Ian
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ianfranklin@ozemail.com.au
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Hi, Here is a link to a site which discusses the Mercathode system http://www.mercstuff.com/mercathodekit.htm There are several anodes which have been developed over years but the Blue or black controller has not changed very much. You need to look for the little blue or black plastic box mounted somewhere on your top of your motor and connect it up as shown in the diagrams in the above link I cannot tell the colour of the cables in your wiring harness. You only have 3 - the controller has 4 terminals. It would safe to assume Orange = terminal marked "A" (from one side of the anode) Brown = terminal marked "R" (from other side of anode) Red/Purple = terminal marked "+" = your battery "+" post. This should be permantly connected to your battery with an inline fuse. Do not run from any switched circuit. Black = terminal marked "-" = your battery negative "-" post You will need to leave your battery chager running to keep your batteries topped up.
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Hi, Generally most twin motor installations rotate in the same direction (left hand a.k.a standard a.k.a conterclockwise). The counter-rotation of props is done by your sterndrives and / or the way you set up linkages. (This depends on the model of your sterndrive) You don't mention what type of sterndrive you have (Alpha, Alpha GenII, Bravo2 or Bravo3) If you are replacing BOTH your engine AND your sterndrive and it is an Alpha drive, you will need to specifcy rotation of the drive BUT this will be part of the model / serial number of the drive Here is a link and extract from a sterndrive company http://www.sterndrives.com/414alphaone.html (make sure you select the correct drive page) Trust this helps some Regards Ian (from sterndrives.com website) A note about ROTATION Do not confuse engine rotation with sterndrive or propeller rotation ALL sterndrive Mercruiser Engines are left hand (standard, counterclockwise) rotation. Most single engine boats use a right-hand rotation drive unit meaning that the propeller rotation is right-hand (standard, clockwise) rotation. Counter rotating drives are left-hand (counter, counterclockwise) propeller rotation. Counter rotating drives have only been around in numbers for the last few years. The advantage of having two drives rotating in opposite directions are increased speed, improved slow and high speed handling, better course tracking, more level ride, improved fuel economy and easier docking. NOT ALL DRIVES CAN COUNTER ROTATE! The drive must be specifically designed to be a counter rotation drive. Attempting to run a standard rotation drive in a counter rotation direction will positively destroy the drive in just a few minutes. In most applications the RH (standard) drive is mounted on the starboard side. The LH (counter rotation) drive is mounted on the port side. The LH drive must have a LH propeller. The LH shift cable must be reversed at the binnacle to pull instead of push for forward gear. Most controls allow for either direction by simply repositioning the cable mounting location and attachment. Always use extreme care when reinstalling the drives that they are properly installed on the correct side or extreme expensive damage will occur. Bravo Drives are bi-directional. Rotation direction is simply determined by the shift cable direction and no damage will take place by reversing the running direction or by installing the Bravo drives on different sides. Again, the RH propeller is usually installed on the starboard side and the LH propeller is usually installed on the port side. Use caution when attempting to operate the boat for the first time after drive, shift cable, or propeller work has been done. Tie the vessel firmly to a strong dock and test the shift for proper direction. Improperly installed props, drives or cables can make the boat go in reverse instead of forward causing severe damage, injury or death. Just check it.
