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zelatore
05-31-2009, 08:12 PM
What issues can trigger the under dash beeper? I'm thinking low oil pressure, high temp, and maybe low drive oil. Anything else?

After sticking the engine back in my boat, the darn thing keeps beeping at me. It's a slow beep, like 1 second on, 2 or 3 seconds off, repeat.

Oil pressure and temp are in check on the gauges, and the reservoir is full, so I'm thinking I've made a mistake with wiring. The 24-dollar question is - where to look?

MOP
05-31-2009, 08:25 PM
Well I would start by removing the temp and then oil wires from the alarm sensors one at a time. That will or should break the circuit, could be a few things. Bad sender, miss connection, bad wire grounding some place. The senders ground by default, so when disconnected they should shut up if not go over your connections and look over wiring the best you can.

MOP
05-31-2009, 08:33 PM
Did you by chance cross connect sender and warning terminals at the block? They are close together!

zelatore
05-31-2009, 09:10 PM
Thanks MOP - I'll be checking that ASAP.

If nothing else, good to know they activate by grounding, so I should be able to isolate it pretty quickly by pulling wires.

Is it just temp and oil that activate the beeper then?

BUIZILLA
05-31-2009, 09:12 PM
I think Jamie had the same issue with some Dana manifolds, alarms, and one side running hot...

undertaker
06-01-2009, 08:23 AM
I think Jamie had the same issue with some Dana manifolds, alarms, and one side running hot...


Yes, this was on my boat when the Dana manifolds were installed, but I only got the alarm when I was running full throttle, same sounding alarm though, Jaime found out that one side was running hot (forget which side:bonk:) he then rigged a nice adjusting valve (for lack of a better term) and solved the problem, have not had an issue since....

Good luck it could be many things....sensors, wiring, etc...

zelatore
06-01-2009, 11:55 AM
OK, this is just crazy. I'm this close to disconnecting the stupid beeper and spashing the boat anyway. I've already taken a personal day today because I just can't stand to leave the project when I'm so close!

I've looked over everything I can find and haven't figured it out.

* Pulled the one-wire temp sender from the thermostat housing and grounded - gauge goes full scale.

* Pulled the oil pressure sender (port side of block, low) and grounded. Gauge goes full scale (and actually stuck the needle on one of the gauge face screws until I pulled it out and gave it a nice rap to free the needle)

*Pulled the reservoir sensor wires - measured an open between them as expected with oil in the bottle.

I've also got the 2-wire temp sensor in the thermostat housing, but that shouldn't trigger the alarm, should it? I can't just ground that since it's a different kind of sensor.

And I've got what I figured was an oil pressure alarm sender in the block just above the starter, stb side. I pulled that wire but it didn't stop the alarm. I'm wondering exactly what that sender is - maybe not oil; maybe knock?

So it looks like I haven't actually found the alarm senders....I've got the gauge senders and the other water sender for the ECU, but those are all I see.

If I don't find it in the next couple hours, I'm disconnecting that sucker and going to the ramp. I trust my gauges more than an alarm anyway.

MOP
06-01-2009, 12:07 PM
Pull the two wire one off the temp alarm see what happens, the oil pressure alarm sender on most is at the very back top side of the block starboard side of the distributor. Not sure what you are seeing by the starter, maybe the knock sensor.

undertaker
06-01-2009, 12:57 PM
Could have a bad sensor too.......maybe....what do I know Jaime does all my work anyway....:bonk:

zelatore
06-01-2009, 01:34 PM
Pull the two wire one off the temp alarm see what happens, the oil pressure alarm sender on most is at the very back top side of the block starboard side of the distributor. Not sure what you are seeing by the starter, maybe the knock sensor.

Tried pulling the two-wire sensor on the thermostat, but didn't stop the beeper.


Could have a bad sensor too.......maybe....what do I know Jaime does all my work anyway....:bonk:

Could be a bad sensor I suppose, but if it's supposed to ground out to trigger the alarm I would have guessed that disconnecting it would have stopped the alarm. ugh...If Jamie was closer I just might drop it by his place!

MOP, I can't see squat around the back of the motor. It's a mass of wires and hoses back there. I can't see any sort of sender in the back of the block or heads, but that doesn't mean it's not there, just that I can't find it.

I went through the pics I took while pulling the motor out but of course I don't have any really good ones of the back of the motor. Here are two that are the best I've got. The first one shows the sensor I referred to earlier near the starter. I think you're right-maybe knock sensor. It's an odd looking thing.

