Connext Options - Failed Screen 2017 212x

[WhalerMax]

Searching the depths of google and JetBoaters, there are a plethora of threads referencing failed Connext Screens and like-minded people out there looking for other and better options. I wanted to see if anyone has had any luck on doing a screen swap to a more modern / larger format or to make a repair on an existing screen. Lots of questions on the topic but almost no follow up with any viable solutions for anything other than waiting.

I lost half of summer season to waiting for my boat to get into service to diagnose the screen I already knew failed. Im stuck on "Connext" boot screen. At the advise of my service guys, I replaced 1 year old batteries to no avail. Finally admitting defeat, I ordered my new screen in August. I just got an email that expected production and delivery is pushed out to July. This is the 4th date push. The pity of my boating season ending in July due to travel soccer schedule for my kids is my problem, but this is costing me almost 2 boating seasons to own, insure, wax, service a boat that is completely DOA because of the lack of Yamaha local service support, and now 1 year for parts. This is not a reasonable. Id sell the boat and upgrade in a second if I could market a boat that I cannot even control.

The screen for a 212x is a different part number than the other 4.5" screens, presumably because of the different menu options for ballast tanks, ect., so it would be a gamble to bring parts in from another boat, but would serve as a temporary solution if I could find a reasonable part out. A better option would be if anyone can confirm that altering the dash and installing a bigger, better screen has had any luck. The way I understand it, the brain is not in the screen but in the PCM

Has anyone had any options work other than waiting years for parts that never come? Any luck repairing? Any luck with a swap?

 

[suke]

You could get basic things from a multi function display, but none of the engine parameters. Ballast you could wire manually to switches. If you got a new transducer, or possible to wire in the old one to the new MFD you'd get water depth/temp, and likely the MFD would have GPS built in so you could get maps and speed.

 

[WhalerMax]

You could get basic things from a multi function display, but none of the engine parameters. Ballast you could wire manually to switches. If you got a new transducer, or possible to wire in the old one to the new MFD you'd get water depth/temp, and likely the MFD would have GPS built in so you could get maps and speed.

thanks for the reply

My fear in going after market is losing alarm and the ability to silence alarms for troubles like water and oil pressure, which could be catastrophic if undetected

I am pretty decent at 12v electrical, but I’d also fear the wiring of blowers, bilge, lighting, stereo, which are all controlled by the connext currently


The ballast would be better served to be on manual switches anyway, this integrated ballast control has always been faulty. I’d be curious if any Yamaha wave runner folks have figured out a way to run a mfd with engine parameters. I know there are plenty of waverunner fishermen running auxiliary screens. On my outboards, everything that my Mercury display shows is also available through an nmea adapter onto my screens.

 

[suke]

thanks for the reply

My fear in going after market is losing alarm and the ability to silence alarms for troubles like water and oil pressure, which could be catastrophic if undetected

I am pretty decent at 12v electrical, but I’d also fear the wiring of blowers, bilge, lighting, stereo, which are all controlled by the connext currently


The ballast would be better served to be on manual switches anyway, this integrated ballast control has always been faulty. I’d be curious if any Yamaha wave runner folks have figured out a way to run a mfd with engine parameters. I know there are plenty of waverunner fishermen running auxiliary screens. On my outboards, everything that my Mercury display shows is also available through an nmea adapter onto my screens.

Yamaha in its infinite wisdom decided to use a proprietary signal/language for these boats. Even though their outboards all pretty much talk NMEA. I've yet seen anyone whole sale convert the yamaha boat signal to anything usable. I think there was one person on FB and MAYBE one on here that was able to get the speedo and maybe one other parameter working. You'd essentially have to reverse engineer their code to convert it.

 

[Dave burke]

I have the same boat as you and had problems with the Connext screen in 2019. Most of the gauges didn’t work, stereo, etc. But the boat was still usable since the engines ran fine and I didn’t lose the season.

The dealer ordered a new Connext screen and explained how to install it (very easy). This way I was able to keep the boat running and didn’t have to drive 2 hours each way to have them install it.

Turns out the Connext screen wasn’t the problem though. It was the left tach gauge and once they replaced that it worked fine and I’ve not had any problems since (knock on wood).

But I always worry when I fire it up every spring and I don’t know what I’ll do if the Connext really does fail.

 

[MrBubbaGump]

Yeah this is crazy... My boat has been in the shop since Dec 21st for a dead connext screen (wont power at all). They have to wait for Yamaha to tell them its dead to replace it under warranty even though we both think its the screen. Yamaha keeps wanting them to try something new for trouble shooting every time, which when they do they have to submit another ticket and wait days for them to tell them to try something else. Haven't even had the boat a year yet!

 

[Dave burke]

That really sucks. Hope they replace it soon

 

[WhalerMax]

I have the same boat as you and had problems with the Connext screen in 2019. Most of the gauges didn’t work, stereo, etc. But the boat was still usable since the engines ran fine and I didn’t lose the season.

The dealer ordered a new Connext screen and explained how to install it (very easy). This way I was able to keep the boat running and didn’t have to drive 2 hours each way to have them install it.

Turns out the Connext screen wasn’t the problem though. It was the left tach gauge and once they replaced that it worked fine and I’ve not had any problems since (knock on wood).

But I always worry when I fire it up every spring and I don’t know what I’ll do if the Connext really does fail.

In the console, I was seeing that one tach was the brain and the other was a second monitor. When you had issue, was yours stuck in boot mode? I wonder if that would be a much simpler fix, or thing to try at least.

 

[Dave burke]

In the console, I was seeing that one tach was the brain and the other was a second monitor. When you had issue, was yours stuck in boot mode? I wonder if that would be a much simpler fix, or thing to try at least.

