DF90A Mounting Help

[darrenj]

Hi everyone,

I am mounting a new DF90A and of course have a question or two.
1) Right out of the crate there are three lines running out of the engine. One is the electrical line(s) that connect to the battery. Second is the fuel line. There is a third small hose that has a plug in it. Does anyone know that that third small hose is for?
2) The wiring harness did not come with a schematic or instructions. It is mostly pretty straight forward but there are a few connections that look like they don't need to be used at the console end. Is there a schematic available?
3) NMEA 2000 trim attachment. I have the necessary cables to hook up to my NMEA 2000 network and would like to have Trim available. I don't have an analogue trim gauge. There is only one plug on the engine that I can spot that looks like it will fit the interface cables trim connector. Is it a safe bet that it is the right one? If not then does anyone know the color of the wires or other information that will allow me to know for sure?

I know there is not much information to go on for those questions but I am hoping someone knows off the top of their head. If not I will happily post some pictures.

Thanks,
Darren

[tboydva]

Darren, I may have a resource that's applicable. I have a brand new DF60A. I ordered the service manual and the wiring diagram is not exactly correct. I had a major issue with an analog trim gauge (wouldn't work). Finally took it back to the dealer (who said another customer had a problem with a new DF90A). He worked through with Suzuki tech support and swapped my ECM with a new 90A - to no avail. On the console end, you should have a white plastic connector with yellow/white and black wires. That's the trim gauge - but it likely won't work as is. With the NMEA2000 presumably one cannot use both analog and digital trim (Moonlighter is the resource here and elsewhere for that). My tach supports the warning lights. Standby for PM on wiring colors from my motor.

[darrenj]

I spoke to the outfit that I purchased the engine from and they said the smaller tube that is sealed is for a speedometer. One mystery solved.

Thomas, thanks for the response on the wiring.

[darrenj]

I have confirmed that the extra connections are power for hooking up a series of gauges so all good on that front.

So the last thing I need to figure out is where the power trim connector is on the engine or wiring harness so that I can plug in the NMEA 2000 interface trim connector to it. There was one plug that looked promising but it turned out the plug was not a match of the interface cable.

[darrenj]

So after I hooked everything up without the trim connector hooked up the trim showed up just fine. It appears that for my motor (2012 DF90A) the trim information is output to the diagnostic plugin so the trim hookup is not needed at all.

My last problem is that the interface cable they gave me is version 2.7 which has the fuel flow bug. I specifically told them I needed version 2.5 or version 2.8 so this is a bit of a piss off. I only have a garmin chartplotter so can't upgrade it myself.

[tboydva]

Darren, this is interesting in light of how difficult it was to get my trim gauge to work (2013 DF60A). The trim signal comes from the ECM vice analog, so I was wondering why an analog signal was needed for the NMEA2000 communications. Apparently it's not... The repower cost still haunts me, so the NMEA2000 interface install will have to wait for the coming winter. Thanks for the install notes!

[darrenj]

If you are going to network the motor to your chartplotter via NMEA 2000 then I highly recommend you read this thread in its entirety:
Suzuki NMEA 2000 newtork + standard Suzuki gauges - it can be done - Page 13 - The Hull Truth - Boating and Fishing Forum

There is a ton of information buried in there.

[Moonlighter]

Darren, did you check the interface software version by going into the network/devices/config menu to see the version listed there, or did you see if listed on the label on the packaging? I ask because it could be correct on the cable but incorrect on the hard copy label on the package. Obviously, its the version that is actually installed that is the important bit.

I suppose that the other thing is to run the engine and check the fuel flow at idle speed anyway. You could get lucky and it might be correct! But if it is WAY out, then the software will need to be changed.

Hope you get it sorted. Worst case is send cable back to dealer to get them to fix it!

[darrenj]

Hey Moonlighter,

It was labeled 2.7 and it also shows as version 2.7 on the interface info on the Garmin and my fuel flow is way off. It is showing 14 Gallons per hour at idle.

I have contacted my local Suzuki dealership where I purchased the engine and they contacted Suzuki Canada who is giving me the run around. They are saying 2.8 is not available in Canada. I have sent them a link to the download at the Lowrance site.

Worst case I will have to buy two NMEA 2000 extension cables and tie my motor and NMEA 2000 network into a friends Lowrance chartplotter to do the upgrade myself based on all your fine documentation on other threads.

I am going to push really hard on my dealer and Suzuki Canada to try and get them to take care of this though so that others won't have to go through this in the future.

Thanks for blazing the trail on all this stuff Moonlighter. Without all your posted information I would just have to live with the problem.

[Moonlighter]

Ok Darren, just wanted to make sure you checked the version. And I am happy to be of assistanve to other Suzuki owners via this and other forums.

Yes, definitely put it on them to install the update for you. Good work to point out the little "misunderstanding" they had about avaialability of 2.8 worldwide. I did have it a few months before it was publicly available due to my contacts....

In your dealer's defense, Suzuki is notoriously slack in keeping their dealers up to date on this stuff, that, plus many of them simply dont take up the distributors offers of information and training.

I was helping a guy in another state of Australia a while ago, his dealer was totally in the dark about the whole NMEA network Interface with Suzuki, i was basically training the dealer staff on the go!

Got to the point where I said to him that any more advice and problem solving was going to be chargeable at dealer hourly rates, it was getting rediculous. He then contacted my local guru and wanted free phone support from there as well. They all need to get off their arses and get up to speed on this stuff in cooperation with their national distributors. Rant over!!!

[darrenj]

I am emailing with the Canada Suzuki rep now but in the mean time I will likely just hook my backbone up to a friends Lowrance HDS and upgrade it myself.

I should only need one long NMEA 2000 cable to do so.

One question. When I look up nmea 2000 cables to buy they don't use the correct terminology which would be mini or micro I think. They seem to use drop or backbone.

I assume backbone is mini (for longer runs and higher power) and drop is micro (for shorter runs and lower power). This might just be a Garmin specific thing.

The Garmin documentation seems to say that a backbone cable can't be used to connect to a device (it can only be used between T connectors) which seems wrong to me.
Does anyone know if there is a difference between Garmin backbone and drop cables?

Thanks

[Moonlighter]

Backbone cables and drop cables are the same in Lowrance and as far as I know in Garmin too. Micro connectors on them both.

I mostly use Lowrance network cables and Ts but have also used a couple of Garmin Ts and the plugs are all the same as Lowrance, but Garmin have a slightly different offset on their T pieces, they still connect to Lowrance ones but just don't sit flat in line, if you get what I mean....

[darrenj]

I just want to close the loop on this thread.
I finally managed to get together with my friend that has a Lowrance chartplotter and upgraded the interface to version 2.8.

That fixed my fuel flow problem and it is now correctly showing 0.2 gallons per hour at idle.

The Suzuki rep was no help at all.

I do want to thank Moonlighter for his help!

[Moonlighter]

Thanks for closing the loop! And pleased that it is now sorted.

More than happy to help.

Cheers!

Grant