E-TEC Instrumentation with Multi-function Display

Information about Evinrude I-Command, ICON Pro, and ICON Touch Color Displays
chickenhawk
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E-TEC Instrumentation with Multi-function Display

Postby chickenhawk » Wed Nov 02, 2022 9:15 pm

I plan to install a legacy E-TEC 90-HP engine on a MONTAUK17. I am hoping to have a veryclean install and just use a multi-function display and not install an I-Command gauge.

Q1: can a multi-function display be used for E-TEC instrumentation?

Q2: is use of a multi-function display with an E-TEC engine advisable?

Q3: will a multi-function display with an E-TEC engine provide enough codes?

Q4: is an I-Command guage required?

Q5: what mulit-function display is recommended?

I know a few manufactures are supporting the E-TEC G2 engines with software updates and that most work well with G1.

Q6: what are the top performing multi-function displays for the legacy E-TEC engines?

Thanks.

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Phil T
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Re: E-TEC Instrumentation with Multi-function Display

Postby Phil T » Wed Nov 02, 2022 9:52 pm

A Lowrance MFD is a good choice.

There are a few owners who have not installed gauges and networked the engine with a MFD. This is the new trend.

I was gifted 1 year old I-Command gauges when I repowered with my E-TEC 90 last year. If I didn't have them I would have gone with the setup described above.
1992 Outrage 17
2019 E-TEC 90
2018 LoadRite 18280096VT
Member since 2003

chickenhawk
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Re: E-TEC Instrumentation with Multi-function Display

Postby chickenhawk » Wed Nov 02, 2022 10:43 pm

Thanks Phil. This is exactly what I was looking for.

jimh
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Re: E-TEC Instrumentation with Multi-function Display

Postby jimh » Thu Nov 03, 2022 8:35 am

A prior discussion goes over this exact topic. See

E-TEC 90 Muti-function Display
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewto ... =10&t=5525

chickenhawk wrote:Q1: can a multi-function display be used for E-TEC instrumentation?
Yes. The E-TEC engine sends a great deal of data in the standard NMEA-2000 protocol parameter groups for engine data, and most all multi-function displays can be set up to show that data.

chickenhawk wrote:Q2: is use of a multi-function display with an E-TEC engine advisable?
Yes, but only to a certain extent. The typical multi-function display will NOT show any data sent from the E-TEC engine using proprietary Evinrude parameter groups. For example, if the E-TEC engine sends a proprietary parameter announcing that the oil reservoir level is low, this will not be displayed on a typical multi-function display.

chickenhawk wrote:Q3: will a multi-function display with an E-TEC engine provide enough codes?
Generally none of the multifunction displays will show any Service Codes from any legacy E-TEC engine. The Service Codes are only stored in the EMM and can only be seen using the Evinrude EV-DIAGNOSTICS software. The only message related to a Service Code would be the CHECK ENGINE message, part of the basic four alert messages coming from an E-TEC engine.

chickenhawk wrote:Q4: is an I-Command guage required?
The proper installation of an E-TEC engine requires that some sort of Evinrude branded instrumentation be included to show ALERTS from the engine such as LOW OIL, NO OIL, OVER HEAT, and CHECK ENGINE. This can be satisfied with a non-NMEA-2000 non-networked gauge like a System Check annunciator gauge or a System Check Tachometer gauge. However, if you want to use the System Check annunciator or System Check Tachometer, you need to have the correct engine wiring harness. The legacy MWS wiring harness supports the System Check gauges. If you have already ordered the wiring harness and you got the newer I-Command Harness, you cannot easily incorporate the System Check gauge.

Regarding the I-Command gauges in particular, they are very old style gauges with a rudimentary one-bit graphic display, but they are very versatile gauges. The problem is they are long obsolete, and finding a new I-Command gauge is difficult.

chickenhawk wrote:Q5: what multi-function display is recommended [to avoid needing an Evinrude gauge]?
I really cannot recommend any particular multi-function display as being able to replace the required Evinrude displays because I doubt that most of them will show the proprietary alert messages. Certainly any generic display will show standard engine data if the display indicates it supports the desired data. Note that not all tiers of multi-function displays will support all available engine data.

chickenhawk wrote:I know a few manufactures are supporting the E-TEC G2 engines with software updates and that most work well with G1.

Q6: what are the top performing multi-function displays for the legacy E-TEC engines?
The E-TEC engine was perhaps the first modern outboard engine to have NMEA-2000 data available from the engine, and it sends a great deal of data about the engine to the network. On that basis just about any good multi-function display that is capable of showing engine data is suitable for use.

The real problem with multi-function displays which have been upgraded to support proprietary E-TEC NMEA-2000 parameter groups is they are generally only designed for the later E-TEC G2 engines. I don't have any first-hand knowledge about any multi-function display with E-TEC compatibility being able to show the basic four ALERT messages. They might be able to do this, but I cannot state that I have seen it occur.

