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I put this engine on an older tritoon last year, runs great. The original trim gauge would not work with the new engine, so the dealer sent me a new susuki trim gauge. I removed the old '96 model gauge and put the new one in yesterday, but it doesn't work right. I wired it up the same way the older one was. Trims shows all the way up when the key is off and all the way down when the key is on. The wiring is original, I guess it could be the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated. The original trim gauge worked with the '96 model engine I replaced.
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When I bought my DF150 new, it came with a broken actuator arm on the trim sensor. That woulld be the first thing I would check, considering that the origianl gauge worked on the old motor.Mike
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Thank you. I think the whole problem is me. When I bought this engine I went down a few hours South to a dealer in Alabama that had the engine on trade. He rigged it for me, and only had a black faced tach in stock and no trim gauge. The black faced tach worked fine except for the oil warning light staying on all the time. Kyle shipped a new white tach and trim gauge. I haven't been able to get either to work. I hope somebody here has a picture or drawing or even the wire color codes that i can check before heading back down to Alabama. None of the suzuki dealers local want to troubleshoot this for me. The tach doesn't work at all, and the trim gauge is all the way up when the key is off and all the way down when the key is on.Comment
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Trim Gauge Wiring and Calibration
I attached a trim gauge wiring diagram. The colors were exactly as shown on my 2018 DF115A. There was a 2 pin connector dangling unconnected under the dash near the tachometer. I assume if you have a suzuki gauge it would have an appropriate connector. The white wire with yellow stripe is the + signal from the sender. The black is ground. In my boat gray is the switched ignition power. Lamp is red with green stripe.
I was unable to find a suzuki brand gauge that matched the custom face plates on my boat. So I bought a Sierra International 67365P gauge that matches closely. The amazon ad says it is specifically for Johnson/Evinrude and Suzuki. It showed up with Veethree Instruments labeling.
I tested the gauge to make sure it would travel in the correct direction and it did (see other picture).
Trim Gauge Calibration
But after installing it and turning on ignition, the needle was pegged in down position. As I trimmed the motor up, it traveled quite a bit before the needle started to move. Full up tilt and the needle was in the middle. Not useful.
The gauge responds to the resistance signal supplied by the sender. Suzuki is 88 ohms full down as measured between the white/yellow wire and the black wire. 2-10 ohms in the up position.
It didn't appear to me that the sender was adjustable like it is on some outboards.
My solution was to wire a resistor between the G (ground) post and the S (signal) post. Putting this resistor in parallel with the sender moved the effective resistance down and therefore the needle up. I experimented with a trimmer potentiometer and ended up setting at 392 ohms (measured with potentiometer disconnected) to move the needle to align with the down mark and travel fully on the gauge.
Not sure if this is your issue but in case anyone else has a non suzuki gauge with similar issue, that's how I fixed it.
If anyone knows if the trim sender is adjustable, that would obviously be the better solution.Comment
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