New to this forum and new to owning a Yamaha Boat. Took delivery of 2021 212XE on August 6. Also have an FX Cruiser SVHO, so somewhat familar with the Yamaha systems.
With our first voyage, we immediately had the problem where upon shut down of motors I would get a Check Engine pop up window followed by a Stop Steering pop up window - after the motors were shut down but the key still on and the system in "float mode".
The first time it happened we applied a lesson learned from our also very glitchy AXIS A24 and we proceeded to turn off the system (turn key off) and then turn off the batteries. Then power back on the batteries followed by powering up the system (turn key on) then when starting motors one would be showing as in "F" or in gear already and the other in "N" or not in gear. It did not matter if using single or double motor controls. So, we shut down the motors, shut down the system, and turned off the batteries and then we "jiggled" the shift buckets thinking it was a stuck shift bucket actuator. Then, after "jigging" the shift buckets, power everything back up, turn on the motors and no problem - all systems as normal and shifts into gear and drives fine.
This has regularly happened to us and this homemade "procedure" that we use (shutting everything down, jiggling the buckets, and powering everything back up) seems to work just fine, the problem is it is a pain in the rear and is unsafe. There have been a few tense moments with my family where we have been in float mode on the boat, swimming, drifting, and enjoying the sun and we realize we have drifted a bit too far and we have to scramble to go through the re-boot/jiggle process to allow us to turn on the motors and get the boat in gear and moving and we have been fairly close to rocks/beach/waves. If the boat was useable like a normal boat we would not have this problem as we would quickly crank up the boat and move away from danger. Now, when facing danger, we have to go through some sort of rain dance to get the boat to work. Not ideal. But, I can report that "jiggling" the buckets in addition to the steps outlined above has always worked for us. However we will be pursuing a fix on this problem by Yamaha based on the info presented in this thread.
I can also report that after reading this thread I have also tested the remedy of making sure the steering is dead center when shutting down and starting the boat. The wheel turns a full 1.5 turns and it is easy to find dead center by taking the wheel all the way to port or starboard and then turning back to center 3/4 of a turn. Then shut down or start up, but always make sure steering is dead center before shutting down or starting up. This has worked each time we have tried it.
Bottom line is the boat system is flawed and Yamaha needs to do a recall, very disappointing. I still love the boat and we've had fun running up 15 hours in just three weeks. Hoping the Yamaha dealer can fix this without too much resistance (probably wishful thinking!)
Cheers!