Water inside dash gauges

[Sandman_73]

I have a 2002 GTX that I recently picked up from my local dealer where I had some work done. When I got home I noticed the tach/speedo gauges were full of condensation which I have never seen happen prior. Going to assume someone at the dealer took a power washer to it to clean it before I picked it up which caused the water to get in. Are these things designed to vent or are they suppose to be sealed? Any way to open and dry out the moisture? I would like to avoid taking it back to the dealer if it is something I can fix on my own as they are about 40mi away.

 

[lamajama]

These are a sealed unit and virtually impossible to repair. I have the same
issue with my 2002 and took the unit out and let it dry thoroughly and then
put a bead of silicone around the edges. This was at end of
last season so do not know if this will work. A replacement is very expensive
and the gauge also retains hours (if you buy a used replacement).

It's not a great situation.

 

[Sandman_73]

Thx how do you remove the cluster? Does it just pull/pry out? I have read some other threads on the topic and see some drill a couple of small holes to help with drying then seal them back up with silicone.

 

[lamajama]

You have to remove the back of the hood, and then the cluster will, in essence "pop" out of the frame. Be careful as you do this to not break off
any of the plastic tabs. It's a bit of a PITA but if you take your time, it's not that hard.

I had read the drill option. Wasn't fond of this as I am leery of cracking anything. I put mine in the sun and kept rotating it etc. It took about 2 weeks
so it's not a fast fix - even if drilled as you have to allow for the small amounts of moisture to disappear. On the other hand if you have a substantial
amount of water..like a pool at the bottom of the gauge, you'd likely have to drill as that would take a LONG time to dry up.

Apparently this was a common problem in this year's seadoo's and IIRC there was even a BRP re-call or BRP involvement but that's long passed for us.

 

[mkov608]

The ECU stores the operating hours in non-volatile memory. If you replace the information center, it will display current operating hours. I replaced mine back in 2014 (lots of water & corrosion inside); cost me $609.00! The newer unit dropped the clock feature and replaced it with a digital RPM indicator.

 

[Sea Dood]

The ECU stores the operating hours in non-volatile memory. If you replace the information center, it will display current operating hours. I replaced mine back in 2014 (lots of water & corrosion inside); cost me $609.00! The newer unit dropped the clock feature and replaced it with a digital RPM indicator.

Not true. There are two counters on this ski. One is the counter in the cluster, the other is in the ECU. The cluster increments hours whenever it is powered up, the ECU records hours that engine runs, so the cluster always shows higher hours. You cannot change the cluster hours, when you replace it with new, it will show zero hours.

 

[mkov608]

Well you know what you know.

From the shop manual, section 7:

"The EMS ECU also stores the fault codes and general information such as: operating conditions, vehicle hours, serial numbers, and customer and maintenance information."

"The memory of the EMS ECU is permanent."

You can say "Not true.", but when I changed my information center, it didn't display zero hours. The new cluster showed the exact same hours as the old cluster. I'm sure there are differences with later model skis, but with the '02 4-Tec, it won't display zero. I know; I've seen it.

 

[lamajama]

Very interesting. I was told what Sea Dood said, but you've seen this with your own eyes. I may have to eventually replace mine either new or used. I was told the used would
show whatever hours of the machine it came out of.

 

[Sandman_73]

Was able to get the gauge cluster out of the hood. Upon taking it out and tilting forward found it had more water (~1oz) in it than originally thought. Was obvious that the amount of water inside was not going to evaporate out, so had to drill a couple of small holes and drain. A couple of days in the sun and remaining moisture has dried up. Screen it a bit cloudy in spots due to water stains but confirmed it still works. Going to try to seal back up with silicone and re-install and see how it goes.

 

[lamajama]

Sandman, make 100% sure it's all gone. As I said before it took me almost 2 weeks in direct sunlight, and I did notice it "dry" and thought all was good and then after shifting
the cluster around more moisture appeared.

 

[Lexman]

new cluster

Sandman, make 100% sure it's all gone. As I said before it took me almost 2 weeks in direct sunlight, and I did notice it "dry" and thought all was good and then after shifting
the cluster around more moisture appeared.

I put a new cluster in last year..500.00 +++ ECU stored the hours and showed up on new cluster. Had to clear a fault with a Candoo reader to make it work

 

[Nike12000]

Depending on how much gets back in you could MAYBE put something like this on one of your holes you drilled its a one way check valve so air and water could get out but not back in incase it happens again http://shop.pwcxtreme.com/ONE-WAY-CHECK-VALVE-1-4-BLACK-WHITE-HOSE-BARB-CV-14B.htm

seems like you could get a can of compressed air and spray in there also to help speed up the drying time as longs its done gently... just my 2 cents.