Replaced SystemView with VesselView 7 - Persistent Error

KevinS

KevinS

Member
Nov 22, 2007
49
Tampa, FL
Boat Info
2003 340SDA
Engines
8.1 VDrives
Just had my old SystemView display replaced as the screen was no longer readable. I put in the new Vessel View 7 but seem to be getting a persistent error that I cannot clear.

Error reads: FUEL LVL2 CKT HI Port Engine (then there's another error for Stbd)

Fuel tank config is setup correctly in the unit, two tanks of 112.5 gallons each.

While the idea of having too much fuel on board sounds like a nice problem to have I'd just prefer this error goes away! :)

Anyone done this replacement and/or run into a similar error? My searches on the error code only turn up references to errors on sensors I might not have - that's fine if you could clear it easily but these do not go away.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
Trying to attach photo of error

image.jpg
 
KevinS said:
Just had my old SystemView display replaced as the screen was no longer readable. I put in the new Vessel View 7 but seem to be getting a persistent error that I cannot clear.

Error reads: FUEL LVL2 CKT HI Port Engine (then there's another error for Stbd)

Fuel tank config is setup correctly in the unit, two tanks of 112.5 gallons each.

While the idea of having too much fuel on board sounds like a nice problem to have I'd just prefer this error goes away! :)

Anyone done this replacement and/or run into a similar error? My searches on the error code only turn up references to errors on sensors I might not have - that's fine if you could clear it easily but these do not go away.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I know how to fix that. Went through the same issue myself. When I first called Mercury I got a technician who said "yes, I have a service bulletin right here regarding that issue" right before we were disconnected. Unfortunately I hadn't gotten his name. I called back and the second guy had no idea what I was talking about and insisted that there was no bulletin related to that and that I would need to take it to a Mercury dealer for further troubleshooting. I was extremely frustrated at that point. About an hour later, my phone rang and it was the first technician calling me back. He must have gotten my number from caller ID because I hadn't given it to him. Anyway... It seems that the our boats were wired for a 4 fuel tank configuration and the VV7 is looking for tank 3 or 4 and only sees an open circuit. This wiring is located in a harness just above the trans coolers and needs to have a resistor attached to it with the other end of the resistor ground. Let me see if I can dig up the mercury document with the part numbers that you need.
 
Hmm... I believe that is going to be too small to read. Post or message me your email address and I can forward it to you.
 
FYI, once you resolve this you will likely still get several errors for sensors that you don't have but they will clear themselves when you start the engines. That may have been what you were already referring to above.
 
can you send this to me ? so this will happen on the vessel view 4? a 2004, i did make out that the SC5000 did read 4 tanks ...
 
340master said:
Can you send this to me ? so this will happen on the vessel view 4? a 2004, i did make out that the SC5000 did read 4 tanks ...
Click to expand...
It may. or may not depending on the firmware/software in your ECM. If you need the document, message me your email address and I will forward it on to you.
 
bankyf said:
Hmm... I believe that is going to be too small to read. Post or message me your email address and I can forward it to you.
Click to expand...

I tried PM you but you mailbox is full. I am was hoping to get a copy of the bulletin as well. My vessel view 7 has had the same error for 3 years and when I first installed it Mercury couldn't tell me how to fix it so I just ignored it. It would be nice to have it not come up.

Thanks for your time
 
Jeremygavin said:
I tried PM you but you mailbox is full. I am was hoping to get a copy of the bulletin as well. My vessel view 7 has had the same error for 3 years and when I first installed it Mercury couldn't tell me how to fix it so I just ignored it. It would be nice to have it not come up.

Thanks for your time
Click to expand...


Hmm... Sorry about that. Give me a bit and I will do a write up so it is here for everyone.
 
