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1. Mercury Smartcraft Fuel Reset
2. Mercury Smartcraft Gauges Troubleshooting
3. Mercury Sc1000 Smartcraft Gauges

A new development - SmartCraft is giving me a 'Lost Engine Com' message for the starboard engine. The analog gauges on the starboard side are also not reading. The engine does start and runs fine (8.1s HO).So far I have tried flipping the battery switch off and on (a solution for someone else) and I have tried reseating the plug at the engine and the plugs under the dash for the gauge and SmartCraft modules.Only idea left is to use something like CRC electric contact cleaner on each connector and reseat them. I am about to do this and thought maybe I might have missed a connector (from the ones mentioned above) or maybe there is something else I should be trying.Any other ideas?? Bummer that this had to happen this weekend. My captain says it is probably either your SmartCraft gateway, which are known for dying on you, which ours has done twice. OR it might be your tachometer.

Swap tachometers port for starboard and see if the problem stays on your starboard side or if it follows your tachometer. If it follows the tach, then you need a new tach, the problem stays on your starboard side, then it's probably your gateway.

Since they don't make the gateways anymore, the last time we needed one, we bought 3 of them, used one and have 2 as spares. If you'd like to buy one from us, we will be happy to do that, just let us know. Thanks for the suggestions.

Sorry for the slow reply - to add to things the marina's WiFi was down today (can't catch a break).I spent another day in the engine room double checking every wire on the SB engine wire harness.I did swap the tachs and swapped the junctions. Swapping junction boxes around (four of them) did not change anything.

However, there were some odd developments when swapping tachs - which has me wondering how smart Smartcraft is. When only one tach plugged in (SB cable to Port tach) the error message moves to the Port tach.

Plug in both tachs with swapped cables and the error moves back over to the SB tach. Is there some programming on initial setup that identifies the engines?In the engine room they left 8' cables so I was also able to cross them as well. It seems that Smartcraft could ID the engine dispite the swap.I did also try with the tachs unplugged to see if the analog gauges came back - they did not.The Northstar matches with no reading on starboard side.I guess the line from the dash to the engine room could be bad. Barbie - I appreciate the offer for the gateway. It seems to be something else.I swapped what I had for junctions (two in dash and two in ER) around and the error did not change sides. I am thinking the junctions are not a problem.

This was the feeling of the tech I had on the phone as well. He thinks it is the line from the dash to ER.Unfortunately my marina service department couldn't be of help. At least they admitted it was out of their abilities before trying to fix it and sticking me with a bill without a fix.This came to me later and it may be unrelated but I had a Smartcraft problem on a Sea Ray that turned out to be an in-line resistor on one of the wires in the harness. It was an older system, but I looked for one on this boat anyway - I could not locate one. Is there such a thing? You spent time in ER (hopefully not the ambulatory one) I am sure you did disconnect all harnesses but did you check any of the wires in the main control harness for continuity? You need a long lead from top to bottom but it may be worth it.

Also check for burned wires on engine side, it may not be the long cable but the short one this time, engine to connector.Also check with service technician familiar with the system what he or she or it! Just to be safe! Would suspect as a diagnose, always ask first about the system check.HLeast costly solution to what issue. Is there no diagnostic menu on northstar? Thanks for the help.I traced what seems like miles of wire looking for a pinch, break, stretched section, abrasion, or burn - no luck. I did check what wires I could reach for continuity but gave up. I got back on the phone calling around for someone knowledgeable in SmartCraft.

I live in a void of qualified.well.qualified most anything!!!!!I ended up putting for hours over to another marina that has a technician up on SmartCraft.I say 'putting' as my paranoia for the lack of information (no oil/water pressure temps or rpms) on my SB engine had me at about 8 knots. It is hard to sync engines by ear from the flybridge.I guess we will soon learn what is wrong. After rushing to get the boat over to the other marina (at their request) it turned out to be a hurry up and wait situation. Several days outside a very loud dockside bar with tipsy boaters banging their boats into whatever and various drunks wandering about the docks. Not much fun.What developed was that it IS the Northstar-SmartCraft Gateway. Barbie, I should have listened to your post instead of the tech guy on the telephone #$ @&!!!The temporary solution (mine actually not the tech) was to disconnect the gateway.

Mercury Smartcraft Fuel Reset

This gave me back my SmartCraft and analog gauges I do lose the luxury of the information transferring over to my chartplotter. I can live with that. I question how up on Smartcraft these guys really are.So I am out enjoying the water once again. But now I notice that hitting the trim tabs more than just a few quick makes the GPS lose its fix for a minute or two!??? Another issue or a related one - hmmmm. I guess I will be busy sharpening my repair skills again. Equanimity - 7/12/2011 10:40 AM After rushing to get the boat over to the other marina (at their request) it turned out to be a hurry up and wait situation.

