Dash Guages working Intermittently

(thor) · (thor) **Join Date: Oct 2001** 06-10-2011, 8:57 AM

I posted this on the Sangernation.com website, but I haven't had any responses so I thought I would turn to Wakeowrld for some help.

I have a 2001 SangAir, and the last two times that I have been on the water my dash guages have worked intermittently.

At start up the guages buzz and flicker like they are going to work, but then they do not. This applies to the tach, speedometer, engine temp, oil pressure, volts, and gas guage.

The dash board toggle switches for all of the accessories work fine as well as the stereo. The ballast pump switches are working fine as well.

I have checked for any loose connections beneath the dash, but I can’t seem to locate any.

Being that most of these guages are receiving information from the engine is there somewhere on the engine that I should be looking for a bad electrical connection. I have the Mercruiser 350 MPI engine.

The first day on the water this year the guages started off not working for about the first four hours of the day, then they worked for the last hour of the day. The second day on the water, they worked for about a half hour, then they did not work the balance of the day.

The boat seems to be running fine.

Any suggestions of where to begin looking for a short or any other possible causes would be greatly appreciated.

(bcrider) · (bcrider) **Join Date: Apr 2006** 06-10-2011, 9:00 AM

I would check your grounds first. Then check the power lead. If they are all going it should be either of the mains feeding the system.

(bruizza) · (bruizza) **Join Date: May 2009** 06-10-2011, 9:31 AM

Check and see if your boat has the Medallion MDC 1600. This part was put in a lot of early 2000s boats. If it is going bad it will mess up all of your gauges and when it finally fails they won't work at all. We had one go bad in our old boat (2000 Supra Launch).

(thor) · (thor) **Join Date: Oct 2001** 06-10-2011, 10:51 AM

Thanks for the ideas. I will check all of these things this weekend. Hopefully it will be a simple fix.

(humboldt9) · (humboldt9) **Join Date: Jun 2004** 06-10-2011, 11:06 AM

Robert, my 2002 V210 does the same thing intermittently, please post up if you are able to get the problem resolved. My engine temp, volt meter and oil pressure gauges work fine. I am having issues with the tach getting stuck at 2500 RPM when clearly the engine is beyond that and when the boat is in idle it reads zero. My fuel guage is all over the place even when it's full (I think this might have something to do with the float) but not sure.

Where do you look for the Medallion MDC 1600? Any idea how much a replacement is and can you DIY? Any other suggestions?