1992 150hp XR6 gauge setup

[BWR1953]

1992 Merc XR6 150hp

I've added all new Faria engine gauges in my boat after a successful splash back in May. It takes me a (very) long time to get anything done, but I've been poking along.

The gauges are all installed and wired up to power and ground.



This morning I went out to connect and test the tilt/trim sender, temp sender and water pressure loss warning light. I plan to add a beeper/buzzer for the pressure loss indicator light too.

1. When the engine was installed last year, the brown/white wire for the tilt sender was cut to allow moving the engine from the donor boat to this one. Today I tightly twisted the 2 brown/white wire ends together and tested. No joy. When powered off, the gauge is about full up. When I switched power on, it drops to full down. However, when I raised/lowered the engine, the gauge only twitched, but didn't move up or down.
I can't find where the sender is located.



2. I connected the temp gauge to the tan wire and when it powered up, the gauge went to full hot. I don't know if that's normal or not, but it seems backwards to me. I haven't tried running the engine yet though.

3. I connected the pressure loss tan/blue wire to the warning light and it came on dimly. But! I think it wasn't connected to the sensor. I tried jumping from the sensor to the gauge and got nothing. Disregard the spark plug wire. I just moved it out of the way for the pic. It doesn't touch anything.


So, that's where I am now. I have a Service Manual and will be checking that, but so far no joy. Any ideas?

 

[BWR1953]

So, I Googled a couple of the issues and the AI gave me step by step instructions on what to do.

Ain't technology great?

 

[Chris1956]

Your trim gauge sender wiring must be wired up thru the transom clamp. The way it is now will likely cause it to be physically damaged by the water.

I never saw a water pressure gauge sender like that. It sure looks like a water temp gauge.

A lot of Merc V6 motors had an overheat switch on one head and a water temp sensor on the other. The temp gauge sensor usually has a tan wire.

A mechanical water pressure gauge is pretty easy to install, and real foolproof. You might consider replacing your temp gauge with a mechanical pressure gauge.

 

[Dukedog]

look on tha port side of clamp bracket.. you should see tha end of tha rod that tha center tilt cylinder attaches too.. it will have a slot in tha end of it.. there should be two holes for tha screws that hold tha sensor on.. your sensor will look like #24 in tha diagram attached.. it will have a brown (or maybe a brown/white, don't remember for sure) and a black (black ground can go under one of tha mounting screws).... good luck findin' a sensor.. they are gettin' really scarce............

SWIVEL BRACKET AND STEERING ARM - 1992 Outboard 150XR6 [ELPTO] 1150453MD | Crowley Marine

View parts diagrams and shop online for SWIVEL BRACKET AND STEERING ARM parts, 1992 Outboard 150XR6 [ELPTO] 1150453MD. Offering discount prices on OEM parts for over 50 years. FAST $4.95 shipping available.

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below is tha complete parts page for your motor..

Mercury Marine Outboard 1992 150XR6 [ELPTO] 1150453MD [1150453MD] - Parts Lookup | Crowley Marine

View parts diagrams and shop online for 1150453MD : Mercury Marine Outboard 1992 150XR6 [ELPTO] 1150453MD. Offering discount prices on OEM parts for over 50 years. FAST $4.95 shipping available.

www.crowleymarine.com

 

[Chris1956]

On a supporting note. Water temp gauges are real good for automotive applications, where the circulation is clean coolant. OB's can suck in sand, muck, plastic bags and the like. This means, that the water pressure drops, before the temp gauge knows this. What you see the OB goes from fine to overheat real quick. I like the mechanical water pressure gauges because you can often see the pressure dropping, before overheat happens.

i.e. My Johnny OB usually runs at 30+PSI, at cruise. This year the OB is down to 15-20PSI at cruise. It is still OK for now, but needs replacement soon. Mercs operate at less water pressure, say 15PSi at cruise, less at idle. A pressure gauge can see this sooner.

 

[redneck joe]

So one can retrofit water and temps sensors on older motors?

 

[BWR1953]

Hi guys! Thanks for all the great info.

I've been busy, but I actually did get some things done!

I'll post more in a couple or three hours.

 

[BWR1953]

look on tha port side of clamp bracket.. you should see tha end of tha rod that tha center tilt cylinder attaches too.. it will have a slot in tha end of it.. there should be two holes for tha screws that hold tha sensor on.. your sensor will look like #24 in tha diagram attached.. it will have a brown (or maybe a brown/white, don't remember for sure) and a black (black ground can go under one of tha mounting screws).... good luck findin' a sensor.. they are gettin' really scarce............

Thanks for the great location help! I tilted the engine up and found the sensor right away. Definitely going to need a new one. At some point, a PO had cut the brown/white wire right at the sender. I did find a couple of sources online for a replacement.


Sender wire was cut.


I also found the overheat sensor on the starboard head. It's connected via the tan/blue wire. My understanding is that these sensors rarely fail, so I'm not gonna mess with it. But, I do want to figure out a way to get it connected to a flashing light and horn/buzzer. The donor boat that supplied the engine had no gauges working. I didn't see an audible alarm anywhere either.




The tan/blue wire runs around the side of the engine to the harness. My understanding is that during an overheat, it sends 12v to a buzzer.

 

[BWR1953]

Your trim gauge sender wiring must be wired up thru the transom clamp. The way it is now will likely cause it to be physically damaged by the water.

