SmartCraft

jbschmalz23

Quick question. Hooking up all the new VV things today. Most everything was easy. But I also have the fuel harness. Does the wire that goes to the sender just mount on the center of the sender? And do I leave
the red one that's aready there hooked up? I'm not getting a fuel level shown on the vv. Didn't know if I needed the fuel harness or not to start with. I got two different answers from MerCruiser. So I want to head and bought it just so I would have it. Now just trying to figure out what's next.

diggin2day1

Yes, goes on the center lug of the fuel sender... REMOVE THE RED WIRE THOUGH!! You are supposed to hook up the pink/black wire to the sender, but in my boat that pink/black from the fuel harness went to an empty spot where it plugs into engine. I had to use the blue/black and it showed up immediately. 

jbschmalz23

Thanks so much for the info. I was all day trying to figure it out.. right now I still have the red wire hooked up.. so I will unhook it and also try the blue one if the red one does not show up. Do you have the vesselview or one of the smartcraft gauges? I have everything hooked up.. hoping I get these last few kinks out of the way. Really appreciate your help! Thanks!

diggin2day1

I just installed a VV 4.... When you plug the fuel harness into the connector on your engine, check to make sure that the wires "line up" with each other... For some reason the pink/black didn't lie up with the engine harness wire.... Something was a bit wonky!! See in the 2nd picture the pinks don't line up!

jbschmalz23

Interesting. I'm going to give it a shot. I got the vessel view 7. There's a few other things I need to adjust on the initial set up. I'm wondering if it has the newest software. It doesn't even give me the option for the 8.1L engine. So I selected the 8.2. It's showing my engine hours at 36
when it actually has 310 or so. Was yours easy to initially set up? 

diggin2day1

I only had 2 issues on startup(I have 350 mpi)...  1). The fuel tank harness issue(also changed the sender)
2). My boat had an analog trim gauge. After speaking w/Mercury tech he said to unplug analog trim bullet connector and plug into digital trim bullet connector(found at back of engine near the fuel harness connector). Merc tech said this was all I needed to do to send the trim information into the SmartCraft system. After doing it and ONLY getting indication if I trimmed all the way up into "trailer mode", I had to adjust the trim sender(starboard puck) and VIOLA!!!

jme097

I am getting ready to try to install my MercMonitor on my 280. Where is the actual plug in for the harness that runs to the helm? @diggin2day1 what do you mean by the starboard puck? I know exactly where you're talking about with the analog and digital trim plug ins.

Cableguy Greg

The "pucks" are on the drive where the trim gauge and limit switches are adjusted. They are on the gimble ring at the up/down pivot point.

jbschmalz23

@jme097, the harness sits right on top of the motor. Mine had a yellow cap only labeled "terminator". I ran that to the helm and plugged in and it was powered up. Just a few of the other little glitches I need to get worked out. 

jme097

Oh I know exactly what you're talking about. How do you adjust them though?

jbschmalz23

Mine isn't showing trim either. And it didn't on my old analog gauge... I'll try those things tonight. Mine trim didn't work on the old analog gauge either. I'm hoping it's not a bad sender. Hoping it was just the old gaue. 

diggin2day1

The plug for SmartCraft harness is on back(stern side) top of engine. 
Jb- my old trim gauge was working perfectly, but when I switched it over to digital/SmartCraft it was showing a fault. I adjusted the puck and calibrated it through VV settings(settings-engine-trim..... Pretty sure was order!!!!). 

jme097

Which fuel harness did you use? I have a P/N of 8M0075945. 

Cableguy Greg

@jme097, when you get your MercMonitor up and running, can you get me a list of the part numbers that you are using for the entire build? I would like VV, but I am not interested in rebuilding the entire dash. MercMonitor seems to have all of the info that I will need.

jme097

That was exactly my dilema @Cableguy Greg I did not want to reinvent the wheel lol.

