GSX hour meter flashes.

[curtietang]

hello all. i am new to the board and wanted to try and fix an issue with my 97 GSX 787. The hour meter on the info gauge just flashes. There are other issues as well: the speedo sending unit is currenty broken and the fuel sending unit is out as well. And the real problem that i am having is the ski isn't getting the battery charged. however i have done some research on the charging system and at last check the voltage reading on the battery was 13.0-13.2 while running. thats with a new Yuasa battery installed.

any tips or info would be greatly appreciated.


curt

 

[kustomkarl]

First, welcome to the seadooforum. Question Curt, What is the reading of the battery with engine not running? If it has more voltage when running it is charging. as for the gauge, I give the manual a look see and see if I can come up with a solution.

 

[curtietang]

11.97-12 Vdc for the battery. thanks for the help with the info gauge.

 

[seadoosnipe]

short?

I've looked into the manual on your problem and as best I can see, you probably have a short. There are several test to perform with a standard mulit-tester on resistivity but I don't even think that would help.
Have you tried to push the start/stop button, with the lanyard removed to see if your gages power up? They are suppose to power up for 33 seconds, then shut back off.
I would look at your electrical system, where there may be pinch points, to see if you have a wire that may be exposed and grounded. And too, look at all your plug type connections. With the age of your ski, it's entirely possible that you may have some corrosion in one or more of your electrical connections. This is normal for a 12 volt, direct current system. Just like the white powder stuff you see on the connections to your car battery. If you pull your connections apart and they look good, use some die-electric grease on the terminal ends to protect them and help provide good contact.
Good luck and let us know how things turn out!.......:cheers:

 

[kustomkarl]

Curt if your battery is putting out 11.97-12Vdc at rest, and under power it is putting out 13.0-13.2 then it is charging but not enough. It should be at about 14Vdc. Check the wire connections for corrosion at the connections. It just might be that the mag is dirty or rusted and not helping the problem either. I had a similar problem with one of my race boats. It was the rusted mag from a poor oring seal. It allowed slight amount of water in and caused the problem. Check the wire connections and let us know, what you find.
Karl

 

[Dennis]

Flashing Hour Meter

Does the ski have a compass selection on the INFO GAUGE?
If so disconnect the compass. It will be located in the front hood. I had a info gauge going crazy one time and I finally figured out it was because the compass sensor in the hood was shorted. The gauge would act OK if the sensor was unplugged. Also, if the speed sensor in the rear of the ski is damaged I would disconnect it and see if that made a difference with the gauge.

Dennis

P.S. Hey Louis,
Is "resistivity" a real word or just something you made up.LOL

 

[kustomkarl]

New language....itivity

Does the ski have a compass selection on the INFO GAUGE?
If so disconnect the compass. It will be located in the front hood. I had a info gauge going crazy one time and I finally figured out it was because the compass sensor in the hood was shorted. The gauge would act OK if the sensor was unplugged. Also, if the speed sensor in the rear of the ski is damaged I would disconnect it and see if that made a difference with the gauge.

Dennis

P.S. Hey Louis,
Is "resistivity" a real word or just something you made up.LOL

I think he has been working too many hrs. lol

:agreeennis might be on to something.

 

[curtietang]

I've looked into the manual on your problem and as best I can see, you probably have a short. There are several test to perform with a standard mulit-tester on resistivity but I don't even think that would help.
Have you tried to push the start/stop button, with the lanyard removed to see if your gages power up? They are suppose to power up for 33 seconds, then shut back off.
I would look at your electrical system, where there may be pinch points, to see if you have a wire that may be exposed and grounded. And too, look at all your plug type connections. With the age of your ski, it's entirely possible that you may have some corrosion in one or more of your electrical connections. This is normal for a 12 volt, direct current system. Just like the white powder stuff you see on the connections to your car battery. If you pull your connections apart and they look good, use some die-electric grease on the terminal ends to protect them and help provide good contact.
Good luck and let us know how things turn out!.......:cheers:

i do have gauge power when the lanyard is disconnected. i will check this again and keep you guys posted. i have not checked pinch points or individual connections and that could be a cause to some of my problems.

thanks for the tips. i will keep you guys up to date.

 

[curtietang]

Curt if your battery is putting out 11.97-12Vdc at rest, and under power it is putting out 13.0-13.2 then it is charging but not enough. It should be at about 14Vdc. Check the wire connections for corrosion at the connections. It just might be that the mag is dirty or rusted and not helping the problem either. I had a similar problem with one of my race boats. It was the rusted mag from a poor oring seal. It allowed slight amount of water in and caused the problem. Check the wire connections and let us know, what you find.
Karl

i changed out the mag with an ebay unit last summer....problems were not corrected. mag condition appeared to to be fine (based on appearance.)


i never took any battery readings with my original mag. i just decided to change it cause the ski would drain batteries quickly.

 

[curtietang]

Does the ski have a compass selection on the INFO GAUGE?
If so disconnect the compass. It will be located in the front hood. I had a info gauge going crazy one time and I finally figured out it was because the compass sensor in the hood was shorted. The gauge would act OK if the sensor was unplugged. Also, if the speed sensor in the rear of the ski is damaged I would disconnect it and see if that made a difference with the gauge.

Dennis

P.S. Hey Louis,
Is "resistivity" a real word or just something you made up.LOL

Nope.....no compass gauge on the GSX.....i think that was a GTX item only.

but mine is not equipped with that feature.

