2006 Challenger 180 dead on the water no beeps.

[code3f250]

So on a beautiful Sunday afternoon I take the boat out to the river, run her for about 20 minutes and anchor out at an island for about 30 minutes. Push away from the island, start the boat, idle out of the shallow area and all of a sudden the boat shuts off, no beeping no warning nothing and now it won't start at all.

All the accessories work, lights, horn, radio, etc. but when I put the key in, the gauges don't go through their scan mode and I hear no beeps at all. Thank god for sea tow membership or I would have been paying a $450 bill to get back to the dock today.
Any body have any suggestions? I checked all the fuses all of them are fine, engine has always run great before this and I have had zero problems with the boat until now. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Coastiejoe]

Single or dual batteries?

Sounds like a battery got low enough to not support the MPEM which would shut the boat down.

Our starter require lots of volts and Amos to work properly.

So, check fuses and get a meter on the battery/batteries and let us know the voltage.


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[code3f250]

It is a dual battery set up, but honestly i'm a little unsue how the dual battery switche work I always just use the main one. But i did use as many combinations as i could with the battery switches thinking its a lack of power but to no avail. I wil be testing the voltage tomorrow how much should I be looking for?

 

[Coastiejoe]

12 plus volts sitting there.

Then check it while trying to crank.

But based on your description, you have a dead battery.

Post a picture of your battery switch. We can help you better.


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[code3f250]

I won't be able to get pics until tomorrow because i'm back at home now, but ill get them asap. Thanks for the help so far!

 

[code3f250]

pics of the two switches and dual batteries, not the best quality but the best I could do with the light.

*also, this may be a stupid question but do these boats have alternators?

 

[Coastiejoe]

First picture is not clear to me.

Is it a switch like the other picture you posted?

It simply an on/off switch it what?


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[code3f250]

The first picture is just a picture of both batteries for reference, doesn't have anything to do with the switches. The second picture....the switch on the right is the main battery switch its the only one I've ever used. The one of the left is for the dual battery setup which I always leave turned off because I have never used it or never understood properly how to use it.

 

[RFoster130]

I got a buddy with a 2006 challenger 180 and it did the same thing. The neutral safety switch wasnt sensing the boat was in neutral. he bypassed it and everything worked again.

I would try to figure out how the battery switches work. You might need to pull em both out and trace the cables. Sounds like a half assed install job. Lets see if we can help figure it out.

What is the red switch usually set to? The only function the right (black) switch has is off or on. Its only capability is to cut the power from an energized source to whereever the power is going. In a stock setup..the power is coming from a single battery and going to the starter solenoid. What someone may have done is wire both batteries to the dual switch...and then run the output from the dual switch to the input of the original switch. I am guessing that is what is probably done and it was because they just didnt understand the concept. If that is the case, i would set the dual switch to both and the other to on.

 

[code3f250]

Rfoster, was your buddy getting beeps when he put the key in? The red switch is always turned to "off", and the only way I have usually powered the boat was with the black switch set to "on". Now when it went dead on the water and I had no other options I tried every combination of switches. Also..i was in forward gear at idle speed when the boat turned off all of sudden, which makes me think the neutral switch may not be the culprit. Thank you everyone so far! I've only had the boat for 3 weeks and this is killing me! Really want to get back on the water without emptying the bank account!

 

[RFoster130]

When his did it, it was when he tried to start the boat after sitting. It didnt give him any beeps at all....thats the weird thing. It should beep that the boat isnt in neutral...but he got nothing. Couldnt figure anything else out so he bypassed the switch and it worked.

Just to start with simple stuff first and start the process of elimination, Here is what i would do.

Make sure both batteries are charged.

Figure out what is going on with the switch setup. It should never have 2 swicthes. Something could be wrong or could have come loose. I would fix it the right way. Everything you need is there. You just gotta do some detective work and sort it out. The correct way to have it wired is.

dont use the black off/on switch at all.

