03 bayliner gauges HELP!!!!-gctid361064

[Guest]

I have a 03 bayliner capri 195 3.0l and every year ive had one gauge go out from right to left! first was fuel the next year volt the next was tach and finally the speedo. Are the gauges breaking and it just happens to be in order from right to left? or is it wiring? also the gas gauge goes to full and stays there when you turn the key on! ive taken dash apart tried my best to check for shorts i really need help tho! Thanks

[Mocoondo]

It was a bad design. Once they go out, you're pretty much screwed. The problem had something to do with poor grounding and the instruments being subject to transient voltage spikes which ultimately cause them to go out.

[Guest]

so i guess i need to buy new gauges. is there anything i can do to prevent it from happening again? thanks for the info i was stumped because of how they went out one a year from right to left

[Mocoondo]

The manufacturer has built a circuit board that allegedly protects the gauges from transient voltage spikes. I installed the circuit board in my boat a few years ago and I've had no problems since. Granted, I caught some abnormal gauge readings and figured that something was amiss before the gauges actually blew. The main problem I was having was that my engine would appear to "overheat" around dusk, every time. Started driving me batty. I even found myself getting towed in one evening after one of these phantom overheats. Well, as it turns out, when the sun was setting, I would casually reach down and turn on the nav lights, not giving it a second thought. That action caused a slow rise in voltage to my water temperature gauge and a few minutes later, the gauge would start rising and eventually the alarm would sound, so I'd shut off the engine. It took me a while to figure out what was going on because the problem would only occur with the engine running. On the trailer, if I turned on the nav lights, everything was status quo. Finally, I figured out what was going on so I started having some lengthy conversations first with Bayliner and then with the gauge manufacturer, who at the time was VDO. They immediately knew of the problem I was having and sent me a rather crude looking circuit board that plugs in line between the boat wiring and the gauge wiring. Essentially it is a buffer that absorbs voltage transients from the boat itself and feeds the gauge cluster with conditioned power. From that moment on, I have had no issues with the gauges. They told me I was one of the lucky ones to have discovered it before the gauges blew. Apparently the voltage continues a slow rise until the gauge cannot take it any more and then fries. Once one gauge is toast, it moves on to the next gauge...and the next...and the next until all the gauges are fried.

[Guest]

where can i get this circuit board? my tack is stuck on 10 the volt gauge wont budge and the fuel gauge goes from empty to full no matter how much gas i have.