Stereo gremlin help - Power on issue

[Fman]

I sold my 2011 VLX to a good friend and he is having a stereo issue with the power not coming on at certain times... here is his email:

hey it is still really weird, when I am in my garage and I want to play tunes the stereo powers on like it should

But when I get on the lake and the boat is running, the power will not come on, until I stop the engine, move the battery switch to either 1 or 2 whichever one it was not on, basically shut off power and then turn back on, and I need to turn on stereo before I start boat,,, if I start boat first the stereo will not turn on, any suggestions.

Does anyone have an idea what might be happening? I never had this issue at all when I owned the boat and I want to get it resolved for him....

Thank you for any suggestions...

[FastFreddy]

Sounds like a problem with the switch or maybe the relay if there is one.

[shawndoggy]

is it getting turned on via the mtc? Seems like there might be a setup issue there. I'm totally ignorant of how that think works tho!

You pulled your HSE before you sold the boat, right? Is it possible that the wiring is shorting?

(I hate hate hate chasing gremlins)

Edited May 6, 2013 by shawndoggy

[Fman]

I did not pull the HSE, I sold it with the boat... The MTC really has nothing to do with the stereo system. The power is wired separate from the ignition, in other words, you don't have to turn on the ignition to have power to the stereo. The battery has to be turned on, but not the MTC or Maliview.

For the relay, how would he check to see if he has one? and how would he test it? I would think if it were a power button/head unit issue it would happen all the time, not intermittently.

[shawndoggy]

Is there a switch to turn the stereo on? Just trying to figure out what your setup is (was) ...

[nyryan2001]

Fman- similiar to a problem I had.... would be intermittent like this as you described. Actually has nothing to do with the engine... moreso to go with vibration and loose connection.

I wonder if its to loose under dash remote connection at the jumper.... gives the illusion that the stereo is off... or wont turn on.... however all thats off and not work is the dash remote because its slightly loose from its connector to the 12ft jumper (starts under dash way under there) that runs around the bow over to the black box. Do you have a transom remote on that boat? if so he could verify thats the problem if the stereo works from the transom remote, but Dash remote shows its off.

Easy fix. follow the wire that powers the dash remote... way back under the dash, past elbow deep into the rats nest of wires under there... and there the 2-3ft dash remote wire plugs into the much longer jumper that makes the run up and around the bow over to the black box. those connections come loose under there because they rely on the friction of the connector to remain functional together vs a loop with tape or a zip tie. squeeze those two S-video type connectors together and everything will come back to life as it should be.

mine were tight at the connection... as in not enough slack at the connection. Should have been done right from factory--->loop with zip tie or tape.

[Fman]

I taped that connection together because I had a problem with the head unit not coming on at all... maybe it loosened up again! There is no transom remote on the boat but I will have him re-check this connection..... thanks for the feedback.

[nyryan2001]

I was never able to tape mine because it was so hard to get to, so far back under the dash.... I just periodically squeezed them back together.

Also have him check the same remote connections as the end at the black box...S-Video type connection there where the jumper ends. Same symptoms would appear from a loose connection at either location, would give appearance stereo is dead... when all it is is your remote is No Go.

[Fman]

Yea, I remember there not being much slack in the wire and difficult to access.... I also was thinking why they did not come up with a better connection method to secure it. Could have easily came loose over the past few months of use...

[2011VTX]

I had my amp, perko and 2nd battery installed for me.

After brining my boat in for service (MTC had gone bad) I noticed that my stereo wouldn't work if the switch was set to 1, only if it was on the "combine both batteries" selection. I took a look at how it was wired and moved the ground for the amp to the correct battery and it worked as it should.

This year they had it hooked up correctly after I picked it up from storage but the stereo battery had a low charge and wouldn't run the amp properly unless batteries were combined.

I'd suggest that you check the wiring or charge before going much further, it's quick and relatively painless.

Good luck!

[wheelman]

I am having very similar problem. Stereo worked just fine then next day I couldn't turn the power on. Checked power at black box and I had power coming out but had nothing on my dash remote. I have transom remote also and could not turn on from there either. Then all of a sudden stereo worked. Put boat in water 30 min later and no stereo again, hour later it came on again. If my remote wire under the dash is loose wouldn't I still be able to turn on with transom remote or does the dash remote send power to the black box?

[nyryan2001]

On those S-Video or whatever XX pin connections.... if you have 1 of the remotes... in this case the dash remote, connected only on 6 of the 9 possible pins for example... all sorts of crazy stuff can happen.

I pitched that as it is a quick think to check... but seriously, you are elbow deep back into the dash wiring trying to follow that remote wire back to find where it connects to the jumper.

Also the same is possible with the transom remote where it connects to jumper.... but to Malibu's defense, I have see those zip tied in with all the other wiring, so that takes the friction of the connection out of the equation.

[Fman]

On this boat it was not zip tied at all, just connected. I remember how difficult it was to access the connection, hopefully this will turn out to be the problem. I though the gorilla tape I wrapped around it would have stopped it from coming loose, but maybe overtime it has broken loose to create a connection problem.

[Gregg97007]

I'm having the same problem. Did your buddy ever find the cause? I have dash remote and transom working but not the controls for the stereo in the "media" function in Maliview.

[Fman]

Gregg, he has still not had a chance to try the fix.... although his system is not linked into the Maliview at all like yours. When I had it installed, the head unit is basically just an on/off button to fire up the amps and WS420 eq, HSE, etc... you can use the radio on the head unit, but for the most part the head unit is strictly an on/off button. There is an IS-75 cable that you plug in your I-pod which charges and plays music at the same time. The had unit/stereo can also be turned on without having to turn on the maliview or MTC.

[Bawshogg]

I'm having the same problem. Did your buddy ever find the cause? I have dash remote and transom working but not the controls for the stereo in the "media" function in Maliview.

Those controls are interfaced through the secondary little box that is on your amp board. It's the medallion box. Make sure both wires are properly connected to the little box. It also needs power to it to operate. I know the guy that wired your stereo and he has no clue what all the stuff does, I would bet something is not connected.

[halcbloss32005]

With the boat running and the stereo not working test the constant power and the switched power at the radio with a test light.