Loss of engine data to helm

[MVHorn]

I have Twin 2018 DF 300s. Bought new in May 2019. Fly by wire, Garmin 7616s, autopilot, Fusion audio, Sea Star.
Problem: No issue for one year, then three weeks ago I lost all data from one engine.

I'm still a newbie on terminology, this system was a vast upgrade from my previous boat with one '06 Garmin.

I did factory resets on C-10 gauges. They still only see one engine and I looked under Network-Sources-Devices and I only see one engine interface cable.

I've hand tightened all the connections at the backbones.

Odd symptom/clue is that my engine data on the C10 (and helm gauge) flickers back and forth between what I think is info coming from both engines. The hours, alt, rpms, etc will flicker between two different numbers, . When I rev EITHER engine above idle the RPMS will flicker between the RPMS # of the idling one in the 600s and the one I increased to 1100s. Again both engines can cause this. I don't understand how I could be getting info from both engines yet it only "sees" one engine and one cable?

Coincidentally I am now getting an error on my charplotter at start up saying "sonar module lost", then goes away.

I don't know where to look next to narrow down the problem?

Thank you for any help.

[Moonlighter]

Ok, like many people you thought the problem is with the gauge when 90% of the time, its NOT.

I hope by resetting the gauge you havent messed up too much....

To understand how these systems work, you need to appreciate that the gauges are not wired to the engines, or vice versa.

The engines and the gauges are connected to the NMEA2000 network backbone, and they then all send data to and share data over the network. The gauges are simply displays whose main job is to display data they get through the network from the engines. So, if the gauge starts up with the Suzuki symbol when the engine key is turned to the on position, then even though they might not show data, they are probably just fine.

The problem is that they have stopped receiving data from the engines. So no data being received = no data displayed.

The gauges have to be told which engine to get data from, and then which specific data to get. So its possible that when you reset the gauge, you may have deleted the setting that tells it to get data from the Port engine. And then, even if its looking at the right engine, it may have got mixed up as to which specific data it should get from that engine. It may have lost its data source settings.


So when data goes missing, there can be a few different reasons.

A bad physical connection between the network and the engines is one possibility - especially if the problem occurred after a recent service - because the mechanic has to disconnect the engine harness from the connection on the engine in order to hook up their laptop to run the SDS diagnostic software. So thats worth checking. The SDS plug is located near the ecu. If it is not reconnected properly or the plug is loose, or a wire in the plug has broken, you can lose data. So find and check that plug and make sure its good.

Another common cause is a network data sources issue.

So the very first step when data mysteriously disappears is always to reset all network data sources, because sometimes they simply get lost, possibly due to voltage spikes and the like.

Here is how. Make a note of this procedure because it is the GO TO procedure whenever data is missing. It is safe to do and does not cause other problems.

Turn the engine keys on, and also turn on every other device that is connected to the network.

Open the gauge menu. Select menu/system/network then select sources. You should then see an option to auto-select data sources. Select it and do it. It will pop up a warning saying to ensure all network devices are turned on (like I already told you to do) and a scary sounding warming that all data sources will be reset and do you REALLY want to do that. Yes, you do, so proceed.

Now go back and check to see what data is appearing on the gauges. Note - If it doesnt appear, its possibly because the gauge settings were deleted when you reset it. So you might also need to go into the gauge settings and set it up to show engine from the Port engine. Your gauge manual tells you how to do that.

Try those things and let us know how it goes. We can look at other more complex stuff if that doesnt fix it.

[Moonlighter]

Here is a link to the user manual for the Simrad IS35 display, which the C-10 is a slightly customised version of.

See page 41 for setting which engine’s data you want to display on each gauge.

ftp://software.simrad-yachting.com/d...0712-002_w.pdf