Several days outside a very loud dockside bar with tipsy boaters banging their boats into whatever and various drunks wandering about the docks. Not much fun. What developed was that it IS the Northstar-SmartCraft Gateway.

Barbie, I should have listened to your post instead of the tech guy on the telephone #$ @&!!! The temporary solution (mine actually not the tech) was to disconnect the gateway. This gave me back my SmartCraft and analog gauges I do lose the luxury of the information transferring over to my chartplotter. I can live with that.

I question how up on Smartcraft these guys really are. So I am out enjoying the water once again.But now I notice that hitting the trim tabs more than just a few quick makes the GPS lose its fix for a minute or two!??? Another issue or a related one - hmmmm. I guess I will be busy sharpening my repair skills again. Yep, those guys just fix them, but us in here.

Like I said, it's what happened to us so we knew what the problem was, especially since it happened to us TWICE! Let me know if you want to buy my extra gateway. And we think we know the problem to your GPS. There is a separate power supply to the antenna for the gps, if it goes out then the gps antenna goes out and the gps loses its fix. If it is connected to a low battery sorce, or one that gets a high drain from your trim tabs, then the big power draw, drops the antenna 'offline' for a minute. My captain says to check to see if the antenna is connected to the same accessories switch or breaker or something similiar to that. But that sounds like your issue to him.

Equanimity - 7/12/2011 10:40 AM After rushing to get the boat over to the other marina (at their request) it turned out to be a hurry up and wait situation. Several days outside a very loud dockside bar with tipsy boaters banging their boats into whatever and various drunks wandering about the docks. Not much fun.

What developed was that it IS the Northstar-SmartCraft Gateway. Barbie, I should have listened to your post instead of the tech guy on the telephone #$ @&!!! The temporary solution (mine actually not the tech) was to disconnect the gateway.

This gave me back my SmartCraft and analog gauges I do lose the luxury of the information transferring over to my chartplotter. I can live with that. I question how up on Smartcraft these guys really are. So I am out enjoying the water once again.But now I notice that hitting the trim tabs more than just a few quick makes the GPS lose its fix for a minute or two!???

Another issue or a related one - hmmmm. I guess I will be busy sharpening my repair skills again. Yep, those guys just fix them, but us in here. Like I said, it's what happened to us so we knew what the problem was, especially since it happened to us TWICE! Let me know if you want to buy my extra gateway.

Mercury Smartcraft Gauges Troubleshooting

And we think we know the problem to your GPS. There is a separate power supply to the antenna for the gps, if it goes out then the gps antenna goes out and the gps loses its fix.

If it is connected to a low battery sorce, or one that gets a high drain from your trim tabs, then the big power draw, drops the antenna 'offline' for a minute. My captain says to check to see if the antenna is connected to the same accessories switch or breaker or something similiar to that. But that sounds like your issue to him.

The VesselView Family Smartcraft InstrumentsVesselView is a multifunction display (MFD) that is compatible with products manufactured by Mercury Marine Outboards, Mercury MerCruiser, Mercury Diesel. In addition, the VesselView software can be installed on compatible display devices from Lowrance® and Simrad®.VesselView is a comprehensive boat information center that can display information for up to four gasoline or diesel engines. It continuously monitors and reports operating data including detailed information such as water temperature and depth, trim status, boat speed and steering angle, and the status of fuel, oil, water, and waste tanks. VesselView can be fully integrated with a vessel’s global positioning system (GPS) or other NMEA‑compatible devices to provide up‑to‑the‑minute navigation, speed, and fuel‑to‑destination information. VesselView is a display extension for autopilot and joystick operations. All functionality of these piloting features are controlled through Mercury Marine's autopilot control area network (CAN) pad. VesselView will show if a mode of control is active or in standby; pop‑ups will appear as the vessel arrives at waypoints, prompting response to turns. Additional display text can be used to adjust the engines and drives to achieve maximum efficiency.VesselView is equipped with a micro SD card port that allows the import or export of the vessel personality configuration. It can also be used by the owner to upgrade to the latest software version.

Mercury Sc1000 Smartcraft Gauges

When more than one VesselView is used, either as a triple‑engine or quad‑engine application, or a second helm, the same micro SD card can be used to download those configurations to each VesselView unit.VesselView continues to evolve as the next generation full color displays with an enhanced full sunlight viewable vessel information center encompassing data from the vessel, navigation and engines. There are numerous NMEA 2000 input options in addition to the fully integrated Mercury Marine SmartCraft digital information and control features. Regardless of the application, we have a display solution available: VesselView4, VesselView502, VesselView702, VesselView 703, VesselView 903, VesselView Link or VesselView Mobile.