wills1970

Hello. I recently went from a 2005 27' Grady White Chase center console with twin 150 Yamahas to a 2008 34' Fountain center console with twin 300 verado's. Unfortunately I have come across some items that need addressing and can't really afford to pay someone so hoping that I can find some assistance in online forums to try it myself. I was injured in combat so some items I cannot do, but hoping the following are fairly simple fixes.

As I have found online, the boat is equipped with K-Plane trim tabs. Unfortunately the indicator pointers do not move on either side so I never know if they are up, down or where and when I bring it into the marina they ask us to make sure they are always in the up position. Also, I am not exactly close to the marina so it is difficult to run back and forth and with work, etc. I am guessing that the cables are old and something has happened where they both need replacing. Any suggestions on part numbers etc as well as methods of replacing them and if this is a job that I can do or will I have to hire it out to someone that has more boat knowledge?

I have only driven the boat for about 5 minutes, from the public launch to the marina where they put it up in dry dock. But when I was around 1500 to 1800 rpms, the boat vibrated REALLY bad. I put both engines in neutral and powered up the port side getting it back in that rpm range and nothing. I then put it in neutral and powered up the starboard to that rpm range and nothing. I then powered both back up and again between the 1500 to 1800 rpm range the boat vibrated so badly that it would have been hard to carry on a conversation. But when I pushed through and got over 2000 rpms it stopped and ran super smooth??? Any ideas as to what might be causing this? The motors are propped with Eco's and believe they are 19 pitch just in case that is something needed to be known. I also installed prop locks and lower unit locks in case that may have something to do with an imbalance or something?

I also cannot locate the safety kill switch anywhere??? I believe the dealer said that there was one, but I can't seem to find it and definitely not a lanyard anywhere. Any ideas where they are generally located as even the slow Grady had one so I would think these boats have to have one as fast as they go.

Also, when I stopped to fuel before going to the marina, I turned the switch on to watch the gas gauge. When I did this the smartcraft gauges were saying to press the mode button to calibrate or something to that affect and so I did.... But now I am afraid it reverted back to the 2008 settings or whenever the gauges were made. Are there other firmware versions for these that most likely are now wiped out and how would I get them back into the gauges? Also, how do I know if all the parameters are set correctly now too?

When running between the ramp and the marina, a message came up on one of the gauges that said to check the paddle? Any idea what this means? I think it went away, but just remember it did come on.

I am running twin Simrad EVO 3 screens as well. Does anyone have experience with these? The side menu bar has several readings which all work, except for the depth. For some reason it just shows a couple of dashes? But when I go the the main menu and select echo or structure, when that screen comes on it shows the depth in the left corner as it is suppose to but still not showing on the right side vertical menu bar? Lastly, I tried to turn on the Fusion stereo. There is a small media box at the bottom right corner of the screen that I touched and the box appeared and said to select a source, but the only available selection was the sirius xm? Do I have to physically go and turn on the Fusion deck prior to being able to control it with the Simrad as I remember on the Grady with Garmin I could turn it on and off on the actual Garmin Screen?

If the weather would ever warm up I might get some more time on the boat and then I am sure I will have a lot more questions but any assistance that I can get with these so far would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Will.

madbouyz

If I were you I think the first thing I'd try and do is find a member here who is near you with a near identical boat who would be kind enough to actually come and go over the boat with you and go for a run as well . And like you wisely said , you're still going to have more questions down the road.
Hopefully some of your issues are simple handyman fixes but others could just be a mater of understanding the workings of the newer electronics.

Good luck , and thank you for your service !

AmiableDave

I came to the site in July and only started to post. A bunch of good guys with a whole lot of knowledge.

I do not have your make/model boat.....Are the K-Plane indicator's driven with a cable or electrically? If cable, the cotter pin may have broke/rusted off at either ends of the mounts. Both cables or the indicator could be bad. If electric, check fuse 1st! and then bracket troubleshoot.

Being that your boat doesn't Vibrate with only one engine at a time at posted rpm's, I'm going to go out on the limb and say possible prop ventilation. Put your tabs all the way down and outbards all the way in and see how that goes. With no indicators on tabs, hold the tab rockers down for 4/5 seconds. You should hear the change in Trim Pump sound when they are bottomed out. Do the same when docking in the opposite position. Just tap either tab buttons when adjusting boat plane and level.

