Faria Gateway Box Replacement with Garmin MFD

[WakeHawk]

So this replacement project began when the gas gauge on my 2008 SANTE 210 went out this last summer. I looked on several of the sites I normally use to order replacement Nautique parts and come to find out that there are no replacement gas gauges available for the Faria gateway box system, at least I couldn't find any. Out of curiosity I looked to see if other types of gauges were available and it looks like there are very few replacement parts available for this system. I did some reading on the forums and it appears that support for this system has been discontinued by Nautique and Faria. Since the Faria system has been a source of aggravation for my over the years I decided it was time for it to go.

There are a few options to replace these Faria gateway systems, one being an analog conversion kit. I didn't really like the idea of going backwards in technology so after studying the wiring diagrams available on this forum, some manuals from Faria and Zero Off I was able to download, and researching modern multifunction displays (MFDs) it looked like it was doable to refit my helm with a MFD and install a NMEA 2000 network to replace the Faria system. At this point I decided it was time to rid myself of another annoyance, the dated Clarion stereo system that was factory installed. I ended up going with a Fusion Apollo Series MS-RA770 head unit, and replaced the Clarion amp with a JL M600/6 to run all the in boat speakers and a JL MX500/1 to run the sub. The tower speakers and amp I upgraded years ago with a pair of Wetsound Pro485s running off a JL MHD600/4.

At this point I have the stereo all installed, the NMEA 2000 network installed, the tank level analog to NMEA 2000 adapter installed, and the Garmin wiring complete and mocked up in the dash. I was able to get all the wiring done without cutting any wiring on the boat wiring harness. I'm just waiting for 1 more gauge to come in stock to complete this project. The next several post will be some steps I had to take to get to this point.

[WakeHawk]

First piece of advice I have if you are considering a similar project is to become familiar with your boat wiring diagram, which are available at this forum, and to get an understanding of how the NMEA 2000 network works. The included instructions with the Garmin gear were kind of ambiguous in some areas so one of the best NMEA 2000 overviews I found was from Maretron. This company builds a lot of high end gear, the link below is to their NMEA 2000 installation guide.

https://www.maretron.com/products/pd...on%20Guide.pdf

[WakeHawk]

First step is to demo the old gauges and gateway box out. This requires removing the top dash pad, to do this first remove the defroster vent if equipped, this is easy to do, just pop the vent vane portion off by gently pulling on it straight up, this will then expose 4 screws that come out next, then drop the bottom cover of the dash, reach up and clip the zip ties holding the vent hose to the fitting, then just lift the vent out. Once this is out of the way the dash pad can be removed, it is held in place by very tough velcro, a long thin screw driver helps to separate each side without damaging the dash pad.


On the underside of the dash, there are 4 plastic wing nuts that hold the trim portions that go next to the steering wheel, I removed these to give me some play while I removed the original dash pod and then later worked on building the new dash plate and mounting structure for the MFD, Zero Off, and eventually Veratron VMH 35 gauge that will complete the helm refit.


This pick is under the dash looking up and towards the steering wheel and stereo remote, there is one of the 4 plastic wingnuts pictured.

At this point it is time to remove the original dash pod. There are 3 screws across the top and 2 in the bottom corners, these are under the 2 side pieces of the dash pad, they are held in place with the velcro just like the center sections so just pull up gently to expose the 2 bottom screws.


Disconnect the lead wire that goes to the Faria gauges from the gateway box and disconnect the Zero Off wiring harness and the dash pod should be ready to be removed. Once this is done you should end up with something that looks like this.

With the dash pod removed this gives nice access to the wiring behind the helm. Remove the gateway box by disconnecting (NOT CUTTING!) all the wires, pull 4 screws and it comes out.

[SilentSeven]

Looking forward to this thread.

[shag]

Great start! I'll be looking forward to this as well. Once I get the rest of my parts together (New gateway being made aftermarket, that will feed a NMEA to a SIMRAD MFD, I will try and post a project too.

