175 Ocean Pro overheat alarm malfunction?

[oaksld]

Fired my boat up on muffs for the first time this year and after several minutes of idling the alarm started beeping although the temp gauge didn't show a high temp... I went ahead and put in a new water pump assembly and tried again but alarm still went off after several minutes, so I thought maybe it wasn't getting enough water through the muffs so I went ahead and went to the lake.

Once in the water I still had the same problem... the engine is definitely not overheating but the alarm keeps going off.. I can shut the engine off and immediately start it back up and the alarm stops but starts again after several minutes... it beeps slowly while idling and the beeps faster the faster I go.

Could it possibly be a bad temp sensor?

Other than the alarm, the boat runs great!

Thank you for any advice!

1999 Johnson J175PXEES

 

[Bosunsmate]

Its not the oil alarm is it?
Have you tried disconnecting the sensors on the head and seeing if you can isolate it down?

 

[Rustywrench]

An alarm of 1/2 second on & 1/2 second off at idle & speeding up with additional throttle applied is no oil warning, not over heat. You need to add some oil to your fuel till you get this sorted out to protect your engine. An over heat warning is a solid horn & would/should still be on when you started the motor. Until the problem was gone.
Do you have the System Check gauge?
With the motor running you can pump your oil bulb to see if you can make the No Oil horn stop. You will have to run the engine for a while to confirm that you have fixed anything. It may be a false alarm, but you can't take that chance until you know for sure hence put oil in gas for protection.

 

[oaksld]

Thank you for the responses... This engine doesn't have the self oiling feature so oil is always added to the gas. The gas thats in it is from 2 seasons ago and was treated with Startron Enzyme treatment.. I realize that that gas is pretty old so don't bust my ba**s too much I just never had a chance to put her on the lake last year, I just ran it on muffs.

Is it possible that the oil separated or is just sitting on top of gas... there's not much fuel in it, maybe a couple of gallons.

I don't have the system check gauge.

Thanks for the very helpful replies!

 

[w2much]

Does the harness or remote match the year of the motor? Is there an adapter harness? Yes your gas is separated and has water in it. Pump some into a glass container and watch it separate.. You may have a restriction, lean condition. Fuel water seperater is full of water . Check your boat side fuel delivery. Run your engine and keep pumping the bulb to see if that eliminates the the alarm. My alarms work sort of , alarms will sound but not as described by OMC. I get a hot alarm steady tone no matter what the issue is. But at least I have alarms. Before I figured this out I ignored it once, that was all it took to ruin my engine.You may care to check my previous post . They may offer some insight or they may confuse you. Good luck

 

[Bosunsmate]

Use a IF temperature gun on it if you can, i dont care to spend money so i just put my hand on the top of a head and if i cant hold my hand there for 20secs its too hot.
You say you havent run it in the lake yet and have just run it on muffs, note that if muffs a not a good fit and good pressure then air gets sucked into the system and itl overheat.

 

[Lightwin 3]

An alarm of 1/2 second on & 1/2 second off at idle & speeding up with additional throttle applied is no oil warning, not over heat. You need to add some oil to your fuel till you get this sorted out to protect your engine. An over heat warning is a solid horn & would/should still be on when you started the motor. Until the problem was gone.
Do you have the System Check gauge?
With the motor running you can pump your oil bulb to see if you can make the No Oil horn stop. You will have to run the engine for a while to confirm that you have fixed anything. It may be a false alarm, but you can't take that chance until you know for sure hence put oil in gas for protection.

It does not appear to be heat from the alarm description above.

Since your oil injection is no longer functioning, how was it disabled? Any loose wires hanging around there?

I believe the low OIL alarm can also be triggered by a fuel restriction if you are still using the fuel side of the dual purpose pump.

 

[Rustywrench]

If you don't understand the warning system don't confuse the issue. Re read my above post. Now that we know VRO is unhooked & oil is present in the fuel that is fine. You can pull the air box to see if the VRO pump sensor was unplugged? Yes the horn would sound if the sensor is still plugged in. It is right in front of you on the front of the pump. Rubber round plug.
The fuel restriction alarm is a solid horn (like overheat) usually above a certain RPM (except if hose is kinked completely off).
It is the device next to the VRO (left if looking at engine from back of boat).
Over heat is solid horn at all speeds & will continue to blow after engine is turned off & back on. (Until over heat is gone.) Motor will actually get hotter for a short time after tuned off. This is controlled by two temp switches in cylinder heads. Usually brown (may be brown/stripe color for different temp settings). There is a blocking diode in the engine wire harness to keep SLOW from being turned on except for overheat.

 

[Rustywrench]

Little more info. The same horn is used for all alarms. This is where the confusion comes in. The horn makes different timing sounds for different alarms. No one can keep up with all four alarms & their meanings unless you live this stuff?
That was the reason behind SystemCheck beginning in 1996. It gave you a gauge & light system that pointed out which alarm meant what. Overheat, no oil, low oil, check engine (fuel restriction). All of the different sounds & stuff was gone. You get a horn for 10 seconds & the light stays on as long as the condition persist.
Again brown wires (with various stripes control the system). Each alarm is now controlled by its own wire. The alarm horn will not sound without the motor running ( no static test). The light will come on.
Unfortunately some customers took the horn that quit blowing at 10 seconds to mean it was OK to keep running their motors with the light on. Of course others don't even have a SystemCheck gauge in the boat.
Check engine light is only operational on V-6 motors as others did not have the vaccum switch. This is carbureted motors only! DFI, Etec, & G2 motors are a whole different animal.
If I have confused you, happy to answer any questions.

 

[Lightwin 3]

I
The fuel restriction alarm is a solid horn (like overheat) usually above a certain RPM (except if hose is kinked completely off).
It is the device next to the VRO (left if looking at engine from back of boat).
Over heat is solid horn at all speeds & will continue to blow after engine is turned off & back on. (Until over heat is gone.) Motor will actually get hotter for a short time after tuned off. This is controlled by two temp switches in cylinder heads. Usually brown (may be brown/stripe color for different temp settings). There is a blocking diode in the engine wire harness to keep SLOW from being turned on except for overheat.

Good to know.