How do you bypass the need for keys to start the Yamaha SX230

[finnrigged]

I guess I should get this out of the way right away but I know that some people out there will be squinting at the screen thinking I'm trying to steal a boat right lol. I'm a federal employee air traffic controller and I assure you I'm not going to risk my pension or prison to steal a boat

I just picked up a 2007 SX230 about 2 weeks ago and it needs quite a few parts. Also the trailer did not come with a title. So today I worked out a deal on a total basket case looking 2008 SX230 that was sitting at a storage facility up near my lake in Livingston Texas. The boat got absolutely obliterated up top and on the underside during a high water situation followed by a massive storm front. The owner could not get the boat high enough to keep the big waves on that 40 mile long lake from beating it apart. It destroyed the boat and the boathouse.

No insurance so when they took it into the fiberglass shop up in Livingston the guy gave him an FO price of $50,000 because it was completely non-rebuildable. They sold it to him cheap for the cost of the trailer which is a really nice titled dual axle aluminum McClain trailer. The old man closed down his fiberglass shop recently and after I hunted down who owned it using the TX numbers he finally agreed to sell it to me today for $3,500 bucks. All this being said, I hauled it away to my buddies place up on the lake in Trinity Texas, pulled the spark plugs out, shoved my inspection camera down inside the spark plug holes and three of the cylinders on each of the FX160 motors looked excellent including the bottom of the valves and the valve seats on the ones that were in the open position. One cylinder on each motor did have a measure of water inside of it which turned out to be fresh water of course. My assumption would be that they would have had to get it towed off of the water to get it onto the trailer and this is probably when the water backed up through the exhaust and spilled over through the open valves on the one cylinder that was on the exhaust stroke. I was able to pull the positive wire from the left side of each e box and then using jumper cables grounding to the block the motors rotated freely and spit the water out. I soaked down each cylinder with WD-40 until I can get back to them next week.

The one thing I would really like to do before I pull those motors out next week is at least try to fire them up even using the old gas in that gas tank. I have a ton of clean fuel injectors for this motor at my shop in Houston so I'm not worried about sending junk into them. I just want to know if the motors will actually fire up, let them run for 30 to 60 seconds max and then run a compression test. Assuming the fuel tank is not chock full of water as well which is very unlikely actually. So my question to you is... since I will be throwing away anything remaining on this boat after I'm done stripping it down and since the gauge cluster console itself is smashed on the top with just good gauges left, can I cut any of the wires on the back side of the ignition for each side in order to hotwire it to at least start for a few seconds? The buttons on the rear swim platform that kill the motor when you open that storage area are also crushed so I will splice those together so that it is not an issue. If hot wiring is not a possibility then I guess I still have two options. My buddy seems to think that you can pull some numbers off of the back of this ignition switch to have new keys sent? I do have the title and bill of sale and it will be in my name by tomorrow morning. My assumption is this would take much longer than one week though. The other thought is that I do still have my 2007 so can't I just take my good keys from my 2007, remove that set of switches and plug and play into this one? I cannot imagine these switches are synced up with the ECM.

 

[UnorthodoxCreations]

I would bet you're other keys will work but if not I'd just hot wire it at the ignitions.

 

[Beachbummer]

Here's something to help

 

[zipper]

WOW! Thanks for the look inside the bilge. I have not seen it from that viewpoint before. Not surprised by the broken scupper, lol.

 

[cwoav8r]

Ouch! As far as the ignition switches are concerned... simple electrical circuit as @Beachbummer posted. Any replacement ignition switch will work, it's not like modern cars tied to RFID.

Are you going to try to make her seaworthy again? Or just for spares...

 

[Scottintexas]

you can pull the ignition switch out and it should have the key code on it, any locksmith should be able to cut a new key,

https://jetboaters.net/threads/how-to-get-a-set-of-spare-keys-for-cheap.1890/#post-129183

 

[finnrigged]

Oh definitely not going to be repairing this. I cannot even imagine how much money or time that would take lol. This one is just for some spare parts for my 2007 that I just bought and then I'll try to sell some of the larger spare parts like storage hatches and stuff like that until I run out of room for them at my storage unit. Some of the cooler parts like the jet pumps I may keep on hand just in case I suck something up at some point. Plus the prop shaft, prop pump housing and wear ring are the exact same ones that I use for my Waverunner FXHO rebuilds so the parts will definitely get used within a year or so. I'll keep a storage bin or two full of the extra parts like the through hull fittings, Access latches mooring cleats stuff like that. Thanks for the tips on the electronics as well!

