Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Gauges stop working


MikeKeenan

Recommended Posts

I have a 2006 Malibu Vride and all of my gauges stopped working all at one time. I have done a little bit of research and found out that it could possibly be the MDC box. I have also been told to check the inline fuse that is in the wires going to the MDC box. I have not been able to locate an in-line fuse anywhere in the wires going to the MDC box. Is it possible that there is not an inline fuse going to the MDC box? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. 

Link to comment

Where about are the inline fuses located? Were they close to the plug for the MDC box? I have traced the wires coming from the MDC box going to my gauges and haven’t seen a single inline fuse anywhere. 

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Hi people,

Thought I would post my problem on this thread and see if there is any advice I can gain

I have a 2006 wakesetter 247 lsv. The gauges have stopped working for some reason. Usually on start up I hear a whirr from the gauges as they power up. Not one of the gauges is working but the boat starts fine.

I have read this thread and I am unable to find the fuses that are suppose to feed the MMDC  model 7021-0001 unit under the dash. From what I can see the there is a loom going to a multi pin plug which then goes into the MMDC unit and from there the MMDC unit feeds each of the gauges. Perhaps my model doesn;t utilise the inline fuses.

I have checked the following.

Power is present at the MMDC through the wiring loom but there does not seem to be power coming FROM the MMDC. I pulled the MMDC apart and cleaned all the corrosion off the unit but still no luck.

Grounding seems fine, continuity through the MMDC to the ground bar.

Cleaned checked all wiring connectors sprayed with crc 226.

Does anyone know what each of the pins /cable cores coming from the MDC to each of the gauges represent. From what I can work out the blue wire is the illumination wire, red/white power, grey/black ground, yellow wire ground. I am unsure what voltages I should be getting at each of these points.

I applied 12vdc to the red/white wires as a test to see if there may be a blown circuit in the MDC. The gauges all fired up and I was leaning toward the MMDC unit have a blown component internally to output power. After a while my mate saw some smoke coming from the tacho gauge so I have probably blown it up.

Does anyone have any wiring diagrams/ circuit diagrams of the wiring from the MMDC to the gauges 

Does anyone know if there is a way to test/ verify the can bus system from the ECU to the MMDC and the workings of that system.

I am really struggling to find detailed information on the workings of these systems and have not spoke or met anyone with a detailed understanding of these systems.

Link to comment

Hate to break this to you, but only the blue wire uses 12v since it is, as you surmised, the accessory wire.  Everything else is lower voltage.  For example the voltage you should see coming out of the MDC (at the 5 pin connector that plugs into the gauges) - black/red = 7v  There is a trouble-shooting guide on this site IIRC that will run you through the steps to verify the operations.  And yeah, even when I've called KM, I hear crickets.  Ron Tanis is the one guy who knows how these things (don't) work.


And I fear you have let out the magic smoke from your tach.  Toast.  And it is the worst  one to replace if it is the 5" gauge.

 

Edited by Eagleboy99
Link to comment

I had similar issues with my MDC setup, and spent allot of time (& finally $$ at the dealer) trying to get the MDC to reliability run.   like @clint888, both myself (and the dealer service dept) struggled to find sufficient diagnostic and operational information to effectively do Root_CausAnalysis on the  MDC (and replacing sub-components was not finding the issue). 

After 2-3years of intermittent MDC failures, and a discussion with the dealer service mgr., I made the decision to replace the MDC cluster, with analogue-style gauges.   I lost the Depth-Finder display capability, but have been trouble free for the several years since...   

 

 

Link to comment

@Eagleboy99 - the Service Mgr made several calls to Malibu, before finding a Tech that said NO PROBLEM, HERE iS WHAT YOU DO.   Malibu sent the replacement analogue-style multi-gauge (water, oil, fuel & bezel) and it went into the slot the MDC came out of.   the large analogue-style Spedo & Tack, on either side of the MDC.  remained untouched and working .   The dashboard wiring was all plug-n-play, (whit the appropriate connectors from Malibu factory) so the labor was only ~1hr.   

