Keypad Problem on my Nautique

brentgd86 · Outlaw Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Posts: 115 City: San Marcos

Trying to get out on the lake for the first time this season and ran into a little snag. Just wanted to see if you guys might know what the problem is.

I had the starter replaced at the end of last season...but I don't think that's the problem. When I enter the master code, the light on the right side comes on solid...but it won't start or run any of the accessories. The second light won't come on at all. The light that is on does blink when the numbers are pressed though.

The batteries are brand new, but I hooked up a charger this morning just to make sure there was juice. I checked all the breakers below the dash and they looked fine. Checked the kill switch as well and it appears to be ok.

The odd thing about all this is that the panel is clearly getting juice. I would think I should be able to turn on the accessories at least no? Any ideas would be greatly greatly appreciated.

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

Do you have a multimeter? Sounds like you need to do some investigatory work. I would start with the voltage across the battery terminals to see if your battery is bad. A bad battery won't work even if its charged. The battery should be at ~12.5 volts fully charged. If it's at 12 or below and was recently charged, your battery is bad. A bad battery will still provide some juice, but not enough to start the boat.

I am not familiar with having a keypad on a boat, but a bad battery would be my first guess especially at the start of the season. If that's not it and one section is not getting power I would start doing voltage tests across the different accessories. The tough part can be finding a ground to test against though. Hopefully it won't come to that.

brentgd86 · Outlaw Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Posts: 115 City: San Marcos

Wakebrad · Ladies Man Joined: 11 Dec 2003 Posts: 12257 City: Dallas

brentgd86, it's a worthwhile tool to have if you want to DIY and less than $20.

I'd put money on it that the battery is bad with your symptoms. They say the best thing to do is take your battery out, set it on a piece of wood and keep it on a tending trickle charger all winter.

kyle f · Addict Joined: 14 Aug 2008 Posts: 835 City: Norris Lake

Yup, counds liek that could be the case. Do you hear the solenoid kicking in, but no crank. That would be a dead giveaway you batteries have let go. 12V at rest doesn't mean anythign other than oyu have a full charge, you need to know what the Voltage is when a Load is applied (ie trying to turn the starter motor over) a bad battery will take a steep dive when this happens.

Just liek when I bought my Diesel truck, one battery was crapped out and even though it showed 12V of charge, when it tried to kick the starter over it would drop below 10.5V, and the truck won't function the injectors if it sees less than 10.5 Volts. You could jump start it all day long though.