Boat Warning Alarm Going Off

General Boats and Motors
1

Hey guys. Once again, my boat is not a happy boat. :frowning_face: For over a year now, when at idle for a long period, say over 15 to 30 minutes, I’d get my warning horn. Check the oil, check the voltage, check the cooling water coming out of the motor, check the bilge, etc., and everything is fine. After pushing the throttle back up, say past half, the engine comes up to speed, the alarm would go away.

The last two times I’ve had my boat out, it has gotten worse. Both times I got low on oil in the tank (stupid me!), the alarm went off and the boat would not come up to power as advertised. I stopped the boat, filled up the oil, and tried to get underway. The first time this happened, it took the alarm a good 5 minutes or so to subside (I’m thinking for the boat to read a full tank of oil) and give me back full power to my boat. It did give me full power back and the rest of the trip went fine. Yesterday after I got low on oil and refilled it, the alarm never fully went away, and it took well over 10, maybe 15 minutes (at one point even longer) before I could come up to full power After each restart. On my final run yesterday, down the river, I was able to run at full power and speed after waiting for the boat to allow me to use full power, but I could still hear the alarm going off. Nothing else was wrong with the boat that I could see.

Again, reading 13 to 14 volts with the motor running, no water in the bilge, topped off oil, running at WOT, but still having an alarm going off. When the alarm would sound, after a while the alarm did diminish in volume, and it was then that I was able to get full power. When the alarm was full blast, I was not able to get to half power, and then the alarm would waiver and I would get spurts of full power, and then it would chop back to half power. Soon, it would allow me to stay at full power, however.

I’m at a loss. Anyone seen anything like this before? Thanks.

[IMG]http://img10.imageshack.us/img10/237/ban

2

Needs a new oil level sensor.

Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Marine Surveying & Repair

3

I have a 115 yamaha that does the same thing! It is commercial 2 stroke with no oil injection. I install a new water pump every season.
While shrimpn it will blow like H after 30 min. I rev. it up and run in small circle and it goes out for another 30 min.

4

A new oil level sensor . . . . . that would make sense given all the problems I’m seeing. I’ll have to give it a try. Thanks Larry.

5

Definitly does sound like oil sensor, good call Larry! Mine got sort of gummed up one time and removed it and cleaned it in some gas and it has worked since then.

Russ B.
www.joinrfa.org
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy

http://www.facebook.com/RussbMaritimeServices

6

oil level sensor. I had the exact same problem, for me I when I pushed up the throttle the boat tipping up to come on plane was enough to free it and the alarm would clear, but when level (idle) it would stay in for a long time.

like RussB said I was also able to pull the sensor out of the tank and clean it, has worked fine ever since. New sensor is pretty pricey, I think.

Angler 204 FX
Yamaha 150

7

Thanks again guys for all the help. When I get back from my trip, I’ll take out the sensor and check it out. I really appreciate it.

8

i dont mean to be the BUZZ kilL here, but…
if you have an alarm going off, WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO RUN FULL THROTTLE???
you have an alarm
something is wrong
the engine going into rpm reduction is trying to protect itself
it may be nothing, but what if it is something?
a 250 ox66 is about $2500 to rebuild
do you have yamaha gauges?
if so, the oil sensor will cause the light to blink
if its the oil sensor,on the motor you shouldnt be getting a faint alarm and then full power
that is an on off switch, doesnt mean it isnt doing something funky, but i havent seen or heard of one with that symptom

the alarm system on that motor isnt terribly complicated
any time the alarm horn cicuit finds a ground the horn sounds and the rpms reduce

based on your desription i think you have 2 different issues
you got an alarm from low oil and reduced rpms (motor working like it should)
the other alarm sounds like a bad waterpump. engine overheats at low rpms, increase rpms, waterflow increases, engine cools down alarm goes away

www.teamcharlestonmarine.com
www.joinrfa.org

9

Ha…Man no way I would try and diagnose that. Chronic overheating will destroy a power head.

10

Gonna need your crewchief to preflight your boat from now on.

'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki

11

Ha…Man no way I would try and diagnose that. Chronic overheating will destroy a power head.

12

Well trying to run at full power and being able to do are two different things. Being I couldn’t get full power until the boat allowed it meant it was protecting it self and did because I could not get full power WITH the full alarm. The only way I knew it was still going off after she gave me full power was my son wanted to ride in the console and told me he could still hear it. I could only barely hear it by putting my ear to the outside of the console.

