Dead Battery

[Cochise]

I have a Vision 221 with a power engine hatch or sunpad. This spring the hatch switch would not raise the engine cover. The wire inside the engine compartment to the lift motor was loose. Is their a way to get in the boats engine compartment if the battery is dead? It was not fun taking the rear seat off and almost breaking the plywood. And the sunpad is thru boalted so you can't take it off. Thanks for any advice.

89 Vision 221 454/bravo 1

[Cochise]

I have a Vision 221 with a power engine hatch or sunpad. This spring the hatch switch would not raise the engine cover. The wire inside the engine compartment to the lift motor was loose. Is their a way to get in the boats engine compartment if the battery is dead? It was not fun taking the rear seat off and almost breaking the plywood. And the sunpad is thru boalted so you can't take it off. Thanks for any advice.

89 Vision 221 454/bravo 1

[Bill]

You should be able to squeeze your finger between the back of the rear seat and the sun pad and lift the pad up enough to get you arms in and disconnect the ram. There should be a pin that you just pull out to disconnect it

[JW]

I had that same fear with my Persuader 183. The battery was located under the seat, so no big deal if the battery went dead. But if the power hatch motor quit, there was no way to get to the engine bay! The lift motor was on the transom, six feet aft of the rear seat. No way to reach it. The sunpad was recessed into the rear deck 3", no way to get under it, and no way to lift it. The top of the ram was at least three foot aft of that. I figured I'd have to take out the rear seat, no other way.

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest

[Bill]

JW, did you ever try it? we had to do it all of the time at the dealership, it was a design in the mechanism that attached to the underside of the sun pad. It was not something and wimp could do, but put a little strength behind it and you could get it up enough to do it. When you have the hatch up under normal conditions, push un the pad and it will open up a good 8-10 inches or so, we also had to do that to work on some of them when we had to crawl all the way into the compartment. You can't tell you can do this just by looking at it, and we never even told customers about it unless they asked a question like this.

[Bill]

The way you d it is squeeze the material with the thumb and for finger on the front edge of the sunpad and pull. It may take a try or two but that is why the "z" hinge is built in there. Of course you can't reach the transom, I did not say to do that. On the underside of the hatch is the pin, and unless you are a 350 pound linebacker, you CAN reach it!

[Persuader183]

I had the lift motor in my '95 Persuader 183 quit on me last fall. After a few choice words and a lot of head scratching, I reached under the gunnels with an extended coat hanger and pulled the clip out. With a small hammer attached to a hockey stick (I am Canadian!), I knocked the pin out enough to get the hanger on it while reaching thru the side vent. Once the pin was out I was able to lift the sunpad.

A mechanic buddy suggested a couple of taps on the motor with a hammer and sure enough it came back to life. I had lost my confidence in the motor so I had it replaced. Jason at Acculift was extremely helpful and I now have a replacement ready for installation.

[JW]

Won't work on those Persuaders Bill. The sunpad fits below the level of the deck, and only has a simple hinge in back, not a Z hinge. The lift rod is positioned in the center LH of the sunpad. No way to lift the sunpad even a half inch. Tried it, glad I never had to do what Persuader183 had to.....

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest

[Bill]

HMMMM, wonder why I always did it on the 21 persuaders in the early to mid 90's The so called Z is not on the back, but where the ram mounts to the sun pad. I know it is recessed, grab the material, not easy or for the weak, but it can be done!

[JW]

Probably it was just our smaller 183's. The back of the sunpad had a simple small chrome hinge on each side of the rear, and the ram tube attached to the underside of the sunpad with only a single pin through a small chrome bracket.

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest

[Bill]

Youi could be right there JW, I never came across the 18 persuaders, just the 21 and 23's. I have to look closer, but getting into my 240 might be tough if the ram goes out, the lift actually lifts the back of the pad first, then brings the front up for access. I forgot to check that out. By the way JW, good luck getting the speed out of the Pulsare with the mods!

[JW]

Thanks Bill! The bow cover is supposed to guarantee 4-5 mph by itself according to other BR owners. I'm skeptical about everything I read, but the extra setback plus the bow cover should make it happen. 75 mph with a 2.5 liter V6 pushing a 21' boat. Not bad!

1995 2100BR/1995 225 Promax/23" Tempest