1996 40 ELPTO questions...

[Virtus]

Hey Everyone. I am going to preface this with I am new to boating outside of an old 12ft v-hull fishing boat with a trolling motor. I bought a 96’ Tracker Pro Angler and it came with the original 40hp ELPTO motor, 2 stroke. The guy who had it before me told me he did all of the routine work on this and it is in really good shape overall.

I ran it a few times and after finally figuring out how to start the thing (couldn’t figure out the neutral throttle position to assist in choking it...had to push in a button on the throttle lever which is not at all intuitive), it ran great. One day I was out cruising around a decent sized lake and all of a sudden we heard this high pitch “squelch” that sounded like a walk-talkie squelch. We figured out it was coming from the instrument panel somewhere. I shut off the boat and the sound went away but as soon as I started to run it again, the sound came back. The faster I go, the louder the noise is. I read that the speedometer cable or tach cable can make that noise. Does this sound right? I do not have a manual for the boat or motor and don’t know what cable to purchase or if I can just lube the existing cable.

Also, does anyone know where I can download a manual for this motor?

I want to get things dialed in before the ice melts so I am ready. I appreciate any help. Thanks for your time.

 

[wrench 3]

Welcome aboard.
Boats don't have speedo and tack cables like a car. Then again cars haven't used them for a few decades now.
The first thing that comes to mind for me is that it may be the engine alarm.
Try boatinfo.no for a manual. You can't download them but you can print off the pages that you need.

 

[Virtus]

Ok. So if it is an engine alarm, is it under the instrument panel? And what would be a likely cause for an engine alarm? Is was full of oil and running great... Anything else under the panel that would make that noise? I was thinking of pulling it all apart to re wire it as it is a bit messy under there. Thanks for the response.

 

[grbeasley]

I have a 1994 Tracker Pro Bass with a 40hp Merc. My alarm kept going off (a high pitched beep noise). The alarm is located under the instrument panel. It is the same noise you hear when you turn the key on. It was a constant sound so I figured it was the overheat alarm. After changing the water impeller and getting no results, I took it to a mechanic who told me he measured the temp when the alarm was going off and it was not overheating. He disconnected the leads of the heat sensor and oil level sensor and solved the problem. He said it must have been a short in the alarm system, which could be very costly to find and fix, possibly having to replace all the wiring.

By the way, the oil sensor just senses low oil level, not if the oil pump is working or not. There is a window on the motor showing oil level, so not having that alarm is fine with me.

 

[wrench 3]

Normal diagnostic procedure would be to disconnect the sensors one at a time and replace the sensor that's keeping the alarm going. If the alarm sounds with both sensors disconnected there's a short in the wiring.
However if you've got a SmartCraft system they threw in a computer so it's a hole different ball game. but I believe SmartCraft didn't come out until 2001 so you should be OK.