2013 Glastron GTS 205 5.0 alarm

[Shawn_Odden]

Just picked up a new to me 2013 Glastron GTS205 from the local dealer. On my first run on the lake after getting the boat up in plane the alarm would beep and engine would cut out for a 1/2 sec then continue down the lake. It did this a few times so I circled back and cut back on the throttle to a slow pace. After about a minute the boat died on the water and would not start back up, cranked fine just didn't even spudder. So I got towed to the boat landing and trailered it to the dealer. After a few days the dealer called me and said boat was fixed, they replaced the clean power wire. So I dropped the boat back in the water and it did the same thing again. I have now brought back to the dealer and they have yet to identity the issue. Any suggestions?

Here are some videos of what it's doing

https://youtu.be/zKXLxxgR07I

https://youtu.be/xUZzlMUmNJo

https://youtu.be/BF3iOFehxcQ

 

[achris]

"Clean power wire". What heck is that? Never heard of it (not in boating circles anyway). Sounds like they took your money and had to come up with a reason, and invented that BS....

OK, the clue was in the second of those videos. Watch the tacho.(and gee, I wish you'd kept the video on the tacho a little longer ) It drops right back to 0 revs a long time before the engine gets there. That means a few things. It means we still have power to the instruments, but not to the ignition system. OR, the tacho wire is shorting out the - side of the ignition system (depending on the engine). Both of those we can check for.

But first we need to know a little more about the engine (don't really care what boat it's in since it's not the boat maker who makes the engine). Is it carb, TBI, MPI? And what is the engine serial number. Also, the year of the engine (not always the same as the boat)....

Chris........

 

[Fun Times]

Hi there, welcome to iboats!

I'm assuming you have an MPI engine model? Alpha drive or Bravo? Is your engine serial number handy?

Because the alarm seems to becoming on at about 3800 RPM every time, It's possible that the gear indicator switch is either defective or misadjusted. If so, it's telling the ECM it's in neutral gear and you are trying to Rev past the neutral gear rev limiter. The scan tool should read the if it's in gear or not with a yes or no....Or you'll have to ohms check it while shifting/pushing the switch button in and out.

See item number 20 for location, http://www.mercruiserparts.com/Show...nbr=15044&bnbr=380&bdesc=Shift+Bracket,+Alpha

Hope that's it, if not let us know as I'm sure we could come up with a few other suggestions for you as well. Good luck.

 

[Shawn_Odden]

"Clean power wire". What heck is that? Never heard of it (not in boating circles anyway). Sounds like they took your money and had to come up with a reason, and invented that BS....

OK, the clue was in the second of those videos. Watch the tacho.(and gee, I wish you'd kept the video on the tacho a little longer ) It drops right back to 0 revs a long time before the engine gets there. That means a few things. It means we still have power to the instruments, but not to the ignition system. OR, the tacho wire is shorting out the - side of the ignition system (depending on the engine). Both of those we can check for.

But first we need to know a little more about the engine (don't really care what boat it's in since it's not the boat maker who makes the engine). Is it carb, TBI, MPI? And what is the engine serial number. Also, the year of the engine (not always the same as the boat)....

Chris........

Yea I couldn't find anything online about a clean power wire, damn BS. The engine is a 5.0Ltr Mercruiser MPI 260HP.
The engine serial number on my paperwork is 2A048391, I don't have the boat to verify as its at the dealer... The damn thing only has 30hrs on it, I just don't want the dealer to pull the same BS they did with the clean power wire repair.

 

[achris]

OK, MPI. A few more things to think about. Check the switch FT is referring to. If it's not that, then we need to look at a few other possibilities. The signal for the tacho comes from the ECU, so something is telling the ECU to shut down the ignition system. That could be any one of a few sensors, or the power supply to the ECU itself (let's call that a 'clean power wire' :lol. For that you would need it on a diagnostic computer.

Let us know what the dealer says. If he comes up with more BS, we'll deal with that as it comes along...

Chris..........

 

[Fun Times]

Clean power harness is a newer terminology they have started using and it was mostly used in the beginning with the digital throttle and shift system that utilized a command module mounted under the helm...They needed to make sure the module had direct "clean" power from the battery so they came up with that name. I believe since then, they also started using that same type of wire harness on non DTS engine models like Shawn_Odden has as the newer engines use a similar type wire connector as you'll see in some of the photos linked below in side the many eBay sellers.

The thing is I could foresee a lot of newer service techs that go to service school get hung-up on the clean power harness going bad because it's so new that it's drilled into their training heads that that wire has to be perfect or all heck breaks loose...(< Which is true to a point) So they work on the wire a little, then can't find the real problem and send the boat out the door saying it done. Plus it's that time of year where speed counts to turn service boats abound.

MERCURY OUTBOARD MERCRUISER DTS CLEAN POWER 888416T04 ?
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...X84-897345T08.TRS0&_nkw=84-897345T08&_sacat=0

 

[Shawn_Odden]

Ok so got the word back from the dealer, they state that the tether kill switch was malfunctioning and that is what caused the issues. Does that sound possible? This is my first boat and I have a lot to learn to help me so glad these forums are here with so many willing to help! Thank You!

 

[achris]

I've re-watched the second video (that's actually the one with the most information). I 'full screened' it, and paused it and ran it frame by frame. A few things become obvious. Firstly, FT may be on to something. It happens EXACTLY as the engine hits 3800rpm. Second (and this is important for the dealers' diagnostic) the volt meter doesn't drop. None of the other gauges drop, just the tacho. That would indicate it is NOT the kill switch. When the kill switch is pulled, all the instruments lose power. The unsprung gauges would just freeze, but importantly, the voltmeter would drop to zero (or whatever is the lowest reading on yours, 8v I think).... You would also not get the beep, as the buzzer is powered through the circuit that the kill switch knocks out.

Hope this helps,

Chris......

 

[Fun Times]

Ok so got the word back from the dealer, they state that the tether kill switch was malfunctioning and that is what caused the issues. Does that sound possible? This is my first boat and I have a lot to learn to help me so glad these forums are here with so many willing to help! Thank You!

Yes that is a possibility as it even happened to this recent forum member, http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...w-mercruiser-4-3-mpi-engine/page2#post9961439

One thing to keep in mind when you either go get your boat or test drive it to confirm if it's fixed would be to turn the key on then flip the kill switch and see what (if any) gauges die. Depending on the way the boat was wired up, some boat models may have the 12 volt gauge go down to 0 volts if you where to flip the kill switch, other boats may still show 12 volt power when the kill switch is turned off. From the video it appeared you didn't lose the 12 volt gauge. So be cautious.


Hope they fixed it, good luck.

 

[Shawn_Odden]

Ok the problem was not the tether or the kill switch.. Got the boat at the launch yesterday and it wouldn't start. At this point we are fed up and my wife calls the service manager as I operate the boat. He walks up through the normal bs and the boat just cranks but will not start. Then he gets smart and tells us to listen if the water pump turns on, nope it doesn't. He suggests we check the fuse, I touch the fuse holder and I can hear it turn on I let go and it shuts off.... Ding the fuse must be loose, nope fuse isn't loose the fuse holder is bad. So I run to the store and grab a new one and swap it out. Problem solved.. 6hrs on the lake yesterday and today with no problems.. Yes!!

Thanks for everyone's help it much appreciated, now to figure out the right prop and find a Bimini and we're all set.