Does a 2007 VLX w/ 383 HH have a cannon plug?

[JoeyC]

Does a 2007 VLX with a 383 HH have a cannon plug?  I've dug around but haven't been able to locate one.

Last week, while underway when we hit a wake that caused the bow to slam.  At that exact moment, all instruments on the dash went blank and the engine lost power.  The gauges all rebooted, though the engine never died.  The same thing repeated a couple minutes later.

I checked the battery connections (positive and ground) and all seem tight.  The connections at the battery switch appear tight.  All ground connections to the bus bar under the dash appear tight as well.  The boat does not have a kill switch.

There are no active fault codes, but 4 listed as inactive that all have to do with the throttle position sensor (SPN 65601, 65602, 65604, 65610).  I am thinking that these fault codes were triggered by a loss of voltage, rather than being the cause of the problem.  According to the Indmar manual, those codes could result in the engine being put into Reduced Engine Power mode, but I wouldn't think that this fault condition would cause the dash gauges to power off and reboot.

I am guessing this is an electrical issue, like a loose connection or ground somewhere.  What other connections could cause all instruments to lose power?  Any suggestions?

 

Thanks!

[csleaver]

Check the rectangular 16 pin helm main harness connector and all of the pins.  I have seen corrosion or worn/deformed pins cause an intermittent connection that can create a voltage drop.  A worn female center pin may not connect to the male pin properly.  You can simulate this kind of problem by shaking the suspect harness by hand until the power turns off again.

Here is an example on a slightly different connector where I bent the worn pin back into place

https://www.dropbox.com/s/v57mz3hpj0ld9wh/20210728_131241.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/9oc9lqzhulqgvzg/20210728_132335.jpg?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/uus6voq86310slq/20210728_132655.jpg?dl=0

 

Replacement of the worn connector pins is a more permanent fix than bending it, of coarse.

[JoeyC]

On 8/1/2021 at 2:36 PM, csleaver said:

Check the rectangular 16 pin helm main harness connector and all of the pins. 

Csleaver - is this the connector you referenced?  I wiggled, tapped, twisted and abused it without noticing any power loss to the gauges.

https://imgur.com/a/rQ565Cv

Thanks for the help!

[csleaver]

That looks like the one at the engine, but there is another just like it under the dash.