Guardian Mode Problems
 

Do Mercs with Guardian Mode technology experience alarms on a constant basis? Is this feature an everyday issue to deal with or more of a fatal problem alarm? Do you find it a pain or a help?

Why fret and guess when you can know for sure!
 

Any boat owner with a Mercury engine with the guardian feature will generally find it a great cost saver, a great engine saver and service tool provided one buys either the hand held or laptop scan tool software when one buys the boat. Without a scan tool the feature will most of the time just frustrate and confuse. At about $400 its a quick payback versus running to a dealer each time the engine alarm goes off.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

Is this a tool available form Merc? Do I use a laptop? Do I buy software? I am sick of this feature. I rather burn up the motor and replace it rather that know every friggin little issue that comes up. Maybe when the motors are working correctly, it will be great, but for now, I am ready to give up on the whole stupid diagnostic tool. All joking aside, is this something I am going to have to deal with over the life of the engine? Is this on all Merc racing engines?

Just my personal opinion, but I find all of the alarms and sensors in the pcm 555 stuff to be a PIA. Too many electronics. For example, if you try to "rev up" the engine beyond 1500 rpm in neutral you get an alarm unless you disconnect neutral position sensor. Not saying basic carb engines were utopia, but its tough to go through a whole weekend without some sort of alarm or beeping on the new engines.

Now we have the "progression of beeps" ... one beep, two beeps, four beeps and continuous beeps .... one beep is minor - like hitting the rev limiter, two beeps is a little worse (like low drive oil, I think), 4 beeps is more major (like IAC, or MAP, or TPS not right) and continuous beep is "shut'er down" mode ... You need to carry your Merc HP owners manual with you to decipher the beeps :rolleyes:

The race view gives ypu all the information thatvthe scan tool does Not sure of system view that you probably have. Not sure if you can upgrade

So what is setting off the alarm????????? Pretty sure the most common are low water psi and high exhaust manifold/header temps.

The 525EFI and newer engines have the alarm system that monitors a lot more.

NO WAY A PIA,,,its peace of mind for me,,,its a good feeling knowing the boys are ready at any time,,,,just stay with it and get involved,,,lots of knowledge here for the asking,,,get a rinda scan tool or software,,then have some fun solving the problem,,,dont think of it as a pia,,,the pay off for you will come knowing You repaired it:boat:

Elimi Nordic!

Sorry to hear about all the problems you are having with the Guardian Mode. Its things like this that turn people off from boating. I hope that you can find someone who can help you out, so that you can enjoy running that sharp new boat that you have bought without wondering if you have a problem or hearing the constant beeping. If theres a problem, great to know but if not what a pain. Good Luck.

+1, I didn't have many problems with my 496HO. I bought Diacom SW and when problems did arise I was able to diagnose easily.

Dan are you still testing props ???? very well could be water pressure , prop testing & blades,rakes, pichs, diameters will open a whole new can of worms ... surely not as easy as changing a tire on a car :eek:

I read the manual on Guardian last night and it seems like a nice tool to monitor all aspects of these motors, but it is strange to have so many issues with a brand new boat. We have had low water pressure alarms, map sensor alarms, overspeed alarms, ambient temp alarms(when it was cold out) and total shutdown of motors where they will idle only. The ambient temp sensor I understand due to cold intake air. The ones that do not make sense are the overspeed alarms that reduce engine power when the manual says only it should warn you to back off throttles and not reduce power. After clearing all the codes with a laptop, the boat did seem to run good for the moment and a local Mercury dealer is working on it this am. I just wish it had a trouble free start with issues coming later rather than sooner.

Don't throw the Baby Out with the Bath Water!
 

If this is a new boat with new installs and such, I would not be quick to find fault with the "guardian" feature as the problems sound like they are from problems on rigging and such and will obviously be something that will sort out. This feature can and will save the high cost of repairing Merc Racing engines so use it and get happy with the builder or dealer.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

You are right. I know this is a good product. I just wish it was more dialed in before first ride in a new boat.

The last season I raced the Merc-Racing 525, "Guardian Mode" cost us more races then it was worth. It would shut us down for no reason that we could find. I could understand if we had low oil pressure, high water temp, etc. but nothing was found... including the Merc-racing tech guys after the race. :angry-smiley-038:

Dan how many hours on this 2008 model 36 ??

14 hours.
The problems seem to be that because the engines were never registered, Mercury Racing never sent the update or recall notices on this boat. They are sending new updated computers overnight and this is supposed to take care of some of the Guardian issue's.

sounds common our's were never registered & cards turned in on our 33 and went thru same crap, just adds to the frustration :angry-smiley-038:
good luck 2morrow and hope that ends all your probs :drink:

Not the End all Be All!
 

Gordo;

Understand your frustration while racing with "guardian" and I personally don't think its a good system for a racing application because the complexities and sometimes over protective nature of the system is not iideal in a racing environment where there is always the inherent opportunity for failures and breakage.
However when the average performance boater is tearing along in his 'toy' with engines roaring, stereo blaring, girls screaming and wind blowing over their ears its a great idea to have a system that will monitor potential engine conditions and damage that might be happening and pull the power back and say to the boater, "Hey Boater I think you may have a problem existing or developing that might take this $$$ engine and turn it into junk in the next few minutes!" That's what a system like "Guardian" is really meant to do.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

I have been running supercharged engines in boats for years and most likely have suffered some failures that a system like Guardian would have prevented. The new computers Mercury is sending us are supposed to stop some nuisance trips on the system. I guess there have been some upgrades in the last 2 years since this boat was built, but never installed since it just set and no one purchased it.

I hope the new Mercury computers eliminates your problems with the Guardian Mode or most of them so that you can enjoy that beautiful looking boat.

When I took delivery of my brand new 28 speedster with 525 efi's the guardian mode was going off in overheat and overspeed regularly. Until we got it propped correctly and put in a half inch spacer, the guardian was a saviour to me. Sounds like your system view has all the same readouts as race view. Guardian is your friend.

Hopefully you have Chris at Prestige Marine helping you out there getting these issues resolved.

Exactly, he has been a great help. He came out with us on Sunday morning and spent all day helping us. He is handling repairing the computers. He is also removing the factory mufflers and installing straight pipes to add a little sound to these engines.

not a badd # at 1000 RPM :D:party-smiley-004:

That's what I thought. If she does that at a 1000 rpm, what will she do when we really spin her up. All we had was a cell phone with us and nobody took the time to snap a picture while we were running. Notice finger on recall button.

So what was the end results Dan ???? i remember reading you blew 8 days boatless but :eek:

Well we laid down a 131mph pass on 89 octane and the Merc props that came with the boat. Herring is sending me a new set of props that I hope will push to 135mph or so. We are headed out tomorrow to the lake in the am to run with a good friend of mine who just picked up his new DCB 32 with twin 700sc nxt's yesterday. We are both like kids on Christmas morn. We are ready!:boat:

Cool sounds like they got bugz worked out , what pitch prop with that 1.35 gear ratio BIG Daddy ?

It is a 40- 18 degree- 16.5" Merc prop. I am happy with top speed, just want more mid range and low speed take off. Once I get over 70mph it's a rocket. Takes a while to get there. I am comparing it to my smaller boats, though. When I look at this boat on the trailer, I can't believe it flys like it does.