[WakeHawk]

The next steps are to build a mock up to mount the MFD in and to build adapter wiring harnesses to get the needed signals in to the NMEA 2000 network and eventually into the MFD. There are several methods available to make this happen so I will focus on the methods I considered based on the components I used in this refit.

The first component I made a decision on was what MFD to go with. One criteria for me was that it had to be able to fit in the footprint of the existing dash, I did not want to have to have a new custom built dash pad made and wanted to keep the factory low profile dash line. This limited my size that would fit to 7" MFDs, I would have liked to go bigger, but the 9" models were about 1/4" - 1/2" too tall. I ended up going with a Garmin GSPMap 743xsv, this is one of their higher end MFDs and has some better connectivity than other brands. The Garmin GPSMap series in addition to NMEA 2000 connectivity has built in J1939 engine network connectivity and the processor to NMEA 2000, NMEA 0183 connectivity. The xsv models also have pretty decent built in sonar, which I needed since in my research I was not able to find a good way to adapt the simple 2 wire depth transducer that the Faria system used to NMEA 2000 or other method to get the data into the Garmin. I ended up replacing the factory depth transducer with a Garmin/Airmar B150M transducer, which is a bit overkill for a wake board boat since it is a Chirp transducer so will have higher resolution sonar, this also provides water temperature data. There are many other transducer options and if you aren't interested in having full blown sonar display capability you can get non-sonar models and then use a depth transducer that outputs it signal straight to NMEA 2000. The difference in price in the Garmin line between sonar and non-sonar models was only $100 so I went with the higher resolution sonar.

The next component is the analog tank level transducer to NMEA 2000 adapter. There are many options for this as well, in my research I ran across adapters from Veratron that are very user friendly and easy to program with a smart phone that has NFC capability (if your phone has Apple Pay or Google Pay you have NFC). The programing was by far the simplest of other options and about 1/2 the price of the option from Garmin. The following link to YouTube is a quick overview of what available LinkUp adapters Veratron currently offers. There is a 48 minute video that goes into detail on the product line and how to program them on their YouTube channel.
https://youtu.be/3vhQ6ftFLDs

Another important but not exciting component is the interface between the engine's J1939 network and the NMEA 2000 network. I elected to use the built in J1939 port on the Garmin, so I ordered their J1939 accessory cable and installed the appropriate DT connector to be a simple plug and play installation. I also got as a back up plan a Veratron LinkUp J1939 adapter, this adapter is programmed similarly to the resistive tank level adapter and translates the J1939 signals to NMEA 2000 signals. There are several other products available to accomplish this, I went this route since it was the most user friendly options for my application. This is a critical component to be successful since all the engine data is transmitted over the J1939 network from the ECU. The only signals that do not come over this network are the fuel tank level and system voltage.

Stereo head unit was the next decision. I looked at the JL Media Master and the Fusion Apollo series. Ended up going with the Fusion MS-RA770 since there were more favorable reviews on various forums, the is a Garmin smart watch app, and the remotes are wireless and much easier to install. Probably won't go into too much detail on the installation of this as this installs like a normal head unit, just with an extra connection to the NMEA 2000 network to enable control from that MFD.

Other miscellaneous stuff I needed to complete the install would be NMEA 2000 components, I got a Garmin NMEA 2000 starter kit, a 4 port tee for under the helm, a 2 port tee for under the dash by the stereo head unit, a 4 m NMEA 2000 cable to go from the helm to the stereo, a NMEA 2000 thermometer from Yacht Devices, and a big kit of DT connectors to build harnesses to plug into the boat wiring.

[SilentSeven]

As you get this sorted, a final BOM would be super valuable. Thanks for running point on sorting all this out!

[WakeHawk]

Quote removed by Admin for not following the Guidelines for Quoting Previous Posts in a Thread.

yeah, I can do that once I'm done.

