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GPS antenna on 14 VLX


pknappe

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Just installed the Sirius XM antenna and it worked fine. Was also trying to install a GPS antenna on the Medallian unit but I could not find where to connect it. There is no connection on the 7" screen, and the main screen is not very accessible. Has anyone done this install on a 14?

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Just installed the Sirius XM antenna and it worked fine. Was also trying to install a GPS antenna on the Medallian unit but I could not find where to connect it. There is no connection on the 7" screen, and the main screen is not very accessible. Has anyone done this install on a 14?

pkn,

I am thinking about doing the exact same thing on a 2013. I want to add GPS Cruise. Are you trying to add GPS cruise? I know what parts to order if I want to do it, but I did not want to buy them unless I knew I could install the parts myself.

We have to figure this out somehow.!

I will keep researching it also. I have contacted my parts guy to see if there is a way he could forward some installation information to me. That maybe too much to ask of him.

We will see.

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Just installed the Sirius XM antenna and it worked fine. Was also trying to install a GPS antenna on the Medallian unit but I could not find where to connect it. There is no connection on the 7" screen, and the main screen is not very accessible. Has anyone done this install on a 14?

Are you talking about GPS Cruise? I installed GPS cruise on my 2013 vlx, there should be two connections on the wiring harness with the GPS puck. One is located under the helm above steering column (white), and the other is located along side gunwale in a large bundle of wires. The GPS puck itself mounts under the dash, you will notice an area of raised fiberglass that is where you attach puck with two screws. If you need pictures I can locate them and upload them for you.

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These are the part numbers and the prices for adding GPS cruise to my 2013 MXZ. Fman has done it successfully. Just have to mount the puck and plug in the harness. I am going to try to do it.

3962048.1, Antenna, Puck, Medallion GPS/Speed/Nav, ’14, $371.68
3737058.1, Harness, Medallion GPS/Speed/Nav, w/connector, ’14 $65.46
3960081, switch, Toggle, ON/OFF, GPS switch, ’14 $15.38
5441574, bracket, mounting bracket for GPS switch, ’14 $43.38
5823868.1, decal, GPS label, ’14 $10.00

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Nautil Laugic has the kit. They are good guys to deal with. I installed it on my 11 VLX. The toughest thing was finding the paddle wheel connectors. They are on the back side corner of the engine block ( Pass side closest to the front of the boat). U just plug it in there and thread throught the LH side of the boat. Take the sensor puck and install out through the vent on the LH side windshield, go through the air vent piping. That's it.

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I tried the nauti logic on my 13 and had zero success. It changed nothing. I ended up sending it back. For some reason it did not seem to work well with the maliview system. The gps cruise was ideal for the maliview, immediately noticed a difference in holding speed and no surging.

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Fman,

Yes trying to get GPS cruise and chart option working. If you have pictures of where to attach the antenna that would be great. I understand I would have to buy the maps to get the charts to work. According to Gordon, looks like I need lots of additional parts besides the antenna.

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There should be two barrel connections on the wiring harness from gps puck. One is a small white connection that is found above steering wheel assembly under helm. The other larger connection is found along the side gunwale in a large bundle of wires. The one above steering wheel column was most difficult to locate, it's tucked up there, gotta fish around for it.

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Mine was a 2013, I would think the 2011 would be no different. It was not easy to find, I had to reach up deep into void space under dash above steering wheel and find the white connector. Do you have two barrel connections on your wiring harness? One large and a smaller white?

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I ordered all the parts yesterday and the are being shipped to my house. I don't know if the parts will be here by this weekend. It may not be until next week. When I attempt the installation I will try to document everything with pictures and post it.

I asked my local salesman a number of times if he thought the Medallion GPS cruise would be better than the paddle wheel cruise and if it was worth the effort and money, each time he told me no, it was not going to be much better.

Well, the parts/service manager with the dealer from which I ordered the parts said it will be much better.

So, we will see who was correct. If I can get it installed correctly, I am really hoping it will be better. The paddle wheel cruise just does not hold the speed well at surf speeds. It seems even worse when having the drag of the power wedge deployed.

Edited by gordon20mxz
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I got the parts Friday and did the GPS cruise installation on Saturday. Want to give a "shout out" to Crew member Fman who sent me an under the dash picture of the GPS puck he installed himself. That gave me the confidence to order the parts and try doing the installation myself.

I ordered the parts from SMG Wake in Houston and they had them shipped from Malibu directly to my house. No installation instructions, just the parts showed up. It seemed simple to have to search under the dash to find the compatible connectors, but the switch to change back and forth between GPS cruise and paddle wheel cruise had me a little confused. I expected a switch that would turn off the paddle wheel connection and create the GPS connection. But the wire harness and the switch seem to just turn on the GPS cruise and I guess somehow in the Maliview the paddle wheel data gets ignored? I have not mounted the switch under the dash yet, I just have the wires and the switch tucked up under the dash.

The GPS cruise is definitely holding the speed better than the paddle wheel! I am really glad I did it.

