Gauges stopped working 1 by 1 on 2006 Maxum 1800SR3 - Maxum Boat Owners Club

Corinna · 12-30-2020, 04:02 AM

Recently bought ourselves a 2006 1800SR3 Maxum with a 220HP Mercruiser & 190 hours on the clock.
First time we took it out noticed a gauge (tacho) not working.
Next time we took it out noticed a 2nd gauge (speedo) not working.
The 4th time we took it out noticed that a 3rd gauge (being the battery voltmeter gauge) now not working. Battery brand new & battery tester shows battery is full capacity.
Also noticed the fuel gauge jumps around a lot but apparently that's quite common.
Can't get anyone in a service place to look at it until end of January, any ideas on what could be the issue when gauges stop working one by one? Has this happened to anyone else?

jrsick · 12-30-2020, 12:23 PM

You'll need to access the back of the instrument panel. The back of the gauges are usually fairly easy to reach.
The tacho has a 3-prong harness on the back. It's a push-on harness, pull it off and clean the tacho terminals with a wire brush. This will fix most tacho problems. I add a little dielectric grease to the terminals before pushing the harness back on.
I believe the wires on your battery gauge have wing nut fasteners. Clean the gauge terminals and wire ends.
Speedo problems are usually caused by clogged pitot tube. First make sure that you have a small black line attached to the back of your speedo. That black line goes to a port in the outdrive. There are youtube videos for cleaning the port on the outdrive.
Hopefully your gauges work after cleaning. If not, there are gauge checks listed in the Instrumentation section of the manual for your engine. You should download the manuals for your boat from the documentation section of this forum.

mmwjr · 12-30-2020, 01:13 PM

What jr said. On the speedometer the tube has a disconnect where it connects to the front of the drive and sometimes it pops off so I would check there first.

Corinna · 12-30-2020, 09:54 PM

Thank you very much.

Corinna · 12-30-2020, 10:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrsick

Hopefully your gauges work after cleaning. If not, there are gauge checks listed in the Instrumentation section of the manual for your engine. You should download the manuals for your boat from the documentation section of this forum.

I have been looking & have downloaded everything I can find which is only the "Sports Boats Owners Manual Supplement". We have 2006 220HP Mercruiser V6, I've looked in documents on this forum but that year model doesn't seem to be there. Would you mind providing a link please? Maybe I'm missing it

jrsick · 12-31-2020, 12:20 PM

Go to the documents section, then Mercruiser boats. Download manuals #25 and #14. The manuals are dated 1999 but will be accurate for your boat. The information does not change over the years. I have a 2006 5.0 Alpha 1 Gen 2, and the 1999 manuals work perfectly for me.
If you have questions about equipment not listed in those manuals, such as a depth finder or VHF radio, you can get these owner's manuals from the equipment manufacturer.

Corinna · 01-01-2021, 04:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrsick

go to the documents section, then mercruiser boats. Download manuals #25 and #14. The manuals are dated 1999 but will be accurate for your boat. The information does not change over the years. I have a 2006 5.0 alpha 1 gen 2, and the 1999 manuals work perfectly for me.
If you have questions about equipment not listed in those manuals, such as a depth finder or vhf radio, you can get these owner's manuals from the equipment manufacturer.

thank you! :d