Faria Gauge Replacement

Hamdog

Hello Gang,

 

Well I'm pretty fed up with the Faria Gauges on my 2005 342. Even the tap method doesn't work anymore. The speedo, port trim, sync and both tachs are not working. What is the easiest way to replace my gauges? I'd rather not mess with the wiring so are there replacement gauges other than Faria that I can buy that basically just plug into my existing connections? What steps do I take to remove the old gauges?

 

Thanks.

 

Hamdog

MarkB

Why not replace with smart craft gauges? It isn't a major install. I added a smart craft tach system gauge and a multi function gauge. Much better and my cost was $1000 including installation. Half that if you install.

MarkB

RY, why can't you do that?

Black_Diamond

He's got those diesels! lol

Black_Diamond

Fire ext back next week. I'll post my results.

greygoosecjm

Just bought a 342 2004 "donation boat" the entire central gauge cluster does not work!   They have to replace per contract. Would you put non Faria gauges in?

Black_Diamond

You'll have a hard time finding gauges to fit the holes besides the stock ones. So use them or upgrade to smartcraft ones. Odd none work though.

ssck342

Did you replace your gauges? Our multi-function oil/fuel/volt/temp gauge stopped working.  Chrome bezzel, gray face, orange needles, red back light.  Looking to buy a used one since it looks like Faria doesn't honor their lifetime warranty anymore.

MarkB

Just replace it with a smart craft gauge. That's what I did and it's way better. 

Serenity

+1 on the Smartcraft. I did the same last year. Tired of inaccurate gauges and doing the Faria tap.

frenchship

No more Faria tap gauges. I replace the dual tach with a Floscan dual tach. I lost the hour meter but I replace the Faria sync gauge with a dual hour meter from Teleflex. My original Faria dual tach was send back two times to Faria  still did not work properly.

TikiHut2

Merc Smartcraft. All the critical info comes accurately, instantly and directly from the engine computer system sensors. That's assuming you have a compatible engine of course. Faria gauges are certainly not a 1st choice for those of us who have experience with them. That said, if that's the only girl at the dance sometimes you get what you get and like it.

Good luck and let us know how it goes. Mike

Handymans342

Since my motors are not run by any computer, I have no choice but to stick with what I have plus my gauges are sealed and not repairable. Long story. 

TikiHut2

'03 342.... but I missed what engines you have onboard. 

Sounds like a new Faria dash cluster if you don't have Merc MPI engines Hopefully replacement gauges come with the same connectors on the back as the originals.

 I'm sure you're not alone. Don't bother with the Faria warrantee replacement program. Crazy expensive. Maybe Rinker has a recommendation.
Good luck.

Handymans342

They are Diesel Tiki. 

Malloy

Can you upload a pic of your smartcraft set up?

jaubry

I ripped out all analogue gauges and replaced them with Mercruiser' Vessel View 7. Best thing I did. I enjoy the touch screen and the data it delivers. Highly recommend the move. 

randy342

My gauges are next ,u guys gave me some good things to consider.jaubry i would really like more info on your set up. Where did u buy?? How much. 
Thanks

Serenity

Attached is what I did on my 320. I sent the Faria gauges back 3 times with their processing fee I decided to replace them. I looked into the Vesselview but it was more than I wanted to spend plus I would have had to re-design my dash which was another expense. I am extremely happy with the Smartcraft gauges.

Handymans342

Every gauge on your dash is Smart Craft? They look nice! How did you wire them up?

jaubry

I ordered an uncut dash from Rinker. Then cut out the VV7 hole using the supplied template and kept the clock and the depth gauge as a back up. I installed a 2nd depth gauge and connected it to the VV. Removing all the gauges de cluttered much of the wiring behind the dash as there is less. There is a harness connected to the main harness feeding off the ECMs. The advantage on my 08 is that is has DTS, so the harness runs up to the helm. The biggest challenge i had was the random alarms. The EMCs are 2008 technology and the VV& was 2014. Mercury had to write an update for the VV. Once i got that done, all was excellent. Cool features on this unit with reading the ECMs. I highly recommend it. 

Late in the season I installed a Ray marine e7. So this winter i need to make a NMEA bus to get the 2 to talk to each other.

