Engine Warning bell

[04winger]

Hi all,
I'm a new owner of a 2003 280, my first Sea Ray! What a fine experience so far. Working on getting all the manuals they were lost somewhere before I got the boat. My quick question is What does the engine warning buzzer (bell) monitor? I have the left engine buzzer going off every 2 or so minutes, everything looks good except left temp is a little over 170 - 175. If you open if up and run close to full throttle the bell will go to a solid sound warning only way to clear is to pull left throttle back to neutral. Can anyone help a newbie?
Thanks,
S

 

[Matt R]

Drive oil low?

 

[Turtlesboat]

hmmm, you seem to have a couple of things going on. The beep every minute means a sensor has tripped and is letting you know. The solid beep means something more serious. Drive fluid level, temp, and I think engine oil sets off the solid beep.

The beep every minute can't really be diagnosed without a computer hookup to the engine, but you might be able to narrow it down when a symptom shows up.

I would check the solid beep out first, it's not good to run the boat at full throttle with a solid beep. Check the drive fluid, engine oil. If those checkout ok, then you might have a water flow problem.

A common thing to fail that will give you a 2 beep every minute is the IAC valve. It's a little thingamabob mounted on the top of the engine right behind the air intake. The symptom of this is the engine stalling during idle. You'll find this out when you are docking and the engine dies.

 

[04winger]

Hey Turtle Tone, thanks a bunch for the reply, to give you some more info, my engines run VERY smoothe at idle and all during advancement to power, no stalling, I'm just now purchasing it from the dealer so went out on it this weekend for a check out ride and had these issues. The dealers mech said everything has been changed, filled, checked and so on I did not check the levels myself, also they changed the lower unit impellars so water flow should be good. You have any other ideas for me?
Also is there a way to reset the beeping every minute for the tripped sensor or does it just have to be replaced?
Thanks,
S

 

[Fishnut]

I don't think it's the IAC because the sensor will go off at full throttle with a failed IAC because you don't have the air flow problem.

 

[Turtlesboat]

because the 2 beep triggers doesn't mean there will be a symptom immediately. It's a warning that something has triggered the sensor. It may not show up for weeks, months. The dealer should hook up a computer to the engines to see what sensor(s) triggered the beeps. 15 minutes and all of your questions will be answered. It'll also tell you what triggered the solid beep. No need for guessing.

 

[Turtlesboat]

I don't think it's the IAC because the sensor will go off at full throttle with a failed IAC because you don't have the air flow problem.

He's got 2 problems, most likely. a 2 beep and a solid beep.

 

[04winger]

I thank you all for the comments and Ideas, I will get the dealer to hook her up! Also I have read on here about some guys buying their own reader, does anyone know where to get one and how much the units cost?
Thanks,
S

 

[Turtlesboat]

Sorry, those readers won't work on your boat. Those are for the older EFI engines. I did all the checking already and found that 1) it's way to expensive to justify 2) you have to be a certified merc place to get one.

 

[Nehalennia]

My WAG is both IAC and low drive oil. If they've recently serviced the O/D's it's burped and the level is low. Check the reservoir(s) and refill if low. That should kill the long continuous. If there's still an intermittent 2 beep, it could be the IAC.