Voltage Regulator Problem?

[Lightningtruck]

And Despower,
If you are still out there, I would advise looking into a CanDooPro or getting the dealer to show you the codes if you have it happen again. And then have them reset everything and come back in later to see what reset, and what happened to cause the code set. It's so easy, I kick myself for not getting the tool early on...

Kevin

 

[Lightningtruck]

Final update from here:

New stator assembly is installed, and STILL have the low battery voltage code. What I have done is:

- Replaced both TPS sensors
- New "improved" rectifier
- New battery, fully charged
- Checked every single ground, took them off and shined them up anyway. Put dielectric grease on them as well.
- Shined up the battery terminals/connections and greased them
- New stator, housing, and the electrical plug that goes through the stator housing
- I've gone through the harness with the meter and through all of the checks in the shop manual for the low battery code

I'm down to the harness and the MPEM itself. I am not putting in an MPEM. I might take one more swing at the harness, and looking at the big bulkhead connectors into the MPEM. I found a defective crimp on a fuel pump circuit last winter in the big plug that goes in the MPEM, so maybe I have another somewhere else that is intermittent. The crazy thing is I can sit here with the CanDooPro and watch it happen.....I mean watch the voltage come and go from 13V down to 8 to 9V and then back. I just can't find root cause. Crazy.

At this point I'm probably just done with this thing and it will be sold as-is. Or parted out. If I part out it's a crying shame, as it's a low hour clean boat that runs strong, wear ring recently done, etc. Just might be worth more as parts. Here, tell me what you think, I have 40 pics of it.

http://s217.photobucket.com/albums/cc111/krlepp/2004 SeaDoo Sportster - For Sale/

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Lightningtruck]

I'm out.

http://richmond.craigslist.org/boa/2459026739.html

4-TECs all the way from here for me. Getting ready to hone my supercharger rebuild skills.

Kevin

 

[Lightningtruck]

Well there just might be a happy ending to my saga after all (even though I did hijack Despower's original thread )

I absolutely, positively missed the obvious.

I got the wiring diagrams back out and looked at how the MPEM gets voltage. It's really not rocket science. So I check the master ON/OFF switch and connections - No problem. Follow down to the solenoid. Wait, have to open up the sealed box with the coils/solenoid, etc. Cut the big zip ties thanks to the previous owner breaking the snaps. Solenoid connections = good. Follow the red lead that goes from the hot post to circuit 3-26 of the MPEM.....the main power to the MPEM.....which incidentially has a 30A fuse inline. Get to the fuse....BINGO!!! Fuse is fine, but look at that corrosion in the fuse holder. Clearly not very good contact between the fuse and both terminals of the holder. This is the main juice to the MPEM. Pulled the terminals from the holder and even the crimps to the wires are both black and corroded. You have got to be kidding me. I totally forgot about what was inside that stupid box!!!!!!

Tomorrow I will solder a new fuse holder assembly inline ad try it out. This has got to be it. I can't believe I missed something so obvious. And after I replaced so many parts.

I'll post up and update, and hopefully this will serve as a good reminder to someone to look at every single one of the basics FIRST.

Boat is still for sale, though. 4-TEC supercharger washers are easy to change and we love that machine!

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Lightningtruck]

NO happy endings with this boat.

Found corroded wires and the fuse holder from the solenoid "hot" post to the Deutsch connector that is the pass-through out of the electrical box. Lots of black wire, and that Deutsch connector was corroded. All replaced today, and the connector was super cleaned and greased. No dice. Now I have a constant battery low condition (11.7v), and the signal is not falling out. Sets the Battery low code constantly still.

I then pulled the connector from the MPEM and removed connector 3-25, the main power lead to the MPEM. Good crimp, good connection, and I even squashed the connector down a tad and added dielectric grease, just to be sure we had a good connection with the MPEM. No difference.

I shouldn't even ask, but what in the world else it could be?

I think I am done with it. It's going to be somebody else's problem next. I will never, ever, own a BRP DI boat, or probably a 2-stroke boat, ever again. And this is coming from a guy that never says never.

Kevin

 

[Lightningtruck]

There is a happy ending to this. Just sold the boat!

With full disclosure, of course. It's truly someone else's problem now. They think they can fix it, and I wish them all the best.

 

[despower]

Damn - Sorry Lightningtruck - wish you had a better ending. As you saw in my other post, I just got a new Rectifier too. Will post a follow up. I should be checking back to these forums more often. I thought I would get new emails with every post, but that is obviously not the case - so I didn't see this sorry saga until now. Can't say my saga is any different - I already replaced my MPEM with no luck. And still throwing Code 5 - grrrrrrrr! At least my code 5 goes away if the battery is completely topped up. So at least the boat is usable. Its just frustrating to forget the top up the battery and get a code 5 on the water. Grrrr.

 

[despower]

And this Candoopro seems like a good thing to have. I assume the $399 home system is the way to go eh?

 

[despower]

Hey everyone,

My saga has a good ending. Looks like all my Code 5 problems came from a faulty regulator. Swapped it out with a new one and voila - no more code 5. Took it out today for a good run and no problems at all. I figured I would close out the post in case anyone else reads this down the road.

 

[Lightningtruck]

Hey despower,

Glad to hear you got 'er beat. I never could get there with mine, and I spent a TON of time trying. Funny thing was that while it would throw codes while sitting on the trailer, when I sold the thing I delivered it about 30 miles away. Went to show the new owner how it throws codes and it wouldn't do it! I think just bouncing around on the trailer jiggled something. In the end, I truly believe that there was something in the harness I couldn't see in that power circuit. And I can conclude that the DI system really, really seems to be picky about "clean" harnesses and connections. Hope someone can take this whole adventure and maybe get something out of it.

That all said, we are loving our SCIC 180 Challenger. The Sportster was a good stepping stone for us, we would have never been in the water otherwise.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[Lightningtruck]

And by the way, I said it before and I'll say it again - The CanDooPro unit is fantastic. A must-have for a DI boat owner.

 

[despower]

I wish I had known about the Candoopro unit 3 years ago - before I spent 2 grand to replace my MPEM (and more importantly, wasted 6 weeks of quality boating time waiting for the repair to be done). I'll have to find an excuse to buy one - since my boat isn't throwing codes now, I'll probably wait until the next little problem pops up.