When I bought the boat (new) from the Dealer,  I remember the sales guy "talking me into" the digital MDC option, which I did bite on, but lived to regret.   The LCD display was the most problematic sub-component,  it didnt stand up to what Father-time & Mother-nature thru at it.   The MCD was replaced once (under warranty) about 3 years in.   About 4 years after that,  the MDC became intermittently flaky and after trip to the dealer who didn't find RCA, I was in no mood to shell out my $$$ for a MDC-replacement.    

I don't recall how $much$ the multi-gauge was (approx. the price of another MDC display) but it was worth every $$$ to get reliable gauges.   Have not had a instrument cluster problem since....    

Edited by Garry
typos
Link to comment

@Eagleboy99 - sorry for the confusion.     

my Dashboard is a 2001 VLX and is different than your 2006 dashboard  -  Mine dashboard has 2 large gauges (Spedo /right and Tach/left) as you do, but only 1 center slot for MDC (no lower 3 gauges). 

I also did not buy any of the options (E.G. PerfactPass).  My lower toggle-switches look the same (I had to replace toggle switches last year).

 

 

Link to comment
On 21/09/2018 at 10:17 PM, Eagleboy99 said:

Hate to break this to you, but only the blue wire uses 12v since it is, as you surmised, the accessory wire.  Everything else is lower voltage.  For example the voltage you should see coming out of the MDC (at the 5 pin connector that plugs into the gauges) - black/red = 7v  There is a trouble-shooting guide on this site IIRC that will run you through the steps to verify the operations.  And yeah, even when I've called KM, I hear crickets.  Ron Tanis is the one guy who knows how these things (don't) work.


And I fear you have let out the magic smoke from your tach.  Toast.  And it is the worst  one to replace if it is the 5" gauge.

 

Yeh I think I’m up for an mmdc and a new gauge. Oh well that’s boating I guess. I did try a 2008 mmdc unit but it didn’t make a difference even though the plugs were the same, could be a different configuration from when Malibu went digital display from medallion.. does anyone have a wiring diagram for these interfaces? Surely Malibu get something from medallion to wire these things.

we have pretty much replaced our boat wiring and replaced the ECU, throttle body, ignition resistor and other components. Been an endless mission over the last couple of years. One thing I don’t understand is the design of these system and the lack of protection in wire terminals and wiring looms. Water, electricity, salt- not a good combination. Would of thought with the advances in fibre optic we would be at a plug and play stage.

got a new mmdc coming from Wisconsin but I live in Australia so could be a while

Link to comment

You can get the troubleshooting guide here:  https://www.bakesonline.com/images/MediaLibrary/MedallionII_Troubleshoot.pdf    AFAIK the MDC box firmware varied a bit from year to year, keyed tot he engine which is why they ask for the HIN when you order one.  Plus the MMDC is a different cat than the MDC While they still make them, I wouldn't pay a dime for another one.  Mine is being replaced this winter with Old Skool analog gauges.  The computer is a bad idea, at least the way it is implemented.  Good luck!

OT: Speaking of the antipodes... somewhere I have pics of me slalom skiing on Lake Tinaroo!  :) 

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

Just an update. Spoke to Medallion and they have sent me a wiring and mmdc diagram to help diagnose my fault. Thought it might be useful for boat owners of the 2006 era. I will send to a administrator they may be able to load it up through the resource section.

 

Malibu wakesetter 2006 247 lsv manual wiring gauges medallion

 

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

As stated above, there are two 12vdc power inputs to the mdc. Both need power to work. If you can find the inline fuses, I suggest cutting them out the using a butt splice, because the fuse contacts can be sporadic.  If you can’t find them, you do need to make sure you have power on both input lines. 

Also as others stated, do not put 12vdc to any gauge directly. They work on a 5v-7v ref, and you do not want to try to power one directly.  

If you have power on the input legs (common issue) then a different mdc will power the gauges enough to verify and mdc issue. 

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...