'05 Mercury 150 saltwater : Alarm and It Won't Start **And My Question*

[Killafornia]

I took my boat out to make some squid. The boat ran fine. While motoring into the harbor I get an alarm (solid). Look back and steam is comming from the pee hole. I'm thinking kelp. So, I put it in reverse and give it a couple of revs. Alarm still sounding and still no water comming out. I shut down the engine. Restart and try forward and reverse, still no water. Shutdown. Restart and again forward and reverse. Water starts to flow. Alarm sounds for another minute than stops. Sweet, it cooled down. Back at the dock and shut it down for about 30-40 minutes while loading the boat to go back out. Try to start, now it's not firing....just "ZZZzzzzzzzz". Tried for 1/2 hour with same results. Put it in neutrial and throttled up...."ZZzzzzz" it catches and gives an almost fire. Loaded the boat and brought it back home. Next morning hook up the water, turn the key and fires right up. . Over and over it fired right up. There's no water temp guage, just an alarm.


My question: Is there a safety that would prevent my motor from starting up until it cools down to a safe temp? I'm thinking like with any engine that once you turn it off and with out any water cooling, that the engine will reach a hotter temp prior to cooling.

 

[sschefer]

Re: '05 Mercury 150 saltwater : Alarm and It Won't Start **And My Question*

I took my boat out to make some squid. The boat ran fine. While motoring into the harbor I get an alarm (solid). Look back and steam is comming from the pee hole. I'm thinking kelp. So, I put it in reverse and give it a couple of revs. Alarm still sounding and still no water comming out. I shut down the engine. Restart and try forward and reverse, still no water. Shutdown. Restart and again forward and reverse. Water starts to flow. Alarm sounds for another minute than stops. Sweet, it cooled down. Back at the dock and shut it down for about 30-40 minutes while loading the boat to go back out. Try to start, now it's not firing....just "ZZZzzzzzzzz". Tried for 1/2 hour with same results. Put it in neutrial and throttled up...."ZZzzzzz" it catches and gives an almost fire. Loaded the boat and brought it back home. Next morning hook up the water, turn the key and fires right up. . Over and over it fired right up. There's no water temp guage, just an alarm.


My question: Is there a safety that would prevent my motor from starting up until it cools down to a safe temp? I'm thinking like with any engine that once you turn it off and with out any water cooling, that the engine will reach a hotter temp prior to cooling.

And the answer is... Yes.. If it's running, it will stay running at reduced RPM to get you back to safety. But it you shut it off, it may not re-start until temps return to normal.

Why... Merc knows that safety at sea means being under power. Any good skipper will tell you the last thing they do is turn a motor off even if it means the motor will be trashed by the time they get to safety.

 

[Killafornia]

Re: '05 Mercury 150 saltwater : Alarm and It Won't Start **And My Question*

Thank you.

 

[Faztbullet]

Re: '05 Mercury 150 saltwater : Alarm and It Won't Start **And My Question*

Water starts to flow. Alarm sounds for another minute than stops. Sweet, it cooled down. Back at the dock and shut it down for about 30-40 minutes while loading the boat to go back out. Try to start, now it's not firing

Need a little more information as you did not state you lost any rpm(safety mode)and in your above posted information motor has already cooled off so I doubt its a safety issue. If its a EFI it could be several things....

 

[Killafornia]

Re: '05 Mercury 150 saltwater : Alarm and It Won't Start **And My Question*

Not an EFI. I was already at idle speed (no wake zone). So, I didn't notice an RPM loss. Not sure if it cooled down enough during that 1/2 hour. I was in a turnament. So, I didn't have time to troubleshoot it. I had to load it up and break out my boston whaler to use. But, the next day it fired right up first time. Water flowing out the telltail. I down loaded the service manual. I'll comb thru it and see if there's anything on this.
Thanks for your help. This is a cool site. Very patient people on here ready to help.