Mercury 75 Optimax PITOT Message

[sunnycoast62]

Just want to ask someone what this message actually means on the smart tech guages as I don't have a manual on the messages, I don't know what to check. I have asked the dealer but they said it's nothing to worry about, motor has only done 17hrs. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[kizza1]

yeah nothing to worry about.
it is generally when the transition speed hasnt been set properly.

the optis use 2 forms of speed reference. firstly it takes its down low speed from a paddle wheel on the back of the boat. once it reaches a set speed(that the dealer should have set on the guage) it will stop reading from the paddle wheel and start reading from the pitot sensor(hole in the front of the gearbox).

if the two values arn't close enough it will display pitot fault during the transition period.

the second reason why it may fault is that the pitot tube gets bloked. if this happens your speedo will drop out all together.

[sunnycoast62]

yeah nothing to worry about.
it is generally when the transition speed hasnt been set properly.

the optis use 2 forms of speed reference. firstly it takes its down low speed from a paddle wheel on the back of the boat. once it reaches a set speed(that the dealer should have set on the guage) it will stop reading from the paddle wheel and start reading from the pitot sensor(hole in the front of the gearbox).

if the two values arn't close enough it will display pitot fault during the transition period.

the second reason why it may fault is that the pitot tube gets bloked. if this happens your speedo will drop out all together.


Hey thanks for that kizza1, come to think I was trying to set a trolling speed and I was not having much luck. Do you know how to reset the guages to get rid of the Check PITOT message??:undecided:

[kizza1]

i will pm you with the info

[sunnycoast62]

i will pm you with the info


Thanks for that mate, still not sure exactly what it means but the motor did smell like it was very hot so I took it out of the water and ended the days fishing. he wife and myself were fishinh the channel up in the Great Sandy Straight just near the barges on inskip, it was a shame to have to go back because of not knowing what the message meant. Thanks again!!

Warren

[kizza1]

the engine will go into gardian mode if it gets to hot. this means you wont be able to rev the engine and also an alarm will tell you that its getting hot on the dash.
then if you still run the engine and it gets even hotter it will switch the engine off.

so theres no need to end a good days fishing with that.
keep the white smartcraft book on you so you can decifer any codes that come up on the guages.

also if it is an alarm from something major the guage will tell you what to do when you hit the next button.

[eugah]

i will pm you with the info


Mate can you pm me the info as well, I have a 90 Opti & it has always showed the check pitot error.


Adrian

[Coontakinta]

the second reason why it may fault is that the pitot tube gets bloked. if this happens your speedo will drop out all together.


Kizza, is this hole easily found?
Sorry for teh dumb question, but oldman has the same motor on his boat and told me that his speedo stopped working recently. Then coincidently came across this thread:smiley: . Is cleaning/unblocking as simple as fishing around with a suitably sized length of wire?

Thanks in advance

[kizza1]

yes its just above the ball of the gearbox, maybe 8-10 inches from the bottom of the skeg.

best thing you can do is blast air back from the top of the engine.
if your running smartcraft digital guages it will have a grey hose (approx 3/16 diameter) on the starboard side of the block that goes into a digital pressure sensor.

if its analog guages it will run a black hose (approx 1/4 diameter) from the gearbox all the way up to the back of the analog guage.

either way it will more than likely blocked with sand. just dislodge it with compressed air or wire.

[Angla]

I have had the Pitot warning before on my 135 opti. There seems to be a lack of information out there about it but what kizza1 says sound on the money. I always just check the small hole on the front of the leg for weed or a plastic bag. I think it has only happened 3 or 4 times in 6 years.

Cheers
Chris

[craigie]

I have a 2004, 115 Opti. I too get the PITOT message on my Smart Gauges from time to time. I asked the dealer about it, been told it's nothing to be concerned about.

Cheers
Craigie.

[snapersam]

I have a 2004, 115 Opti. I too get the PITOT message on my Smart Gauges from time to time. I asked the dealer about it, been told it's nothing to be concerned about.

Cheers
Craigie.

I just purchased a boat with optimax 175, tried to use it on the weekend and the pitot message kept appearig all day and prevented me from using the boat properly, The only way to drive it is to get it on the plain very quickly and keep it runing fast, as soon as I slow down the message appers and the engine guardian reduces the speed. this is extremly dangerous if I was crossing a bar.

I will check the Pitot and clean it hopefully it will fix the problem.

I will quote again once I try it on the weekend.

[kizza1]

snapersam you have other issues if its going into gardian mode.
pitot alarm will never send an engine into gardian mode and limit the revs.
defiantly get the dealer to put the laptop or ddt on it to detirmine why it is going into gardian mode before you use it again.

[bobp]

one way of getting over this problem is to link up your smartcraft gauges with your GPS this will give you more accurate speed and fuel numbers i.e liters per kms
there should be a an nema (0183)input on your wiring loom

[bobp]

READ YOUR SMARTCRAFT MANUAL
once you have done this the next step is to read it again

[snapersam]

READ YOUR SMARTCRAFT MANUAL
once you have done this the next step is to read it again

I bloody read the manual so many times, if I ever did this in my study years I would have become a rocket scientist.

No help from the manual, it is all crap. the only proper info I got is from this and other forms on google.

I will ring the mechanic just in case anyhow