NMEA Engine Load gauge

[LPowers]

When I recently installed the nmea setup on my '07 DF175 with Lowrance Elite 7 TI, without yet downgrading the software voltage, one of the readouts was an Engine Load % gauge. Once I downgraded the version to 2.3 to get the fuel consumption and other gauges working properly, the load gauge vanished. Ive punched through what seemed like every menu option on the MFD and I cannot seem to be able to get the Engine Load% gauge back up on the screen. Any idea if/how I can get it back?
Thank You

[artdf175]

I seem to say ' I learn something new everyday'
But tell me what does " engine load%" mean or what is this telling you?

Art

[LPowers]

I believe its displays the amount of maximum power the engine is putting out in %

[Moonlighter]

Did the "engine load" actually give you any data, or was it just there and didn't show any data? I didn't think the Suzuki engines actually output an engine load pgn.

[Harper]

Yeah, engine load % data is not available on our Suzuki outboards.

[Moonlighter]

Correct. I went back and reviewed my research and engine load is not available. Never has been to my knowledge.

The issue often is that the MFD (ie the Lowrance or Garmin display) has pre-configured pages that show various gauges etc - but of course they won't show data if the engine doesn't transmit it. I have seen "boost pressure" gauges on some displays, but again no such data comes from Suzuki motors.

Here is the list of data sent to the network by the Suzuki engines:

RPM, alternator voltage, engine temperature, engine hours, trim, fuel flow rate, fuel used, seasonal fuel used, trip fuel used.

Newer "A" series also get water pressure, water speed.

Engine diagnostics are also transmitted from later models.


Engines with Fly-By-Wire digital throttle control also get transmission gear.

You can also get additional sensors including water speed, water pressure, fluid levels, and water temperature to add to your network or engine.

So - bottom line: even if you manage to get the "engine load" gauge back, it won't show any data. To quote a line from Don Quixote - you're "tilting at windmills"

[LPowers]

I was able to get the engine load gauge pulled back up by creating a new dashboard from scratch and it came up as one of the default gauges! One thing I also noticed was a gauge that had ipr and pstw labels in it. It had a range of 0-120 on the dial. I tried to google the abbreviations but no results. Any idea what this gauge is before I change it out for another and lose it forever?? BTW also had a water pressure gauge on my screen but have yet to test if it actually has a reading.

[Harper]

The thing is, all these instruments, regardless of manufacturer (Lowrance, Garmin, Simrad, etc), are equipped to read whatever output the engine in use will provide. Just because the gauge is there, doesn't mean it is useful to you if your particular motor (be it inboard or outboard, gasoline or diesel) doesn't output that particular information. Moonlighter gave you the readings that are output by the Suzuki outboards. Everything else that your Lowrance will display is useless, since the motor doesn't provide any such information. And as Moonlighter also indicated, there are a few other readings you can get, but only if you also install a sensor to send that information to your Lowrance.

[LPowers]

After running the boat over the weekend, you guys are right. The load gauge and water pressure gauge show no data. Would have been an easter egg but Im more then happy with just the Suzuki running great day in and day out!

[Moonlighter]

Thanks for confirming!

We have to remember that the MFD manufacturers set their displays up to deal with data from many different engine manufacturers and models, all of which transmit different engine data. Which means that some items will not be relevant to some Suzuki's.

Anyway good you've cleared it up.

I use the Lowrance's capability to set up data overlay items on the screens that I most commonly use - eg sonar screen. The data I put up there and keep an eye on are:

Temp
Fuel economy
Fuel used

The rest I have checked in the alarms menu and have made sure that I will get alerts posing up if they get out of the expected range. So that covers it off for me.

Same on my Simrad GO7xse - I have the data bar customised to show me the data items that are most important to me.

This saves having to switch to the virtual dashboard pages when I want to see engine data. Of course. Still have the analogue tacho and trim gauges to see on my dash.