2012 Wakesetter Electrical issues & starting issues

[ZachT]

Looking for some help from anyone with experience in electrical issues on 2012 Wakesetter. I’m having issues with the boat starting & multiple issues when it actually does start. I’m wondering if it could be a neutral safety or throttle issue? 

 

I replaced the touchscreen because I thought that was the issue with starting. (MTC touchscreens make a beautiful replacement that cost 1/2 of the factory replacement, but upgraded so it won’t delaminate again!). Turns out it was not the touch screen & I’m still having the issue: When I put my 4 digit code in, the “ENTER CODE” icon turns from yellow to blue “START ENGINE” …but will not recognize that I’m pressing the button.

I investigated all the fuses, breakers & relays… everything was perfect. I figured it can’t hurt to replace the power relay & the ignition relay on the ECM that’s mounted on the engine. That seemed to fix the problem, but only temporarily. Now the same issue of the boat not starting because it doesn’t recognize that I’m pressing the start engine part of the touch screen. (The batteries are fully charged & all cables are securely fastened. The kill switch is flipped up to run.)

Occasionally the boat will start, but is giving me many issues:

The boat will start, but shuts off on its own after about 1 minute

When I do get it started, I will put it in neutral & try to gently give it throttle to warm up & the boat jumps into gear while in neutral! This happens in both reverse & drive

When the boat does occasionally run, I will ease it up to 30 mph or so, then after a minute or so, it will promptly experience an immediate power loss & go into a “limp” or “safe” mode. Then I cannot go much faster than 10 mph, even at full throttle. 

Other times when the boat happens to be running, it will turn on cruise control by itself. I will be driving along at cruising speed & all of a sudden it kicks on when it was set to OFF. 

I am getting the Service engine code for SPN 65591 FMI:7 for cylinder 1 misfire. I brought this boat to the dealer for service in the spring for a tune up & to investigate this issue. They said they cleared the code, put in a new spark plug in cylinder 1 & it was probably bad gas. It seems like there’s MUCH more is wrong than that because the code returns and goes off as soon as the boat is started  

 

I’m not sure if I need a new ECM, or if it could be a throttle or neutral safety switch? Or if it has much more electrical issues than just that.

 

Thanks for your help! 

[oldjeep]

Neutral?  A 2012 wouldn't normally have a neutral.

As for the misfire - ask them if your ECU has been updated with the misfire calibration update from indmar.  Chased that problem for years.

Edited June 27, 2023 by oldjeep

[ZachT]

Thanks for the help! It’s going back into the shop next week and a software update is definitely on the list. 

[ZachT]

Replaced the Manual ignition. Boat started right up with no issues. The error codes are no longer coming up on the screen. The ballast and cruise systems are working perfectly. Touch screen start is still intermittent, but boat is functioning with the manual ignition.