5.0 MPI Intermittent Continuous beep, no Smartcraft output

Lazy Daze said:
Wait a minute... David, can you double check something? I believe that that first screen (the three "OK's") shows Engine temp, Battery Voltage and OIL PSI, not Water PSI. Could you be getting the two PSI's confused? It might be easiest if you had the compuker read by a technician to see exactly what fault is sending it into guardian mode.

Too much oil will not cause high PSI. But, it could cause low oil PSI as the oil coudl get aerated.
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I think you're on to something, oil pressure not water pressure. I'm thinking bad oil pressure switch, it's right next to the regular oil pressure sender. I had a similar problem although it was not intermittent.
 
I have a buddy that has the code scanner, I'll see what he's up to tonight to get it checked out.

It's very possible I may have been under the false assumption that PSI meant Water PSI. I'll take a step back and verify.

I'll bring the oil changer with me so that I can siphon out the extra oil. I had no idea that being overfilled could cause low pressure. Could being over by half a quart make that big of a difference?

Hopefully if this is the case, I haven't done any permanent damage.
 
Yes, both water and oil are measured in pounds per square inch since they measure pressure. I wouldn't expect 1/2 quart high to cause that issue. Unlikely, but I wouldn't rule it out 100%, either.

Let's take a step back and see what happens with the computer. He has a Rinda or a Merc scanner, or something like that? A car OBDII reader won't do it.

Scroll through the various screens on the SC gauge - you can read oil pressure and water pressure by themselves, I believe.
 
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Yes, he has a Rinda Techmate scanner.

So we just checked with the scanner. There were no active codes, however the freeze frame section definitely shows a Guardian mode for the water pressure.

At this point in time, there was about 66 psi oil pressure, and 6.7 psi water pressure.
 
davidh82 said:
I had no idea that being overfilled could cause low pressure.
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when you overfill the crankshaft will start to punch and foam the too high oil level in the crankase and the oil pump will suck the oil foam and not steady oil. that results in oil pressure break down in the engine.

lazy daze is also spot on the three ok are for watertemp, voltage and eng oil press - not waterpress.

but for this scenario you will have to significantly overfill.

we do not see your boat , you need to help yourself in veryfing what oil level you have really and what oil and waterpressures you have when the guardian kicks on.
 
aerobat77 said:
we do not see your boat , you need to help yourself in veryfing what oil level you have really and what oil and waterpressures you have when the guardian kicks on.
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Hey aerobat77, I couldn't agree more. I was at the boat about an hour ago with a Rinda scanner. I checked the oil level as well as the freeze frame from last weekend.

As far as the oil level, I think I may have exaggerated the amount of oil I put in during the change. When I first started having this issue a few weeks back I had no idea what was going on and was trying to think back of all the recent changes, the most recent was the oil change. I remembered that I put a bit more oil in then I had intended, but it was not nearly as much as my imagination made up. When I checked the oil level, the oil was just about at the top of the dipstick check marks.

I also checked the saved freeze frames using the Rinda scanner. The freeze frame definitely showed that Guardian mode was entered because of water pressure. At that point in time the oil psi was 66 (I'm assuming this is in the normal range) and the water PSI was at 6.7 (which would make sense if the system required 7 or above during WOT).

So, I think it's safe to say that the oil pressure is fine, however I will definitely keep an eye on it.

Also, while I didn't have a chance to remove the water input line from the transom, I did look around the outside of the connector and was pleased that there did not seem to be any visible corrosion on the outside. Hopefully the inside of fitting will be in as good shape.
 
ok , when oil level is not severly above max and the computer indeed points to waterpressure ( and you already changed the pressure sensor ) you seem to have a mechanical problem with fluctuating / low water pressure.

even when i doubt it on a 2010 low hours boat next step would be pulling the pump and check if its worn out and check the pickup in the drive for obstruction.

you have to decide for yourself if you feel safe to do the work on your own or taking the pill and call a good mechanic on this is the better idea.

you are absolutely sure the impeller you installed is the fully correct one by partnumber ?
 
It's strange that you saw the exclamation mark for oil psi. Could of just been an erroneous reading and a good coincidence.

But, if you're sure that oil psi isn't a concern, then just monitor that and focus on the water psi issue.
 
i got interested and have read the smartcraft manual. when i read it correct the third "psi ok" regards to oil psi AND waterpressure psi and will trigger alarm if one of them or both are below limit.

the newest versions even have more "ok" pages and show up oil psi and water psi separately.

so it would explain this and i just learned something new about smartcraft.
 
aerobat77 said:
i got interested and have read the smartcraft manual. when i read it correct the third "psi ok" regards to oil psi AND waterpressure psi and will trigger alarm if one of them or both are below limit.

the newest versions even have more "ok" pages and show up oil psi and water psi separately.

so it would explain this and i just learned something new about smartcraft.
Click to expand...

