Loud alarm and oil in the bilge

[psmcdoug]

Our first Sea Ray (and boat), and first time for just the two of us boating out on our own-- we've recently graduated from following other neighbor boaters. Traveled about 15 miles in our 1998 270 Sundancer, and shortly after we throttled back and set the anchor via the windlass, the loud screechy-whistly alarm began and continued. Yep, that got looks from all around! Shut the engine down and let things rest a bit, then started up again and the alarm soon came on once more. Shut down again, waited a while, opened the engine compartment and checked the oil. Still some on the dipstick, though below the "fill" line, so added a bottle.

To make a long story short, alarm came on again, so we headed back home, with the alarm shutting off once we got above 12-15 mph or so. Of course we had to get back down to 6 knots as we entered the river and creek leading to our dock, and not too long after slowing down the alarm began again, continuing until we docked, all the while with the engine in slow forward (6 knots or less), reverse, or neutral as we motored to our slip and docked. The alarm would only shut off for a second or two every now and again, and being a hot Saturday there were oodles of fellow boaters out there to gawk at us and our loudly whining boat!

Once docked I again checked the engine compartment, and noticed that the water in the bilge appeared to be quite oily. I figure I'll check the dipstick again later. So, any theories on the problem? Oil leak somewhere around the engine? Would that cause the engine alarm to activate? Any advice you can give to a pair of non-mechanically inclined novices would appreciated! Thanks. :smt100

 

[Lazy Daze]

When that alarm goes off, it's going off for a reason. It's an indication that something very serious can happen if you continue to run it. You should not have driven the boat until checking it out further. It could just be a bad sensor, but it might not be. Continuing to drive a boat with the alarm going off (without knowing the cause) could result in your new-to-you boat needing a brand new engine.

Hopefully that's not the case.

Did you monitor your gauges? Specifically the engine temp and oil pressure? Was your drive fluid bottle full?

That alarm will go off for (3) reasons: Low oil pressure, high engine temp and low drive fluid.

Are you sure it wasn't a depthfinder alarm? Did the alarm sound just like the noise you hear when you first turn the key on, or different?

 

[psmcdoug]

Hey Lazy Daze. Definitely not depthfinder alarm and the guages were fine-- noise was a sound similar to startup, but continuous. One of my more experienced and mechanically inclined boating buddies THINKS it might be the oil pan leaking or a seal issue, but I will be having a mechanic check it out. It did not seem to be impacting the engine performance, as the guages were reading in line with what they usually do. Will check the drive fluid... would that also make the water in the bilge look oily? Thanks.

 

[out-n-aboat]

back up bildge pump high water alarm

 

[Henry Boyd]

What level is the oil in the drive bottle? When that gets low it will trigger an alarm.

Was this the first time you used the boat?

Henry

 

[SCORPIO]

"It did not seem to be impacting the engine performance"
Lack of lubrication usually won't....right up to the point where the engine seizes.
As already stated, when an alarm goes off, its best to find the cause then determine if you need a tow or can proceed under your own power. There is no need to feel embarrased to ask for a tow, even if it later turns out to be nothing. Hopefully your oil leak wasn't that bad that it starved the bearings or you may learn an expensive lesson about engine alarms.

 

[Lazy Daze]

An oil pan simply leaking won't cause the alarm. Only the three things I noted above will cause your engine alarm to go off.

Yes, since drive fluid is an oil, it can cause water in the bilge to look oily. Although, the recommended drive fluid is actually a bluish/green color. The non-recommended fluid looks like normal motor oil. You'll know what you have when you look at the reservoir.

How much water?

 

[psmcdoug]

Looks like it was probably low drive fluid. A neighbor with a dignostic computer for Mercruisers hooked it up and ran some tests, finding nothing serious (thank goodness!). The drive fluid was pretty low, so that is now reflilled and the alarm appears to be gone. Now I'll be monitoring that and the oil level to see if there's a leak of some sort that would explain why the bilge water seems oily. Have a bolster in the bilge right now to try to soak up as much as I can.

Thanks for the help and advice folks!

 

[Lazy Daze]

That's great news that this wasn't a costly mistake!:smt001

It's normal for the drive fluid to go down after a fluid change as there could be air bubbles in the system. However, this should stop after a few hours.

To do things right, really clean-up the bilge well. Get all of the water out, then de-grease everything - even the engine. That way it's easier to track down a leak.

It could be as simple as oil that was spilled during a change.

How low was "low" for the drive fluid? If you can pull the boat out, it would be a very good idea to check the seals on the vent, and especially the fill, holes on the drive. You could also check to see if there was any water intrusion into the fluid at the same time.

 

[psmcdoug]

Lazy Daze,

The low was pretty darned low-- still some fluid in the reservoir, but just enough to cover the bottom. Thanks for the advice... have some stuff to do a good cleaning of the bilge. The pumps don't seem to be able to get everything out, so I'm considering using an old wet-vac that we've had sitting around. The bolster is in there right now, and I have a pack of the special oil absorbing "towels." Someone else recommended putting a little dish detergent in to break up the oil, and then hosing everything down.

I may have a mechanic take a look as well, being that there's at least one other issue I need to get addressed-- lights on the guages don't come on at all. The guages themselves work, other electrical systems controlled from the helm work, tried the dimmer switch, had the light switch on, had my boating neighbors take a look, etc., but no dice! So far I've made sure to be back by nightfall to keep things safe. Don't have a lift at our slip on the community docks, so I figure it's probably best to deal with as much as possible when getting service!

 

[mistercomputerman]

so I'm considering using an old wet-vac that we've had sitting around.

You do understand that:

you have a gas boat
that the shop vac is not ignition protected

If you are going to use the shop vac, please be certain that there are no gas fumes in the bilge, otherwise you are going to need a firehose and not a shop vac.

 

[psmcdoug]

Yep... hose part is pretty long, so we won't be bringing the actual shop-vac into the engine compartment, and will run the blower to make sure any fumes are cleared out. Thanks for the comment anyway-- better safe than sorry!

OK, did some additional online research and will see what we can do without the shop-vac. Anyone have advice on getting the remnants of water that the bilge pumps won't take out?

You do understand that:

you have a gas boat
that the shop vac is not ignition protected

If you are going to use the shop vac, please be certain that there are no gas fumes in the bilge, otherwise you are going to need a firehose and not a shop vac.