 

[curtietang]

Isn't there a way to diagnois electrical problems by press and release of the start/stop switch with the lanyard out....like 3-5 cycles or something. will doing that help with the hour meter issue???

 

[seadoosnipe]

Southern dialect!

It's a Southern thang!.......born and breed!.........:rofl:

You say you changed out your magneto with one from ebay because your batteries were draining.......this may not have been your problem. If your battery was losing a charge, that may very well have been due to a faulty regulator/rectifier. Are you sure the magneto you changed out is the same as the one you had? Have you checked your rectifier? There are a lot of parts for the 787 that are interchangable by design but not compatable with systems. The magneto should be a 3 phase "Y" wound stator on 18 poles, with 180 watt capacity. A dual 1/2 wave rectifier receives the magneto AC current and transforms it into DC current to allow battery charging. Included in this same unit is the regulator, which keeps the voltage at a steady level of 14.5 to 14.8 volts DC to prevent any damage to components.
There is no static (continuity [resistivity for us southerners]) but there is a deynamic test you can perform. 1. Start the engine. 2. Lay an inductive ammeter on the positive cable at the battery. 3. Trun your rpm up to about 5500 rpm. Depending on the current state of the battery, your reading should be about 5 amps. If your not getting 5 amps, then the regulator/rectifier may be bad. It could be the magneto but to perform the test on it, you'll need a special 6 pin adapter. And of course, the more simple test is to bring the engine up to 5500 rpm and do a volt reading at the battery. If the volts are over 15, then the rectifier/regulator is bad.
The test your describing by pushing the start/stop button is the advanced test for the MPEM and DESS (digital electronic security system). I don't think this is related to your problem with the info center, although the MPEM feeds the current to your info center. The test is as follows. With the lanyard removed, push the start/stop button 5 times. When you hear one short and one long beep, your in the advanced mode. Put the lanyard cap on the post and push the start button. If the engine starts, then your DESS/MPEM is fine. If you get another series of beeps, count them. Re-post the results and I"ll look up the code on it.
Sorry for the long post but to try and help you with your problem to the info center, I think you may have to dig a little further into other things. There is a series of resistance (resistivity for us southerners) readings you can take on the info center gage but I feel pretty certain it would be in vain. I'm pretty sure it's gonna be in the electrical system that supplies the power, a pinch point grounding a wire, or a faulty connection somewhere.
Let us know how you make out!.......................

 

[curtietang]

It's a Southern thang!.......born and breed!.........:rofl:

You say you changed out your magneto with one from ebay because your batteries were draining.......this may not have been your problem. If your battery was losing a charge, that may very well have been due to a faulty regulator/rectifier. Are you sure the magneto you changed out is the same as the one you had? Have you checked your rectifier? the magneto

yes i believe that the mag purchased was the same model.....it was a direct switch. and i even kept the mag cover that it came with since its paint was better than mine.

as for the rectifier regulator...that has been replaced as well.....bought a brand new seadoo unit when i performed my last tests.


yuasa battery, regulator and swapped mag all at the same time.....problem still seems to be there.

 

[seadoosnipe]

13 volts?

Well, if your only getting 13 vdc, then there is still a problem between the rectifier/regulator and battery. The manual states that your charging output of the regulator is suppose to be 14 and of course if your getting over 15, then theres a big problem.
I'm a bit stumped, since it seems you've covered all the bases.

 

[Dennis]

Electrical Problems

I have found in the past that one bad componet on a ski will often cause multiple problems because of the way systems are integrated. Here's what I would do.......I would find out what is drawing the battery down, fix it, and then see how everything else is working. Here's how I'd do it......
Disconnect the neg cable from the battery. Take a 12 volt test lamp and connect it between the cable end and the battery post (key must be off DESS post). If the test lamp lites then you have a constant draw on the battery and this is not good. I would then start disconnecting componets, one at a time, to see if any of these are causing a draw on the battery. In your case I would start with the info gauge then go to the rectifier and then go to the VTS module,etc. Note: using a volt meter connected between the cable end and the battery post will not work. It must be a 12volt test LITE.
Lite on...draw. No lite on...no draw.

Dennis

 

[curtietang]

I have found in the past that one bad componet on a ski will often cause multiple problems because of the way systems are integrated. Here's what I would do.......I would find out what is drawing the battery down, fix it, and then see how everything else is working. Here's how I'd do it......
Disconnect the neg cable from the battery. Take a 12 volt test lamp and connect it between the cable end and the battery post (key must be off DESS post). If the test lamp lites then you have a constant draw on the battery and this is not good. I would then start disconnecting componets, one at a time, to see if any of these are causing a draw on the battery. In your case I would start with the info gauge then go to the rectifier and then go to the VTS module,etc. Note: using a volt meter connected between the cable end and the battery post will not work. It must be a 12volt test LITE.
Lite on...draw. No lite on...no draw.

Dennis

wow.....thats simple and could lead me to solutions......thanks man.....i will perform this test and report information back to you guys.


everyone, thanks for the help and once i purchase a test lite i will test the components.


I hope that i find something jacked up with that info gauge.....if its constantly drawing power and with all its other issues than i could fix multiple problems at the same time......

 

[seadoosnipe]

Very good!

That's a very good suggestion Dawg!..........I'm a bit jealous I didn't think of that first.....man, what a no brainer.
That will probably be the best and fastest way to find what your drain is!:agree: