Disconnecting a Bayliner depth finder?

[Mr. Prop-B-Gone]

I want to disconnect the depth finder transducer on my 2001 Bayliner 195 LX bowrider. It shuts down my fish-finder, and, because the gauge is in a permanent endless cycle, going from time to water temp to depth to engine hours and back around again, a typical malfunction for this multi-readout gauge, the on-board depth finder can not be shut off.

I have the schematic, but thought that, rather than spending a couple of hours tracing wires and trying to re-invent the wheel, someone might have done a similar thing and could answer some questions.

Where is the through-the-hull transducer located? I assume it's somewhere in the engine compartment? Is there any kind of connector that can be unplugged, or it it a cut-the-wires operation? Knowing where the transducer lives would make it easier to figure out how to disconnect it.

I tried Shep Brown's, the local Bayliner Dealer, and got someone who was somewhat less than helpful. Said the transducer was either on the transom or somewhere in the hull! He couldn't be more specific than that, and wasn't about to ask anyone else where it might be. Kinda makes me glad I do the work myself!

Thanks in advance for any help you can give me!

[Charlie T]

In most cases the transducer end of the cable is permanently attached so as to maintain watertight integrity. The connector will be at the gauge end.
You may want to contact the GAUGE MANUFACTURER (not the boat maker) to ensure that you can disconnect the transducer without causing damage to the main unit. A quick internet search with the name and model number of the unit may also get you a copy of the owner’s manual.

Good Luck

CT

[Mr. Prop-B-Gone]

Just heard back from Bayliner. Very quick response! The transducer is located back by the outdrive. They said the wires could be cut there, or disconnected from the accessory switch on the dash, which sounds easier to get to. I have the color codes, so I know what to look for.

I've tried to get info on the gauge from VDO, but all they want is for me to send it in along with my checkbook so they can "rebuild" it. They won't sell a replacement gauge, claiming they are no longer made. The gauges are soldered to a printed circuit motherboard. Easy enough to get out and work on, but if you want it fixed you have to live without gauges for the duration.

Worst case is the gauge dies. The only thing not duplicated is the engine hour meter, which is not the end of the world, because the engine only has 24 hours. Really! The previous owner bought it 7 years ago with a cracked block, had a new engine installed (and had the paperwork), then only used the boat a couple of times. It had 12 hours when we bought it last year for next to nothing because the engine was running rough. Turned out to be a clogged flame arrester! Sometime ya just get lucky!

[Mr. Prop-B-Gone]

Well, went down to the boat today and found out that the only thing connected to the accessory switch was the Lowrance! So much for that idea. Got another email into Bayliner. Did see a wire harness near the outdrive that looked like it might be the right one based on what they told me, but without being certain, and without any color codes, I'll wait till I've got some more info.

[Mr. Prop-B-Gone]

A year later and I'm still trying to disable the depth sounder so I can use my Lowrance fish finder. All the instructions they gave me last year were wrong.

After several more calls and emails to Bayliner last week, I finally had 2 of their "Customer Care" people tell me that Bayliner has no schematics for their boats! They also told me that they do not even know where in the hull the transducer is located! How amazing is that?

The only thing they could think of was to contact a local dealer. Stopped by Shep Brown's today and I guess it's true, because the best the best they could do was go online to the Bayliner site, which, of course, only has a generic schematic.

Looks like the fish are safe for another year! Anyone got any ideas? Besides buying another boat?

Thanks!

[brk-lnt]

It can't be THAT hard to find on a boat that size.

Try looking under the hull and see if you notice a flat spot somewhere near the transom.

[Mr. Prop-B-Gone]

The general consensus is that it is under the engine sump epoxied into the hull. Sound logical. But cutting the transducer out of the hull just doesn't seem like the right thing to do....... Only joking! But I am still amazed that a boat manufacturer doesn't have something so critically important to their product as a detailed diagram of the electrical system in each model.

The reason for knowing exactly where the transducer is located is that would allow me to find the wires that go to it and cut them. Sounds easy, but there are a lot of wires in that area. Most are either red or yellow, and, since the one size fits all schematic says that one transducer wire is red and the other is yellow, that provides zero clues, because on a boat, red is power and yellow is ground. There is no mention of a separate wire to send the signal back to the readout either,

And, of course, there are no wires going under the engine, so with my luck the wires are probably epoxied into the hull too.

[8gv]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding this but...

If the original device is interfering with the new one why not just remove power from it? Going behind the instrument panel you can see where the wires come out of the display. Either unplug it there, or after disconnecting the ship's battery, cut and secure the wires.

[brk-lnt]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding this but...

If the original device is interfering with the new one why not just remove power from it? Going behind the instrument panel you can see where the wires come out of the display. Either unplug it there, or after disconnecting the ship's battery, cut and secure the wires.

I think he has a multi-function gauge that shows depth and other data. So, he needs to cut the transducer signal, but leave the rest of the gauge and its functions intact.

Prop - can you post a pic of the back of the gauge?

[Dave R]

The general consensus is that it is under the engine sump epoxied into the hull. Sound logical. But cutting the transducer out of the hull just doesn't seem like the right thing to do....... Only joking! But I am still amazed that a boat manufacturer doesn't have something so critically important to their product as a detailed diagram of the electrical system in each model.

