Periodic Alarm Issue

PartyOfFiveSC

New Member
Jul 12, 2020
2
Boat Info
2006 Sea Ray 220 Sundeck
Engines
350 Mercruiser
I am the original owner of a Sea Ray 220 Sundeck. I've always done all of the regular maintenance and have taken care of the boat with very few problems. The only thing I've ever replaced that wasn't planned was an IAC.

I have a continuous alarm that is going off, but not all the time. It first occurred about a month ago. I was bringing the boat in after a weekend at the lake. I ran the boat a close to top speed for about 15 minutes with the thru hull exhaust on (sounds great!). When I came to the No Wake Zone at the Marina I slowed quickly. The alarm started going off. The RPM's weren't limited as I drove a little faster than the normal No Wake speed to get into the slip quickly. I didn't notice the temp at that point, because it caught me off guard. Once I got into the slip, I called the dealer. We cranked the boat back up and ran it until it got up to temperature. It never overheated and I didn't see any other obvious issues, like fluid levels, etc. that were off. We chalked it up to something getting caught in the impeller and causing a temporary temperature spike. I did the check the oil and it was good.

The following week, I took it out for a few hours just to make sure it ran well and I didn't have any issues. I drove it around a good but but largely kept it under 35MPH (tops out about 52 MPH). I had no issues at all.

I took it back out for the 4th of July weekend several times and several more times the following week. I didn't get it going too fast because it was so choppy (crowded) that i couldn't but did run the boat a good bit. We did put some strain on it tubing and knee boarding so it wasn't like we babied it. At the end of the week I took the boat back to the marina. I ran it hard with the exhaust on for about 15 minutes (just like the last time) and as soon as I stopped in the No Wake Zone (almost the exact same place) it started beeping again. This time I checked the temperature immediately, no issue. It was below 160. I didn't see oil pressure issues or other obvious indicators on the gauges. I did do a visual inspection of the engine compartment. The oil filter did seem pretty hot, but honestly can't tell you if it is more than usual.

The dealership didn't have any obvious feedback and said as long as the boat wasn't automatically reducing the RPM's, it's probably not super serious. I know the best way to resolve is to have them check the ECM for codes, but they are several weeks out being in the middle of summer and I'd have to drag the boat out of the water and trailer it. I'm pretty good with cars so I figured I could isolate and resolve most non critical issues.

Any suggestions on where to start troubleshooting? Anyone have a similar issue?

Is the computer hook up an OBDC2 like a car? Thought I might hook up and at least see what the code was. I'm willing to buy one if necessary as I'm sure it will come in handy.
 
Last edited:
It appears to me that without a scan there really isn't much you can do.... The obvious is the oil level and as the oil pickup is in the aft area of the oil pan the oil is sloshing forward and drying up the pickup causing a short term oil pressure alarm. But it could also be the IAC not setting an appropriate idle modulation when coming off throttle.... But, yet again, a host of other not so obvious things like an error in the TPS at idle position or......
 
It appears to me that without a scan there really isn't much you can do.... The obvious is the oil level and as the oil pickup is in the aft area of the oil pan the oil is sloshing forward and drying up the pickup causing a short term oil pressure alarm. But it could also be the IAC not setting an appropriate idle modulation when coming off throttle.... But, yet again, a host of other not so obvious things like an error in the TPS at idle position or......

Thank you for the response. Do you know of any scanners that would work with a boat to check codes? It's unlikely that I can get in with the dealer any time soon.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
112,950
Messages
1,422,891
Members
60,933
Latest member
juliediane
Back
Top