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Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS #9132208 07/15/13 09:31 PM
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Nic Jones Offline OP
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I was intrigued about connecting my Lowrance HDS 10 to my new Yamaha 175 HDPI engine. While it would be nice to have some additional gauges than what my boat came with, I mainly wanted an easy way to get the engine hours so that I could keep up with preventative maintenance/service. After researching I found that I could:


  • Go to the dealer and have them read the hours.
  • Have the dealer install a gauge in the dash, but it wouldn't match my gauges, and it would likely cost at least $100. to get and install.
  • Buy the parts to connect to my Lowrance HDS and have additional engine info available at my fingertips.


So I opted for the Lowrance route and after calling a lowrance dealer, my boat dealer and getting confused, I called David Goodson at Shut-Up-And-Fish. Who provided me with information about what it would take to install the setup.

The overview goes as such:
The gauges on the Lowrance HDS are connected through a NMEA 2000 network. Which is a networking standerd set by the National Marine Electronic Association. Which provides a common set of interfaces, and communication between various devices such as Radar,GPS,and in this case Engine Data and Sonar. To interface the equipment you will need an NMEA 2000 to Yamaha Adaptor, and a NMEA 2000 adaptor, unless your Yamaha engine utilizes the command link for its controls or the gauges on the dash. You will then need to reference this document. Fortunately this was not necessary with my 2013 Yamaha VZ175 on my 2013 Skeeter TZX 190.

The parts needed for my installation look like this:



Lowrance Network Starter Kit P/N 000-0124-69 (about $70.00)
Lowrance NMEA 2000 To Yamaha Interface Cable P/N 000-0120-37(about $100.00)

It should look like this when assembled:



The network starter kit comes with:

  • 2 Terminating Resistors (1 male, 1 Female)
  • 3 Network Tees to connect the devices in the network (more may be added to facilitate additional equipment.)
  • 1 Power Cable
  • 1 15 Foot NMEA 2000 Network Cable
  • 1 2 Foot NMEA Network Cable (I actually used this to extend the power cable)

The Yamaha Interface Cable Is shown connected but sold separate from the NMEA 2000 Network Starter Kit.

On each end of the network there are two resistors that must be in place on each end of the network to terminate it. You can add as many tees as necessary to connect all of the desired equipment together, I only required the three that were included in the kit. You will also need to power your network, this can be connected to any 12 volt power source and must be powered to use the network. I recommend connecting this to a switched connection to avoid parasitic draw.

The engine connection will be made under the engine cowling on the Starboard Side of the engine as shown here:



Connect to your Lowrance HDS at the NMEA 2000 Connector on the back:



Mount your NMEA 2000 Network, I mounted behind an access panel in one of the starboard rod box which is close to the drivers console.



After tidying everything up you should be able to power the unit up and see this:



You may notice that not all of the gauges work, this is because the engine either does not have the sensor, or does not provide the information to the NMEA network. You may be able to purchase sensors/adaptors from your Yamaha dealer or Lowrance Dealer to get the additional data. Such as a Live well Temperature Sensor, or a fuel tank level connection.

Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9132255 07/15/13 09:43 PM
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Nic Jones Offline OP
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I did notice that the Trim would not work when I connected my engine to my Lowrance. After doing some research I found out that there are two pink wires under the engine cowling that must be connected for the trim to display through the Lowrance. They look like this:



and after removing the dust covers they connect like this:



After connecting the pink wires, I found that the gauge started working on my Lowrance, but was way off. After doing some more research I found out that with an analog (factory, non-digital) trim gauge connected to my engine, the NMEA trim data is skewed. I disconnected my factory trim gauge and it worked perfectly. However I prefer my factory trim gauge so I left it connected and removed the trim data from my gauge screen. It is possible that a resistor could eliminate the problem, but it is not important to me.

If you don't have a factory trim gauge this may work fine for you.

Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9133028 07/16/13 01:44 AM
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red skeeter zx200 Offline
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That's awesome I'm going to try this thanks for the info...


Never give up !!!!!
Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9133051 07/16/13 01:49 AM
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Where and what is the name for the plug that goes to the motor ?


Never give up !!!!!
Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: red skeeter zx200] #9133108 07/16/13 02:05 AM
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Nic Jones Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: red skeeter zx200
Where and what is the name for the plug that goes to the motor ?


I found the plug underneath the cowling. It was on the starboard side (driver side) near the bulkhead (where all the wires come through.)

It is a four pin plug. (Mine only had two wires used) and the wires were Blue and White. If it is not being used it will have an empty plug plugged into it to seal it up.



I believe it is called the Command Link Connector or some derivative of Command Link Connector. Yamaha uses this to link up with their Command Link and Command Link Plus Gauge system if I am not mistaken.

For more information see here .

Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9133207 07/16/13 02:33 AM
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It was a pleasure doing business with you Nic. Looks realy good.

David @ shut-up-and-fish


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Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9133365 07/16/13 03:19 AM
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red skeeter zx200 Offline
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Does your other gauges still work.


Never give up !!!!!
Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: red skeeter zx200] #9133419 07/16/13 03:42 AM
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Nic Jones Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: red skeeter zx200
Does your other gauges still work.


Yes, all of the original factory gauges still work.

Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9133426 07/16/13 03:44 AM
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young cat Offline
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I have a 2001 johnson. Will this work with it. It is a 115 horse


Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: young cat] #9133496 07/16/13 04:17 AM
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Nic Jones Offline OP
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Originally Posted By: young cat
I have a 2001 johnson. Will this work with it. It is a 115 horse


I don't believe that your motor is Compatible with a NMEA 2000 network. But I know very little about Johnson Motors...

Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9134264 07/16/13 02:31 PM
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I did this on my 2008 Skeeter ZX 225 with a 225 HPDI Series 2. Love it! I also bought the NMEA 2000 Temperature probe and installed it in my live well so the live well temperature is displayed on my graph.

Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9141309 07/18/13 03:56 PM
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Most motors prior to around 2002 didn't have built-in NMEA 2000 options.
You can get your Johnson to work, it won't be plug-and-play though, you'll have to buy multiple "sensor-type to NMEA 2000" devices (Lowrance has temp, fuel flow, level, and pressure sensors available, for instance). And you'll have to manually modify whatever it is you want "sensed" to install the sensors.
In some cases (fuel/oil level for instance) you can use the existing sending units, BUT you can't use both the built-in gauge, and an NMEA sender (because they are measuring voltages to get resistance, having 2 connected at the same time alters the output, messing up the results).
A third option is an "analog to NMEA 2000" conversion box, Maretron and another company I can't remember make them. Not cheap, and also "replaces" your existing gauges in most cases.

Bottom line, not cheap, not easy, not like the "plug-and-play" of newer built-in motors, but still possible. (I've looked at doing it myself, that's why I'm so familiar with it).

Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9143878 07/19/13 03:30 AM
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young cat Offline
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Thanks for the info christexan looks like i wont be trying that one out lol


Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9145033 07/19/13 03:33 PM
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Nice post! Looks like I've got another To Do Project....Ha! Ha!


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Re: Connecting Yamaha Engine to Lowrance HDS [Re: Nic Jones] #9147660 07/20/13 11:48 AM
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Outstanding information, thanks for all your effort!
You should do a Utube video of this, I'm sure many would find it of interest! Also, glad to know David is up to date on the NEMA network too.


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