I never saw a water pressure gauge sender like that. It sure looks like a water temp gauge.

A lot of Merc V6 motors had an overheat switch on one head and a water temp sensor on the other. The temp gauge sensor usually has a tan wire.

A mechanical water pressure gauge is pretty easy to install, and real foolproof. You might consider replacing your temp gauge with a mechanical pressure gauge.

Yup, you're right on. The temp sensor is on the port head, connected via a tan wire. This evening I found the overheat sensor on the starboard head. I'm way past picking and installing more gauges.

 

[BWR1953]

On a supporting note. Water temp gauges are real good for automotive applications, where the circulation is clean coolant. OB's can suck in sand, muck, plastic bags and the like. This means, that the water pressure drops, before the temp gauge knows this. What you see the OB goes from fine to overheat real quick. I like the mechanical water pressure gauges because you can often see the pressure dropping, before overheat happens.

i.e. My Johnny OB usually runs at 30+PSI, at cruise. This year the OB is down to 15-20PSI at cruise. It is still OK for now, but needs replacement soon. Mercs operate at less water pressure, say 15PSi at cruise, less at idle. A pressure gauge can see this sooner.

I'll connect the overheat tan/blue wire to a flashing light and horn/buzzer setup. If it fires off, it'll be shouting and blinking at me, letting me know to chop the throttle, etc. It would be nice to have a water pressure gauge, but it just isn't going to happen. I'll definitely be looking at that trim sender wire and adjust routing accordingly.

 

[Dukedog]

have you closed tha over temp sensor ta see if it has a buzzer on tha other end somewhere?.. merc use ta put tha buzzer in tha control box sometimes..
merc temp gauge?.. do you know it tha temp gauge sensor is calibrated for tha gauge.. more importantly is a mech, not electric water pressure gauge.. if ya have a working over temp buzzer tha pressure gauge is tha next most important gauge.. if ya don't that would make it tha most important reading needed... jmo..........

 

[Dukedog]

one other thing.. electric temp gauges are notorious for not being very accurate.. you really need a handheld temp gun ta verify any readings on it...

 

[Chris1956]

Temp switches close and ground when temp gets too high. So if you want to wire in lights and a buzzer, connect power from the ign switch(used for gauges) to one side of the lights/buzzer, and connect the other side to the temp switch on the head. When the temp switch grounds the light/busser will get power.

 

[BWR1953]

have you closed tha over temp sensor ta see if it has a buzzer on tha other end somewhere?.. merc use ta put tha buzzer in tha control box sometimes..
merc temp gauge?.. do you know it tha temp gauge sensor is calibrated for tha gauge.. more importantly is a mech, not electric water pressure gauge.. if ya have a working over temp buzzer tha pressure gauge is tha next most important gauge.. if ya don't that would make it tha most important reading needed... jmo..........

I went out to the garage this morning while it was still cool and shorted the overheat sensor to ground, then turned on the ignition switch to see if there would be a beep from inside the controller.

This is the result!
View attachment buzzer.mp4

I had to turn the volume up all the way in order to hear the little pffffttt sound.
I did call Faria-Beede and spoke with a tech who let me know that all their gauges are calibrated to work with OEM senders. Good news, that!

That's all I did today. Not feeling my normal self.
And then this happened, so I went back into the house!

 

[BWR1953]

Temp switches close and ground when temp gets too high. So if you want to wire in lights and a buzzer, connect power from the ign switch(used for gauges) to one side of the lights/buzzer, and connect the other side to the temp switch on the head. When the temp switch grounds the light/busser will get power.

That's the plan. I already have an LED light in place and have been looking off and on for a flasher for it. I also have a self-flashing LED available as a backup, but it doesn't match the other lights.

This is the setup thus far. The unlit light is for the temp overheat sensor.

 

[Dukedog]

you need ta locate tha other end of that tan/blue coming from tha over temp sensor.. it should terminate on tha plastic term strip along with another tan/blue tha goes into tha main harness.. tha other end should be under tha dash somewhere.. may be attached to a "bad" buzzer.. make sure tha other side of tha buzzer (if found) is grounded...

 

[BWR1953]

you need ta locate tha other end of that tan/blue coming from tha over temp sensor.. it should terminate on tha plastic term strip along with another tan/blue tha goes into tha main harness.. tha other end should be under tha dash somewhere.. may be attached to a "bad" buzzer.. make sure tha other side of tha buzzer (if found) is grounded...

The engine and entire wiring harness was moved from a 1992 donor boat to my current 1997 boat en toto. No other buzzer was found.

I do have the tan/blue wire under the dash already. I actually bought the "dash harness" so that I didn't have to splice into the main harness and because it's more convenient.

I ordered new Quicksilver OEM temp and tilt senders this morning. I still need to find a new loud buzzer/horn to mount up under the dash as well as a flashing unit for the overheat alarm light. Might have to go with a mismatched light, but that's less desirable. There is a 1/2" diameter flashing light with built in siren. That would be easier, but seriously ugly!

 

[redneck joe]

Should be able to do a small dash light as well as the horn, no? I like redundancy when possible.

 

[BWR1953]

Should be able to do a small dash light as well as the horn, no? I like redundancy when possible.

Correct. Check Post #15 above. The unlit light is for the overheat sensor and the plan is to have it come on and be flashing if activated. That's in addition to the horn.

 

[redneck joe]

and if you hooked up a clip to a body then it can be electrified for another layer of redundancy...