Whistle and ping.

[roweac]

Hi, my 2003 SR 220 BR that I purchased this spring is so far running extremely well but I had it out last Sunday and I noticed a couple of things.

1.) There is a small area when I am throttling up forward in gear where I hear what sounds like a very high pitched whistle sound. It is not very loud and evidently I am the only one who can hear it. Sounds like a one of those dog whistles that you can hear. Once I continue pushing the throttle forward it completely disappears. Any thoughts?

2.) Running forward at high RPMs > 4000 but actually closer to 5000, I started hearing what sounded to me like a pinging sound from the back of the engine compartment. Not very load, and very subtle, but there, once again it seems I am the only one who hears it. I ran with it like that on and off for while (maybe put and hour and a half on the boat that day) and then I stopped the boat and reved it in nuetral and did not hear it, then after that I did not hear it again. Any Thoughts.

Another question, should I be running high octane in this thing? Everyone has said I should be fine with 89 but just curious.

The boat runs really well, planes up very quickly, will get to 45 to 50 MPH very quickly, and seems to have no power or other drive train related issues.

BTW I did have the dealer replace the U joints right after I fist got it because there was some vibration on extreme turns.

We are getting ready for our 4rth of July trip and I am trying to decide if I will take it in before or wait and see how it sounds during the trip when I will be running it much harder.

Any advice would be appreciated, and thanks in advance for helping what may be just an overly paranoid set of ears.

 

[Happy Hour IV]

A whistle could be a vacuum leak. As you load up the engine the vacuum drops so the whistle will go away.
Depending on the engine electronics/carb/fuel injection a vacuum leak can produce a lean condition.
A lean condition can cause engine pinging. This all fits with your description.

I would look for a vacuum leak.

 

[roweac]

A whistle could be a vacuum leak. As you load up the engine the vacuum drops so the whistle will go away.
Depending on the engine electronics/carb/fuel injection a vacuum leak can produce a lean condition.
A lean condition can cause engine pinging. This all fits with your description.

I would look for a vacuum leak.

It is a 5.0L Merc 260 HP Alpha I MPI, so no carb. Thanks, I will try to figure out how to see if there is a vacume leak.

 

[roweac]

Took it to my dealer and spoke with the service manager. He said the whistle is normal that it is air coming through the aspirator at high speed when the vacuum is at it strongest. He said the pinging is a result of running 89 octane and that I should put fuel treatment in the gas that is still in the tank and run high octane going forward and it will go away. He was very confident that nothing was wrong, and I actually appreciate him trying to save me the $150 in labor it would take to diagnose. I plan on doing as he said, and then if the pinging doesn't go away ill bring it back. For now I also willing to take his word that the whistle I hear is truly normal. He is the service manager and has something like 28 years working on these things. This is a new boat to me and im still learning all the sounds and feelings so like I said before it could easily be me and paranoid ears. Thanks for the advice and I will update this when I know more.

Thanks again

 

[dr.j]

Bang on, the service manager is correct! I have a 7.4 454 cu. in. MPI spinning a BIII leg and it whistles as it throttles up as well. As for fuel, I burn high test.

 

[roweac]

Yes, he seems to have been proven correct. Whistle appears to be exactly what he said, as it is always in the same place at the same time and does not change. Using the fuel treatment and running premium seems to have cleared up the pinging sound I heard.

Thanks everyone, I owned my 185 BR 4.3L for 8 years and then I went and traded it in for this 220BR 5.0L and I feel like a novice all over again.