Serenity

Yes they are all Smartcraft. I did not wire them since they were not a direct replacement. There is a certified Mercruiser Mechanic at my marina and I had him do it. They are great gauges and very accurate. I also added a drive sensor to know when the drives are straight before I back into my slip. The only issue was that the Faria gauges are larger so I took up the space with black starboard which you can see from the picture.

MarkB

Handymans342 said:

Every gauge on your dash is Smart Craft? They look nice! How did you wire them up?

It's actually pretty easy. Once you get the main gauge in - the "System Gauge" the rest just plug and play.  You daisy chain them together, on the back of each gauge, starting with the System Gauge is a data out port. You plug your next gauge into that, and that gauge will also have a data out port, which you can plug the next gauge into.  Essentially it forms a bus communication back to the System Gauge which provides all the data each gauge needs digitally. So the real work is in getting the Smart Craft System Gauge in, the rest is a piece of cake.  If you have a fairly new motor, the smart craft gauge will just plug into an available harness.  Slightly older models will need an interface, which I believe Tiki put in - so he can provide the details.

Handymans342

They are nice but will never work on my boat.

JoeStang

Nice job Serenity, thats a great looking dash that will still look great 10 years from now.

All of my gauges still work like new (well except for the trim every once in awhile, when it has sat for a week or two it'll stick for a minute or two). I am going to add a Merc System Monitor (the SC1000, not the MercMonitor which is like $800). It'll give me fuel usage, codes, and most everything the higher $$$ monitors will, but its not able to be connected to GPS, so no instant MPG. Not too difficult to calculate by hand though with just a single screw.

MarkB

JoeStang said:

Nice job Serenity, thats a great looking dash that will still look great 10 years from now.

All of my gauges still work like new (well except for the trim every once in awhile, when it has sat for a week or two it'll stick for a minute or two). I am going to add a Merc System Monitor (the SC1000, not the MercMonitor which is like $800). It'll give me fuel usage, codes, and most everything the higher $$$ monitors will, but its not able to be connected to GPS, so no instant MPG. Not too difficult to calculate by hand though with just a single screw.

Joe, your last sentence is not entirely correct.  If you get the Speedo SC1000 gauge it does give you an estimate of MPG, based on the speedo reading.  If you get the Tach SC1000 gauge, then you get the GPH. 

I have the Tach gauge which has another great feature, you can set RPM between 500 - 800 RPM.  This allows me to cruise at very low speeds, kind of like a speed control, which is great for trolling for fish. I can also slow my boat down a lot more than typical while docking. 

I basically just take my MPH and divide by the GPH that the Tach System Gauge provides, and that gives me MPG.  I know that at 30 MPH, I consume about 15 GPH, which is 2 MPG (basically my best fuel consumption point).

TikiHut2

HM342, yeah diesels..... I forgot you modded your name/avatar.

Serenity, Nice upgrade and an ingenious black starboard fix for those old oversized openings.

Mark certainly has that SmartCraft stuff ironed out. Gotta be happy with that realtime fuel consumption. It really makes the difference when trimming the boat at cruising speed.

My '04 270 got the LED Smartcraft multi gauge and proper Merc cabling. Easiest and most effect mod I added to the boat. It finally gave me reliable engine data. I called Merc customer support and got the right model numbers for the gauge and cable and then started searching. $150 for the gauge BNIB on ebay and $45 for the cable at a marine surplus store. 2hr install including cold beer consumption. Virtually plug-n-play. It was a perfect fit when I cut a hole in the dash right between the tach and Faria multi gauge.

Pressing the MOde button cycles between a nice large backlit display showing realtime temp/volt/trim/gph/fuel used/oil pres/raw water pump pres/blood pres/wifes disposition/# of beers remaining in cooler/stock quotes/etc/etc...
Generally an awesome device. Mike

JoeStang

Thats true, I hadnt really considered the speedo since my speed is through the GPS. I plan on getting the now dc'd Systems Monitor and not replacing any of the factory Faria stuff since right now they all work (and are matching). The systems monitor shows engine codes, GPH, and all the other stuff the SC1000 does. Plus I think I can get it all done for under $400 or so, the MercMonitor is like a grand.