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Hi again, Here is a link to FAQ's on Mercruisers site http://www.mercurymarine.com/service-and-support/storage-and-maintenance/faqs/smartcraft/ You will need to check your engine series but I think any MPI series motor from 2001 is "smartcraft compatible" Whether this means you actually have it fitted is a different story. "Compatible" means all the digital signals are available from the ECM on the motor. From there, it depends on the harness fitted and the gauges used at the time of original engine installation. It is possible to connect the motor upto digital gauges, analogue gauges or a combination of both depending on the cable / gauge configurations used Faria do make a range of gauges that are smartcraft compatible. I suggest you find the model number of your gauge and go look at their website. Here is a link to find your gauge model number if you dont have access to the rear of the dashboard http://gaugefinder.faria-instruments.com/ From there, search for your gauge and possibly an owners manaul for it. On my 2008 MPI 350 (I don't know who the manufacturer of the gauges are. Mercury don't actually make the gauges), there are a few rubberised buttons below the tachos which let you scroll through the smartcraft displays. By the sounds of it, you don't have smartcraft fitted. How much difficultly, time or cost is involved, I don't know. You would need to talk to a Mercruiser dealer. Whilst it might be "nice" to have it fitted, it will cost you $$$ (and frankly, it won't add 1 cent to your resale value -sorry!) I could well be much cheaper just to have the tech check the fault codes with a handheld scanner. Cheers
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Hi cvettr Please see attached pics of charts corresponding to error codes. The SC1000 column refers the Mercruiser Smart Craft instumentation package. (If you had this fitted, it would trigger a fault message in your display) I am not a mechanic, but as far as I understand it, there is there is no "sequence" of beeps you can use to determine the fault which is causing it. Basically, most faults are indicated by a double beep, while most "serious faults" are indicated by a continuous beep / tone. (I think the continuous beep / tone faults are the ones that are likely to trigger the reduced power "limp home" mode) To understand what errors are being detected, you need to have your ECM scanned. First option would be a genuine Mercury service dealer. Some other good marine mechanics also have scanners - you just need to ask if they have one to detect / rectify faults for your engine As for the voltage drop and any effects it has on the ECM, I don't know enough about it to comment. Maybe someone else here on the forum can help. Failing that, borrow a battery from one of your fellow boaties and swap it to see if the problem persists. Good luck Regards
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Hi, Do you have mercruiser DTS? If yes, it is a simple process as everything is driven electrically, no solid cables are used to connect the controls to the motor/s Mercruiser call it Zero Effort - DTS. They sell as kits with instructions, mounting templates, controls, cables etc If you search for that online you will find lots of suppliers, forums etc. They are pricey - a 2 engine setup is listed around the $1800 - $2000 mark (kit only, no labour to install) If you currently have a mechanical cable setup, I don't know how you would go about it but suspect the biggest issue will be if you are able to use the same mechanical cables and connectors. The gaffrig website does list a "mercruiser stern drive cable adaptor", so it might be a easy job, altough if you physically have to relocate the control position, I'm guessing you will need new cables and routing. Contact them and see how helpful they may/may not be Regards Ian
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Waytam I had been waiting to see if someone else with a much better understanding would respond. No-one has, so here a few ideas to hopefully chase down your problem. To answer your specific question, I don't know how you can check the trim sending unit in service. If you disconnect it, the pump won't work. The pumps used on mercruiser only have 3 wires entering (up, down and neutral) so I'm guessing the monitoring of the position of your trim is handled someplace other than the pump motor itself. Most likely will be the ECM (engine control manual) of which I know nothing about except all your instrumentation comes from / goes through there. You don't say if it is a mercruiser or volvo. I have mercruiser but assume volvo would be similar. If you purchased the boat new, you should have received an installation manual for your engines. (I'm not sure if you can find a copy somewhere but if it helps I have the one for the Mercruiser 350MAG-MPI - let me know if you need a copy). I assume the trim pump assembly/s would be pretty similar across most engine variants. (See attached pics). I do have some suggestions that might be helpful. If they don't work, I'm guessing the only way you will resolve your problems is to get the ECM checked out. Some ECM's also store fault codes which can be diagnostically checked by someone with the correct equipment (not sure about year models in 2004) Many strange problems in DC systems can come from a loose wire or two. First item should be to make sure all the neutral wires in and around the trim pump assembly are clean, free from corossion and tight. Next, make sure all the neutrals in and around your engine block are similarly clean / tight. Check the mounting of the ECM and its neutral wire connection into the 'box'. There might also be a 'tie' wire to the engine block to check as well. Finally it would also be a good idea to check battery neutral and main connection to engine mount. Another check to do is to understand what voltages happen at the rear of your gauges. Does the 12V supply completely disappear? or does it drop to a lower value which the falls below the guage threshold? When testing this, don't use the gauge nuetral wire connected to the guage itself, pick another neutral - say your cigarette lighter. I don't think you have a short in your pump motor otherwise the fuses would be blowing. It may also be possible to have a short in your instrumentation wiring harness but i think this would be less likely as more than 1 gauge is being affected. Finally, I am intrigued by your item #6. If you disconnected the engine battery, trim would go dead, everything would go dead and your motor would have stopped (if it was running). What batteries are you referring to? Good luck trim assembly.pdf
