Can you connect 99 7.4 Mercruiser engines to a garmin 7610 GPS - NMEA 2000?

Soul Mate II

Member
Jun 28, 2015
193
New York
Boat Info
99 340 Sundancer
Engines
7.4 Mercruiser w V drives
I have seen some really great things done with tying GPSs to the engines. I heard that the NMEA 2000 connection will only connect 2007 and new boats. I have a 99 340 DA - is there an after market product that someone makes that will allow me to connect the engines to the GPS?

I know I have 2 connections that my surveyor plugged into the engines - this was to get and check error codes.

Any ideas are appreciated! Tried Garmin, they were no help,

Thanks,

Steve
 
Think smartcraft came out around 2001...
 
Thanks Mark. They can hook up a computer to my engines to get all sorts of information - there has to be away to connect it to my GPS. Maybe some sort of after market device that translates what ever language the engines speak??
 
What's your goal? Are you trying to achieve a skyhook type of gps solution with old technology ?
 
Thanks Mark. They can hook up a computer to my engines to get all sorts of information - there has to be away to connect it to my GPS. Maybe some sort of after market device that translates what ever language the engines speak??

I'm not aware of any off the shelf interface to make it work.
 
The earliest big-block capable of this type of connection is the 8.1. You're not going to be able to get that info on your 7.4s.
Very complex system of hook-ups that ultimately tie into the Smartcraft Gateway, which is a gizmo that converts Smartcraft data to NMEA 2000.
Here's all the stuff, about $800 worth of gadgetry, just to the message to the MFD at the helm.

Gatewaylabelled_zpsba1d046e.jpg
 
Ron DDS, that's a hell of a set up. Great wiring job. Was hoping to pull rpms, speed, engine type of anything else the engines would give me. Someone mentioned an aftermarket product...going to check that out.
 
Strecker 25 - thanks, it's good to have options! A little on the high side but definitely something to consider. Much appreciated!!!
 
Couple of screen shots...

GPS%20Display%202_zps1xihkgsv.jpg


GPS_zpszkdououn.jpg



Garminenginenumbers_zps4f81afb6.jpg
 
New unit just came on the market I ordered 2 for my 99 7.4 haven't received them yet but I have talked with the developer several times. He has units for mefi 1,2,3,4 which mine is mefi 3. They are also supposed to connect by Bluetooth as well as nmea 2000. fox-marine.com

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And fox units only need to connect to the diagnostic connector on the engine and nmea 2000

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Strecker25, This unit will do the trick and it supports 2 engines per unit. You will not have all of the bells and whistles of a full blown Smartcraft system, but will work.

Thanks, if I would have read the description again that's pretty obvious!:smt021 I'm mainly interested in tach and fuel flow. I don't think our 98 EFI's do fuel flow but having the digital tach on our MFD would be nice. Now I'm going to have to think about all this again, just as I was accepting our analog gauges again!
 
Exactly what data can you get from this device (the Fox device)?
 
Looks interesting:

"Enhance your boating experience with Fox Marine’s MEFI engine gateways, transmitting fuel flow rate, engine RPM, coolant temperature, alternator/battery voltage, engine run hours, and active alarms right to a NMEA 2000 compatible GPS/Multi-function display as well as to your Bluetooth enabled Apple or Android mobile device."

JD
 
What else is needed, besides that silver box? Does that coax looking connection go straight out to the NMEA2k backbone?
 
I Believe that it connects to the nmea backbone as Allen at fox said I would need a nmea starter kits and nmea 2000 to seatalk ng as I'm using a raymarine e7D

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That's pretty great, considering all the gadgets, gizmos, wires, plugs and cables to get it to convert to NMEA2000 (see post #7 above). Garmin doesn't require any "translations" but Raymarine is a pain in the butt with their SeaTalk stuff. I'd love to see this when you're finished with the project. Please keep us informed and take some pix along the way.
 

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