The reason for knowing exactly where the transducer is located is that would allow me to find the wires that go to it and cut them. Sounds easy, but there are a lot of wires in that area. Most are either red or yellow, and, since the one size fits all schematic says that one transducer wire is red and the other is yellow, that provides zero clues, because on a boat, red is power and yellow is ground. There is no mention of a separate wire to send the signal back to the readout either,

And, of course, there are no wires going under the engine, so with my luck the wires are probably epoxied into the hull too.

Just disconnect the red or yellow wire on the back of the gauge. Only need to disconnect one to disable the transducer.

[Rich]

I agree, find the transducer wires at the back of the gauge and disconnect them there. There should be some sort of a connector there. If there are more than one, disconnect them one at a time until you find the one you want.

[Mr. Prop-B-Gone]

Thanks for the input, everyone. All of the analog gauges are soldered to a motherboard. In the center of the cluster is a LCD readout that shows the engine hours, water temp, depth, time of day, engine run time for the current trip, and an estimate of how many miles you've gone, etc. It's supposed to stop on any readout you choose, but it is apparently malfunctioning so that it jumps from one readout to the next in a continuous loop.

The momentary switches on the dash which are supposed to control it are connected, but don't do what they should. This is apparently typical of this readout. But the switches are only for things like adjusting the time of day or zeroing the trip readouts. The sonar runs continuously regardless of what's on the display, and there is no switch to shut it off.

Because this is a multifunction gauge, and is soldered to the mother board, there are no wires connected to it. There is one 40 pin Molex connector that connects everything in the boat to the motherboard.

Without a schematic, it's not possible to know what trace to cut, and it's not possible to trace the circuits from the Molex to the gauge without knowing what's coming in and going out through the Molex. And the brain for the sonar may be attached to the transducer with the power feed coming off the main wiring harness somewhere other than at the dash cluster, so interrupting wires from the transducer may not shut it off.

It's medium surgery to remove the cluster. Had it out last year because the plastic bezel had warped and was interfering with a couple of the needles. A little grinding with the Dremil fixed that.

Anyway, that's my tale of woe. I think the gauges were made by VDO. If that's true, maybe they have a schematic for the motherboard. But Bayliner not having a schematic for the boat is bizarre!

Thanks again for the input. I'll let you know if I find a solution. Other than this, though, the boat is great.

[NoBozo]

Just a FACT: BAYLINER has NOTHING to do with how an intrument they installed during the build .. works or doesn't work after the fact. They JUST Insalled it when it was new. They didn't design it.

Multi function instruments are NEVER a SMART way to go...as you have inadvertantly discovered. Just like ..lets say Cox Cable.."Everything"..ETC. If ONE component goes wrong you are still locked in to the rest of the Package. :look: NB

[Mr. Prop-B-Gone]

Don't even need them to fix it. If I had the schematic I can fix it myself. And, outside of maybe the hour meter, I really have no use for the readout.

But you would think that any manufacturer, especially one the size of Bayliner, would keep reasonable records of the construction and electrical systems in their product. Seems like that's not the case with them, though.

[LakeSnake]

My 2007 bayliner owners manual has a complete wireing diagram. Do you have the original owners package? Just an idea.

[SIKSUKR]

I think he just answered his own question as to where to go.The gauge manufacturer VDO would be my next move.

[Mr. Prop-B-Gone]

Whine and you shall receive, I guess. Sent another request off to Bayliner, and one to VDO last night. Lo and behold! In my inbox this morning was a message from both companies.

Bayliner managed to locate the pin out diagram for the Molex, and, sure enough, there are 2 wires labeled depth on the Molex that appear to run to the transponder! They also said that this is the only electrical data they can find on the boat. But it should be enough.

VDO really hit the nail on the head. A PDF of the 50 page technical manual for the entire dash cluster! Wow! Apparently my email reached someone who had stumbled across the manual a couple of months ago while looking for something else. According to VDO, these usually become the property of the boat manufacturer once the project is over, so they don't usually save them. For some reason, the only one of these that was overlooked was the one for my boat! They said it was OK to pass a copy on to Bayliner, too!

Anyway, here's hoping that disconnecting the two wires on the Molex will kill the transducer. I'm pretty confident that will do the job. I'll post a follow up once the job is done.

Thanks again to everyone who commented. Always good to hear what others think. The more ideas the better!

[Par Four]

Good for you. Sure hope you get this finally resolved.

[Mr. Prop-B-Gone]

Thanks again to everyone who shared their thoughts on this!

I cut the wires going to pins 1 and 13 on the Molex connector. According to the tech manual that VDO provided, these were the send and receive wires going to the in hull transducer.

Finally found time to get the boat in the water Tuesday and the operation was a success! The Lowrance works great, although the transducer needs to be adjusted because I'm losing the readout when the boat is on plane. But that's an easy fix.

If anyone else has a 2001 Bayliner 195LX and needs the manual for the dash just let me know. It's a .pdf file and I can email it to you. I also forwarded a copy to Bayliner.