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Newbe to MerCruiser 4.3 MPI or inboards as a whole

The problem is that the wires are not connected to the smart craft system that shows the fuel level, I cannot figure out where the wires need to be connected.
 
deejaycee_2000 said:
The problem is that the wires are not connected to the smart craft system that shows the fuel level, I cannot figure out where the wires need to be connected.
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The sender will connect to the harness on the engine. Just use one wire, the signal wire. Do not ground the fuel sender to the engine harness


Post the serial number it will be helpful.
 
The wires run all the way from the tank into the loom of the engine but go directly to the smart craft system where it is covered with insolation tape .... I am a bit unclear on how I can test or reconnect it.
 
i can realise from your village acting who is stupid or not ,,,,continue to lrave at your caves....continue with these junk rusty engines that were designed at 1960...after all its what you worth,,,,or just have a look at yanmar engines,,,,the biggest mistakes of mercruiser is that now are using vw tdi engines at boats ,,,all here failed at 200 hours,,,,cause they are car engines.....original marine engines are designed buy white paper ...fully tested at salt water....i leave in greece but i travel along the world to educate myself.....so mr just look around you and realise why sea ray are turning back at outboards again,,,just visit some exibitions to educate your self and start reading books about engines from 30 years ago untill today like i do....get your self culture and international knowledge,,before you call someone stupid
 
Dude you are highjacking my post, I didn't ask for your opinion on engine design, I came here for advice, not your negative frustration on 1st world problems.... if you have a problem with inboards go stand in front of the factory with your little sign and petition there .... you are making this horrible for all of us trying to help each other. You are clearly on the wrong forum, maybe you should go read a book on forum etiquette before you upset all of us. If you wanto talk nonsense do so in Greece not on my post. Safe.
 
I am going to have a proper look next time .....

i also need to adjust the "in gear cable" seems like it doesn't slip in right away, you need to push it quite a bit before it goes in all the way but then revs have built up a bit, in reverse it works perfectly as it should.
 
deejaycee_2000 said:
Dude you are highjacking my post, I didn't ask for your opinion on engine design, I came here for advice, not your negative frustration on 1st world problems.... if you have a problem with inboards go stand in front of the factory with your little sign and petition there .... you are making this horrible for all of us trying to help each other. You are clearly on the wrong forum, maybe you should go read a book on forum etiquette before you upset all of us. If you wanto talk nonsense do so in Greece not on my post. Safe.
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apologies i didnt mean to be roud with you ,,,second week now and i finished maintaining engine and drive ,,,,,a lot of people here giving good information ,,i also cleaned starter and rebuild it,,,,engine is 4.3 mpi and drive is alpha gen two like yours,,easy and simble to work with but i was in suprised at the beging from rust and corrosion...i changed everything possible at the drive and the engine,,,belows shift cable,,,gimbal bearing ..and from engine manifolds and risers ,rebuilt the starter,,changed aic valve,,thermostat,,,dustribution valve,,plugs,,,oil ,,filters.....on sunday its going to be at sea test trial
 
Hey guys, so I spent my summer holiday with my new boat getting to know it inside out ..... I still have a few issues I need to sort out and hope someone could help ....

1.) When I turn the key I always get a click from the solenoid ... only at about try 4 the motor will swing .... I took the starter off and it is perfect, I am starting to think it is the solenoid itself that needs replacing? Once the motor swings it will start right up. I replaced all the terminals, wires are clean and corrosion free and run a dual battery system.

2.) My shifter don't go into forward gear right away. I adjusted the gear shift a few times, at first it will slip right into gear, but now it is scratching a bit again and does not slip into gear right away, when I put it into reverse and then back into neutral it will still be engaged in reverse and I will have to put it into forward to un-engagde from reverse .... I just can't seem to get that sweet sport on the setting.

3.) My fuel gauge - on my smartcraft system this is the only alarm I get (fuel sensor check fail). There is no way for me to get to the fuel sender on the tank as it is deep inside the hull. There is however a purple wire with stripe and a black wire that runs from it through the loom. Before it connects to the smartcraft system the wire is disconnected.I am reluctant to connect the wire back up and confused to why this would have been disconnected in the first place. There are a few other wires hanging loose aswell so now I am wondering if the fuel sensor wire might be a different colour before it goes into the smartcraft system. Does anyone perhaps know what colour wires on the harness to the smartcraft system are the correct ones for the fuel sender to be connected to?
 
1.) Hmm. Hard to diagnose from here at my computer. If it's a solenoid, yeh switch it out. That's simple. I have extra one on board maybe you should too!
2.) This is a serious safety issue. If you do not have complete vessel control you are endangering yourself and others. Get this fixed if it means paying someone.
3.) If I ever have a boat with a fuel gauge that works worth a crap, I won't know what to do. I think these are someone's cruel idea of a joke. OK so you want yours to work...it's probably the sender on the tank. They are always messed up. If you have plastic tanks, the sender has an earth wire (that's probably loose or missing or laying in the bilge cz ding dong at the factory forgot to connect it) that goes to the negative side of the house. If you have metal tanks, the tank itself has the earth connection. That's where I would start looking for trouble.
In the meantime, keep the tanks topped up. Estimate you fuel burn, and stay inside the envelope. Can you put a stick into the tank to see the level? Yeh probably not.
 
1.) I had the same issue with a outboard long ago and that was just the solenoid so maybe I will just buy a new one anyway and give it a try.
2.) Problem is towing it is not an option the closest service station is 300km away and it's a terrible gravel road, I will have to adjust it, was hoping a pic of someone else's can point me to the correct setting.
3.) I need mine to work because I can only re-fuel on land because the fuel cap is on a terrible spot and impossible to reach on the water. I wish I could just simply replace the sender but it is deep under the floor board, I do not want to cut into it ... I assume I do have a plastic tank because there are 2 wires coming from under the floor.
 
If this is an Alpha drive, look up the adjustment procedure and set it up correctly.

The fuel sender hooks to the engine harness on a smartcraft system. The wire on the engine harness for the fuel sender is Pink/Black.

The solenoid that is clicking when you turn the key is the Slave Solenoid on top of the engine. Not the one on the starter.
 
It is a Alpha one drive yes - so you are saying it is not with the cable settings on the top of the motor?

Thank you for the wire colour I will investigate this further.

I did not know there are 2 solenoids - with the symptoms I am having which one could possibly be the faulty one then?

Sorry for all the questions, I am still learning.
 
It is a Alpha one drive yes - so you are saying it is not with the cable settings on the top of the motor?
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Ayuh,.... You adjust the shift cables at the shift switch,....
If it can't be adjusted properly, ya Replace the lower shift cable, then adjust it,....

I did not know there are 2 solenoids - with the symptoms I am having which one could possibly be the faulty one then?
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There's the slave solenoid, which feeds the stater mounted solenoid,.....
Have some one turn the key, 'n test for power at the slave, there should be Power at the input, 'N the output,...
If there is Power at both terminals, it's probably the starter mounted solenoid,....
 
deejaycee_2000 said:
It is a Alpha one drive yes - so you are saying it is not with the cable settings on the top of the motor?

Thank you for the wire colour I will investigate this further.

I did not know there are 2 solenoids - with the symptoms I am having which one could possibly be the faulty one then?

Sorry for all the questions, I am still learning.
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There is a step by step procedure for setting up the alpha shift cable and interrupt switch on the engine. I would not jump into changing the cable yet as you are not complaining about a stalling condition. Search for the step by step on line....you will find it. Follow it word for word.

As for locating the solenoid, it should be on top of the engine and it looks like this.
slave.jpg
 
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