Dreaded power panel issues???

[skeet210]

Well, I've been counting my blessing having a 2003 Skeeter and haven't had any of the power panel issues I've read about in the past. Wouldn't you know it, last week I hit the power button and nothing happened. Checked the battery connections, pulled all the fuses and reinstalled them thinking it my have been a little corrosion and still nothing. Today (8-13-11) I go out and press the power button and wouldn't you know it, the lights lit up. Turned it off and tried to turn it back on again and it came on for a split second and cut off. When it powers on, it sounds like there is a relay that cuts on with it. Are there any relay's? I'm thinking if there is, it may be old and sticking and need replacing. I traced the wires and it appears that the main power goes to the a distribution block but didn't see any relays directly in line. Any help would be appreciated. I tried to find the older posts on this discussion with no luck. How much does this panel cost from Skeeter and how hard is it to install?

[bluejay10]

Same thing happened to my panel, i got the new one for around $380. Haven't installed it yet though. came as a complete mess like i was expecting after reading about it on here

[skeet210]

Tried it again this morning. Worked fine. I'm thinking that it is the relay closest to the drivers seat. I'm going to pull all the relays, fuses and power panel and coat it with dielectric grease to try to keep the moisture out some. Hopefully that will help.

[ChampionDon]

Good luck, mine went out 2 months ago and have it all replaced as I speak back to the old style rockers switches. What a mess. Did not have the time to do it.

[skeetzx225]

Mine acted up like you describe a few years back, except mine powered on, but couldn't be powered off. I ended up disconnecting the battery lines and it has been fine ever since. Here's to hoping it continues to last...

[ChampionDon]

Got mine done, took the dealer 3.5 hours. I am glad I did not do it. I would have lost my insanity. Best $335 I spent. so all in all it cost me $740 to replace panel.

FYI

[pbmang]

http://www.bbcboards.net/zerot...90734

That was the latest thread I remember seeing about it and it also has a link in it to my threads from a few years ago. If you don't let the wires intimidate you, it's pretty straight forward with most of it being unplugging the old wires and removing the old hardware and plugging in and installing the new.

Cut and paste from my original thread on the steps to do this as best as I could remember:

1. Unscrew the two nuts that are holding the old touch pad in place.
2. Unhook the wireing harness that connects the touch pad to the "computer"
3. Unhook the harness that goes from the "computer" to the fuse box
4. Unscrew the screws holding the computer in place, and remove it.
5. Snip the zip ties that are keeping all of the wires loomed toghether (it will get a bit messy).
6. By removing all the ties, it will add some slack in the wires, and make it much easier to get to the fuse box. Unscrew the screws holding the fuse box.
7. In the gunnel area behind the fuse box, there will be a large wire harness, a small harness and then also a really small 2 wire harness (red and black wire). On the kit that Skeeter sends, these three harness will all be next to each other (just to give you an idea what to look for). Unplug these harnesses. Also, under the dash, there will be a connection for all of the gauges. Remove that connection as well.
8. Now the fuse box should be able to come out. The wires will all be extremely tangled, so it may be tough to work it out, and you may have to clip one wire (the courtesy light wire that runs under the drivers console).
9. If you look at the two pieces of wiring (one is attached to the fuse box), they will connect using the two different colored connectors. Also, there will be a positive and negative with small battery connector looking terminals on the ends. Those attach to the + and - of the fuse box. Once those are connected, all of the other harnesses will either attach to the ones that the old wiring was attahced to, or to the back of the new dash piece.
10. Coming off of the harness, there are a couple red/black cable combinations. I beileve these are for accesories, and they have constant power run throught them.
11. There is a set of wires (3) that are intended for your trim switch. I didn't have to disconnect my trim, and it still functioned after the new wires were installed, so I didn't mess with them.
12. There is one set of wires (2) a blue and a green (I believe those were the colors) that I don't know what they are for, so I just capped them off.
13. After everything is plugged up, hook your battery back up, plug in the dash and make sure everything works.
14. If so, then it's time to start hacking up your dash! I think Skeeter sent the wrong piece for my boat, so I'm going to call them in the AM. I find it hard to believe I got the right one because the harness itself went in so easy and effortlessly, that the retrofit dash piece would be such a POS

Those are the steps that I would take if I had to do it all over again. I'm trying to remeber everything off the top of my head, so I might have missed something. If nothing else, it should give you a better idea of what is involved!

[reddrooster]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by SkeeterDon &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Got mine done, took the dealer 3.5 hours. I am glad I did not do it. I would have lost my insanity. Best $335 I spent. so all in all it cost me $740 to replace panel.

FYI</td></tr></table>

Don....IM sent.

[mudavenger]

What does the mint color green and blue wire go to?