20' Pathfnder electrical help

[david Terry]

Hello:

 

I recently bought a 2005 Pathfinder. Over the winter I'm going to maybe take a look at replacing wireing, but in the meantime i noticed that the radio turns off when i crank the engine. I have two batteries, and run the switch on the 2 setting. Can anyone give me a sense of what I should be looking to change so that the radio isnt impacted by the engine? My depth finder does not seem to be affected in the same way by the way.

thanks a lot

[rubble]

You probably just have a loose ground somewhere?

[JEM]

32 minutes ago, rubble said:

You probably just have a loose ground somewhere?

Also, over time, connections, fuse holders, wires, etc. can loosen or build up small amounts of corrosion which can lower the voltage to the electronics.  Then, when you crank the engine, which requires a huge amount of battery power, it can cause a drop to some of the electronics, which will cycle off, then back on.  You will always notice that this cycling off never happens on new boats.  Because.........the connections, junctions, fusing, wiring, etc. is all new. 

[koondog]

Is this a big issue?  Because I actually have a 2005 20 pathfinder and mine does the exact same thing. 

 

[tarpon41]

Lift up back starboard side rear hatch.

the ground connection coming in from motor sounds corroded or a poor connection is occurring.  Replace fittings.... from there the next place will be the bus bar under console.

my two cents.

let me know.

[david Terry]

Thanks tarpon and others, will take a look at that later today.

When doing this, is switching the electrical switch to the 'off' position good, or should I disconnect the batteries?

 

cheers

[tarpon41]

Lift up back starboard side rear hatch.

the ground connection coming in from motor sounds corroded or a poor connection is occurring.  Replace fittings.... from there the next place will be the bus bar under console.

my two cents.

let me know.

[tarpon41]

I would say Sure, off position and batteries disconnected is always a good thing when working on the wiring.

 

 

[Grant]

Some components are very sensitive to even slight drops in voltage.  I know many of us power our sonar/gps units directly from the batteries to avoid just this happening.  I had to re-wire the radio my nephews brand new Tidewater because it was doing the same thing.  The dealer powered it through the fuse box.  Direct wiring the radio to the battery with an in-line fuse solved the problem for him.

[FINCHASER]

This is common especially with 4 strokes... troubleshoot connections just to be sure but if all good and you want it to stay on wire it direct to a battery is the only way to stop it.  that's what I did and added a small switchable breaker like for TM's to be able to switch it off when boat is not in use

[Bamaskeet]

I had the same issue and it was caused by a faulty battery switch.

[rubble]

On 12/8/2016 at 11:06 AM, koondog said:

Is this a big issue?  Because I actually have a 2005 20 pathfinder and mine does the exact same thing. 

 

I have an 06 2000v and I actually had some engine and electronic issues. Turns out thw main ground at the engine was loose. That fixed the majority of the issues but I ended up running a fuse direct to crank battery for radio and Garmin gpsfinder.