Adding SmartCraft
 

Our 2002 Formula has "SmartCraft" decals on both of the 496 Mags and the Bravo IIIs. We do not have any smartcraft gauges.

We looked at a 2002 or 2003 Powerquest 320 last year that had a digital SmartCraft display that looked to give all sorts of great info on the status of the engines/outdrives.

How difficult is it to retrofit a SmartCraft display that will give me accurate RPMs, GPH, etc? Is it a plug and play setup, or do all sorts of fittings and wires need to be run.

Also, is the speedometer on the SmartCraft display GPS based or is it only a speedoguesser like the normal boat speedos?

Thanks

You will need SmartCraft gauges and wiring harness back to the motors. (They come in different lengths.) Everything else is in the PCMs. (engine computers)
Some gauges can programmed for 1 gauge to cover 2 engines.

Another option is to invest in a Rinda scanner which you would just use for troubleshooting issues.

Before you buy anything call up Mercury Racing and make sure your engine harness is going to work. I have a 2002 496ho with smartcraft written all over it but the smart craft gauges will not work. It took me a few phone calls and checking harness connectors to find it I couldn't do it.

Thanks, that'd save me a bunch of loot since I would hire the work done.

I some to gentleman named Kim. He was extremely helpful and kept checking his electrical wiring books till he found the correct information.

I have a 2002 496 mag HO and I bought a Smartcraft gauge online. It plugged right in with the standard harness, no problems. Great addition, worth every penny. Installlation was a 1 hour piece of cake.

Wow! This is news to me. I have a 2001 Baja with an early 496 Mag in it and although the plug was a different color (black instead of yellow) it was there and the smartcraft system just plugged right in. The plug should be on the back of the port side of the engine (as installed in the boat). If not used, it will have a cover on it. It is a pretty nondiscript looking thing. As a matter of fact, there are a lot of unused plugs on that engine, some of which interface with the smartcraft system (such as fuel and/or water tank level senders which plug in on the front of the engine via a seperate wiring harness).

If you want GPS speed (like to a Mercmonitor or a smartcraft speedometer) then you will need a seperate GPS antenna. Standard Smartcraft data is engine data only.

Dan

Dan anyway you could take a picture of of that connector on back of the engine? From my memory I was missing a colored wire. I don't remember which one as I think I spoke to them back in April.