Have no clue where the kill is. Should be 2 black button type at the helm I would think. The lanyard would go underneath it. But then if your boat is operating with out the lanyards and you do have kills, that's another problem.

I would call Mercury and/or look at there site for other info. Should be able to download an owners manual there.

wills1970

You guys are all awesome. I was on THT for years and was told to come check out this site as it has more people with boats similar to mine. I believe mine are mechanically driven as a 2008 and it has the sliding pointers on the dash not an actual digital or analog readout thought I am not 100% on that. The next time I go I will try to talk a friend into going with me so that one of us can watch near the tab while operating and then under the console as well when operating to see if something is wrong on either end or just both cables are shot or something simple I hope.

You mentioned possibly that I am having prop ventilation at the 1500 to 1800 range. Is that a bad thing or just something that happens and I will never be able to fix it an need to just avoid those RPM ranges?

I basically have about 4 hours with the boat and 3 of that was trailering it so I will have to do some more looking around for the kill switches.. Maybe they just have them rigged up or something with just a clip to keep them running and just never used them as I definitely intend to. I did a quick google for the Smartcraft 1000 grauges and found some books on ebay for $15 and less, are they all the same as far as the year of the manual as I see 2001, 2003, 2012, etc years of publications. I am sure the newer one's are probably all digital instead of just my little lcd readout on the bottom of the gauges but do the newer manuals cover both or should I opt for a used older one to be sure mine is covered? I am thinking mine are generation 1 as I don't have the rope images on the dials like the gen 2 and gen 3's have on them. Also, if I did wipe them out to factory default, do I have to find someone that is a Mercury mechanic with the software to install newer firmware if there is any or is it really not very important in these gauges to have the most current firmware?

wills1970

Glad to find someone with the same boat. (oops, I misread, it says that you DON"T have the same boat, my mistake) Are your cables mechanical as I think that mine are with the pointers on the dash to show position??? If so do you happen to know what cables I need to order so that I can go ahead and just order them as since it is a saltwater boat, they probably haven't been changed in 10 years and need it. If I lived closer to the marina I would just run by and look, but unfortunately I am about an hour away and was hoping if I could order today that I might have them in time to put in this weekend weather permitting? Also do I need anything other parts when changing them or do they typically come with everything necessary for replacement?

AmiableDave

Like I said, I don't know your boat. I don't know how the drives are mounted to your transom or what drives you have. Most go fast have a high X-dimension. I ventilate a bit before I get on plane. Like I said, have the tabs down, drives in and give it full throttle till on plane. Then adjust drives/tabs. Go to the owners section in this site and post to the Fountain section. You also should be able to d-load Smart Craft operation on line for nothing....

AmiableDave

I do have mechanical indicators. But I think I'm going to go to electronic. Most cables that I have seen are 33C type. I would see if cotter pins are gone on both sides of the cable. Make sure the tabs do go up/down. Then I would disconnect a cable at the tabs and then move the cable by hand. If you can, see if the indicator is moving. If the indicator isn't, possible broke cable. If you can't move the cable by hand, disconnect the indicator side. Attempt to move the cable and/or indicator.

If the cable is the problem, see if there is more cable than you need. Bows are a problem. You can order a shorter length.

Crude Intentions

iTrader: (1)

Mechanical cables are fairly easy. They connect to the tab with a nut on cylinder pin. Look under the dash somewhere on the last 18inches of the cable is the length. It'll be in feet or inches. Should be a standard 33c cable. The tab has a connector on it that is compression fit. Remove it. Removes cable end. Pull the nut off compression connector remove the guts. Then pull dash panel. Unhook from pointers. Remove the end.

Now heres the fun part. Tape the new to the old. May have sealant on tab side where compression fitting is. Mine did. If you tape/connect them right have some feed from rear while pulling from front and you may be able to pull the New in with the old and then reconnect everything. That's how I did mine. Though I'm not a CC and had my motors out.

Crude Intentions

iTrader: (1)

Once through the compression fitting life is fairly easy. If it binds find where it is as it's running through large zip ties and pieces of pvc pipe. At least on mine it was. Took about 30 mins for me to do all 4

AmiableDave

I installed my tab cable about like ICU said. Naturally the factory installs everything when the upper half is off the boat. So when I did mine, I had to use a snub nose Phillips screw driver and pliers to remove those tight, hard to get at (All of them) screws to remove the cable clamps. Reinstalling them was easier. Time about 6 hrs but looks factory.