On the earlier model Smartcraft capable ECMs the software was designed to look for 4 fuel tanks. If it did not find all four, it saw this as an error. With the older SC5000 systems, this was not an issue as they did not report these errors. The newest Vessel View systems are much more advanced and will report everything. At some point, the ECM programming was changed to no longer acknowledge the absence of tanks 3 and 4 (tank 2 on each engine)as an error. One fix for the older ECM's is to send them back to Mercury to be reprogrammed. I did not explore this option, but I would imagine it is time consuming and expensive. A much simpler fix is to trick the system into thinking their is a tank 3 and 4 present and this can be done with a resistor. In fact, Mercury sells the parts to do it. You will need the following :part # 893388A01 (120 Ohm resistor) and Part # 879346A32 (2-Pin Harness). Ebay may be the most painless way to get the parts, but you could check with your dealer as well. You will need to find the Fuel Level 2 wire, located in a wiring harness just above the transmission on the back of the engine(I am assuming it will be the same location on the sterndrive boats, but not sure). There are 3 wires running into a 3 pin connector. The other side of this 3 pin connector typically only has 1 wire coming out. Of the 3 wires coming into the 3 pin, one of them should be blue w/ black stripe and labeled as Fuel Lvl 2. Cut this wire and connect the side that runs back into the wiring harness(not the side going to the 3 pin connector) to one side of the resistor wiring harness. The other side of the resistor harness needs to be grounded to the engine. Believe it or not, finding a suitable ground was probably the most difficult part of the job. Let me know if you have any issues or questions.
 
bankyf said:
On the earlier model Smartcraft capable ECMs the software was designed to look for 4 fuel tanks. If it did not find all four, it saw this as an error. With the older SC5000 systems, this was not an issue as they did not report these errors. The newest Vessel View systems are much more advanced and will report everything. At some point, the ECM programming was changed to no longer acknowledge the absence of tanks 3 and 4 (tank 2 on each engine)as an error. One fix for the older ECM's is to send them back to Mercury to be reprogrammed. I did not explore this option, but I would imagine it is time consuming and expensive. A much simpler fix is to trick the system into thinking their is a tank 3 and 4 present and this can be done with a resistor. In fact, Mercury sells the parts to do it. You will need the following :part # 893388A01 (120 Ohm resistor) and Part # 879346A32 (2-Pin Harness). Ebay may be the most painless way to get the parts, but you could check with your dealer as well. You will need to find the Fuel Level 2 wire, located in a wiring harness just above the transmission on the back of the engine(I am assuming it will be the same location on the sterndrive boats, but not sure). There are 3 wires running into a 3 pin connector. The other side of this 3 pin connector typically only has 1 wire coming out. Of the 3 wires coming into the 3 pin, one of them should be blue w/ black stripe and labeled as Fuel Lvl 2. Cut this wire and connect the side that runs back into the wiring harness(not the side going to the 3 pin connector) to one side of the resistor wiring harness. The other side of the resistor harness needs to be grounded to the engine. Believe it or not, finding a suitable ground was probably the most difficult part of the job. Let me know if you have any issues or questions.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the info. I will give this a try.
 
sfergson727 said:
Did you guys have any issues with the 4 in 1 gauges not registering fuel level? The VV4 is getting the signal, and it shows correctly on the display, but the 4 in 1 gauges show empty. All the other functions work.
Click to expand...

It has been a while, but I seem to feel like there was an area to turn on and off the smart gauges. I can't say for sure if fuel gauge was separate. Though likely not related to your issue, I have my own similar issue. Probably every second or third time I use the boat, one of the gauges won't work. It is almost always a different gauge and if I cycle the battery switches it will start working again. It seems like the VV7 allows a limited amount of time to establish communication with the smart gauge and if it does not happen within that time frame it writes it off completely.
 
Looks awesome!, did you install the VV4, was it plug and play? I have one but haven't attempted the install yet. Did you order new panels or reuse the old ones? I was going to do something similar and replace my C80 with a Simrad NSS9 evo 2 (was trying to fit a 12'' there but too wide when i measured) and place a 7'' where the SC5000 was along with 4g Radar and place the new VV4 to left of the steering wheel where I keep having factory holes open up in the gelcoat when someone at the factory drilled holes they weren't supposed to.
 