 

[finnrigged]

Thank you ALL very much!

 

[Bruce]

As others have written, you can swap the key switches from your other boat.

The key switch wires are socketed so easy to swap. If you are going to try to hotwire I would just unplug the connector. You will need to connect the on circuit then the starter circuit.

 

[BlueBulls]

On my last boat I ripped out the keyed ignition switch altogether and mounted two push button switches... one 'on-off' for the main power and one 'momentary on' to cycle the starter. It worked well.

https://www.bluesea.com/products/4160/10A_Push_Button_LED_Ring_Switch_OFF-ON_Blue

https://www.bluesea.com/products/4161/10A_Push_Button_LED_Ring_Switch_OFF-%5BON%5D_Blue

Any cheap Amazon switches would work just as well, especially for the temporary nature of your plan.

 

[finnrigged]

That's a great solution. I may even incorporate that into my keeper boat permanently. Boat theft won't be a problem with this boat where I use it and store it..and if it's this easy to bypass anyway I like the button idea better anyway.

 

[gthh]

Please keep me in mind when you are parting it out. I am looking for an anchor locker hatch for a 2007

 

[finnrigged]

Sending you a PM now

 

[finnrigged]

Well, not sure if the keys or control board would have worked from the other boat but it didn't matter. Although the motors turned over fine, very low compression in too many cylinders on each motor. You can even see the valves are open on a few cylinders so the heads have to come off for valve jobs. Luckily I don't mind doing valve jobs on these MR1 motors because out of the 2 boats I bought... 3 need it done lol

 

[Scottintexas]

ok, so after reading most of your threads I think your burying the lead on your membership here,

1. where are you finding these boats? copart, craigslist, do you have freinds that work at marinas ?
2. somewhere you stated you rebuilt a bunch of MR1 engines for jetskis, do you have a shop or just your garage ? any formal training or just tinkering?
3. our boats have a problem with the ECU when they get wet, especially 05/06 models leaking water down hood opening, have you seen many ecu's failures in your skis?
4. I grew up in Humble/Kingwood we had a lot of ATC live in our neighborhood especially before the strike, my mom is still at Northpark/59

 

[finnrigged]

