I just bought a 05 Ranger 185vx with a 06 Mercury 175 Optimax. The previous owner had major problems with the first engine and had it replaced with the 06 Mercury 175 optimax. He had installed a Mercury Smartcraft version 3.0 with this new engine. The engine performed well for several years, but developed an oil injection problem. It went to the shop this spring before I purchased the boat to address this issue. The engine oil tank was replaced. It was tested on the water by the dealer and deemed fixed. I got a chance to run the boat for the first time a few days ago. I only ran it for short distances - no more than 1-2 minutes at 45-50mph, but to me, it ran great! However, the Mercury Smartcraft 3.0 flashed the engine problem icon. I turned the engine off and the engine problem icon disappeared! I tried to recover this code that made the smartcraft icon blink and while doing so I realized that it might not be functioning properly - I say this because the smartcraft was reporting RPMs (increasing up to 3000) when the engine was off (only the key was turned to initiate the smartcraft without turning the engine over). I ran the engine after this to power-load it on the trailer - it seemed fine - no smartcraft icons.
I need to figure out if the engine is really fixed or if the Smartcraft has old codes or is not functioning properly. I have not gotten any loud beeping from the main engine computer, only a flashing smartcraft icon for an engine problem. Should I disconnect the Smartcraft to reset it? Should I replace the Smartcraft with a new one or better engine monitoring tech? Should I bring it back to the dealer who deemed the problem fixed? Thanks for your help.
Mercury 175L OPTI serial number 1b424986 Sep 2006