occasional warning horn

[clockwork]

motor is a '91 175hp black max. last time out the warning horn would beep once or twice every couple minutes towards the end of the trip. this only occurred at speeds above 3000rpm and never lower. im pretty sure its getting oiul as i can smell it in the exhaust. <br /><br />the one thing is that i was very low on gas, could that throw it off? maybe 1/16 tank on a 75g tank? ive never run it lower than 1/4 before and the horn has never sound before.<br /><br />i think the system works because it beeps breifly when i first trun the key and the engine mounted res has oil in it BUT seesm to like staying at around 2/3 full rather than totally full. i think the horn can be trusted becasue if i run it with the cap off or loose, it beeps continuously. for some reason the engine res wont fill up all the way even though the remote tank is 1/2 full. the oil cap/sensor is 3 years old. thanks-ryan

 

[tarponator]

Re: occasional warning horn

Clockwork, you need to be very careful. Mercs in that year used a plastic worm gear on the crank to turn the oil pump which is notorious for failing. You should monitor your oil consumption very close. If any doubt, you should premix oil until you are sure....otherwise ...well we won't go there. Is the horn a beep beep beep or a solid horn sound. If the engine overheats that can set off the beep beep beep. But if you are not sure...you should proceed with caution and error on the side of protection. It can't hurt your engine to premix oil till you figure this out. You may burn more oil and foul a few plugs, but you won't have to worry about "Piston sieze".<br /><br />Good Luck...Peace

 

[KCLOST]

Re: occasional warning horn

If the engine mounted oil tank is not filling up, you have a pressurization problem on the boat oil tank (or an actual oil leaks in one of the lines)... That tank is pressurized via crank case pressure as a line from the block goes to the onboard tank.. That pressure is what keeps the oil flowing to the engine mounted tank continuously so it is "always" completely full. If it isn't completely full, the intermitent "beep,beep,beep" will sound..<br /><br />But it will sound all the time not just occasionally! I'd make sure the onboard tank is being pressurized (no air leaks or oil leaks) at least. But something else may also be wrong... I don't like the fact that you are not hearing a continual intermittent beep if the engine mounted oil tank is never full. <br />My next suggestion is to pull out the oil pump and check the metal driven gear on the pump. Look for shavings of plastic that would indicate a damaged drive gear in the crank case (the worm gear) as tarponator mentions.

 

[tarponator]

Re: occasional warning horn

Oopps..had the beeps backwards! Thanks KCLOST....I wanted to thank you also for helping me with my worm gear problem....