing the baffle issue with the fuel gauge?

What oil do I need to use for my boat? I have seen a ton of contradictory posts about it. I went to Walmart and purchased Quicksilver Personal Watercraft 2-Cycle Full Synthetic Oil. Should I use this or do I need to bring it back and get something else? I couldn't find the recommended oil listed in the manual anywhere.

Also, I don't know much about boats and I do not know much about these types of boats either. Are there things I should know. Any comments/opinions would be much appreciated. I have taken the boat out 3 times so far for about a combined of 10 hours and everything seemed fine. But any suggestions would be nice.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

welcome to the forum, its a great group here.

not sure on the wiring, somebody will chime in.

I owned the 96 challenger, single engine 787, i liked it, didn't love it, a little small for my taste and a little slow, but a nice little runabout for a small family or a couple. one thing I liked about it is that I didn't have to fear shallow area's as much vs with an outboard, and the area I live has a lot of shallow spots.

re: fuel baffle (magnet replace?) if its the same as on 2 stroke pwc's then the kit comes with detailed instructions, $16.75 shipped on ebay.

oil is yours black bottle with pink label ? ( the bottle should say api-tc not tcw3) (I thought wally world stopped carrying the quicksilver?) There are a LOT of difference opinions on which brand of oil, but we are all in agreement that api-tc synthetic shoud be used. I prefer amsoil, but if you read 10 threads you'll get 10 opinions of brand recommendations.

 

[Cheap Engineer]

Just did the stereo in my 98 Challenger 1800 the other day. I had the factory radio and the correct color wires were there, red and yellow for power. Now if you just have orange and you check and make sure there are 12 volts there just hook it up to the yellow or red wire and you should be fine. The fuel baffle fix on my boat was the F1 fuse. It isn't too bad just had to dremel out a small window so I could get in there and solder across the fuse. There are some good posts on this if you search for F1 fuse. I run seadoo oil. Never had a problem with this boat or my Speedster running that oil. If you don't know the previous maintenance done to the boat it would be a good idea to go through and do all the seasonal stuff. Clean RAVE valves, replace pump oil. Also listen closely to the engines and how they are running. The carbs on my boat were filthy. The internal filters were jammed with stuff. The boat still ran, but didn't rev very well and when at wide open throttle the RPMs bounced around. You don't want to run your boat too long like that.

 

[csaba1589]

welcome to the forum, its a great group here.

not sure on the wiring, somebody will chime in.

I owned the 96 challenger, single engine 787, i liked it, didn't love it, a little small for my taste and a little slow, but a nice little runabout for a small family or a couple. one thing I liked about it is that I didn't have to fear shallow area's as much vs with an outboard, and the area I live has a lot of shallow spots.

re: fuel baffle (magnet replace?) if its the same as on 2 stroke pwc's then the kit comes with detailed instructions, $16.75 shipped on ebay.

oil is yours black bottle with pink label ? ( the bottle should say api-tc not tcw3) (I thought wally world stopped carrying the quicksilver?) There are a LOT of difference opinions on which brand of oil, but we are all in agreement that api-tc synthetic shoud be used. I prefer amsoil, but if you read 10 threads you'll get 10 opinions of brand recommendations.

Yes, the baffle came with instructions (just got it).

The Quicksilver oil I mentioned states on the back that it can be used for SeaDoo and that it is API-TC. So, from what I have read in other discussions and what the label states, it should be fine. (yes it is the black with pink label).

 

[csaba1589]

Just did the stereo in my 98 Challenger 1800 the other day. I had the factory radio and the correct color wires were there, red and yellow for power. Now if you just have orange and you check and make sure there are 12 volts there just hook it up to the yellow or red wire and you should be fine. The fuel baffle fix on my boat was the F1 fuse. It isn't too bad just had to dremel out a small window so I could get in there and solder across the fuse. There are some good posts on this if you search for F1 fuse. I run seadoo oil. Never had a problem with this boat or my Speedster running that oil. If you don't know the previous maintenance done to the boat it would be a good idea to go through and do all the seasonal stuff. Clean RAVE valves, replace pump oil. Also listen closely to the engines and how they are running. The carbs on my boat were filthy. The internal filters were jammed with stuff. The boat still ran, but didn't rev very well and when at wide open throttle the RPMs bounced around. You don't want to run your boat too long like that.

For mine, both of the power cables appear to be orange. The wiring diagram also states orange. I assume one is for power (red) and the other is for backup (yellow). I will try it out and see what happens...

The engines seem to run fine. They start up fine and rev fine. If I am cruising at a constant speed, the rev bounces very very little (if at all). I think I might wait and do all the maintenance over the winter since I will not be taking it out a whole lot after August (first baby on the way ).

 

[Spimothy Leary]

Yes, the baffle came with instructions (just got it).

The Quicksilver oil I mentioned states on the back that it can be used for SeaDoo and that it is API-TC. So, from what I have read in other discussions and what the label states, it should be fine. (yes it is the black with pink label).

excellent.

& congrats on the incoming baby !

 

[Nosnibor]

Welcome. I hope to be an owner of the similar type of boat soon. Glad you are asking questions because I will probably have some of the same and I don't have much boat/motor knowledge.