Cummins service support is a primary concern

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HeadedToTexas

HeadedToTexas

Guru
Joined
Jul 3, 2016
Messages
1,752
Location
Sandusky Bay
Vessel Name
Escape
Vessel Make
Mariner 37
There are many discussions here about the service manufacturers provide being an important variable when choosing among different brands. Standing behind their product is a primary concern when selecting electronics systems. Garmin? Simrad? Raymarine? When the chips are down and the free manual doesn’t produce answers, you really want and need someone to answer the phone to walk you through the issue.

That’s where I am with Cummins. Especially at this point in the life of my 2007 boat, it is not practical to choose Detroit or Yanmar instead of Cummins and I am stuck with their support. The answer Cummins provides is “call your local dealer.” I am in Columbus, Ohio and while there are plenty of Cummins shops here, none of them are Cummins marine and everyone I have talked to goes quiet when I ask about SmartCraft.

One exchange lead to the rep suggesting a Cummins dealer in Tampa as “they a lot more boats down there.” Perhaps, but when the guy in Tampa found out I am in Ohio, the support went cold.

How have you Cummins owners found support after striking out with the manual?
 
A huge part of your issue is your location.

Columbus Ohio is not really a huge boating market, especially for large boats.

Plenty of support exists in the coastal areas though.
 
That’s reassuring. Explaining that to Cummins has so far fallen on deaf ears.
 
I would take a different approach to this issue.

I would first spend a lot of time on the Sbmar.com site. Carefully read the articles in Tony’s Tips that are applicable to your situation, particularly after cooler servicing.

Then if you have a specific problem or question, ask it on the Sbmar Forum. You won’t find better Cummins advice anywhere.

Then if you are capable of doing the work yourself, do it.

Otherwise find a preferably independent marine mechanic and show him the forum or the Tony’s Tips response and see his reaction. If he poo-poos it, find another mechanic.

Then if you can find a mechanic who will respect Sbmar’s advice, go with him.

This approach lets you manage the work and doesn’t rely on some unknown telephone answerer.

David
 
I have spent a lot of time reading Tony’s articles and went a long way down the path of dumping SmartCraft altogether in favor of J1939. While J1939 may be more simple than SmartCraft including being “Garmin ready,” dumping SmartCraft has wide reaching impact and I needed someone to quarterback the project. No problem if I was in LA (or maybe Tampa), I struck out here in Ohio.

At this point I have committed to SmartCraft. I’m confident it will work, but the tricks appear to be buried in a myriad of manuals and bulletins that only Cummins understands.
 
HeadedToTexas said:
At this point I have committed to SmartCraft. I’m confident it will work, but the tricks appear to be buried in a myriad of manuals and bulletins that only Cummins understands.
Click to expand...
Until I read this posting, I assumed your Cummins issues were mechanical, not electronics. Even Tony Athens may be stumped by these issues.

I now understand that you need Cummins technical expertise that can’t be found in Ohio.

FWIW, Tony Athens son or son in law is a tech wizard that may be able to help through the Sbmar forum.

David
 
Have you thought about moving??? Just kidding. I have got good support from the Cummins support phone number, but maybe I have just been lucky.
 
I have a SmartCraft display that a tech gave me for free. I think he had pulled it out of another boat. Before that, I had the old analog display gauges that always worked great. I still use the SmartCraft, but I kept my old analog display and often threaten to return to it. It always takes a very long time for the SmartCraft display to decide to actually wake up and do its job. Often there is 20-30 minutes before I get an RPM reading.
 
I had Smartcraft on a previous boat and it worked perfectly, but that was on a Mercury outboard.
 
Comodave said:
Have you thought about moving???
Click to expand...
All the time! In time, for sure, but I am hoping for a near-term solution. By Cummins support number, do you mean the phone number on this page?


Cummins diesels natively speak J1939 and SmartCraft is built on a similar CANbus protocol, though far more complex. If SmartCraft only did instrumentation, dumping it would be easier. Unfortunately, it also handles start/stop, idle control, and other important reliability functions that I decided weren't things I wanted to dump without professional help.

Our lower helm has a Diesel View digital display (it is now relocated beneath the instrument pod; usable, but out of sight) that can display about anything the SmartCraft network has. Connected through the Diesel View are a series of SmartCraft analog gauges (actually digital instruments with analog needle displays) including an SC1000 Tachometer and three SC100 Link gauges. These gauges simply daisy chain off a single connection from the SmartCraft network.

IMG_4519.jpg


The Diesel View harness already has a connection to add the same SC1000 tach and SC100 Link gauges at the lower helm. Connecting them was easy and they light up confirming they have power, but the digital display on the tach shows "COM LOST" indicating that while they have power, the network is not configured to use them.

Seems like an easy thing to find, eh? Probably just a check in a checkbox on one of the hundreds of Diesel View sceens. How do I add a second set of SmartCraft gauges to my network? That is the question I am trying to get Cummins to answer.
 
DavidM said:
I would take a different approach to this issue.

I would first spend a lot of time on the Sbmar.com site. Carefully read the articles in Tony’s Tips that are applicable to your situation, particularly after cooler servicing.

Then if you have a specific problem or question, ask it on the Sbmar Forum. You won’t find better Cummins advice anywhere.

Then if you are capable of doing the work yourself, do it.

Otherwise find a preferably independent marine mechanic and show him the forum or the Tony’s Tips response and see his reaction. If he poo-poos it, find another mechanic.

Then if you can find a mechanic who will respect Sbmar’s advice, go with him.

This approach lets you manage the work and doesn’t rely on some unknown telephone answerer.

