VF115LA 2017 Trim ind/NMEA question

[tweakjr1]

Hi All,

Been doing a lot of reading through past posts and I'm wondering about a few things that I've caught bits and pieces throughout.

Engine S/N is 6FNL-1007150
Yamaha 703 side control
Stock analog speed/tach/volts/fuel at the console. No lights for oil pressure or temperature.

I would like to install an NMEA2k backbone and LMF-200 indicator as well as feed the NMEA2k data to my Helix 10 gen2. In addition I wanted a dedicated analog trim indicator.

1) Can I install the analog trim indicator using the trim/oil harness?
1a) If yes, what color are my wires supposed to be on the engine connector for which the trim/oil harness connects? I believe I've located the correct plug, it is greenish plastic with 4 wires; 2 pink with black stripe, 1 green with a white stripe, and 1 solid pink.



2) Does my motor provide an NMEA2k output?
2a) If yes, what color are the wires for the NMEA connector at the motor? I believe I've spotted the candidate which has 2 wires, 1 blue and 1 pink going into a white 4 pin square connector.



3) If I'm using the analog trim indicator, will the trim data still be available on the NMEA2k bus?

Thanks,
Scott

[tweakjr1]

Crickets...

Any chance I can get some confirmation from one of the local experts?

[fairdeal]

the N2K plug is 4 pin but only two wires; one blue, one white.
That, to me, is what you have in your photo.

The pink wire in the trim/oil harness is for trim.

Conventional wisdom is that using an analog trim gauge, while also connecting the jumper for the ECM to read, may result in a skewed reading for both.

I've never tried it myself, nor seen any reliable first hand report.

[pstephens46]

Why install an analog trim guage in the first place?

[rodbolt17]

yes, the pink wire can be dedicated to an analog meter. you cannot have both.
you can have analog trim or digital trim.

[tweakjr1]

the N2K plug is 4 pin but only two wires; one blue, one white.
That, to me, is what you have in your photo.

The pink wire in the trim/oil harness is for trim.

Conventional wisdom is that using an analog trim gauge, while also connecting the jumper for the ECM to read, may result in a skewed reading for both.

I've never tried it myself, nor seen any reliable first hand report.

Thanks guys for all the help.
I'm curious which plug is the jumper for the ECM regarding trim? Someday I may want to go all digital.
I finally got my oil/trim harness and NMEA equipment installed.
The analog trim meter works as advertised.
FYI The trim value on the NMEA bus always shows 100% regardless of trim position.

Are there any other sensors(goodies) that can be bolted onto the stock 2017 Yamaha VF115LA and connected to the factory engine harness for additional monitoring on the NMEA bus?
I noticed there were a few other parameters available in the configuration without active data.

Scott

[fairdeal]

Glad to hear you have it working.
Yes, oddity of Yamaha's programming that the ECU by default, outputs a 100% NMEA value for trim unless it receives an actual input.

The trim jumper is a pair of pink wires, one w/male one w/female; remove the protective caps and mate the wires:





As for additional data sensors, I think there are only two possibilities; you have parked somewhere on the block a plug with a "W" label - with an optional sensor installed, that will get you NMEA "cooling water pressure".

Also a plug with a "S" label - a sensor (interestingly, the same part) connected to the rubber tube from the speedometer pitot will get you speed

[boscoe99]

Yes, oddity of Yamaha's programming that the ECU by default, outputs a 100% NMEA value for trim unless it receives an actual input.

Yamaha's trim indication system is configured such that low resistance from the sender equates to a low trim angle and high resistance equates to a high trim angle.

If a sender is not connected then the system sees that as high resistance. In which case the trim gauge moves to the full up position. The ECU sees infinite resistance (since the pink wires are not connected) and interprets it as the motor being tilted fully up.

Some sender barscales will flash the top bar if and when the sender indicates the motor is no longer in the trim range but has moved into the tilt range.

[fairdeal]

The ECU sees infinite resistance (since the pink wires are not connected) and interprets it as the motor being tilted fully up.

Yes, so since for trim, the "input" to the ECU is a measurement of the current flowing out on that particular pin,
clearly Yamaha did not bother to program a provision for an "out-of-range" value to disable transmission of a value for that PGN field.

I called it an oddity because for the "S" and "W" values, there is no NMEA value transmitted unless a sensor is connected to provide an in-range value -

very apparent when connecting to a Garmin MFD, because the corresponding "gauge" is simply not available to view if there is no sensor connected.

Latest Garmin OS provides more powerful customization to hide the trim gauge
but with earlier versions,
once having wired in "the Lowrance cable", but not connecting "the pink wires", one was forced to view a trim indicator permanently showing 100%

[tweakjr1]

Great info and much appreciated.
Lucky for me I can hide the trim indication on my HB Helix units.
I also finally scored an LMF-200 from ebay which works great. Needed something to fill that 2" blank in the console ��
The LMF200 is actually a clever little device.
Next install is the fuel data management nmea module to store fuel used data and 0183 to 2k converter to feed GPS/Heading info onto the NMEA bus from the HB.
Oddly the LMF200 retains all configuration settings unless I physically disconnect the NMEA drop cable from the network, which then it defaults back to factory settings. The reason it's odd is because power for the NMEA backbone is master switched off when not in use.
Any ideas how it knows it's unplugged with power turned off?
Does it draw a small current from the engine harness perhaps, even with the ignition switch OFF?

[fairdeal]

Oddly the LMF200 retains all stored settings unless I physically disconnect the NMEA drop cable from the network, which then it defaults back to factory settings. The reason it's odd is because power for the NMEA backbone is master switched off when not in use.
Any ideas how it knows it's unplugged with power turned off?
Does it draw a small current from the engine harness perhaps, even with the ignition switch OFF?

Interesting.
Other than removal of the ground, I can't imagine the difference between "not powered" and "unplugged".

Don't think its the engine harness - that engine connector has only the blue and white data wires, no power or ground.

[boscoe99]

The pink wires being connected was based on engine information being fed to a Yamaha digital tachometer. If the digital tachometer was there, connect the two pink wires. If the display was not there, then leave the two pink wires disconnected. Extremely unlikely for someone to want both a Yamaha digital tachometer with trim information and an analog tachometer/trim gauge at the same time.

Along comes an MFD maker who wants to tap into the engine data stream. But the operator wants to continue to use his analog tachometer or trim meter. But does not want erroneous trim data being displayed on his MFD.

Is it a Yamaha issue or an MFD maker issue?

[tweakjr1]

I spotted the water connector and I'll guess the large bolt on the left is where the sensor threads?





A quick ebay&amazon search pulled up these sensor kits. Am I on the right track?





This one looks like the speed sensor you mentioned

[boscoe99]

Part numbers have been updated.

I think you should buy from this website that is giving you advice for free. Boats.net: Outboard Motors, OEM Marine Parts, Boats for Sale

[tweakjr1]

I most certainly will!

For my 2017 VF115LA I would need?

6DA-1241B-00-9S thermostat cover ~$100
60V-8A4L0-11-00 sensor kit ~$175

Is $300 worth being able to monitor water pressure, in your opinion?

Thanks,
Scott