2016 Mercruiser 6.2 ECT - long beep every few minutes???

[tpenfield]

Greetings-

Today we took the boat to our favorite anchoring area- about 7 miles journey going 3500 RPM and 27 ish mph.

The whole way over there would be a long (3-4 second) beep about every 2 minutes. The engines seemed and ran normally and nothing showed up on the vesselview4 display. All readings (temp, pressure, voltage, trim ) we’re all fine.

I looked through my Mercruiser manual and did some web searching to no avail.

Any insight would be appreciated at this point. I’m ready to find the alarm horn and cut the wire

Engines S/N are in my signature

 

[achris]

Need to hook the computer up and see if a code was set (no all codes are shown on vesselview)...

Chris ..

 

[tpenfield]

Thanks @achris

I think I need to get the right connector for these motors.

Anyway, on the way back to home port there was less beeping and alarms.

I am still getting the low voltage on the starboard engine, but not sure why. It used to be a warning and now it is 'critical' (yea, whatever. . . )

I also got a 'wheel' error message , but not sure what that is (other than steering)

The vessel view is showing the batteries at 12.2 volts, yet the warning/alert is only on the stbd engine (port engine is not complaining). Using my multi-meter, the batteries are reading 12.9 volts at rest. The lowest battery was the accessory battery at 12.6 volts.

So, I'm not sure what is going on . . . but maybe a past code is not cleared. When I got back to the mooring I took a bunch of pictures of the VesselView and the battery voltages.

Pictures galore . . .
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Port Engine Battery

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Inverter battery bank (4 batteries)

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Accessory Battery

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Solar charger

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Solar charger

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The starboard voltage warning has been showing up since i bought the boat (noticed on the survey, etc). While I had the boat on shore power the warning had gone away. Now in the water on its own the warning has come back and today was followed by the 'critical' warning.

It is just all my probing of the system shows decent voltage. I was thinking maybe the VesselView does not like the solar charger, but the warnings were present long before the solar panel was installed.

 

[alldodge]

Wish I had something but there isn't much for CAT motors yet
Might have something to do with your solar hook up

 

[tpenfield]

Yes, but the message was there before the solar hook-up . . . getting worse though. I could easily disconnect the solar to see if it makes a difference.

Also, I should not that while underway the voltages for both engines are between 13.5 and 14.0 volts, per the vessel view. At rest voltage should be around 12.6 volts for the batteries (correct)?

 

[alldodge]

I like to see 14.5V with motor running and 12.7V after sitting for an hour or so

 

[alldodge]

Disconnect solar, turn something ON for each Bat for even 1 minute and see if it stays up

 

[tpenfield]

In reading up on the VesselView, it looks like there are some settings for warning thresholds, alarm silencing, etc.

So, I’ll take a look at those first in case some are out of whack. Then onto other things as needed.

 

[tpenfield]

I was able to turn off a bunch of alarms, but no limit setting regarding voltage. I read some where that the PCM is spec’d for 9-16 volts. The inverter battery bank is sitting at 13.4 volts vs. 13.1 from yesterday.

The port engine is a happy camper, but the starboard engine is a cranky pants. I was able to turn off the notifications and alarms so I don’t have to listen to it.

I will be getting the Diacom adapter to take a look.

On the brighter side I was able hold a decent cruise at 3400 rpm and got a wolloping 1.2 mpg

 

[nola mike]

I was able to turn off a bunch of alarms, but no limit setting regarding voltage. I read some where that the PCM is spec’d for 9-16 volts. The inverter battery bank is sitting at 13.4 volts vs. 13.1 from yesterday.

The port engine is a happy camper, but the starboard engine is a cranky pants. I was able to turn off the notifications and alarms so I don’t have to listen to it.

I will be getting the Diacom adapter to take a look.

On the brighter side I was able hold a decent cruise at 3400 rpm and got a wolloping 1.2 mpg

The math doesn't work if the gas consumed to get to the beer > cost of beer consumed.

 

[tpenfield]

Although I disabled a bunch of stuff, I am still getting the voltage warning on the starboard engine as soon as I turn the key to the on position (I usually wait until the VesselView finishes its gyrations before cranking the engines.)

The VesselView says that both engine batteries are resting at 12.2 volts. It just does not like the starboard engine for some reason. The volt meter says 12.85 volts on both engine batteries. So, I'm not sure what the deal is, but I will keep searching.

The engines both run fine. I got a blistering 1.2 mpg on the way to the anchoring area today. Lots of boats . . . and a couple near us provided entertainment with their (lack of) anchoring skills. additionally, we almost got bumped into by the ice cream boat.


I'll be back home for a few days, so I'll be surfing the internet for any possible remedies, in addition to ordering the Diacom cable.

 

[alldodge]

12.85 - 12.2 = 0.65 or real close to a standard diode voltage drop

Edit: keep in mind a fully charged LA Bat is 12.7

 

[tpenfield]

12.85 - 12.2 = 0.65 or real close to a standard diode voltage drop

Edit: keep in mind a fully charged LA Bat is 12.7

Just wondering where there would be a diode voltage drop between the batteries and the engines/PCMs ?

 

[alldodge]

When motors are running, do the ALT's go thru the Isolator to charge Bat's?

 

[tpenfield]

When motors are running, do the ALT's go thru the Isolator to charge Bat's?

That's a good question . . . Thanks for mentioning it.

I'll have to take a look at what little info Cruisers Yachts has about the electrical system and the isolators they use.

My solar panel stuff connects to the battery banks directly, but then since the alternators charge more than 1 battery bank each, they must have a way of doing so without disrupting the isolation.

I know the FET style of isolator has very little voltage drop vs. diodes. (that's why I used such on my solar charger).

 

[nola mike]

Seems like you have an expensive project boat there
I would simplify the wiring until you get it straight. Disconnect solar, physically isolate your house batteries, remove as many switches as possible, etc

 

[tpenfield]

Seems like you have an expensive project boat there
I would simplify the wiring until you get it straight. Disconnect solar, physically isolate your house batteries, remove as many switches as possible, etc

Not ready to throw in that towel. Not sure what you would/could simplify without taking all the 21st century features out of the boat. I did enjoy the basics of the 1990's Formula vs. today's boats.

I'll go forward and figure it out.

 

[tpenfield]

When motors are running, do the ALT's go thru the Isolator to charge Bat's?

There is an isolator of some sort between the batteries and the battery banks. On the 328's it was an ACR . . . it looks like on the 338's it is an isolator. At least that's how it is on the Port engine, charging the inverter bank.

My next steps (which will not start until Thursday (back 'home' for now) will be to check the actual voltage at the engines and see if there is a difference.

I also need to get the Diacom connector on order. There is a plug connector at the helm for diagnostics, but I also believe there are connectors on each engine.

All learning curve at this point . . .

 

[alldodge]

Each motor will have a connector

 

[tpenfield]

It also seems that if you are into 'I.T.' you can't get away from it even when retired. I probably should do the software upgrade on the vesselview4.

Installed version is - 3.0.43.349

Latest Version is - 5.0.43.579