David
Click to expand...
SBAR also offers over the phone, pre-paid consulting.

Regarding the comment that part of the problem was location. My boat is in LA. The Cummins dealers near me only work on commercial boats or boats in a yard -- something to do with worker's comp coverages and rates -- California just makes coverage too expensive for anyone to send employees working "over water" on a recreational boat. That basically leaves independents, who are not Cummins authorized, and Cummins dealers out of places like Newport Beach, where the recreational market is much larger than the commercial market, but they charge a premium and apply that premium to round trip travel time (the greater of estimate or actual -- so never have them returning during traffic, but that is all day long in LA).
 
HeadedToTexas said:
All the time! In time, for sure, but I am hoping for a near-term solution. By Cummins support number, do you mean the phone number on this page?


Cummins diesels natively speak J1939 and SmartCraft is built on a similar CANbus protocol, though far more complex. If SmartCraft only did instrumentation, dumping it would be easier. Unfortunately, it also handles start/stop, idle control, and other important reliability functions that I decided weren't things I wanted to dump without professional help.

Our lower helm has a Diesel View digital display (it is now relocated beneath the instrument pod; usable, but out of sight) that can display about anything the SmartCraft network has. Connected through the Diesel View are a series of SmartCraft analog gauges (actually digital instruments with analog needle displays) including an SC1000 Tachometer and three SC100 Link gauges. These gauges simply daisy chain off a single connection from the SmartCraft network.

View attachment 159577

The Diesel View harness already has a connection to add the same SC1000 tach and SC100 Link gauges at the lower helm. Connecting them was easy and they light up confirming they have power, but the digital display on the tach shows "COM LOST" indicating that while they have power, the network is not configured to use them.

Seems like an easy thing to find, eh? Probably just a check in a checkbox on one of the hundreds of Diesel View sceens. How do I add a second set of SmartCraft gauges to my network? That is the question I am trying to get Cummins to answer.
Click to expand...
It would seem to me, that if you document everything it's doing and not doing with pictures on a tablet, you may be better served going to a guru, literally. Considering the cost and what your time is worth, getting someone to walk you through enabling the second display and whatever other problems you have, may be worth sitting down with a guru and writing a check.

Maybe you can do this over the internet with a chat program that will allow you to display all your pictures, but I think you're past the free advise stage. To me, this is like going to your lawyer or CPA, sometimes you need to spend the money to get the correct answers.

Ted
 
On Cummins support generally.

Last summer of 2023 there was a recall on some throttles. The only way to know if you were affected was to contact Cummins. I made 3 calls and left 3 messages and over a year later I am still waiting for a returned call.

Helmsman interceded on my behalf via their contact and I was not affected. I am grateful to have Helmsman support.

I flat hate the online manual thing. Impossible to ever find the information I am searching for.
 
Thanks guys. I am okay reading the manual and figuring out myself as that usually leads to greater understanding, at least for me, but I have already waded through four manuals and bulletins whose titles sounded like the right choice and not figured it out. I get the lawyer analogy and have paid for my share of good advice over the years, but this seems like a manufacturer support issue that does not rise to the level of paid guru. Chances are getting better that I’m wrong about that!

I have been using email thus far, and will switch to phone on Monday. Fingers are crossed.
 
This is disconcerting as it goes to the foundation of the OP's statement "There are many discussions here about the service manufacturers provide being an important variable when choosing among different brands"

When considering a repower or newbuild, there is a huge selection of engines to consider, from so many countries... Italy, Spain, France, US, Germany, Austria, China, India, UK, Korea, etc.

The argument heard over and over is "where are you going to get it serviced?" or "Can you get support in your areas and cruising grounds?"

Cummins is likely the #1 most prolific and distributed engine in this class, worldwide... well... so the argument goes but certainly NOT being proven to be, at least in the experience of OP.
 
Mako said:
When considering a repower or newbuild...
Click to expand...
For sure, but there are no choices when buying a used boat other than to avoid certain makes. I find it hard to believe Cummins falls into that category, though they have yet to return my call. I dialed the 800 number at care.cummins.com this morning and was told by a non-marine guy that "the marine guys are really flooded this morning; can I get one to call you back?" I said yes, and am patiently waiting. More as I know it.
 
“Avoid a certain make”

That made me laugh. I was in contract to buy a boat that had twin old Volvo’s. Had 2 mechanics check the engines and told me to walk away, which I did. I would never think that Cummins might join that party now.
 
Mako said:
“Avoid a certain make”

That made me laugh. I was in contract to buy a boat that had twin old Volvo’s. Had 2 mechanics check the engines and told me to walk away, which I did. I would never think that Cummins might join that party now.
Click to expand...
 
Mako said:
“Avoid a certain make”

That made me laugh. I was in contract to buy a boat that had twin old Volvo’s. Had 2 mechanics check the engines and told me to walk away, which I did. I would never think that Cummins might join that party now.
Click to expand...
I never get that far with a boat that has Volvos. When I am searc The first thing I look at is what engines it has, if it has Volvos I click back and proceed to a different boat. I had 1 boat with brand new Volvo engines and getting parts was horrible. Never again.
 
So I called Cummins' 800 number yesterday morning and after a few minutes on hold spent nearly 40 minutes talking with a very knowledgeable guy who not only understood everything I asked about, but also thoroughly answered my questions including the several additional ones that came up during our conversation. Outstanding experience.

The takeaway I got from this episode is to go straight to the old school phone number. Chat and email inquiries were both logged in their system, but the Cummins answer to both was "Contact your local shop." Big difference. Thanks Cummins.
 
Glad it worked out well for you. That has always been my experience with Cummins phone support.
 
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