SmartCraft Equipped??

[Wizard29]

Girlfriend got me Vessel View Mobile for the boat. Doing some reading and I see that in order for it to work, SmartCraft must be installed along with a junction box because this is a twin engine setup.

How do I tell if these engines are SmartCraft equipped? I think they are, but need to know for sure.

Engines are 496HOs, I believe 2005 year. I do get alarms and the throttles get cut when a problem is detected. Lots of wires and open wiring harness ports all over both engines. I'm not where the boat is right now to check things, but will be this weekend.

Anybody know how to tell for sure?

 

[Fun Times]

You're good to go...The connectors are typically towards the rear of the engine...You may have to remove the top engine covers to see/find them a bit easier.

Can I use SmartCraft on my older engine?
The SmartCraft line of products are applicable to all Mercury/Mariner OptiMax outboard engines starting with Model 2000, and all MerCruiser 8.1 liter engines for Model Year 2001. The SmartCraft line of products will not retrofit to any previous Mercury/Mariner or MerCruiser engines.
http://download.brunswick-marine.com/faq/outb-smartcraft.htm;jsessionid=qi1nh6meqscf

 

[Wizard29]

You're good to go...The connectors are typically towards the rear of the engine...You may have to remove the top engine covers to see/find them a bit easier.

Interesting. I saw those videos, but they don't say much about the twin setups. In a twin engine application on the 496, is a junction box a mandatory thing to have in order for the engines to operate together? It appears I need to plug the VesselView module into that so I can read both engines.

The level of detail I'm able to find online from Mercruiser is limited at best.

 

[Fun Times]

Interesting. I saw those videos, but they don't say much about the twin setups.

This video covers a twin...Didn't see it last night.

In a twin engine application on the 496, is a junction box a mandatory thing to have in order for the engines to operate together? It appears I need to plug the VesselView module into that so I can read both engines.
The level of detail I'm able to find online from Mercruiser is limited at best.

This would sort of depend on how sure you are if you already have smart craft gauges installed from say new, etc..

Depending on application setup, If you have smart craft gauges already installed then you still may or may not have a junction box to run your smart craft gauges should your boat be utilizing the full features of the smart craft system.

Some systems can read both engines via a direct cable that runs from engine to engine while others use the junction boxes...For the engine not utilizing the junction boxes but using a smart craft gauge; 'Though rarer to see nowadays 'It's possible you'd have two data CAN type cables running from the engine to gauges and a direct cable engine to engine for communication purposes.

If your boat has the junction box already installed then typically you'll find the juntion box up under the helm area/behind the dash gauges and would look like what's seen in the video above and the connection would be the same.

What boat model do you have?

One of the quicker ways to help know if your boat may have the smart craft type system already being utilized would be to look at the backside of the gauges and see what type of wiring connectors are being used.

If you don't have smart craft gauges or junction box then you'd plug it into the connections at the engine as the cable connections are not being fully used yet....There are a few connectors back there....Judging by video it looks like you'll need to find the purple type connector.

 

[Wizard29]

This video covers a twin...Didn't see it last night.

This would sort of depend on how sure you are if you already have smart craft gauges installed from say new, etc..

Depending on application setup, If you have smart craft gauges already installed then you still may or may not have a junction box to run your smart craft gauges should your boat be utilizing the full features of the smart craft system.

Some systems can read both engines via a direct cable that runs from engine to engine while others use the junction boxes...For the engine not utilizing the junction boxes but using a smart craft gauge; 'Though rarer to see nowadays 'It's possible you'd have two data CAN type cables running from the engine to gauges and a direct cable engine to engine for communication purposes.

If your boat has the junction box already installed then typically you'll find the juntion box up under the helm area/behind the dash gauges and would look like what's seen in the video above and the connection would be the same.

What boat model do you have?

One of the quicker ways to help know if your boat may have the smart craft type system already being utilized would be to look at the backside of the gauges and see what type of wiring connectors are being used.

If you don't have smart craft gauges or junction box then you'd plug it into the connections at the engine as the cable connections are not being fully used yet....There are a few connectors back there....Judging by video it looks like you'll need to find the purple type connector.

Pretty sure the engines are equipped with the SmartCraft architecture. I contacted the dealer I bought it from and while they couldn't say for sure, their service foreman said he would be very surprised if they weren't in this particular application.

The boat is an Eliminator 34' Eagle XP and had these upgraded engines installed after it was built with other engines. I don't know who did the install, but it's done right. However, I can't ask Eliminator about it because they probably won't know.

Hopefully there's a junction box I can just plug this thing into and it'll be easy. If not, I guess I'll have to figure out how to install a junction box or otherwise get the Vessel View to communicate with both engines.