245 Weekender no horn, inside courtesy lights, or radio. Any suggestions?

My boat was fine when I winterized and wrapped it.

  • Is there a link between the switch panel and radio?

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Do I have a short? My fuse panel does not indicate any blown fuses.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    0

Twilight man

New Member
Apr 30, 2020
7
New Jersey
Boat Info
2002 245 Weekender, Bravo III
Engines
5 MPI/Bravo III Drive
I winterized and shrink wrapped my boat last season with no problems. When I unwrapped it the radio, and on my switch panel my inside courtesy lights and horn weren’t working. Any suggestions? Is the radio connected somehow to this panel?
 
What type of switch panel do you have? Pic or description?

But... have you checked the fuses behind/under the dash? Start with that.

Did you winterize it yourself? Did you reconnect the batteries properly? Probably not the issue as other things would be off, too... but just to be sure.
 
Another vote for the batteries.......

If you disconnected them, make sure that all the grounds were reconnected. Feel all around the wire harness near the batteries, you may find a small ground wire wasn’t reconnected.
 
What type of switch panel do you have? Pic or description?

But... have you checked the fuses behind/under the dash? Start with that.

Did you winterize it yourself? Did you reconnect the batteries properly? Probably not the issue as other things would be off, too... but just to be sure.
Yes I did check all the batteries and wires. All the green lights are lit on the fuse panel. What is even more confusing is the radio not working. It’s a separate control located on the opposite side of the dash. More confusing was that the inside bottom courtesy lights worked and than didn’t. Also, the volt meter on the console indicates the batteries aren’t charging. I thought there was a short somewhere. What do you think?
 
Another vote for the batteries.......

If you disconnected them, make sure that all the grounds were reconnected. Feel all around the wire harness near the batteries, you may find a small ground wire wasn’t reconnected.

I took a picture of my batteries before they were disconnected so I wouldn’t misplace or forget anything. They all are reconnected as they were.
 
Need to know what type o
Yes I did check all the batteries and wires. All the green lights are lit on the fuse panel. What is even more confusing is the radio not working. It’s a separate control located on the opposite side of the dash. More confusing was that the inside bottom courtesy lights worked and than didn’t. Also, the volt meter on the console indicates the batteries aren’t charging. I thought there was a short somewhere. What do you think?
Still need to know what type of switch panel... pic, description.

Radio works off the key switch.

Charging... via engine or battery charger? Check voltage directly at batteries with a voltmeter.
 
It’s the lower right side control panel on the 245 Weekender. I’m going to go to the boat when the rain stops. Radio works off key, I thought so. However, does it have anything in common with the control panel?
I was referring to the volt meter with the engine running.
I’m almost ready at 70 to enroll in a marine mechanic’s course. With the virus, no shops open.

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upload_2020-5-1_13-55-7.jpeg
 
OK, I kinda thought that's what you might have. The radio and the switch panel are separate things. They would share the same fuse panel - but they are separate "inputs" to the fuse panel.

I assume you checked the bulbs already for the cockpit lights. But, this switch panel communicates with the fuse panel electronically. Meaning, there's only a few wires connecting the two things - so when you click the cockpit lights, it sends a coded signal to the fuse panel to turn the lights on. If everything else checks out... fuse, wiring to the lights, connectors on the back side, the bulbs, etc... the issue is most likely a switch panel that is starting to fail... possibly the electronics in the fuse panel. The way to test is to substitute a "known good" switch pad.

It's never to late to go back to school!
 
Your right, I just have to wait for a school like everyone else to reopen.
Thanks for your help. I suspected this so I located an after market one on eBay.
 
By the way, would that have anything to do with my in dash volt meter? With the engine off, the battery registers 12 volts. With the boat running it registers below 12 volts. Could this be related or just my bad luck and a separate unrelated problem that just simultaneously happened?
 
I can't see how it's related. Could be that the alternator/voltage regulator is flakey. Now, that "could" cause the issue with the cockpit lights (since they are controlled electronically) when the engine is running... but not with the engine off. However, I would suspect that you'd have other issues if this was the root cause.

Either way, don't base things on the dash gauge. Measure right at the battery. There's too many things in the way between the battery and the dash that could skew things. Just a heads up... "12V" is not enough. We need to know the decimal. It makes a huge difference. Both engine running and engine off. BUT... for the engine off reading... run the blower for a solid 5 minutes with the engine off, then wait 1 minute and THEN take the reading.

FYI... there's another fuse for the radio back near the battery. But this is for the radio memory. I don't think it would cause a complete "no function", but it's at least worthwhile to check.

All this said, it's still a good idea to back to the batteries and pull each connector off, inspect it closely, clean and reinstall tightly. Verifying solid power is always the first step.
 
I have a picture of mine too and last year I forgot to connect one small ground wire.

Thanks, I’ll recheck everything. Somehow I think my control panel is defective in and of itself. My other problems could be related or just a problem on their own.
 
I’ve rechecked everything and found a major short at the battery. Corrected the short. Alternator works fine now. Charging away at 14.3 volts Changed out a few fuses, radio works fine, but my ship to shore radio panel was damaged. It’s shipped off to be repaired. Changed the teardrop switch panel, it was starting to go anyway with not all green lights working consistently, but still no horn or inside running lights. I’m thinking it’s the relay system inside the fuse box although the fuse ck button indicates all fuses are good despite no horn or running lights. Could it be the fuse box?
 

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