OK I'm about to lose it ; 1998 vista 258 gauges

powermaker · **Joined:** Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:43 am **Posts:** 78

Hope some one can help . I have a vista 258 . 1998 . I was having problems with almost all of my VDO gauges , except for the depth finder . I have read on this site that some people have swtched to FARIA gauges and were happy with them so I ordered a set of plug&play FARIA gauges through a FOUR WINNS dealer . With shipping 1000.00 bucks . All gauges work great except the depth finder . Sitting tied to my dock in 30 ft. of water , it will read ,36,54,42,188,94 all while the boat is not moving . I called FARIA customer service , the dude was very rude used cuss words they don't say on television and said there was no way the FARIA I bought was compatable with the transducer on my boat . The FOUR WINNS people say they have switched these units out many times and have never had to switch transducers . FOUR WINNS sent me another gauge and I got the same result . Has anybody had any problems similar to this ? Any ideas ? Thanks for reading this novel of a post .

gregs · **Posted:** Thu Jul 07, 2011 2:29 pm

Was the nice gentleman at Faria able to tell you what transducer he thought it should be?

If the old gauge worked with the old transducer and the new gauge and its replacement do not work there can be 2 problems.

1. the new gauge and old transducer are incompatible regardless of what FW says.

2. the wiring between the two is somehow futzed up. is the gauge properly grounded?

My money is on number 1.

mcraigchr · **Posted:** Thu Jul 07, 2011 2:57 pm

powermaker wrote:

All gauges work great except the depth finder . Sitting tied to my dock in 30 ft. of water , it will read ,36,54,42,188,94 all while the boat is not moving . I called FARIA customer service , the dude was very rude used cuss words they don't say on television and said there was no way the FARIA I bought was compatable with the transducer on my boat .

I agree with the Faria rep. Replace the transducer with the one they suggest. Did they give you a part number? If not, take a look a boatersland.com or BOE marine (http://www.boemarine.com/) in the Faria gauges area. Or you can call them, I doubt they will talk down to you since they are retailers. Faria doesn't sell directly to you, so they don't put any emphasis on customer service. Doesn't make it right ... just the fact. I have had less than pleasant talks with Faria as well. Arrogant north-easterners. :-)

Craig C.

Graham R · **Posted:** Thu Jul 07, 2011 4:07 pm

Arrogant North Easterners ? Here in the UK it's arrogant South Easterners we have to contend with!

Regarding Faria, I had the complete opposite experience when I contacted them; they were very helpful indeed. Their customer service in terms of warranty was perfect.

If the Faria gauge is incompatible with the transducer and FW sold you that gauge as part of a package as being a suitable replacement for the original gauge , the problem surely is with FW ? FW list 3 different transducers, one for 07/01/97 to 02/11/98, 02/11/98 to 06/01/2001 and the last, A Faria/ Airmar one from 06/01/2001 onwards, ......................but if the reading is varying, doesn't it suggest it's a connection issue; if it's incompatible, it should be permanently, consistently wrong ?

Graham

bluebaron · **Posted:** Fri Jul 08, 2011 10:53 am

Arrogant north easterners- Thats Funny. I am looking to change out my vdo gages as well. $1000? My arrogant butt can afford that. Wow.

powermaker · **Joined:** Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:43 am **Posts:** 78

Just to be clear , the FARIA rep was angry about the boat companys not me . I just had to listen to his rant [vbg]. I need to apply new bottom paint in the off season , I'll probably bite the bullet and install a new transducer then . thanks everyone .

gregs · **Posted:** Fri Jul 08, 2011 11:33 am

Never mind...

mcraigchr · **Posted:** Fri Jul 08, 2011 11:48 am

bluebaron wrote:

Arrogant north easterners- Thats Funny. I am looking to change out my vdo gages as well. $1000? My arrogant butt can afford that. Wow.

I'm not familiar with your gauge setup, but if it's anything like mine, you can do this for much, much less. My gauge setup is 2 - 4" (RPM, Speedo) and 6 - 2" (Volt, Trim, Fuel, Oil Pressure, Temp, Depth).

I will be replacing (myself) with this:

http://www.boatersland.com/farktf001.html

and this:

http://www.boatersland.com/far-13852.html

and this:

http://www.boatersland.com/far-13807.html

All of the senders are working as they should and the new depth gauge comes with a new transducer / sender.

Total: $343.97

Installation is not hard, just time consuming. Install docs are on the Faria website.

Now that's called Southern arrogance. :-)

Craig C.

bluebaron · **Posted:** Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:08 pm

Craigc,
Can you please post pics of your install? Or better yet Can I place an order? I'm not kidding.

mcraigchr · **Posted:** Mon Jul 11, 2011 3:24 pm

bluebaron wrote:

Craigc,
Can you please post pics of your install? Or better yet Can I place an order? I'm not kidding.

When I finish, I will post the before and after pics. I'm taking it one gauge at a time ...

My next adventure is the fuel gauge. My plastic tank (original from FW) is leaching and causing the cabin to take on a gas smell when it sits closed up for a few days. So ... I'm going to put in a new tank which comes with a new fuel sender in it. Good time to put in the new gauge.

I figure at my current rate, I should be done by next spring. :-)

Craig C.

aguyindallas · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 2:31 pm

We are noticing a little gas smell in the cabin too after sitting closed up for a week....

gregs · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 2:36 pm

Too many beans :oops:

Sorry, couldn't resist!

ric · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 4:09 pm

$1000 for faria gauges? Did you buy 30 gauges?

They are $25 each for the 2 1/4 and only like $50-75 for the speedo/tach each for 99% of the styles.

mcraigchr · **Posted:** Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:09 pm

aguyindallas wrote:

We are noticing a little gas smell in the cabin too after sitting closed up for a week....

It's not dangerous if yours is leaching like mine. Just irritating. I talked to the the guys at Phil Dill about it a couple of years ago and they said it's fairly common ...

Craig C.

www.iFourWinns.com

OK I'm about to lose it ; 1998 vista 258 gauges

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