[MN Ryan]

This is so fricking cool. I am excited to see the final product. I hope I never have to do this, though.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

[WakeHawk]

The next few post will be on building wiring harnesses to connect the boat to the new MFD and N2K network. To start will you need to know what type of connectors you will be dealing with, most of the boat connectors are Deutsch DT style connectors that use #16 pins and barrels. I ended up getting a big kit off of Amazon to cover anything I might encounter, I also got the proper crimper that produces a 4 point crimp on the pins/barrels to lock the wires in place. The following link is to the kit I went with, smaller kits would definitely get the job done, but I'm ok with having spares in the garage.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...1?ie=UTF8&th=1

For wire I used high quality tinned oxygen free copper with silicone insulation in 16 gauge and 18 gauge size where needed. Most of the wiring harnesses did not need extra wire.


The wiring above is what you will be plugging into, the triangular 3 position plug is the J1939 engine network plug that was plugged into the Faria gateway box, the square 4 position plug is the power plug that was plugged into the gateway box. Both of these plugs are actually from the Zero Off wiring harness, this harness is how the Zero Off is installed in this generation boat, their harness basically hooks into the boat main wiring harness and then tees off with one set of plugs going to the Faria gateway box and the other going to the main Zero Off plug that plugs into the back of the Zero Off gauge.

The square plug I re-pinned with an extra ground wire in it as it had a white with black stripe wire in there that I couldn't figure out what it was doing for a while since it was not continuous to ground and never saw any voltage no mater what was turned on. So after looking over the Zero Off wiring diagrams that I was able to find on their website, it is listed as "pass though" so basically all it is there for is to plug that position on the DT connector. I looked at the plug where the boat wiring harness plugs in and there is a plug in that position which verifies that that wire was doing nothing, so I put in another ground wire to have it available if necessary.


Here is some more wiring involved with this project. From left to right, the 6 position plug that I am holding is the wiring from the paddlewheel that plugged into the gateway box, shouldn't need this so I just used a socket and plugged of the holes to preserve the wiring. The next square DT connector plug with the red, black and purple wire in it is the power, ground, and switched power from the boat wiring harness, notice the plug I was referring to previously that confirmed what the white and black mystery wire was just serving as a plug, the next 3 position triangular DT connector is the J1939 engine network wiring coming from the ECU, you don't need to mess with this plug, but when I was building my J1939 wiring harness I referred to this plug to make sure I put the pins in the proper position. The next large brown DT plug is the 12 position "P11" plug in the wiring diagram, this plug has a number of signal wires in it, a sensor ground, and a few other things, this is the plug that you use to get the gas tank level signal to the LinkUp adapter. The last DT connector pictured to the right of the big brown plug is the 4 position plug that goes from the gateway box to the gauge cluster, you will not be using this wiring, I attempted to remove it all together, but it is tied into the main wiring harness and I wasn't going to risk messing anything up to get it out so I will just tie it out of the way and abandon it in place.

[WakeHawk]

This is so fricking cool. I am excited to see the final product. I hope I never have to do this, though.

Sent from my SM-G970U using Tapatalk

It was a little intimidatingly at first, but as I stewed over the summer because of the broken gauge with no spare parts, I did a lot of homework on how the wiring all works and it wasn't too bad to get it installed. I think the hardest part was building the new dash plate and structure, which I still need to finish since I am waiting on 1 gauge to come in stock to finish this off.

[WakeHawk]

Looking though the pictures I took during this project, it looks like the best ones I have of wiring harnesses is of the J1939 harness, so I will start there, it is a good representation of what the finished DT connectors should look like when you are done.

There are a couple of options that Garmin has available to connect their MFDs to J1939 networks, one is what they call a Yamaha engine adapter, this one looks like it has a 6 position DT socket connector on one end and the 5 position round threaded connector that the MFD uses on the other end, the other option is a 30' long cable with just the threaded Garmin connector on the end. I decided to use the plain wire option to limit the number of connectors in the line. I think I ended up using only about 3' of this wire and attached the appropriate DT connector to it for a plug and play installation.


This picture shows the 3 position DT connector with the wires pinned in their appropriate positions. In this case I referred to the main boat wiring harness plug as a guide, when connected, the white wire connects to the white wire on the boat harness, the blue wire connects to the black wire on the boat wiring harness, and the bare shield wire connects to the bare shield wire.


This picture show what the completed connector should look like with the pins locked in their positions.