I had a Mustang that would go to a limiting RPM if it was low on coolant or overheating. I’ve also had to refill my oil in the boat before on the run so I’m well aware of protective alarms. This was the first time that refilling the oil, after it was low, did not quell the alarm after low oil started it. Throw in thunderstorms and two scared kids and I wanted all the power she could give me to help my sons. I wasn’t out water skiing and just said “screw it.”

Your point is well taken. I’ll have to look at the schematics in my book for an alarm diagram and check that out too. Also, no I don’t have Yamaha gauges.

13

my main point here is…
your motor is having an ongoing issue, that you need to properly diagnose and cure, before it becomes catastrophic.
do yourself and your savings account a favor and fix teh problem before you take it out again. I hate to see not doing a $300 repair cause a $3000 repair.

www.teamcharlestonmarine.com
www.joinrfa.org

14

I understand Chris V. Thanks again for the advice. This is why I’ve not stop coming to this forum because of the great advice and insight I get from y’all.

15

Okay. So after talking to a friend of mine (Chris V you know him), I went out and did some investigating. The floats in both the remote and main tanks are fine. They Ohm’ed out okay, and are clean and free. The pump on the back of my remote tank looks a little rusty and corroded. Not sure of the internal condition yet. My friend also pointed out the filter right at the bottom of the remote tank. I haven’t checked that out yet either.

I have a SELOC manual for my motor. It says that there are three reasons my buzzer should go off. Head overheat, over rev, and low oil. It says that if it’s an over heat or over rev problem, the RPM’s will reduce. If it’s oil, the buzzer will sound, but no reduction in RPM’s. EVERY time I’ve had a low oil condition on my boat, my buzzer has sounded and I’ve lost RPM’s. Is my manual wrong? My knowledge of two strokes is kind of limited. If I remember correctly, the oil is there to cool and lube the motor, in the classic sense, it just does it by being mixed in with the gas. So if you take away oil, and all that is left is gas going into the cylinder, won’t the gas provide enough cooling? Meaning, if I was low on oil, and the buzzer goes off, but I don’t loose RPM’s and keep running, will the motor eventually overheat? If that’s the case, then I would expect to have my issue with low oil, but being able to run at full power for a bit.

What I get is a reduction in power, associated with, or immediately followed by my buzzer. When I check my remote tank, up until recently, it was almost empty on oil. So the book is just confusing me further.

My friend also suggested a water pump issue.

16

If you have no oil going to the powerhead it will not last long at all. Sounds like you need to replace your impeller. Also make (**() sure you don’t have any water in your oil tank.

'06 Mckee Craft
184 Marathon
DF140 Suzuki

17

oil doesnt cool exactly, it lubricates
poor lubrication will cause excess heat
excess heat will cause aluminum pistons to stick to steel cylinder wall, and then things start to get ugly
if the oil tank on the motor gets below a certain point, alarm will sound. any time alarm activates engine goes into rpm reduction
if boat tank gets low, warning light on dash activates, but no alarm
yes, your seloc is incorrect if it states low oil will not cause alarm with rpm reduction

www.teamcharlestonmarine.com
www.joinrfa.org

18

Thanks for helping clear that up Chris V. I do appreciate it again.

19

I inspected a boat engine on a claim once that was killed by overheat because the engine cooling spaces were full of salt. A brand new impeller could try to push Lake Moultrie through that motor, but because of the salt blockage, it wasn’t gonna get enough cooling water to save the motor.

“I am constantly amazed at the stupidity of the general public.”
~my dad

Equipment:
190cc Sea Pro w/130 Johnson
1- 17 year old
1 - 13 year old
1 - wife (The Warden)

ECFC

20

Okay, so today I did a little more poking and prodding.

I checked the filter coming out of the remote tank. There were two small strands of something in there. Nothing that in my opinion would stop the flow of oil, or slow it down significantly. They were really small. Cleaned it out, and reinstalled it. Check the motor for the oil on the back of the remote tank. I put 12 Volts to it, with the case open and the gears hummed nicely. It ran smooth and clean. All the parts inside looked to be in excellent shape as well.

I then placed a Roughneck under my motor, filled it up with water, and started the motor. The water level more than covered the engines lower half. Within a few minutes, I had warm to hot water coming out of the exit hole for the cooling system. There was no excessive smoke coming from the motor. I let it run for 15 minutes, and no alarm. I shut it down, let it sit, restarted it back up, let it run for another 15 minutes, no alarm. I ran the throttle up and down a bit as well. The engine cowling was off for these attempts. I then put the cowling back on, started it back up, and this time I got no water coming out of the exit port from the cooling system, and then I go my alarm, inside of 5 minutes from this start.

Oil tank is currently full.

I’m starting to think I’ve got an overheat condition due to a bad water pump.