On my legacy E-TEC engine I use the now obsolete Evinrude ICON Pro RPM gauge as the principal engine monitoring gauge. The ICON Pro gauge was originally developed for use with the legacy E-TEC engines. It was then later adapted to work with both the legacy and the G2 E-TEC engines, and ultimately reverted to being only for the legacy engines. Having a single Evinrude ICON Pro RPM gauge satisfies the requirement of being able to show the basic ALERT message.

I also have a newer (but now obsolete) Evinrude NAUTILUS display. This is another good OEM display, but it is principally intended for the G2. There was supposed to be a firmware update that would improve compatibility with the legacy engines, including the ability to initiate winterization from the NAUTILUS gauge. So far that promise is not fulfilled. Another nuisance of the NAUTILUS is that it can only show fuel tank level from a tank with a NMEA-2000 fluid level sensor. But other than those two limitations, the NAUTILUS is a very nice, very bright, color display that works nicely with the legacy E-TEC.

The problem with knowing if a display will show an Evinrude E-TEC ALERT message is the need to generate such a message. In my experience, the only easy-to-generate ALERT message is the LOW OIL warning message. To test my ICON Pro RPM gauge to see if it would show that alert, I intentionally let the level of oil in the oil reservoir decrease toward empty. I did see an ALERT on the ICON Pro RPM gauge. This satisfied my curiosity. But I have not repeated that test to see if the NAUTILUS gauge will show that ALERT from my legacy E-TEC

Whether or not a multi-function gauge whose firmware is said to be Evinrude compatible would show an ALERT message from a legacy (or often called "G1") E-TEC engine remains unknown to me.

My recommendation for instrumentation for a legacy E-TEC would be to get a System Check annunciator gauge. They are still available and only cost about $30 to $40. Then you will be certain to get the basic engine alert messages. But as mentioned above, to use this option you must have the MWS wiring harness. In addition to the basic four ALERT System Check, you can install a NMEA-2000 network and use a generic multi-function gauge to show additional engine data.

I am using a legacy first-generation Lawrence HDS-8. I have three pages of engine data display set up on the HDS-8. This gives me every engine parameter that the E-TEC can send in the standard NMEA-2000 protocol parameters.

Note that the 90-HP engine does not send data about engine TRIM position. For more information about this see

https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2997

To summarize my long reply, the options for a legacy E-TEC 90-HP for proper instrumentation that will show proprietary engine alert messages may be:
  • the very simple System Check annunciator gauges, but only if the MWS wiring harness is used
  • an I-Command gauge
  • an ICON Pro RPM gauge
  • a NAUTILUS gauge, with some uncertainty about ALERT messages
  • a recently updated multi-function gauge from NAVICO or GARMIN that is said to support E-TEC engines, with some uncertainty about support for legacy engines. [See added remarks below regarding compatibility.]

Finally, I would be very glad to hear a first-hand report from anyone using a multi-function NAVICO or GARMIN display that avows that they saw a basic ALERT message (NO OIL, LOW OIL, HIGH TEMP, CHECK ENGINE) from a legacy E-TEC.

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Phil T
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Re: E-TEC Instrumentation with Multi-function Display

Postby Phil T » Thu Nov 03, 2022 10:06 am

Chicken -

On reviewing all this, I would install a single I-Command 3.5" gauge for all the warnings.

Call Dave/Doug at Lockeman's Hardware and Boats.

http://lockemans.com/index.html

They are one of the few dealers that still service E-TEC engines. I highly reccomend them. Disclosure - I drove 400 miles so they could repower my boat
1992 Outrage 17
2019 E-TEC 90
2018 LoadRite 18280096VT
Member since 2003

jimh
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Re: E-TEC Instrumentation with Multi-function Display

Postby jimh » Sat Nov 05, 2022 7:39 am

I consulted with the most reliable and probably the best informed person regarding the compatibility of the NAVICO and GARMIN multi-function displays and compatibility with the legacy (or "G1") E-TEC engines. He advised that there is excellent support for the legacy engines. He commented:

The Garmin, Lowrance, Simrad will show legacy G1 faults in detail. They would show the related fault code number to an associated fault and related detail. They would not show the check engine indicator. Instead showing the related detail.

An example is Water in fuel. SystemCheck will indicate Check Engine; whereas a MFD will show a Water in fuel fault. The SystemCheck overheat warning light would be replaced appropriate overheat detail.


On the basis of that advice, the use of a NAVICO or GARMIN multi-function display with a legacy E-TEC ("G1") engine would be an excellent solution. Of course, this applies only for those particular model of display that support engine data fully and specifically indicate they have the newer firmware with Evinrude E-TEC support.

I have updated the main article on this topic at

Evinrude Partners for Display of E-TEC Engine Data
https://continuouswave.com/forum/viewto ... =10&t=5319

Again, I have not actually seen this in operation. I also recently visited the LOWRANCE website looking for information in the specifications for their multi-functions displays that would indicate Evinrude compatibility. Unfortunately, I did not see any explicit acknowledgement of that feature. Accordingly, I would very much like to have a first-hand report from an E-TEC owner who has a NAVICO or GARMIN multi-function display with confirmation that there has been an alert message displayed when an engine fault has occurred.