Reverse worked last weekend, and now the lever does nothing or the gate stops halfway. Before you start, find out whether your boat has RiDE at all, because the VX range is split on this.
Which VX have RiDE
The 1052 cc VX110 and VX1100 of 2005 to 2015 belong to the older generation and have no SCU. The three-cylinder VX from 2015/16 onward uses the 1049 cc TR-1 engine, and Yamaha fits RiDE to some variants only. The VX Cruiser is listed among them. The plain VX, the Deluxe and the Limited may be without it, depending on trim and year, so check the specification of your boat before you chase an SCU code that cannot exist.
The EX and the SuperJet are a separate story. The SuperJet has no reverse at all. Some EX trims have RiDE.
What the codes point to
With RiDE, two groups of codes matter. The RPS codes (150 to 154) concern the reverse position sensor. The SCU codes (157 to 164) concern the control unit and its circuits. Owners also report 159, 157 and 163 in connection with reverse that stops working. As always, the number can differ by control unit generation and by source, and the description in the app is the one to trust.
A code only names the circuit that complained. Owners who have fixed this mention the following causes much more often than a failed module:
- a tie-down strap pulled across between the stern eyes, blocking the gate
- debris at the gate
- a slightly bent rod
- a plug on the RiDE main harness that has worked loose or become damp
- a relay or fuse
- the cable adjustment
What I would do at the dock
Read the memory first and write the entries down. Then take the strap off, look at the gate and the area around it, and move on to the rod and the plug. A boat that stored a code only once and runs normally after you check and reseat the connector may not need anything else. To reset a stored code without a tool, switch the engine off, pull the lanyard, wait 30 seconds and start again. Then try reverse once and read the memory again.
The M-JET Diagnostic supports the VX Cruiser and the other RiDE trims of the VX, and it shows SCU and RPS codes with possible causes and test steps in plain text. Because the app recognises the model itself, it only offers the RiDE functions if the boat has them, which settles the first question in this article without you having to dig through brochures.
Ask yourself first whether the symptom is new. If reverse stopped right after the boat travelled on a trailer or sat in storage with straps across the stern, the strap theory moves to the top of the list.
There's also an SCU initial learning routine in the app. It makes sense after the control unit has been replaced and not as a first reaction to a code, since learning cannot repair a bent rod. More on that is on the SCU initial learning page, and the three-cylinder VX in general is on the VX diagnostics page.
What the scan cannot do
A bent rod, a gate that binds, an object wedged in the mechanism and a plug that looks fine but connects poorly are all invisible to the data. If the codes are clean and reverse still fails, the work is mechanical.