Well howdy neighbor! I got lucky and just picked these two up off of Facebook marketplace recently. In the next week or two another one should come up on Facebook marketplace out of the Tomball area. Initially a buddy of mine turned me on to that particular one which is a 2005 SX230. She was asking $7,500 but when I went to go look at it it was at a import automotive repair facility in the back storage area and was missing some key parts. About 50 to 70% of the vinyl needs to be redone but the best I can remember is the foam itself was in reusable condition on everything. The keel is in perfect condition with hardly a scratch as well as the entire outside of the hull. It has some oxidation but not nearly as bad as the 2007 that I bought. It's missing one motor entirely but supposedly the other motor is a runner. The initially listed it with one missing motor and the other one locked up. Supposedly they ran some gas through it after I visited and they say it runs but I can almost guarantee The injectors are now fouled completely and I have no doubt that it needs to have the head rebuilt/reconditioned because it has not run in many many years. When I showed up she said she had title on everything but she only actually had the title for the trailer. The galvanized trailer is in excellent condition including the tires but they will need more air before it is moved. One of the hinges on the motor compartment needs replacing and the boat has seen saltwater use in the past. The motors did not look that bad though on the exterior although they are buried under a lot of dust and the black ashiness from that insulation that falls off of the engine bay hood. Both of the electronics boxes are in place and appear to be untampered with. The jet pump is also missing and it's entirety on the portside where the motor is missing from. The steering felt tight in one direction so at least one of the cables will likely need to be replaced but I think the throttle cables moved freely if I remember correctly? Cosmetically I think everything else is intact but it started absolutely downpouring and hailing shortly after I arrived to inspect everything so I got chased out a little prematurely by weather. We actually left that location and drove a little further north to another high-end import dealership where the registered owner of the boat and trailer happily signed over a PWD143 for the boat and a TX-130U for the trailer. All of it was left undated and signed by him and he is for sure The actual owner of record. He owns the import dealership and was very easy to deal with. I told her that if she can secure a clean clear replacement title and a bill of sale signed by him as well as the title sign by him on both that I might be interested again; however, I am no longer interested because I already bought two of them. If you happen to know how to run a compression test and if you are interested in going to take a look at it when it pops up on Facebook marketplace I would definitely bring a fresh battery with you and tell them you must run a compression test on the motor before considering purchasing it. The price should be listed somewhere around $8,000 but I can tell you right now that she still offered it to me at $5,000 since that is the price that we had previously negotiated before they were able to get the motor to turn over and run I guess. That being said, I certainly would not offer more than $5, 500 myself because of the 3,500 vinyl bill, $4,000 long block motor, $750 worth of jet pump and if $200 in registration and cables plus a lot of work detailing it to get it back to its prime. It was also missing a few cupholders if I remember correctly. No doubt at all that the fuel tank needs to be purged and hand cleaned because that gas has been sitting in there for many years. If this is something that you're interested in, I literally just mailed her the signed PWD143 and TX130U that I accidentally took with me when the owner signed it over when we went up there together. I wanted to make sure she had proper paperwork to give to the actual next buyer. PM me or info and I can message you her cell phone number if this is something you're interested in? I should have a full jet pump to sell after I figure out what parts I need to keep for my project and once I get a chance to go through the head on one of the spare MR1 HO motors I will have a spare long block that'll be selling for $4,000.
Regarding my mechanical history, I started rebuilding waverunners back in 2008 out of my garage shop and basically I do around 40 to 50 hours a week in my garage as a full-time hobby. On my workbench right now I'm currently rebuilding a Yamaha 1.8 L supercharged, a VX110 MR1 and 3 MR1 FXHO motors. I also have an FX140 long block on a cart on my shop floor ready to roll. Typically I buy up a hoard of waverunners during the off season broken, fix them over the winter months and resell in the spring. I usually sell between 5 and 10 per season. I also take old school Yamaha SUV 2 stroke waverunners and gut them to convert them to the MR1 FXHO or VX110 four-stroke setup. To say the least.. I'm addicted to WaveRunners Same with all my closest friends though so we are in good company. I have one more Waverunner that I need to get built in the next two weeks and then I'll be working on my own motors and boat to get this project out of the way before I can press on to reconditioning the extra MR1HO motors. And all that being said it's also prime snapper season and fishing time so timelines are definitely nothing that I'd be willing to put a calendar date to. Long post but I hope that answers your questions

 

[finnrigged]

I forgot to address the ECM question. Our waverunners with the identical electronics boxes to these SX230 boxes including every single inside component get just as wet or arguably wetter and more often than these boats for sure. In over 40 FXHO, fx140 skis between 2002 and 2008 models (same electronics housing) that I've personally dealt with none of them have had ECM issues. More importantly... I've only had 1 ECM reported in from a buddies build that had a bad ECM. And to be honest, I still question whether that one was actually bad or not because he sent it off to get the fuel injector relays upgraded and the ECM reprogrammed in California and it came back still faulty. To me that actually indicates that the fuel injector itself was just bad and not vetted properly but that is speculation. It's definitely the first thing to do when you have a sticking fuel injector is pull the injectors and have them diagnosed and cleaned. That's a heck of a lot cheaper than the $480 bill or so to get the ECM rebuilt and as long as you label the injectors correctly before sending them in to get tested it's a quick diagnosis and a little bit of preventative maintenance that should have been done anyway probably. Boats notoriously sit around with these gas tanks full for too long and when that gas goes bad these injectors just do not like it. The way these electronics boxes are sealed up with The rubber gasket I'm a little surprised that water intrusion has been an issue.. unless the front positive lead area has been opened and not properly resealed with a little bit of gray RTV around the wire lead seals?. Regardless, if it's happening then it's happening.


As far as those old Ronald Reagan era Kingwood controllers go, I did work with just a small handful of the rehired fired controllers at the very beginning of my career in 1998. They hired a few of them back but time away from the job for that long certainly had taken a toll. Far too much has changed since the early '80s and some of those guys and gals were just very old at the time. No more of them are left in the system any longer. Shoots, I'm only 52 years old and I'm the oldest guy in my area at Houston center and probably within the top five oldest controllers in the building lol. Retirement at the end of this year cannot come quick enough