Red Switch. Should have 3 post on the back.
1 Should say 1. That post just connects to the positive of battery 1, Thats it..nothing else.
2. Post 2 should only be connected to the positive side of battery 2, Nothing else.
3. Post 3 im not sure how it is labeled but more than likely its in the middle of the switch. Everything you want powered goes to that. Probably everythign that is on the back of the other switch main post will need moved here.

The rest is just negative cables. The main negative of the boat goes to battery 1 negative post. then battery 2 negative post connects to battery 1 negative post. Its all very simple. See if you can trace what is currently there.

Get it wired correctly and make sure both are charged. Then if that doesnt work, move on to other things.

 

[timeman]

When my neutral switch went out I got no beeps...my fan and accessories worked so I knew the battery wasn't dead, but I got a whole lotta nuthin as far as starting. I (wrongly) assumed it was the starter or solenoid, but it was only the N-switch which I promptly bi-passed, that was a a couple years ago, never had a problem since!

 

[cheappc]

The boat was in Forward when this happened?, do you have a safety lanyard? Almost the same thing happened to me the first day I got my new boat, I was freaking out, specially since I already pushed my boat out on the water, 2 things first my lanyard was not sitting in perfectly, i pulled out the manual and reread everything, once I seated my lanyard correctly everyhing worked.

Remember, the boat also has to be in neutral or it wont start, "so the safety lanyard has be seated correctly, & it has to be perfectly in neutral or no beeps!"

 

[code3f250]

As far as the switches go, I have never moved the red one off of the "off" position because i was told I only needed to switch it to the red one if I wanted to run the stereo for long periods of time so I wouldn't drain the main starting battery. There is curently a large thunderstorm outside so I will have to take a look at all the cables either tomorrow or later.

As far as the neutral switch, would it cut the engine as I was moving if it went out?

 

[RFoster130]

As far as the neutral switch, would it cut the engine as I was moving if it went out?

I think that is a very possible scenario.

 

[code3f250]

Cheappc: The boat was moving forward at the time. I have tried the laynard in every way possible and cleaned it to make sure it was getting a good connection. I thought the boat would beep if you had it in the forward position and put the key in, but just wouldn't start?

 

[code3f250]

I think that is a very possible scenario.

I did test the voltage on the batteries earlier and got a 12v reading out of one and an 11v reading out of the other. I then used a very simple battery charge measuring device where the main battery read 2/3 charge and the 2nd battery read "needs recharge"

 

[RFoster130]

I would start with my previous advice. Sounds like you need to get it wired correctly and make sure the batteries are charged. Sounds like you have one battery dead at least. Depending on how its wired, you might not even be using the one that is 2/3rds, Straighten that mess out and make sure both are fully charged or replaced.

 

[code3f250]

going to have another look at it tomorrow, ill keep everyone updated.

 

[code3f250]

The culprit.....

While going through more trouble shooting I happened to put my hand on this little box here..and voila! I hear beeps, there was/is some type of lose connection in there. May have even been the quick disconnect wire cluster. Either way the whole box appears to be a little shaky and looks like it may have been rigged up. So I'm just going to buy a new one and install it. Does anybody happen to know the official name or part # for this?

Also, completely off topic; what does the freshwater intake hose look like in the engine? When I was towed I'm pretty sure I clamped the right one but just want to make sure. Does anybody have a better picture of what the hose looks like, because the picture in the manual is horrible.

 

[code3f250]

bumpp bump

 

[RFoster130]

What make you think that is the culprit? Thats is the engine fuse block. It distributes power from the battery to all engine components and boat gauges. I could see it causing problems if it had a bad connection. I would make sure the battery is disconnected. Then take off each plug and clean it up as good as possible. Make sure all wires in it are good and no pins on the plugs are bent or bad.

I havent looked but im guessing its over 500 bucks to replace.


So i just looked. its $496. Id have a tough time spending that without trying to get it working first. If you wanna look for it, its part number 204470771

 

[code3f250]

I'll definetly be going the cleaning route before I replace anything after looking at that price. Thanks! Any idea about which hose to clamp?