2007 Mercury 115 FourStroke: SmartCraft Troubles

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Author Topic:   2007 Mercury 115 FourStroke: SmartCraft Troubles

prostaff posted 09-28-2007 09:36 PM ET (US)
Dear SmartCraft Owners:
250 hours of smooth sailing and flawless operation and then [this problem]:
Has anyone ever experienced an alarm of four short beeps that despite every conceivable remedy you can not find the source of the warning? Even with one of the most experienced Mercury technicians in the country with all the right equipment? The engine diagnostics only give erroneous information.
On my boat is a 2007 Mercury FourStroke 115 EFI with SmartCraft technology that is haunting me and the engine with solid horn above 3,500 RPM. We have checked, cleaned and re-tightned all engine and battery grounds and positive battery cables. We have serviced the engine, replacing all the filters, oils, and water pump kit.
By dealer approval, each day I am testing. When I go out the horn does not sound off until I am already out on the water three miles away making a living with my clients.
The Guardian kicks in and will not let me run fast as I know this is a safety feature, but it shakes and rattles until of course I slow down where it smoothes out and then I get four short beeps and even sometimes the warning check engine sign and flashing bell goes away. As long as I go slow the warning sounds and symbols do not come on.
My good friend and dealer tells me that the sensors are telling the motor it is going to overheat and it is preventing the engine from overheating although it really is not overheating as it is apparent from lack of steam and my SCG is reading 136 F degrees.
Lack of sufficient water pressure or volume of water seemed to be an issue. After the new impeller kit was installed, I was able to run for a half a day before getting the horn or bell come on.
My water pressure is between 8 and 12-PSI under normal running conditions.
In defense of Mercury and to their credit, not all the blame can be fully on their shoulders as I have an accessory containing a low water pick-up. Although Yamaha stands behind such applications it is unclear if Mercury approves of such a device.
This has been going on since September 15th. Today was the first time the engine would not keep running after cranked. Frustrated I call SeaTow. An hour passed by and the engine stayed running and SeaTow flank me while I limped in under power after the engine failed to run after numerous attempts.
To make matters worse each time we connect the laptop to the brain of the engine it has no memory or codes to help my dealer and technician.
Dually Frustrated,
Please help!
glen e posted 09-28-2007 10:22 PM ET (US)
Why would you go thru this when you can talk to Mercury?
MERCURY SERVICE PROTOCOL: If the customer has problems with a dealer that can not or will not fix his problems please have him do the following: Call Mercury at 920 929 5040, ask main operator for "consumer affairs." Must have serial number of engine handy or it is a wasted phone call. Explain to consumer affairs specialist what the situation is. They will then put the wheels in motion. When procedure is followed the consumer affairs specialist documents the call, adds all product history to the call. If a rep is required, all this info is sent to him. The rep has 36 hrs to respond. This too is documented along with steps taken to resolve [problem].
Good luck.
jimh posted 09-29-2007 04:51 AM ET (US)
You may be interested to know that another Mercury FourStroke (the "Veradito" motor) was also affected with strange warning BEEPs. See:
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/013669.html
Although that motor was a 90-HP, I believe otherwise it would be identical to yours. And like your situation, the motor's electronic control module never seemed to record any data related to the flaw.
prostaff posted 09-29-2007 09:34 AM ET (US)
Thanks Glen for the response. I already asked my Dealer about contacting the rep. He did called Mercury at my request and they were "vague" about the issue. I will keep that info handy and may use it if we can't isolate the troubles.
Jim, I read the entire thread; http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/013669.html
Seems that maybe the oil pressure switch could be the culprit as bigjohn1 wrote: "I have heard of one occurance locally here where the oil pressure switch was sending faulty signals to the ECM which caused the ECM to cut power to 2 cylinders intermitently because the computer thought the engine was overheating."
I forgot to mention we also replaced the ignition switch.
I got a feeling that perhaps we will be getting closer to what's causing the failures come Monday.
sosmerc posted 09-29-2007 11:53 AM ET (US)
I have run into a few faulty water pressure sensors this past year. These were on Optimax engines, but I'll bet the Verado uses a similar sensor. I temporarily hooked up a mechanical test guage to confirm that the electronic sensors were sending the wrong pressure reading to the ECM.
bigjohn1 posted 09-29-2007 07:54 PM ET (US)
Excellent thought. Prostaff, you should have them check both the water and oil temperature sensors since both provide input to the ECM and either could have a hand in causing your motor to go into the safe mode.

