Engine starts by itself

[Flytrade]

My 04 Sundancer 260, with 660 hrs on the Mag 350 engine, has started to give me a "beep" on occasion. It's the beep you hear when the ignition switch is moved from off to on. This happens with the ignition key in or out, and on one occasion the engine started all by itself. My mechanic believes water got into the ignition switch and I should dry it out with a hair dryer, and lub with WD-40. If this doesn't fix the problem, my next guess would be to replace the ignition switch. I would appreciate any experience you may have had with this issue, and your thoughts or advise.

 

[scoflaw]

If your talking about the rocker switch at the helm, it comes apart and is completely serviceable.

 

[KevinC]

On the 2004 260DA I believe the key is at the helm and no rocker. I had to replace the ignition switch on my 2003 260DA and it was fairly simple. You will get one to match the number of wires and then transfer the wires one by one following the same order on the new switch.

-Kevin

 

[Lazy Daze]

Unless you're going to take into a shop to get diagnosed (since when you're dealing with electrical issues, it could be a number of things) I wouldn't mess around with trying to "fix" the switch. That can be a big safety hazard, especially if someone is swimming behind the boat. Key switches are cheap and very easy to replace - just replace it. If the problem persists, you now know the issue is somewhere else.