twin 2018 df200a gauge alarms and messages

[gsmith27]

Engines have run flawlessly the first 210 hours. Was out this wknd and several alarms and messages popped up on digital gauges "change oil,engine lever control,trim change,troll mode enabled....".
Was about 15 miles out and ran home at 4200 rpms with no issues. The rpms and fuel reading on the gauges fluctuated extremely but the engines ran smooth>? Any ideas where to start ? The gauges clearly were not representative of the engines performance. I'll check all power connections today. Voltage was fine but did blink with some of the messages

[Moonlighter]

Likely to be an electrical issue. Or possibly interface cable related. I would suggest:

1. Check the power supply to the network. That means, check the power connection, undo and clean it, including the fuse and fuse holder. Make sure no corrosion in connectors or wires, or loose wires. Double check that the engine interface cable is plugged into its T piece firmly and into the engine harness at the other end. Check for loose wires in the interface plug that connects to the engine harness.

2. Make sure that main battery connections are good for the start battery, same as above, undo, clean and reconnect, checking for corroded cables as you go, and make sure the white wire connection is also good.

Good luck, can be tricky finding the cause sometimes.

[gsmith27]

Tks. Moonlighter. All wiring and batteries new with engines so my guess is something loose. I’ll update after I check

[gsmith27]

disconnected all 3 batteries and checked the fuses .Fuses were all good so i put back. After reconnecting everything engine and gauges are working well. ran engine at dock for 20 minutes. i will take out for run tonight. Tks Moonlighter.

[gsmith27]

just to follow up for anyone that may have similar problem in the future. After i reset the engines i ran for a couple of trips with no issues. On the third trip i hit the horn switch and the gauges went crazy again. Motors shut down after 5 minutes. Reset engines and all good. After returning to dock i disconnected horn toggle switch and removed breaker. Boat has run perfectly since. It's crazy how a bad connection on the horn switch panel could affect the engines but that was it.

[Moonlighter]

The engines and network both require solid, consistent 12v power.

A bad connection, voltage drops, internally corroded wires, poorly charged or failing batteries, corroded or loose fuse holder, a bad ground, or anything else that compromises the power supply to either the network (thru the power node connectionc) or to the engine (especially to the battery sub-wire eg the famous white wire) will cause nasty problems. Your example just proves that!

Likely that you have something happening in the wiring there that should be investigated and rectified before the problem resurfaces.

The fact that your engines actually shut down suggests that it could be white wire related, although that is not necessarily the case - have heard of stuations where low network voltage resulted in fault signals foing back to the ecu which shut the engines down or at least put them in safe mode.

I recommend that you read Art’s sticky thread re the “white wire” and investigate that further.