And now, so did I! Thanks for the research!
 
aerobat77 said:
you are absolutely sure the impeller you installed is the fully correct one by partnumber ?
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Yes, I'm about 95% sure that the part is correct. Aside from purchasing the OEM part, I also did a side-by-side check to make sure the impeller was the exact same size.

aerobat77 said:
i got interested and have read the smartcraft manual. when i read it correct the third "psi ok" regards to oil psi AND waterpressure psi and will trigger alarm if one of them or both are below limit.

the newest versions even have more "ok" pages and show up oil psi and water psi separately.

so it would explain this and i just learned something new about smartcraft.
Click to expand...

Great find! That definitely helps to put the oil PSI issue to rest. Thank you!

I'm going to start this weekend first by fixing the tension on the belt and will also be examining the water path. I've already ordered the gasket I would need to check the water inlet at the transom.

Quick question, do most people replace o-rings when they remove and reinstall the outdrive?
 
i replace only after visual check but keep a set ready and to make the work sure you can replace.

yes start the easy things like the belt, personally i doubt the serpentine belt will slip unless severly loose but never say never and maybe we all can learn here.

when you have the drive off - pull the intake hose from the pump and give it the best shot your garden hose can deliver - backflush it , maybe some dirt will flow out.

you never ate sand beaching with your boat, correct ?
 
Hi everyone, just wanted to give a quick update. This morning I tightened up the drive belt and took the boat out. Unsurprisingly the problem remained the same, so tomorrow morning I'll be removing the outdrive for inspection as well as inspecting the water inlet for "bravo-itis".

If all looks good and depending on if I'm up to it, I'll take out the raw water pump for inspection as well.

I did have a thought today and was hoping someone could clear this up. When I replaced the thermostat a few months ago, the housing had quite a bit of corrosion build-up. I was able to clean the housing pretty good with a brush and Dremel and put it back together. I reused the thermostat sleeve and poppet valve.

Now, I've been reading that a bad poppet valve could cause a high psi. Is there any chance a problem in the poppet valve or housing could cause a low psi condition as well? I know that when I cleaned up the housing, I was a bit concerned that the seat where the thermostat goes was slightly chipped away (I got a bit too fast and loose with the Dremel). However, with the gasket in place it looked like the thermostat still made a good seal against the housing.

I'm pretty sure that if the housing was causing the low psi, it would be low even at idle. I just figured I would ask the experienced guys here.

Thank everyone and I hope you all are having a great weekend!
 
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Well, I haven't had a chance to pull the outdrive but I did check the water inlet at the transom and it looks like I may have a case of bravo-itis.

I took a video and have some screenshots, I'll upload them in a bit.

At this point, I'm wondering what fixing this entails. Does the engine need to be removed and transom assembly replaced?

I saw a repair kit online, does anybody have experience with this repair kit?

http://amarket.com/IM654.HTM

Thanks again to everyone for all the help, you guys definitely got me on the right track.
 
Bud, you are getting overwhelmed with something you don't understand. There is no water inlet at the transom, the water enters at the lower unit.
Even if you pulled the drive , you're still not going to be able to tell if you have the Bravo-itis thing going on.
Go the simplest route first, you haven't even over heated yet.
Reread some of the suggestions.
Good luck
 
scoflaw - you are of course correct that the water is sucked in via the lower unit but there IS a housing on the innerside of the transom where the main hose to the raw water pump is attached. thats exactly where he looked.

waiting for the pics.
 
scoflaw said:
Bud, you are getting overwhelmed with something you don't understand. There is no water inlet at the transom, the water enters at the lower unit.
Even if you pulled the drive , you're still not going to be able to tell if you have the Bravo-itis thing going on.
Go the simplest route first, you haven't even over heated yet.
Reread some of the suggestions.
Good luck
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Hey Scoflaw, thank you for looking out. I might be confusing things by not using the right terminology. Hopefully Aerobat cleared things up, but I'm referring to the water fitting on the inside of what I believe is called the gimbal housing.

aerobat77 said:
scoflaw - you are of course correct that the water is sucked in via the lower unit but there IS a housing on the innerside of the transom where the main hose to the raw water pump is attached. thats exactly where he looked.

waiting for the pics.
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Thanks Aerobat, that is exactly correct.

Here is the pic I was able to take with my phone. Unfortunately the quality isn't very good, however you can see that the hole is blocked by about 50%. I ended up picking up a borescope from Sears to get a better view of the issue, and I really don't see much corrosion. It appears as though the tapered insert has become dislodged. I think my next step is to get a pair of needle-nose pliers and try to pull out the fitting so that I can get a better idea of any corrosion/damage. Thoughts?

 
Also figured I would upload the video I took with my phone, it may give a better idea of the fitting than the screenshot alone.

I'm having trouble getting the video to play within the post, so here is a link:

https://youtu.be/N1BiPp8nwCY
 
i would remove the drive then try to find somekind of "tool" -to mechanically scrub off the crap inside this waterpassage and then backflush from inside with water as good as you can and look what comes out.

i think you have good chances to fix it at no cost just with your work. i do not think you have a completely rotted / rusted water pickup on a 2010 biat - i think its only dirt in it .
 
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