I had a little hang up when I hooked this up to the Garmin, this was one area where the install instructions were a little ambiguous, in addition to the signal wires and shield wire, there are 12V + & - wires in the cable. It wasn't clear whether to hook these up to power or not, in one paragraph it said that the you were supposed to hook up the power wires, in another it said not to add additional power if you were using this on an existing network, so without the power wires hooked up, the Garmin was not looking for a J1939 signal and didn't register the engine at first. So after thinking this over and convincing myself that adding power didn't have a chance of messing up the engine ECU, I hooked up the power wires in with the power wires that fire up the MFD and everything started working properly. As I mentioned before, all the engine data comes across this connection. The only data that does not come in over this is the fuel level and system voltage. I will upload an updated picture once I'm done with this project to show how I tied the Garmin MFD power cable and this one together to make it all work.

[WakeHawk]

The next harness is the N2K power harness. For this I wanted the N2K network to power up when the 3 way toggle switch was switched to the "On" position. This is easily accomplished by using the 4 position power plug that was powering the gateway box. Just match the positive wire on the N2K power cable to the red wire in the boat harness and the negative and shield wires in the N2K power harness should be twisted together and pinned into the ground on the boat harness. You will want to make sure that the N2K network power wire in on a switched circuit, if you wire it straight to the batteries, it will be on all the time and slowly drain them.

[WakeHawk]

For the power to the Garmin MFD, I had to get a little creative since I couldn't find exiting available wiring under the helm that behaved as I wanted. I want the MFD to come on when I code in the boat, just like the stereo does. The way the original gateway box worked, it had a power wire that would fire up when the 3 way toggle was moved to "On" and another one that would fire up when in the engine "run" position, not one that would come on when you code in. So I ended up splicing into the switched 12v wire from the stereo and running a power wire over to the helm. I spliced in on the stereo side of the wiring and did not touch the main boat wiring harness side of the wiring. So I also needed a ground, which is really easy under the helm since the PME is right there and has a big ground cable straight back to the batteries, so I built a 2 ground wiring harness that bolted onto the PME ground, I used one ground for the MFD and J1939 wiring and put the other in the 4 position power plug where the white and black mystery wire was.


Ground wires I added, grounded out at the PME.

Power connection built for the MFD. Red 12v+ is the 16 gauge wire that is spliced into the switched 12v wire at the stereo run over to the helm, the ground is one that I added that terminates at the PME ground connection.


MFD power harness with 2 position mating DT connector attached.

[WakeHawk]

The last harness, at this point was for the tank level adapter. The signal wires are already under the helm and live in the 12 position "P11" plug from the gateway box. There is a pink wire in that plug that is the signal form the fuel level sender and a black ground wire. This harness I had to build from scratch. You use a 12 position DT socket and a AMP superseal 1.5 2 pin connector to build the harness.

Here is a link to the AMP connectors I used to make this plug and play between the boat and the LinkUp adapter:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1


This is the final product, I will probably need to pin some more wires into this 12 position socket once I get my final gauge for this project.

Installation is simple, just plug the big 12 position plug into the boat, the LinkUp adapter plugs into the 2 pin AMP connector, and then hooks into the N2K backbone. Programming the adapter is very simple using Veratron's app on your phone, just tell it what the resistive sensor is, in this case a tank level, tell it what standard it is using, in this case it is a 240 - 33 ohm sensor, you can label it as fuel, and tell it what tank number it is. I ran into a minor issue with my initial configuration, at first I set the tank number as "tank1" this worked at first and showed up and was assessable on the N2K network, but I was having the J1939 data not initially coming in due to the power issue I discussed earlier, so when I got that sorted, the tank level wasn't showing up constantly any more. Long story short, after some trouble shooting, what was happening was once the Garmin saw the J1939 network, it assigned all the data associated with that engine to "engine1" this included "tank1" which doesn't actually exist on the J1939 network so there was a conflict with 2 "tank1" existing on the system. So the fix was quite simple, I just had to reprogram the LinkUp adapter and set that to "tank2" and this fixed the conflict and I was able to easily set up the MFD to use "tank2" for the fuel level.