Did you figure out how to show depth, engine hours, steering angle ? I cant seem to find them .... i see it is reading the depth tho.. i hate the 4'' size the more I think about it i should have gone with the bigger, but I can always hook up a NMEA display to it.
Thanks!
 
Guys - Just ran across this thread as I was doing some research on a similar issue and wanted to see if you might be able to help... I've hooked up a Raymarine E127 to a NMEA 2000 gateway. I already have a 2008 VesselView, but wanted to have the same data on the MFD. All data is showing correctly on the MFD except for the STBD Fuel level (showing zero). My research had led me to this thread and another source that mentioned the tank 3 and 4 as an error, therefore, the MDF is ignoring this data. I purchased the 120 Ohm resistor and 2-pin harness. While I could not find a 3 pin to 1 harness, I did find the harness that has the single wire coming from the STBD Fuel tank sensor to a 6 pin harness. I cut the blue w/ black stripe wire and attached the new 2 pin harness and resistor. The STBD Fuel gauge on the MDF immediately registers about half of the actual tank level. Smartcraft 4 in 1 gauges and VesselView both show full Stbd Tank.

So I can only assume that I still haven't found the proper Fuel Lvl 2 wire, or perhaps there's something else that I'm not considering (possibly not completely grounded?). Any thoughts on this scenario?
 
trush said:
Guys - Just ran across this thread as I was doing some research on a similar issue and wanted to see if you might be able to help... I've hooked up a Raymarine E127 to a NMEA 2000 gateway. I already have a 2008 VesselView, but wanted to have the same data on the MFD. All data is showing correctly on the MFD except for the STBD Fuel level (showing zero). My research had led me to this thread and another source that mentioned the tank 3 and 4 as an error, therefore, the MDF is ignoring this data. I purchased the 120 Ohm resistor and 2-pin harness. While I could not find a 3 pin to 1 harness, I did find the harness that has the single wire coming from the STBD Fuel tank sensor to a 6 pin harness. I cut the blue w/ black stripe wire and attached the new 2 pin harness and resistor. The STBD Fuel gauge on the MDF immediately registers about half of the actual tank level. Smartcraft 4 in 1 gauges and VesselView both show full Stbd Tank.

So I can only assume that I still haven't found the proper Fuel Lvl 2 wire, or perhaps there's something else that I'm not considering (possibly not completely grounded?). Any thoughts on this scenario?
Click to expand...

Did you ever find a solution to this? I am having the same problem. Starboard tank shows 0 fuel but the system has identified a nmea connection as a fuel tank with the correct fuel level


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
No, I still haven't solved this yet. I just changed the fuel gauge display with RPM info so that it doesn't drive me crazy every time I take the boat out....
 
bankyf said:
I know how to fix that. Went through the same issue myself. When I first called Mercury I got a technician who said "yes, I have a service bulletin right here regarding that issue" right before we were disconnected. Unfortunately I hadn't gotten his name. I called back and the second guy had no idea what I was talking about and insisted that there was no bulletin related to that and that I would need to take it to a Mercury dealer for further troubleshooting. I was extremely frustrated at that point. About an hour later, my phone rang and it was the first technician calling me back. He must have gotten my number from caller ID because I hadn't given it to him. Anyway... It seems that the our boats were wired for a 4 fuel tank configuration and the VV7 is looking for tank 3 or 4 and only sees an open circuit. This wiring is located in a harness just above the trans coolers and needs to have a resistor attached to it with the other end of the resistor ground. Let me see if I can dig up the mercury document with the part numbers that you need.
Click to expand...

I know this is an old thread, but it just saved me when I upgraded my electronics and replaced the SmartCraft 5000 with a VesselView link on a 2003 360 DA. I had the marina do the upgrade for me and when I went to check the install I noticed this error. Sent this post to the installer, he got the resister and harness and made the quick fix.
 
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