One is definitely the brain, pretty sure is the port tach but I’m going from memory. Not sure what you mean by boot mode but I suspected the issue was the tach all along because there was condensation behind the screen and it was acting a little wonky.

I think a new tach is something like $150 so it might be worth a shot to see if that fixes the problem.

 

[WhalerMax]

One is definitely the brain, pretty sure is the port tach but I’m going from memory. Not sure what you mean by boot mode but I suspected the issue was the tach all along because there was condensation behind the screen and it was acting a little wonky.

I think a new tach is something like $150 so it might be worth a shot to see if that fixes the problem.

I will definitely give it a try… when the screen powered up with a faulty tach, did it progress past the loading screen that says “connext?”

that’s as far as mine loads

 

[Dave burke]

I will definitely give it a try… when the screen powered up with a faulty tach, did it progress past the loading screen that says “connext?”

that’s as far as mine loads

yes it did. It booted up normally but nothing worked. No stereo, no gas gauge, speedo, tachs etc. I could see all the different screens though, There was an error message on the bottom of the screen that said something like “CAN system error” or something like that. I can dig up the exact message if that helps since I posted extensively about it at the time.

One thing you could try is to borrow a Connext screen from another boat if you know somebody nearby. It’s super easy to swap. One connector and two screws from what I recall. I’d let you use mine but the boat’s in storage in upstate NY.

If you can arrange the swap then you’ll know pretty quickly if it’s the screen or not.

One other thought - I assume you tried to put the screen in diagnostic mode? Press and hold the Sys button I believe.

 

[WhalerMax]

yes it did. It booted up normally but nothing worked. No stereo, no gas gauge, speedo, tachs etc. I could see all the different screens though, There was an error message on the bottom of the screen that said something like “CAN system error” or something like that. I can dig up the exact message if that helps since I posted extensively about it at the time.

One thing you could try is to borrow a Connext screen from another boat if you know somebody nearby. It’s super easy to swap. One connector and two screws from what I recall. I’d let you use mine but the boat’s in storage in upstate NY.

If you can arrange the swap then you’ll know pretty quickly if it’s the screen or not.

One other thought - I assume you tried to put the screen in diagnostic mode? Press and hold the Sys button I believe.

Ok thanks for the help.

Yeah mine won’t get off the initial load screen, no matter if I hold down sys, unplug every plug in the dash, and even give it love taps with a screwdriver handle while it’s on

 

[Dave burke]

Hmmm. Maybe try unplugging the Screen and then plugging it back in? I’d be surprised if that does anything but you never know. These things are pretty finicky.

the other thing Iearned is that these closed area networks are very sensitive to voltage.Is your house battery in good shape and fully charged?

 

[WhalerMax]

Hmmm. Maybe try unplugging the Screen and then plugging it back in? I’d be surprised if that does anything but you never know. These things are pretty finicky.

the other thing Iearned is that these closed area networks are very sensitive to voltage.Is your house battery in good shape and fully charged?

Yes, just replaced both batteries hoping it was that. I unplugged every wire harness in the boat that could possibly speak to the screen with no luck. Since I have nothing to lose, I may open it up and see if something shorted out that I could make a repair on

 

[MrBubbaGump]

Update to the dead screen. Yamaha has been sending my dealing on a spree of trouble shooting, however I guess they were right to not just shotgun a screen. They had them shoot every pin (checked good) then de-pin and re-pin the whole connector. Some how it fixed the problem and the screen booted up... Must have had one pin slightly recessed. A little over a month later and I should have the boat back this week.

 

[WhalerMax]

Update to the dead screen. Yamaha has been sending my dealing on a spree of trouble shooting, however I guess they were right to not just shotgun a screen. They had them shoot every pin (checked good) then de-pin and re-pin the whole connector. Some how it fixed the problem and the screen booted up... Must have had one pin slightly recessed. A little over a month later and I should have the boat back this week.

That’s interesting. I almost wish mine had no power instead of partial. I used the boat hard last weekend. It’s terrible not knowing if you are going to run out of fuel, if your bilge needs to come on, and the lack of ballast is crippling on wakeboarding. Hope my parts come sooner

 

[Cambo]

That’s interesting. I almost wish mine had no power instead of partial. I used the boat hard last weekend. It’s terrible not knowing if you are going to run out of fuel, if your bilge needs to come on, and the lack of ballast is crippling on wakeboarding. Hope my parts come sooner

Some things that would help out

For your bilge install a water alarm why boats don't have these is truly ridiculous

Amazon.com

For your ballast The pump jumper cable you can jump power to the pumps

https://jetboaters.net/threads/ballast-pump-jumper-cable.19754/

You can also buy a few fittings and if the water alarm above goes off and you have water in the bilge or even a fairly large hole in the hull you can use the ballast pumps to drain water from the hull

For gas maybe an after market fuel sending unit or tap of the one that's in there

The voltage gauges were never correct anyway unless you fixed the wiring so new ones are cheap and easy to install

GPS from a garmin for speed and the 2017 didn't have maps anyway or your phone using Navionics

speed control for water sports and a new stereo head unit would be the most expensive items

re wire the lighting to switches

 

[Matthewdavid321]

Update to the dead screen. Yamaha has been sending my dealing on a spree of trouble shooting, however I guess they were right to not just shotgun a screen. They had them shoot every pin (checked good) then de-pin and re-pin the whole connector. Some how it fixed the problem and the screen booted up... Must have had one pin slightly recessed. A little over a month later and I should have the boat back this week.

Hello, did this pin replacement actually fix the issue?

 

[MrBubbaGump]

Hello, did this pin replacement actually fix the issue?

I have taken it out about 8 -10 times since then so far no issues.