When I first started researching adding GPS cruise to my boat with my local dealer there was some confusion about my Indmar engine controller and what brand cruise control would be compatible. I still don't understand the issues completely, but in 2013 some engines would accept basic Medallion Cruise (I think) and some engines would accept Zero Off cruise. Looking at the parts list for my boat it seemed that I would be getting the basic Medallion Cruise. However, when I found the appropriate wires under my dash, the wire with the gray connector was labeled (from the factory) Zero Off. So I still don't know if there are two different types of cruise or not and I don't know what my boat is using now?

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  • Like 2
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One additional compatibility issue that I finally understand regarding your Indmar engine computer controller and what "brand" cruise control is compatible. Your hull number should tell your dealer and Malibu what antenna puck and wire harness you need. But with my boat there was some confusion about which engine controller I had so I needed to email a picture of my engine label to Malibu.

If your Indmar engine control module (ECM) is "metfie6" your boat is compatible with the Medallion brand GPS cruise control. Medallion being the company that makes the dash electronics.

If your Indmar engine control module (ECM) is "Econtrol" your boat is compatible with the Zero Off brand cruise control. The Zero Off company working with the Medallion company to make it work.

So with my boat, even though the wire I found up in the dash was labelled Zero Off from the factory, my cruise control is actually the Medallion brand because my ECM is metfie6.

Edited by gordon20mxz
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  • 8 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Nice write up guys!

:werule:

This was exactly the info I needed.  I'm going to be adding the GPS cruise to my 2013 24 MXZ.  I'm also having some pretty bad surging and speed fluctuations with my paddle-wheel based cruise.  My dealer quoted me $602.10 for the parts plus tax, and quoted an additional $240 for labor and $25 for shop supplies, the total quoted after tax was $904.73 including installation.   I would never pay for labor on anything, i'm a very good mechanic myself but they quoted it anyway so I'm sharing as an FYI.   I did a little searching online and found NP Wake has all the parts available online for $515 total with free shipping.  I just ordered the GPS puck and the harness, figuring I would skip the $65 switch/bracket/label and go for a typical $5 switch and zip-tie it up under the dash.  After ordering just the puck and the harness I got out the door for about $450.

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On 5/2/2016 at 10:30 AM, hunter77ah said:

Did the GPS make a difference?  I am looking to add it to mine, but will rethink if it doesn't help.

YES!  My first boat had GPS, 2nd did not.  Noticed significant surging when surfing especially and not being able to stay at the set cruise speed.  It's MUCH more accurate and has been without surges since I added the GPS this year.  My dealer did it for just under $600 on my 2014 VTX.

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Ok... Well I got my GPS cruise parts all in, installed and tested. However the test did not go as expected. My surging/seeking for speed is now worse than with the paddle-wheel!!! 

I after is installed everything the the "GPS" indicator showed up on my MaliView cruise screen, I also went into the Malibu Navigation and verified that it had a valid GPS position signal and it was tracking satellites.  So I assume everything was working correctly.  When we got to the boat to the lake I tried to engage the cruise and it was all over the place..  We were just riding around not towing anyone so I set the cruise at 20 mph, while running the boat would slow to about 16-17 then violently accelerate to 23-24, chop the throttle, slow back down to 16-17, sometimes the cruise would disengage then re-engage after I throttled it back up...  The lake was really choppy and windy so I thought that may have been the problem, but I tried it again later in the day with the GPS on smooth water and it did pretty much the same thing... I switched over to RPM cruise mode and set it at 2300 RPM, we cruised along holding rock solid at about 21.5 mph fluctuating less than .5 mph and holding rpm withing +/- 75 of the set-point. 

I guess my first thing to verify is the mounting of the GPS "puck" module to make sure its getting good signal and is mounted properly.  I wasn't exactly sure on the best location to mount it, so I "temporarily" stuck it with heavy duty double sided tape to the bottom side of the console in the location @gordon20mxz showed in his picture.  I'm thinking this is probably not the best place for it, and I was thinking it should probably be mounted to the underside of the deck just in front of the windshield, in the same location the external surface mount GPS antenna is located on the newer boats? That would definitely be a more solid mounting location and not susceptible to the vibration/bounce of the console. Can anyone tell me where exactly is the GPS module mounted in your boats?   I know that one side of the module is labeled "this side down" but beyond that does anyone know if the rotational orientation of the module matters?  Is there a side that should be face forward?

This seems pretty silly... Am I missing something here, is there a calibration or something that needs to be done?  The install seems very simple but it's just not working like it should. 

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Interesting.  When I installed mine, my dealer told me that if I switch back and forth between paddle wheel and GPS (mine has a switch), that I need to fully power it down, and turn off the batteries to make sure the system changes over.  Mine is installed under the dash/helm with about 800 other wires.  It's positioned right behind the power button (lower right) in about 4 inches.  It's propped up on a little stand made out of metal.  I'd send a pic, but I don't have one, and boat's at the lake.  Mine is still working flawlessly, no surging, very consistent speeds when surfing.  Hope you are able to figure yours out.  

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I put in the switch for mine too but its only ever been in the "On" position since I installed it and never switched.  

I did have the boats main power switch on the dash "off" when I hooked everything up...  but I have not tried to power off the main battery disconnect and reboot.  That may be an idea worth trying.   I assumed since the "GPS" showed up on the screen it was recognized by the computer and active, but you have a point it possibly may not fully realize the GPS is connected.

 

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