Fuel flow meter

[cruiserlessvinny]

To no avail I've been viewing various posts regarding fuel economy and have hoped to see someone post information on how to monitor real-time fuel consumption so I must poke my nose into the site and ask a simple question: Is there a way to install a fuel flow meter on a 70 hp 2003 2 stroke yamaha w/o purchasing the high dollar yamaha instrumentation?
Thanks,
CV

[Captains Cat]

Probably but it will only measure the gasoline usage, not the oil. It's a turbo type device in the gas line. Several different mfrs. FloScan, NAVMAN are the primary ones!


Charlie

[cruiserlessvinny]

Thanks Cptn.
CV

[starcrafttom]

I use the flow scan on my 27. its great for giving me instant gph and total fuel used. it does not give me mpg on the gage but i just figure that out on a calculator.

Some of the newer models will figure out the mpg instantly. Its great to figure out the best speed and trim but from a year of using the flow scan I have figured that there is little I can do to change the mpg very much. under 8mph i get one mpg from 13 to 30 mph I get another mpg and above that its hold on to your wallet time.

[tpbrady]

Once you learn the best trim and throttle setting for the load you are carrying, a fuel flow meter serves two purposes, tracking fuel consumed/remaining and giving an indication of the health of the engine.

[cruiserlessvinny]

Thanks starcrafttom.
tpbrady, I had considered that aspect of a fuel flow meter: Once you know the engine/boat sweet spot there's not much need for the meter; at least in my particular application.
The Nevmar 2100 appears to be pretty much what I need and at $120 it has a price I can live with. One review I read indicates the need to have the sensor in a vertical position. My question to that is: How much out of vertical can it be?

Thanks for the help.
CV

[tpbrady]

CV

I had the similar NAVMAN model on my 22 and it was about 15 degrees out of vertical and seemed to run fine that way. After 4 years the fuel flow transducer started sending strange readings, but that was because it was wearing out. It has a finite life since it is mechanical. On the newer Honda BF90D, the sweet spot kept moving based on boat weight and engine loading, so I was always using it because as little as a 200 rpm increase could almost double the fuel flow.

[cruiserlessvinny]

...because as little as a 200 rpm increase could almost double the fuel flow. Wow, 200 RPMs almost doubled the fuel flow. Never would have thought it would make that big a differance.
Thanks again.
CV

[tpbrady]

CV

That's an attribute of the fuel injected Honda 90 (BF90D) with lean burn. You won't see that with the carbureted models or the larger VTEC engines.

[Sea Angel]

On Sea Angel, with twin carb'd HONDA 90s, I have the NAVMAN 3100. Yes, a small change of throttle can make a difference in your FF. This '3100 is an easy way to optimize the trim and tabs against the GPS SOG.

I have the GPS data fed to the NAVMAN and I use this to track against my mechanical fuel quantity gauge besides all the other data such as:
fuel remaining and total NMs available for fuel left,
FF per each engine (Neat way to track what is going on against the engine's RPM.)
or total combined FF; plus many other other features.

Personally, I feel it was a good investment.

To help keep the transducer remain clean, do place it behind your fuel/water separator filter, using the best that you can afford while changing it faithfully when recommended or separation is seen in the bowl(s).

Art

[Adeline]

[Adeline]

This thread got me searching the net for parts availability for the Navman/Northstar Insturments and I stumbled across an instructional video of a repair procedure for malfunctioning lcd displays.

I decided to post a link here for future reference in case someone needs it.

I also saved a copy of the video on my computer.

Repairing Navman 3100 instrument Display

Here is the link source

[CougarMtn]

Any experiances with the NMEA-2000 network compatable sensors, such as the Garmin GFS-10, or the Lowrance the EP-60R? Then all the data is together on the chartplotter. (plus fewer holes drilled in the dash) I've been thinking of going this route when I upgrade to a new chartplotter
with radar and GPS.

[tpbrady]

CougarMtn

I've been experimenting with NMEA 2000 in a hyrbrid environment. My Raymarine C-80 can handle a limited number of NMEA 2000 sentences ( called PGNs) and my Yamaha 150 outputs fuel flow, water temp, rpm and oil pressure. I am showing my fuel flow, water temp, and oil pressure on a screen on the C-80. I also have a NMEA 2000 gateway into Coastal Explorer so the same info is available there to the extent it shows engine data which is also limited. The C-80 does output depth in NMEA 2000 but not enough GPS data to make it useable by Coastal Explorer. If you have NMEA 2000 compliant GPS Chart Plotter go with the Lowrance System. The LMF-400 will handle a lot of NMEA 2000 PGNs and display the data. I am tempted to install an LMF-400 this winter as it can directly read the data from the engine including fuel flow and can be programmed to keep track of fuel remaining if I add external storage. With the data from the engine I won't need the EPR-60. It won't be able to keep track of MPG as it won't have a GPS input unless I get hold of a NMEA 2000 GPS sensor such as the Lowrance LGC-4000.

It sounds complicated but NMEA 2000 with fully compliant devices is easy to work with as long as you plan it out. Either do a lot of reading or call BOE Marine. They are very good at putting things together.

[cruiserlessvinny]

What a "Duh" moment I just had. I'm pretty sure my Lowrance Elite5 is NMEA2000 compliant as is my 2003 Yamaha. I'll check it out and get back with the results. Thanks to all and especially to tpbrady for mentioning the electronics compatability.

CV