Dash Removal....Perfect Pass Install

[BrianM]

Just got my Perfect Pass in the mail today and am looking for some guidance on removing the dash ('88 Prostar) far enough to remove one of the speedos and install the Perfect Pass unit. A couple of questions. Does the steering wheel need to be removed to get enough access? If so how does the wheel come off? Also, any additional tricks or advice? The dash itself has about 10 screws in it and looks pretty straight forward. I just replaced one of the panels that holds the ignition, hour meter, etc. Just looking for a little advice from someone that has replaced a speedo, or tack, or has installed Perfect pass in an '87 to '90. Want to try and avoid any possible pitfalls.

Can't wait to get PP installed. I am going to take lots of pictures along the way and post in case someone needs them later.

[Jim@BAWS]

Remove ALL screws around perimeter of the dash. Keep good track of them. Some as I recall are longer that others. Sometimes they are a pain
to realign when putting back in. There are THUMB screws on the back of the speedo that hold a bracket to keep the speedo in place ( Sell you OLD speedo for $60-85 on Ebay or TMCowners.com) Put a knot in the old speedo tubing or it will leak water all behind your dash.

Read instructions carefully on the PP install

Enjoy

[PeteS]

Brian,

Congratulation on your PP purchase! You'll love it. I put it in my Dad's 99' PS 205, and will be installing it in my 88' in March. Sorry I can't do it with you right now in my boat.

The dash is simply to pull, just be gentle after you have the screws removed when pulling the dash -- there are a good amount of connections, and short wires to/from gauges.

Keep track of what screws go where, as Jim said, some ARE longer than others and they are a pain to put back in. The rubber on the dash is thin and somewhat brittle, so be carefull not to over tighten when replacing.

You'll be a lifesaver with the photos when it comes my turn, and I'll be around if you have any questions along the way. What model did you go with?

Thanks,
Pete

[east tx skier]

Here are some step-by-step instructions with lots of pretty pictures. Enjoy.

http://www.malibuboatowners.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=63&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

[Brn85ss]

Remove ALL screws around perimeter of the dash. Keep good track of them. Some as I recall are longer that others. Sometimes they are a pain
to realign when putting back in. There are THUMB screws on the back of the speedo that hold a bracket to keep the speedo in place ( Sell you OLD speedo for $60-85 on Ebay or TMCowners.com) Put a knot in the old speedo tubing or it will leak water all behind your dash.

Read instructions carefully on the PP install

Enjoy
Brian
I might be interested in your old speedo if you decide to sell :rolleyes:

[BrianM]

PeteS,

Thanks for the tips. I decided to go all out and go with the Digital Pro. I ski 95% of the time in the course. Max at Skier to Skier said that I was one of the first to receive a 2005 model which supposedly allows you to save skiers names and settings which is pretty nifty. I hope to get it installed in the next couple of days and calibrate and give it a try this weekend. I will take photos for you.

EastTX,

I lurk over at MBO and have read that article on the install, it is a great resource. I don't have a problem with the overall install (even drilling the hole in the botom of the boat:D ). I was most worried about specifically how my dash came apart. Thanks for the link though. Hopefully others will get over there to see that great article.

Brn85ss,

I haven't decided on whether I am going to sell my speedo or not. Mine works perfect and since Airguide is no longer making them I might hold onto it in case the otherone goes out. The speedo that I am removing looks and works great but it is missing the little pointer that you can set at your target speed. I will let you know what I decide.

[BrianM]

Pete and Jim,

Neither of you said wether the steering wheel needs to come off to get to the gauges. Yes or No??

[G-man]

My knots aren't good enough so I put a golf tee in the unused speedo line with a tie wrap for good measure.

[Brent]

Steering wheel stays on!

Put PP on my 87 last year & love it. Hang on to your speedo. If you ever want to sell your boat but want to keep the PP for a newer boat (the speedo goes back )!

[Brent]

Brian
Which version of Perfect pass do you have ? Mine is 6.5, I don't see a newer version on the PP web site! :huh:

[BrianM]

Brent,

Thanks for the info.

Mine is a 6.5N. My manual says Version 6.5N January 2005. According to Max the only change is in the ability to create a Quick List of up to 8 skiers names and their settings. Everything else is exactly the same.

Perfect Pass has not updated their site I guess. The newer units were just shipped from PP last Tuesday.

[PeteS]

Thanks for the update, Brian. Sorry for forgetting to mention that the steering wheel can stay on to access the gauges. You may have to remove one or two of the wiring harnessess on exisiting guages in order to give you enough clearance to pull your speedo.

Good choice on the Pro model as well. With the boat and house pruchase this year, I don't know which model I can afford. According to the PP website, you can get the RPM based pull found in the Plus and Pro models, but in an cheap package if you went with the Cruise model. I hope that is true, because it may be the only one I can afford right now. I'm going to give them a shout today, and I'll post what I find out. Thanks for the photos offer, sounds great.

[PeteS]

How's it coming along, Brian?

[BrianM]

I was going to wait to post but I will give you an update since you asked.

The installation went very well. The dash was my worst fear but it ended up being a snap. Perfect Pass realy provides you with everything needed for the installation including proper connectors. Very nice. The servo motor and linkage took a total of about fifteen minutes to get set up. It really took the most amount of time to run the cables from the servo motor and paddle wheel along with the display, power and tac wires to the master modual. Drilling the hole in the bottom of the boat was easy and the paddle wheel install was straight forward and simple. I wanted to make the install really clean so I spent a lot of time in the bow of the boat running wires in good spots and wrapping and zip tying things so they were out of the way and 'clean' looking. I also removed some old no longer needed wires that went to an already removed depth finder. With all of that the install took right at 4 hours.

I got everything together and do have a problem however. The servo motor is not performing its auto tighten. Did some testing on my own and then got on the phone with PP. Their diagnosis is that the resistor on top of the servo motor is bad. I am getting power to one side of it but the power does not make it out the other side. PP told me to contact my dealer to get me out the part.

I bought the system from Max at Skier to Skier (highly recomended). I left a message on his office voice mailin Florida yesterday at 8:30am and he called me back not more than 15 minutes later from a hotel room in San Diego (keep in mind it is 5:30am there). I explained my problem and he said that noboday was going to be back in his Florida office until Monday but he would make some calls and try to get the part overnighted to me from somewhere else. After I hung up with him not more than 5 minutes later PP called me back to let me know that the part was going out in the mail. It should be here today or Saturday.

So although I am not up and running yet do to a defective part in the system PP and especially Max at Skier to Skier have provided me with absolutely amazing service. Let's just hope that this part is indeed the problem and that it arrives today so I can do some on water testing this weekend. I will let you know the outcome.

[BrianM]

My resistor arrived via Fed Ex just a minute ago about 25 hours after I spoke with Skier to Skier on the phone. That is great service. I am headed out to the boat to install it.:D

[PeteS]

Unbelievable service frankly! I PM'ed you on the topic so I don't bore the rest of the board with our '88 talk. Thanks for the updatess.

[BrianM]

Took me 5 minutes to install the resistor and the problem is solved. On the water test tomorrow morning.

Big thank you to Skier to Skier and Perfect Pass. My problem was solved in right at 24 hours.:toast: