Would this set up be a good idea? Would I get all the same info as a suzuki smart gauge?
Would this set up be a good idea? Would I get all the same info as a suzuki smart gauge?
Are you talking about using the Garmin instead of the Suzuki C10 gauge? I believe you would be okay since I do know that I am able to monitor most of my Suzuki information with my Lowrance HDS Live units. I would still however keep your analog gauges as a backup. There are a lot of mixed opinions about the Suzuki C10 gauge since it's either known to work good or have a lot of issues and always need replacing.
2018 Bass Cat Lynx w/Suzuki 250SS.
Yes that's my thoughts. Thinking if I go with no suzuki hauhes though I'd do 2 10in instead of 1 10in so if one broke I'd have a backup. 2 10's instead of 1 12in is adding $800
I am not completely clear whether you are proposing to use ONLY the Garmin display, or if you are planning to use the Garmin as well as the standard Suzuki analogue gauges.
Your initial post suggested you want to solely use the Garmin display to show engine data. With NO OTHER GAUGES AT ALL.
Anyway, assuming that you plan to use ONLY the Garmin display, that is NOT something I would recommend.
The reason is that Garmin displays will not show Suzuki fault codes or service reminders. Without being able to see those codes, you risk damaging your engine and compromising your warranty.
A prime example is if you get water in your fuel. This will prompt a specific warning code to display on C-10 or a light sequence and alarm to display on the lights on a Suzuki analogue tach. But with only the Garmin display you wont get those warning codes so you dont know what is wrong, and might keep operating the engine, causing damage that wont then be covered by warranty. Not a good outcome.
The underlying reason for this is that the Suzuki interface cables are made for them by Navico, the parent company of Lowrance and Simrad. They therefore work best with Lowrance or Simrad displays. (Note that the C-10 is in fact a Simrad IS-35 display that runs slightly customised software for Suzuki engines)
Although the standard interface cables send the engine data to the NMEA2000 network and it can then be displayed on any NMEA2000 compatible digital display, there are a number of things that can ONLY be done using Suzuki C-10, SMIS or Lowrance/Simrad displays.
These things include:
- Fine tuning fuel data
- configuring the network when it is first set up
- updating software on the Suzuki network components
- displaying engine fault codes and
- displaying service reminders
All of those except the fault and service codes can be done on any NMEA2000 compatible Lowrance display when using the standard Suzuki interface cable.
And if you use the special Suzuki interface cable called the Connect cable, it works with Lowrance Elite ti and HDS displays to give the full range of available engine data plus fault and service codes and can do all those extra things as well. You get a custom Suzuki gauge page as well.
Need any more info on the Suzuki digital gauges or networking let me know.
Thank you that's the info I need to make a decision. If I liked Lowrance that would be easier but I don't. So now I'm thinking 1 12in garmin ultra and a c10. Now wondering if I still want NMEA2000? On the garmin with the c10. Idk now?
Last edited by ampdreamer1; 01-30-2021 at 07:52 PM.
To be honest, in your situation with the Garmin MFD being preferred, I would get the new Suzuki SMG4 gauge installed by the dealer before delivery.
It doesn’t use the engine interface cable that the C-10 needs, and it doesn’t need a NMEA2000 network to operate. It just uses a special harness to connect to the main gauge harness behind the dash.
However if you want it to show speed data or mpg, then of course it needs to be connected to a NMEA2000 network to get speed data. So SMG4 plus a simple NMEA2000 network to connect it to the Garmin and you are set up.
SMG4 harness even connects direct to the fuel tank sender units as well, not via the network.
It isnt as customisable as the C-10 but is far less prone to issues, it just has set pages as per the video linked below, we have had them here in Australia since 2015 and my mate who is the local Suzuki dealer tells me that they have had near zero reliability issues.
Here is a video showing that gauge and how it looks/works.
Last edited by Moonlighter; 01-31-2021 at 04:13 AM.
That's some great info Moonlighter. I ampdreamer1 wants to do, but used a Lowrance and it worked great. I really liked not having any extra gauges. It worked really well at night or low light because I could turn down the brightness of the MFD and not be blinded by other gauge lights.
I seen a post from 2019 online that suzuki was working on a wire and program to be able to use a garmin that would get all the engine info but not sure if it ever came out.
As far as I know it has never been released.Originally Posted by ampdreamer1
The USA is still the only country that gets the C-10 setup. It is getting more and more difficult to get the engine interface cables outside the USA. We cant get the Connect interface cable here as far as I know.
I wonder if before too long the only gauge choices anywhere in the world will be analogue or SMG4. But only guessing....
I can't see any company going only analog in this ever growing digital world
My hypothesis as stated was that the Suzuki choice may end up being limited to analogue or SMG4.
SMG4 of course is the digital option.
But its only speculation. I may be wide of the mark and .....
Suzuki does have the Furuno TZT based SMD series displays that use a custom gateway, and of course the Simrad/Lowrance option with the Connect interface. Although neither of those have really gotten a lot traction with customers, especially outside USA.
Having numerous options to display engine data is nice for consumers. But its more expensive than keeping it limited to one of two choices, for the engine manufacturers.
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