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Author	Topic: 2007 Mercury 115 FourStroke: SmartCraft Troubles
prostaff	posted 09-28-2007 09:36 PM ET (US) Dear SmartCraft Owners: 250 hours of smooth sailing and flawless operation and then [this problem]: Has anyone ever experienced an alarm of four short beeps that despite every conceivable remedy you can not find the source of the warning? Even with one of the most experienced Mercury technicians in the country with all the right equipment? The engine diagnostics only give erroneous information. On my boat is a 2007 Mercury FourStroke 115 EFI with SmartCraft technology that is haunting me and the engine with solid horn above 3,500 RPM. We have checked, cleaned and re-tightned all engine and battery grounds and positive battery cables. We have serviced the engine, replacing all the filters, oils, and water pump kit. By dealer approval, each day I am testing. When I go out the horn does not sound off until I am already out on the water three miles away making a living with my clients. The Guardian kicks in and will not let me run fast as I know this is a safety feature, but it shakes and rattles until of course I slow down where it smoothes out and then I get four short beeps and even sometimes the warning check engine sign and flashing bell goes away. As long as I go slow the warning sounds and symbols do not come on. My good friend and dealer tells me that the sensors are telling the motor it is going to overheat and it is preventing the engine from overheating although it really is not overheating as it is apparent from lack of steam and my SCG is reading 136 F degrees. Lack of sufficient water pressure or volume of water seemed to be an issue. After the new impeller kit was installed, I was able to run for a half a day before getting the horn or bell come on. My water pressure is between 8 and 12-PSI under normal running conditions. In defense of Mercury and to their credit, not all the blame can be fully on their shoulders as I have an accessory containing a low water pick-up. Although Yamaha stands behind such applications it is unclear if Mercury approves of such a device. This has been going on since September 15th. Today was the first time the engine would not keep running after cranked. Frustrated I call SeaTow. An hour passed by and the engine stayed running and SeaTow flank me while I limped in under power after the engine failed to run after numerous attempts. To make matters worse each time we connect the laptop to the brain of the engine it has no memory or codes to help my dealer and technician. Dually Frustrated, Please help!
glen e	posted 09-28-2007 10:22 PM ET (US) Why would you go thru this when you can talk to Mercury? MERCURY SERVICE PROTOCOL: If the customer has problems with a dealer that can not or will not fix his problems please have him do the following: Call Mercury at 920 929 5040, ask main operator for "consumer affairs." Must have serial number of engine handy or it is a wasted phone call. Explain to consumer affairs specialist what the situation is. They will then put the wheels in motion. When procedure is followed the consumer affairs specialist documents the call, adds all product history to the call. If a rep is required, all this info is sent to him. The rep has 36 hrs to respond. This too is documented along with steps taken to resolve [problem]. Good luck.
jimh	posted 09-29-2007 04:51 AM ET (US) You may be interested to know that another Mercury FourStroke (the "Veradito" motor) was also affected with strange warning BEEPs. See: http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/013669.html Although that motor was a 90-HP, I believe otherwise it would be identical to yours. And like your situation, the motor's electronic control module never seemed to record any data related to the flaw.
prostaff	posted 09-29-2007 09:34 AM ET (US) Thanks Glen for the response. I already asked my Dealer about contacting the rep. He did called Mercury at my request and they were "vague" about the issue. I will keep that info handy and may use it if we can't isolate the troubles. Jim, I read the entire thread; http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/013669.html Seems that maybe the oil pressure switch could be the culprit as bigjohn1 wrote: "I have heard of one occurance locally here where the oil pressure switch was sending faulty signals to the ECM which caused the ECM to cut power to 2 cylinders intermitently because the computer thought the engine was overheating." I forgot to mention we also replaced the ignition switch. I got a feeling that perhaps we will be getting closer to what's causing the failures come Monday.
sosmerc	posted 09-29-2007 11:53 AM ET (US) I have run into a few faulty water pressure sensors this past year. These were on Optimax engines, but I'll bet the Verado uses a similar sensor. I temporarily hooked up a mechanical test guage to confirm that the electronic sensors were sending the wrong pressure reading to the ECM.
bigjohn1	posted 09-29-2007 07:54 PM ET (US) Excellent thought. Prostaff, you should have them check both the water and oil temperature sensors since both provide input to the ECM and either could have a hand in causing your motor to go into the safe mode.