Stupid is as Stupid does

[Freebird]

This story starts about 2 years ago. We hooked the Waverunners up and took them down to Lake Hamilton in Arkansas where my son and two granddaughters us for a few days or rest and relaxation. It was a great time but to cut right to the chase, while my son was out on one of the Waverunners giving my 4-year-old granddaughter a ride, she apparently got hold of the key and dropped it into the lake. OK, no big deal. It's an electronic fob that basically locks or unlocks the Waverunner. Since it was running when it happened, you can use it as normal but just can't lock it. It's more of a security feature and also you use it to enable a "low power" mode or "learning mode". It was in full power mode so that didn't matter either.

 

Now fast forward two years. Eileen and I are heading back down to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky the middle of October for our annual houseboat trip. We try to go once or sometimes twice a year and spend about 4 days on a houseboat rental. They can suck up a lot of gas so we take the Waverunner down, find a nice quite cover to anchor down the houseboat, and use the Waverunners for exploring, going to the store, etc.

 

The missing key has been nagging at me. Like I said, you don't need it but, I've always worried that due to some radio frequency or something that the Waverunner would get switch off or to low power mode and it would then be unusable or stuck in slow mode. The key fob is about $169.00 from a dealer but then you also have to pay to have it programmed as it takes a special programming system to do it. You can find the keys on Ebay for around $125.00 but then still have to schedule an appointment and pay a dealer to program it. So I just hadn't bothered to do it.

 

Last week I ran across an ad on Ebay from a seller who had what he said were "new but not in original box" keys WITH the matched receivers for $150.00. Those receivers retail for around $360.00 alone so that was a very good deal and I ordered the set.

 

They came in on Friday when I was busy going after the new bike and I never got around to looking at it until today. To be honest, when I opened the package, it was fairly obvious to me that the seller wasn't exactly honest about them being NEW but I figured as long as it works, I really didn't care. So I found some parts diagrams online to determine where the receiver is actually located and though, as with most things, it wasn't exactly easy to get to, it could have been much worse.

 

First thing this morning I removed the necessary panels inside the front hatch and by twisting just the right way, I was able to reach in, unplug, remove the old receiver, and replace it with the new one. Tried the key and it worked exactly as it should have. So I was feeling pretty good that I finally got it back to working the way it was supposed to.

 

Just for the heck of it, I decided to test the other Waverunner and guess what, it wouldn't work. The fob did nothing at all when I pushed the button. So I figured that as the Waverunners are two years old, the battery probably needed replacing. So I took it apart, removed the battery and headed to Walmart to pick up a new one. Got two because I don't know how old the one off Ebay is either. Got back home and put the battery in and guess what? Still NOTHING.

 

Then it dawned on me. What if somehow, the key that I still had, somehow got put in the storage console of the wrong Waverunner. The only thing to do was to take it apart and replace the receiver with the one that I had taken out of the first one. Finally got that done, tested it, and sure enough, it works just fine.

 

So now both are working as they should. Stupid is as Stupid does. A smart man would have double checked which Waverunner the key worked with before taking it apart.

[Marcarl]

Boy oh boy,,, that sure do sound somewhat familiar. Now I don't have any Waverunners, but the story does have a real familiar ring to it. I'm thinking that you're not really alone in that club, but it is your turn to buy the beer!!

[bikenut]

Don I know how you feel ,been there many times fixing things but i guess we just work to fast. Glad you got them working like they should.

[Venture n Dixie]

As long as you’re not putting on a helmet and trying to ride it on the street I wouldn’t be too concerned.

The fact that you persevered and successfully completed the task says you ain’t lost it yet!

[slowrollwv]

Don it was not stupid is as stupid does. I don't think that at all. Just a little Brain Fart is all.

[bongobobny]

LMAO!!!

 

Yup, knowing me, I probably would have done the same thing...