2015 DF300AP Engine Interface Cable

[AKFish53]

Engine interface cable is connected to the NEMA 2000 network. I can see fuel and engine performance data on both the 4" SMIS gauges and the two networked Garmin 1040XS and 820XS. Last trip out I was getting wonky fuel consumption data, reportedly burned 100 gal over 60 miles. Got back and refilled it only took 50 gal. During the trip there was a lot o idling and return trip was running in heavy swells and bow tried way down which I know drastically reduces fuel efficiency.

In the system information page on the SMIS I can see that the gauges are configured with ver 2.60 of the gauge software. However I cannot see anywhere that tells my what version of the software the engine interface cable is running.

In the Bus Devices page I see the configured engine interface. When I pressed enter it took me through the options to select the engine, which came up as a 2012 300 HP. Since it was the only option I went with it.

engine and tank configuration are showing properly as 1/1.

Is there a way, using the 4" MIS gauge interface, to see what version of the software is set on the engine interface? I would expect it to be ver 3.5 since this is a 2015 engine. But now I am not sure since the 2012 came up in the select engine option.

thanks for any advice you can give.

Dave

[Moonlighter]

Hi and welcome.

No, the SMIS gauges cannot show the software version of the interface.

However, you might be able to check that on your Garmins.

Turn engine key on, then, one one o fthe Garmins, find the network device list and open it, select the Suzuki and see what you can find. Ive heard from others you will be ale to see the Suzuki sw version.

And yes, it should be running V 3.5.0.

You might also see a small silver tag on the interface cable near where it plugs into the network T, it will have a part number on it. If the part number ends in -350 then you have the correct version.

Re your fuel consumption issue, have you been resetting fuel to full after filling your tank using the SMIS gauges? Could you please tell us exactly, in detail, step by step, how you have been doing that? (Reason for this request is if its not being done right can throw fuel calculations out)

[AKFish53]

Grant,

Thanks for replying.

Each time I have refueled I have done a fill up. Here is where I am not 100 percent certain that I have done the fuel update the same way each time. I have always done the "refill tanks" option. However not sure if I have always done it on the Suzuki SMIS gauge or via the Garmin. I am thinking that after refilling before heading out on the trip I did the update via the Garmin. I did not think it made a difference since they were all on the network. Perhaps I need to do it on both? When I go out tomorrow and in the future I will be sure to do the fuel update only by the Suzuki gauges.

Some history on this boat and motor. Upon return from the last trip when I was getting the high fuel burn readings I put the 50 gal in I really had to work at it. The filler nozzle kept clicking off. So I was rocking the boat (on the trailer) and had the fuel flow rate down to just enough to keep it from tripping off at the nozzle. The boat is a little bow up on the trailer but from what I can determine from the fuel tank drawings it is oversize enough that I should be able to have an operating full tank capacity of 150 gal. Before I went out I had reset the fuel level to full tank, but now I am thinking I did not really have a full tank when I started. At the previous fill up I quit after the first nozzle trip off.

Also after I got home and in the garage I was reviewing the set up on the SMIS. The speed source had been switched from GPS to Pitot Tube, which is incorrect. Also the parameter for Fuel Remaining Source was switched to tank level rather than fuel flow. Which is also incorrect. Not sure how or why these were reset from previous correct settings. So with all that I am not convinced the tank was starting from full and the right data was being used to calculate fuel performance. I suspect I really used between 30 and 40 gallons. Given the amount of idling I was doing and the swell we were ploughing through on the way back my true fuel consumption was probably not that bad.

My previous trips in Sep 2015, the trips last summer and the first trip this summer in early May I did not detect any abnormal fuel performance indicators. The numbers went crazy only on this last trip 26-27 June, which appears to be when the fuel system parameters got changed.

I have set them to their correct settings and will check when I am out tomorrow.


Thanks

Dave

[Moonlighter]

Hi Dave

Yes, best to do the refuel process on the SMIS gauges, even though the process on them is somewhat less than intuitive. Just remember - if you are resetting to full, you never input the amount of fuel added. You would only ever input the # of gallons or liters if you are calibrating, or only doing a partial fill.

The Garmins have their own internal fuel level system and i am not sure if resetting the fuel in them will always reset the Suzuki network as well - but I guess it would be easy to check - either way, whichever one you do it on, immediately check the other to see if fuel used resets to zero on it as well.

Maybe worth investigating how your fuel tank breather line is routed. Check that its got a clear route, not pinched anywhere, and no loops that hold fuel. One way to check it is clear is if you can disconnect it from the inside of the thru hull fitting and try to blow through it. Should be very easy to blow thru it with the fuel filler cap off. If its not, then you have to find the problem and fix it.

Had an issue on a mate's boat that had the breather line connected to one of those filler caps that supposedly breathe, we cut the breather line, put a T piece in and added an extra breather line to a new thru hull fitting on the transom, and that solved the problem nicely.

Re the data source changes, sometimes it just seems to get itself confused! I think you can do an auto-select of data sources on the SMIS gauges, that should reset it, but make sure everything on the network is turned on when you do that. Sometimes there does seem to be mixups when people have the fuel level gauges on the network.