@jbschmalz23 did you replace your fuel sender or use the existing? If so, which sender did you use? 

jbschmalz23

I know what you mean. Looking back. The merc monitor would have been perfect. But the wife surprised me with the VV. I'll post some pics tonight. I still have the original sending unit. I think once I find out for sure which digital sender it is, I may upgrade.  That looks like the right harness number as wel. I'll double check it tonight. 

diggin2day1

Jme- part# 84-864218

jme097

Thanks @diggin2day1 that must be a new updated p/n

jbschmalz23

Also, I just remember to ask... Would there be a reason that the engine hours on the VV are reading 36 when It actually has 310? I didn't have the option for the 8.1L just the 8.2. The guys at merc said that was fine since the 8.2 took the place of the 8.1 that it was essentially the same engine. I'm going to check tonight to make sure I have the version 5.0 software update. 

jbschmalz23

@diggin2day1, you were right! Hooked up the blue wire..instantly had fuel level on the VV. I have two errors now. One is a "pitot" error (what would the pitot be?) and the other, trim sensor. What would the digital harness look like that I need to plug in? Here are the 2 error screens: 

diggin2day1

Not sure about the pitot warning.... But the trim is really simple, no harness needed. On the back/top of your engine there is 2 bullet connectors labeled "analogue trim" and the other "digital trim". Unplug from the analog a plug into the digital... Done! For some reason I had to adjust my trim sender(puck on starboard side of outdrive) then calibrate it on the VesselView. 
On VV, go to settings-engine-trim-calibrate... When you trim up/down you should see the "uncalibrated value" change accordingly. 
Trim all way down- record 1
Trim up - record 2
Trim all way up(trailer mode) - record 3
Save. 

diggin2day1

I would also check your settings... You have a single engine in that boat correct? I think it should be saying "center engine"

LaRea

The pitot is the analog speed sensor ... you know, the one with the little hole on the front of the outdrive leg, that always gets clogged and stops working.  Tell VV to ignore the pitot.

jme097

I think you need to select Pitot - off and Paddle - off and select Yes to GPS. Maybe it is saying error because its selected? I will have my MercMonitor installed this weekend which is pretty much the same set up. 

MarkB

I think LaRea and jme have it right.  Pitot should be the speed pickup on the drive. You'd rather use the GPS speed, far more accurate.

Also diggin says, make sure you are setup for one engine, not 2 to avoid alarms/errors.

jbschmalz23

Ok.. So I've got it corrected to "center" engine. But I still have the "pitot" error and "trim" error. My speed is coming off the GPS via the NMEA backbone. How do I turn off the pitot selection? Also, how do change the trim wiring to digital from the analog like pictured above? I see the wiring, but it looks like both my analog is plugged in but so is the digital.. Looks like it's plugged in by a connector. Pics attached. 

diggin2day1

That analog/digital trim setup is different than mine.... I had the bullet connectors(like your analog) for both. First make sure trim is enabled in the settings (settings/engine/trim/"blue dot") and if that doesn't work, I would call Mercruiser and hopefully speak with a tech named Kim. 

diggin2day1

When in the trim calibration screen.... Are you getting ANY readings while trimming up/down? 

jme097

Finally got my harness last night. Going to attempt the install tonight after work. (Hopefully) lol

jme097

So I had some free time last night to finally get to the boat and install my new fuel sender and harnesses for my MercMonitor. I went through real quick and set it up without the manual because it was very cold here last evening.

But when I was in the engine compartment, I went to switch the analog trims plugs to digital and I am lost. There are 2 wires that are labeled together for the analog trim but there is only one wire that is tagged as Digital.@diggin2day1
Shouldn't there be two? If so, I might have to look behind the block to see if the other wire fell down. I tried to calibrate the trim and I got an alarm saying my starboard side sender was bad but if theres 2 wires then I might just need to find the other wire. Also - How do you adjust the actual senders on the outdrive?