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Hi, Here is a link to the Lewmar manual http://www.lewmar.com/assets/img/dataset/Manual-Sprint_600.pdf See page 13 for wiring information You said you have foot switces and a helm switch, therefore you must have a control box. This also contains your "solenoid". You won't see a "solenoid" like on a starter motor for your engine/s. It should be about the size of 2 or 3 cigarette packet stacked on top of each other (Where you don't have footswitches see page 12) I don't have a 270 so I can't comment where it would be located on your boat but usually they are not too far from the windlass itself and / or the foot switches. I would try tracing the wires from the foot switches first. It should be fairly easy to identify with heavy guage battery (+ and -) entering and leaving with lighter guage 'switch' wires for your helm / footswitches entering Hope this helps some Regards Ian
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Hi, Firstly, I'm assuming you only have 1 motor, the switch / 2nd battery is your house battery, and you have a battery charger It really depends on what sort of current drain you want to pull out the battery, the rate at which you drain it and how often you do this (once a week, once a month?) If all you will ever do is a few lights and your stereo then you shouldn't have any problems running a "start" battery as your house battery. If you started running some big loads - inverters, refrigerators, tv etc. then you might need to re-consider using a "deep-cycle" battery with increased capacity for the house battery. With the dual switch you describe, there shouldn't be any proplems using a "start" battery for battery1 and a "deep cycle" battery for battery 2 (if you want). The only important thing is they must both be the same "construction" i.e both lead-acid OR both AGM. Generally, you should only use battery 1 as a start battery and battery 2 as your house battery. The "both" position should be used when you want to recharge both batteries whilst your engine is running. When anchored, keep the switch in battery 2 position. If you find your house battery is always running flat, consider changing it to a bigger capacity and /or adding a second house battery (connected in parallel) with battery 2. Using a "deep-cycle" battery wont increase any power, it just means it is designed to be discharged / recharged more often AND 'recover better' from a deeper discharge than a "start" battery Finally, if/when you change-out your house battery, yes replace it with a deep-cycle type but unless you are having troubles, the current setup should work fine Hope this helps some
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Hi Alan, It's winter here - but not like winters in the north of the US and Canada (thankfully) Temperatures (near Sydney) typically range from 5C overnight to 18C during the day (40F - 65F) One of the best times of the year for boating - magical early morning mists - and less crowds. Sometimes I'm the only boat in a bay. This time of the year there can be some BIG swells off the coast - so mostly rivers and bays Still get the die hard fishos going past at 4am in their little tinnies and old 2 strokes - maybe they're going bass tubing? Regards Ian
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Does it help catch bass? (sorry - I couldn't help myself) Regards
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Hi Wiring diagrams can be found the Owners Manual - you can download from the forums here under Sport Boat Owners Manual - wiring diagrams start at page M-32 The BROWN/RED wire is the +12V which comes via a fuse. This is the AUTO bilge pump and should go to one side of your float switch. The other side of your float switch should then go to your bilge pump. I am assuming the wire leaving the float switch is also BROWN/RED The RED wire is the +12V from the rocker switch at the helm. This goes directly to your bilge pump. It does not go through the float switch. The BROWN/RED (from the float switch) and the RED (from the helm) wires are connected together at the pump The BLACK wire is a bit of a mystery. According to the wiring diagram it should be yellow. Either way, it should be the -12V and should be connected to the other side of the pump (i.e. the side that DOESN'T have the brn/red + red wires on it) Your pdf is electrically correct. I don't have a 190LS but think it might be more likely the 2 positives are connected at one side of the motor rather than being joined in the harness as shown in your pdf. It doesn't make any difference electrically Hope this helps some Regards
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Hi, If your transome shower was working correctly then your fresh water pump is priming correctly Sounds like you have a water leak somewhere. Which discharge was the water coming from? - check the Monterey owners manual. It has labelled pictures of the hull showing all of the discharges, vents etc. How much water is in your bilge? If you have a leak of the freshwater system and it is going into your bilge, the automatic bilge pump could be operating. Try shutting all the taps, showers etc. off and open your engine hatch so you can see in the bilge. Turn on the water pump. You should be able to hear the pump running briefly to 'pressurise' the system and then stop. If it doesn't stop, you have a big leak. If it stops and starts, then you have a smaller leak Regards
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Here is an image of a typical windlass breaker, similar to the one in my 330SY Regards typical windlass breaker.pdf
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My 2008 330SY camper covers are starting to show their age. The north facing clears (which are exposed to the sun all day) all have developed a greyish, milky like build-up at the perimeters where the platic is stitched to the fabric The main viewing areas have also developed 'pitting' with the same build-up. The other clears facing other directions do not have it. Any ideas on how to get rid of this build-up as it makes vision through them difficult I have tried 'plexus' and '3M plastic restorer' without any success. The milky build-up just will not budge Thanks