New ECM installed, no hours on SmartCraft

thosmann1

Member
Jan 19, 2009
92
Key west Florida
Boat Info
Searay 60 Sundancer
Engines
Man CRM 1100
4DEAFEA9-3672-4E6B-9B9D-FFE8E5511D26.jpeg D5A16B64-5BBC-4480-A331-B3999781F6C6.jpeg 8592C6AA-A041-4609-9F90-9E4F8CE7959D.jpeg FAE8A98D-133B-4F1F-856F-89CE36DF173E.jpeg 5FAFA7DA-3713-40CC-A20C-6CBADA662C3B.jpeg D1A3B237-84E6-4E0A-B57E-7CF56E4E0D28.jpeg D5A16B64-5BBC-4480-A331-B3999781F6C6.jpeg Hello all,
I recently had a new ECM installed, after the install the engine hours shows “0”. The tech said it was because of the way Searay installed the SmartCraft through the J box. Apparently, this boat does not have a SIM Module, it has a Mototron module. Does anyone have information on this and how to get the hours to show on my display. Neither Searay Tech support or Mercury SmartCraft nor Cummins had a answer. Anyone every have this issue?

Thanks for any opinions!
Bow Tie
 
Last edited:
I had my ecm's updated and in the process one of the ecm's went to 0 hours. The local Cummins tech. (Fort Myers) sent the ecm to Cummins in Tampa and they were able to reset the hours. I have a 2005 460 with 480CE engines. I also have the mototron modules.
 
That makes sense, my Cummins tech in Key west blamed everything but what it was, their mistake. I was in the automobile business for 40 years and every time a new ECM was installed I believe the actual miles had to be given to the supplier.
I’m currently in Naples, Fl. I could drive it to Tampa which is where the ECM came from. When your ECM came back, did your tech have to recalibrate it or was it plug n play? I’ll remove it myself if it’s plug n play.

Thank you,
Bow Tie
 
It was plug and play. My ecm needed an update to fix a stall stumble problem. That was an easy update the local tech botched. The Tampa folks had no problem fixing it.
 
Thanks, my story is a little different. My tech tried to fix something that wasn’t broken! This past November I called him to diag why I had a check engine light that came on when going into idle speed after cruise speed and then go out. He plugged in his laptop and found a fault code showing “low intake manifold preasure”. The engine(s) ran at the correct RPMs so he replaced the sensor. Boost preasure before and after was 77in at WOT 2358 RPMs. He suspected the SmartCraft display was incorrect but wanted to re-calibrate both port & starboard ECMs because they haven’t been reflashed since 2004. He cleared both ECMs and attempted the download. The starboard ECM would not load more than 70 percent of the calibration. THEN he tells me that my ECM is bad and I could send it to Tampa for a factory reflash, buy a new ECM app at $4500, or a reman for $1975. I have no choice but to buy the ECM, the boat is dead in the water in Key West, Fl. I chose door number 3, the factory reflash was $450 plus shipping AND no guarantee it will work, keep in mind that the boat was NOT broken and ran fine before his attempted reflash of my old ECM!

So now we have replaced the ECM with a reman from Cummins, replaced the sensor with a “gold” aftermarket sensor, determined that my engines are fine, the SmartCraft display is normal?

What was supposed to be a couple of hours @ $125 per hour turned into a $4,000 repair AND my boat runs the same, check engine light still comes on occasionally and now my engine hours are “0”

AND, I contacted Ft Meyers Cummins for all this to get straightened out 3 weeks ago! One return email stating they will contact me for the service appointment. No call, no email, no nothing! Typical!

People wonder why some people do their own repairs, this is a perfect example. I can do any repair on my M11’s but I don’t have the laptop, I now have a scan tool and can diag it myself (to a point).

I appreciate you letting me get this off my chest and by no means do all mechanics suck, I just haven’t found a good one yet.

Makes me wonder why I even have a boat sometimes! After 40 years of running all kinds and sizes of boats I should know better, I think?

Thanks again for your response, it is greatly appreciated!

Bow Tie
 
Just a point of information, Cummins will download the engine hours on the ECM. I have to remove and send to them. The charge is $275, IMHO this should have been done on the install of the ECM. Live and learn!

Bow Tie
 

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