Smartcraft/DTS is shutting down engines

[geoman52]

I have a 2009 310DA with twin 350's, the new DTS transmission/throttle and Smartcraft. This weekend after running several hours, the Smartcraft would display an alarm and shut down both engines to idle speed. This only happened if I run at above 4500 RPM. At lower RPM, it seemed to run fine. Eng temp, oil pressure seemed normal. A fuel problem is unlikely to happen on both engines feeding from different tanks.
Any thoughts?

 

[ziekman@cox.net]

Aren't your Mercs still under wtty?

 

[Tonka Boater]

One thing to consider is that Mercury had a DTS recall recently. Mine was affected and I had the same symptoms that you describe. Have your dealer or certified Merc mechanic check the software version of your DTS system -- they may need to flash the DTS to get it to the current version.

 

[geoman52]

Yes, they are under warranty and the dealer is activly investigating possible causes. I was curious if there were other CSR members that experienced this with the DTS/Smartcraft.

 

[geoman52]

When I first commissed the boat in April, the DTS became corrupted and when the Starboard enging was put into forward, it went in reverese. They re-flashed the DTS and it had been fine ever since.

 

[ggiametta]

Had a similar incident last year. My wife was docking and got a Throttle failure alarm and the boat wouldn't come out of gear. After a dealer try to diagnose and couldn't, they ended up replacing the computer board on the engine. Has been ok ever since.

 

[mquiet]

Not to be the negative one, but there seems to be some major issues with the computers of the newer boats. I was wondering is it the smartcraft or the DTS? I was hoping to upgrade in a couple of years....the reports are making me quite nervous about moving into a 2008 or newer. I am glad to hear that the dealers are covering under warranty.

 

[Tonka Boater]

Not to be the negative one, but there seems to be some major issues with the computers of the newer boats. I was wondering is it the smartcraft or the DTS? I was hoping to upgrade in a couple of years....the reports are making me quite nervous about moving into a 2008 or newer. I am glad to hear that the dealers are covering under warranty.

I wouldn't say that one or two forum threads equates to major issues. The DTS is a computer controlled system just like all cars on the road today. I wouldn't go back to my 1977 Ford Fiesta because the computer on my current car malfunctioned. The benefits of computer controlled engines far outweigh the risks. A boater's mindset will need to be adjusted to know how to handle a computer malfunction that causes the boat to die or act unexpectedly.

 

[Tonka Boater]

I like direct cables, whether it be boat, aircraft of car. But that's just me. Computers are out to get us, I'm sure of it. Just look at how much of my life is being sucked away surfing CSR all day.

Well, computers are out to get us but that's a different story. Are you still on dial up or have you cut the wires and gone to wi-fi? DTS could be analogous to wi-fi and cables are like dial up. Dial up has more years in the field but it's slower and less responsive. Wi-fi is faster, smoother and more responsive and once you get comfortable with it you are screwed when it goes down. Regardless, I would never go back to dial up.

 

[terminaldegree]

I dunno...seems like DTS was the solution to a problem boats didn't have in the first place! I'm sure there are advantages, but at least a badly adjusted cable sort of works when you're 50 miles out!

I worry what happens when all these mercruiser-specific gadgets stop being supported by the manufacturer, and what sort of bills we're going to have to swallow when the boats are 10-15 years old because of it. For example, why isn't Smartcraft built on some more universal NMEA protocol that the entire industry might use?

Having said that, I would never willingly go back to a boat with carbs after EFI. So I guess I'm a hypocrite. :grin: