Done, done, and done. I can now report that my replacement "ignition protected" thruster motor is now installed and works. I received the replacement motor a few days ago and installed it, correction, my skinny grandson installed the motor. My job was to hold the light on my cell phone, which I didn't do very well seeing as how I dropped it in the water in the bilge where recovering it required a very long skinny arm. Again, my grandson. Anyway, when we attempted to attach the data line to the motor, the new plug was different from the plug on the old motor. The data cables both have plastic snap/lock connectors on the ends. However, the new cable is pretty short, whereas the old cable is long and traces somewhere back through the boat. So, replacing the cables was not an option. I called Imtra, and they said the the cables could be spliced together, which is what we did. And, the motor worked.
Now, why did my motor crap out after very little use. Here is what I think. When the boat starts off and the transom is low in the water, and there is water in the bilge, it can cover the thruster motor. The mating surfaces between the motor and the gear mounting plates are not water tight. Water gets into the area around the motor shaft and causes corrosion, and eventually motor failure. We checked the weep hole, and it was facing down. So, because the mounting plates are not water tight, water actually can enter the weep hole. If the boat sits on the ramp, or on trailer at a steep angle, the water will have more than enough time to fill the enclosed shaft area. When the boat is level, the water goes back out the weep hole, but by then the damage is done. I thought about applying a sealant to the mating surfaces, but my grandson said that if we ever had to remove the motor in the future that we would play hell trying to get it apart. Instead, we opted to heavily coat the void with marine grease. Hopefully, we made the right decision.
