Alarms beeps twise every 2 minutes

N

nydolphin

New Member
Apr 27, 2008
36
Seneca lake, ny
Boat Info
2004 260 sundancer
Engines
5 litre
Hi All,

I have a 2004 260 Sundancer w/ 5.0 Litre Mercruiser.

While cruising on Saturday, the alarm started beeping twice
every two minutes. Otherwise the boat ran fine and all the
vitals seemed ok.

I spoke with a Mercruiser rep and they stated the Smartcraft alarm will only go off once per minute and of course said I should go to a dealer so they can use their code reader. Unfortunately going to a dealer is far from convenient.

Perhaps it's not the Smartcraft alarm at all, but sub-system.

The Smartcraft Display does not indicate anything either. Although I do get the occasional "Trim Fault" alarm which is
random and I don't think related.

I have read where it could be the IAC valve even though I
have no problem with idling or power.

Any thoughts on troubleshooting this would be appreciated. The audible alarm is very annoying.

One final thing though, even though the Smartcraft manual does not show this as a symbol, on the LED display is what appears to be an outdrive symbol that does not dissapear, even with the batteries disconnected. The Mercruiser rep said that no symbol exists so I am guessing that it is just some bad pixals on the LED. Weird though.
 
IAC. Same thing happened on our boat - it ran fine throughout. I actually decided to purchase the Merc code reader as i think with $20K in engines, it is a good investment, at least in the boating world where 'investments' mean something else. Reader pointed to the IAC valve as the culprit.

The trim fault is not related. It is likely your trim sensor gone bad. Put it on the list when you have the boat pulled.
 
Last edited:
There is a thread talking about re calibrating the Smartcraft gauge to eliminate the trim fault. I had posted about 6-8 months ago. Dave S had also posted some info.

I am curious to find out about the alarm.....I remember reading a recent thread about that being the IAC alarm as well.
 
"Gerryb" is right! I had exactly the same problem with my previous 280 -04 last season. I changed the IAC and everything was fine after that. About a month later the other engine had the same problem and I changed that too. It´s very easy to change it and it doesn´t cost much more than 100 USD.
 
Thomas Molin said:
I thought that too first, but if I remember correctly the drive fluid alarm beeps every two seconds.
Click to expand...

Best suggestion for the 2 beeps per minute is to have the dealer/shop read out the error log to see what is generating the error condition. No need in ruining a good day out on the water and having to be towed back in.


Here are the codes:

MercCodes1.jpg

MercCodes2.jpg
 
Doug, thanks for posting the chart - interesting to see all the things it could be.

My advice to anyone with good money invested in their boat is to buy the Rinda code reader for the Mercury engines. It will pay for itself. In fact I may start a thread to discuss the reader specifically and my suggestion that it should be considered part of your 'toolkit' for the boat.
 
most of the time on those beeps it is the iac or the water pressure sensor. you can just turn the ingition on with the motor not running and scroll thru the gauge and see what your waer pressure says. It should be pretty close to 0. if not that is a problem also and should be replaced. that might not be the alarm but in the future it will give you one.
 
To all who responded:

I am truly thankful for all the thoughtful input. You have all helped to
narrow down a vague issue to something more specific.

I did check my drive gear lube level and topped it off, no difference.

After talking to a Mercruiser rep again they told me that there are audible
alarms that are not associated with the SmartCraft electronics.

Just in case though.......where the hell is that damn speaker located !
 
Sorry, I forgot to mention that I will order an IAC Valve and install it this
weekend. I'll let you all know how I made out.
 
Check your bilge....Mine was a high water alarm caused by the failure of the pump = high water in the sump.

Mine also goes off when the battery is low.

Happy Hunting
 
I just had the identical problem on my port engine and it was indeed the IAC valve. When the alarm would beep and it would show up on the smartcraft as a trim fault. New valve, no more beep and no more trim fault. My mechanic claims it is due to ethanol gas. Now I am waiting for my starboard engine IAC to fail.
 
gerryb said:
Doug, thanks for posting the chart - interesting to see all the things it could be.

My advice to anyone with good money invested in their boat is to buy the Rinda code reader for the Mercury engines. It will pay for itself. In fact I may start a thread to discuss the reader specifically and my suggestion that it should be considered part of your 'toolkit' for the boat.
Click to expand...

Wow, did you see the little $39 code reader that just blinks? That may be the way to go.

Its Rinda # 94050m. This issue is you can not access freezframe memory with this tool.

Note from Dave M at offshoreonly...
ECM/PCM555 faults only show as "Active" when they are currently occuring. When the conditions that caused the fault stops (like the manifold cools down), the fault becomes "Inactive". As soon the key is turned off it is no longer "Active" or "Inactive", it disappears and remains only in the "Freezframe Memory" along with a snapshot of other engine data. The Freezframe memory stores up to ten fault events.

One of the engine parameters the Freezframe memory stores is Engine Hours. By looking at the Engine Hours you can seen how recent each of the (up to) ten faults in memory are and the sequence that they occured.

Also keep in mind you will show faults for every sensor your boat does not have.

So
TRIM CKT HI
FUEL LVL2 HI
FUEL LVL CKT HI
PITOT CKT LO
SEA TEMP CKT HI
STEER CKT LO
Are examples of Active Faults that are caused by missing optional sensors.

They will always show as Active faults but have no effect on engine performance and do not cause the engine to go into Gaurdian Mode.
 
Well, after much thought and deliberation I purchased the Code Scanner from
Rinda and the EMC Diognostics manual from Mercruiser. I'll let you all know if it was worth it this weekend.

Rinda Code Scanner: $ 399.00
Mercruiser EMC Diagnostics Manual: $ 89.00

A nice afternoon on the lake with no beeping: PRICELESS
 
nydolphin said:
To all who responded:

I am truly thankful for all the thoughtful input. You have all helped to
narrow down a vague issue to something more specific.

I did check my drive gear lube level and topped it off, no difference.

After talking to a Mercruiser rep again they told me that there are audible
alarms that are not associated with the SmartCraft electronics.

Just in case though.......where the hell is that damn speaker located !
Click to expand...

On our 280 the speaker is tied in the wiring behind the instruments. Before plugging
it or whatever.... go with the IAC suggestions. Ours did the exact same thing last summer on one engine. Two weeks later, same thing on the other motor. Boat ran fine, just
kept beeping. New IAC's fixed the problem. Only good thing was the warranty covered
replacing them both.
 
Well, we headed up to the top of seneca lake on saturday. I cleared all
the codes before the trip. All the way up the lake, beep beep, every minute or two.

When we got to our destination it was raining (argh), i scanned for new codes, and
sure enough there was the IAC code. Fortunately, because of the input from many of you, I had purchased a new one and had it on board. Changed it out in about 15 minutes and, alas, no more beeping.

I would definitely reccomend getting the code scanner.


Life is good again !

Sorry about the duplicate post.
 
Where is a good source to buy the IAC's other that the dealer? Mine started to beep today....oil level fine, outdrive fluid fine, engine temp is fine...and engine is running fine.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,163
Messages
1,427,599
Members
61,072
Latest member
BoatUtah12
Back
Top