Merc Smartcraft gas gauge reading “fault”

This topic has 9 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated 17 years, 11 months ago by Bass Cat Boats.

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July 14, 2008 at 3:01 pm #307590

MossBoss
Participant

Last week I installed a Humminbird 797 on my P4. I had trouble running the cables through the boat so i took it to the local shop. They said they had to run them under the seat (?). The install worked fine and the Humminbird works great, but now my gas readout on my Smartcraft is reading “fault”. I looked in the Smartcraft manual, no troubleshooting entry, or even mention, of a “fault” reading for the fuel.Anyone have an idea what to look at first? I suspect maybe they knocked something loose on the gas tank, but I dont know where to look.Thanks

July 14, 2008 at 4:27 pm #307591

oldtimer57
Participant

almost certainly a wire that was broken, or pulled loose. Id look at the top of the sending unit first, and make sure both wires are connected. Then follow the ground to make sure it is connected. It is not hard to pull something loose when fishing wires if they were not careful. Depending on where they hooked up the they could have disconnected something there by accident, probably under the dash.2008 Pantera Classic2014 Mercury Pro XS 200

July 14, 2008 at 8:46 pm #307592

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

Pull the seat base up on the drivers side, or center section and look for the hatch cover which covers the sending unit and access to the gas tank, remove that cover and look to see if connections are tight there. If problem isnt there then look under the dash, but i bet they pulled a wire loose from the tank. Good luck, D.

July 15, 2008 at 7:01 am #307593

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

DB has it right, they have popped the wires off the sending unit. You may or may not be able to reach them through the access hatch. It all depends on what you are dealing with. BCB

July 15, 2008 at 1:38 pm #307594

dbasketman
Participant

Worst case scenario is you will have to pull the seat pan off to access the tank area, good luck, D.

July 15, 2008 at 3:10 pm #307595

MossBoss
Participant

I lifted the drivers seat and took off the round cover over the tank. I saw what I thought was the sending unit below, had a yellow and red striped wire going to the middle, and a black wire also attached. I assumed this was the ground and the main wire to the under tank seat. Both seemed to be attached fine. Then I crawled up behind the dash. All the connections into the smart craft gauges looked good. also. I have the saddle tank option on my P4 as well, and if I change to either on the Basscat dash (the one with the aerator etc. also on it), it doesnt seem to matter, still reads fault. The connections to the dash all seem good to me as well. I am having trouble figuring out how it is wired. Does it go from the tanks to the dash then to the SmartCraft guages? Or is there some other y connection somewhere in the line? I assume it cant go from the tanks straight to Smartcraft as the dash panel controls which tank is being read. The boat is back at the shop today who installed the Humminbird, but any additional info I can get here and provide them may help diagnose it, and maybe save me some money. thanks again for all your help.

July 15, 2008 at 4:31 pm #307596

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

May check ground at the terminal block in the rear of the boat as well, could be there ???? Good luck, D.

July 15, 2008 at 4:56 pm #307597

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

Analog gauges will let you ground the two wires together and the fuel gauge will max or min full. Otherwise it could be a faulty sensor, though we dont know your year model. BCB

July 15, 2008 at 5:18 pm #307598

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

I have a 2003 P4 and a 2003 200 Opti.

July 15, 2008 at 7:56 pm #307599

Bass Cat Boats
Keymaster

A 2003 could easily be a faulty sending unit in the tank. They were Rochester sending units and not that dependable. The new WEMA sending units are much more dependable, and much more DeNieRoS. We are suspect to the sending unit and you can hard wire one without installing it for a check, or short those wires if you have analog gauges. Though most 03 models were SC gauges and the signal would have to be verified. A Mercury laptop probably could check the signal and the labor would be a factor there. BCB
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