The next one is the best shot of the back of the motor I could come up with. Can't seem to find anything in the shot that would be it though.

VetteLT193
06-01-2009, 01:35 PM
I did a quick goole on the Merc beeping.

a constant beep is what you get for overheat, low oil PSI, low drive oil, low sea pump PSI, and engine overspeed.

2 beeps every 60 seconds (sounds like what you have) is from faulty cam, IAC, MAP, MAT, and knock sensors. An electrical open or short circuit in the engine cooling temp circuit, fuel injector wiring circuit, oil PSI circuit, exhaust manifold cooling temp circuit, sea pump circuit or throttle position circuit will also generate a 2 beep/minute alarm. There are other causes as well.

Hope that helps? I'd guess IAC based on the mods you did, unless it goes away when you run it up to 1500 or so RPM.

VetteLT193
06-01-2009, 01:39 PM
the picture on the left, with the red circle, is circling the knock sensor.

zelatore
06-01-2009, 04:08 PM
doh! I never thought of googling the beep codes. I didn't know it was 'smart' enough to give different codes. I'll bust out the google shortly...

DonziJon
06-01-2009, 07:05 PM
I'm just wondering what all this SENSOR Crap has ever done for the Community. In the OLD DAYS...You got Oil Pressure..the Temp is OK, the motor runs fine........... What more do you need?

WTF do we need all this "Check Engine Light Crap" for...??.

Forum Members: In YOUR Personal Experience...............Has any of this Nanny Crap actually ever SAVED you Anything..??. Just wondering...in my stupor... :bonk: :bonk: John

MOP
06-01-2009, 08:07 PM
I am sitting here laughing!!! These new engines have so much Krap on them you need a book, at least I guessed the knock sensor right. Merc School Anyone!!!!!

yeller
06-01-2009, 09:45 PM
I'm just wondering what all this SENSOR Crap has ever done for the Community. In the OLD DAYS...You got Oil Pressure..the Temp is OK, the motor runs fine........... What more do you need?
WTF do we need all this "Check Engine Light Crap" for...??.
Forum Members: In YOUR Personal Experience...............Has any of this Nanny Crap actually ever SAVED you Anything..??. Just wondering...in my stupor... :bonk: :bonk: JohnYep, it's saved my engine twice by setting the alarm and cutting power. I love the Smartcraft system on mine. :yes:

I admit, I certainly wouldn't want to troubleshoot it though.

SilverBack
06-01-2009, 11:15 PM
Don ...are you running a 2 bar MAP sensor? Are you running a MEFI computer? There are some settings that tell the computer what to look for. You may want to call Mark Boos and ask him if you have changed any sensors on your engine. David Wade had my sensor going crazy and Mark had to fix it by going into the computer and setting up the right sensors.

zelatore
06-02-2009, 08:50 PM
This afternoon I bailed out of the office early. On my way home, I went by our other office and just happened to snag our old Rinda scan-tool. HA HA you stupid beeper! I'll get the last laugh now!

Or not.

I had a bunch of fault codes stored, likely because I had been unplugging sensors at random trying to find what was causing the beeper. After clearing those, I showed two faults.

Code 14 (active) - coolant sensor voltage high (too cold)
OK, that's to be expected since I just started it on the hose for testing and it's not going to get up to temp without a thermostat.

and
'General Warning #2 Telltale indicator'
oh great. What the heck is that?

FWIW, here are the possible trouble codes I should be able to see on a MEFI 3 engine:

Code - Description
13 Oxygen Sensor 1 or 2 Malfunction
14 Coolant Sensor Voltage High (cold)
15 Coolant Sensor Voltage Low(hot)
21 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage High
21 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage Skewed High
22 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage Low
23 Manifold Air Temperature Sensor High (cold)
24 Speed Sensor Inactive (if installed)
25 Manifold Air Temperature Sensor Low (hot)
31 Governor Not Tracking
32 EGR Valve Not Tracking
33 Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor High
34 Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor Low
41 Electronic Spark Timing Open Circuit
42 Electronic Spark Timing Grounded Circuit
43 Electronic Spark Control Detects Continuous Knock
44 Knock Sensor 1 or 2 Inactive
51 Calibration Checksum Error
54 Oxygen Sensor 1 or 2 Lean
55 Oxygen Sensor 1 or 2 Rich
61 Fuel Pressure Sensor High
62 Fuel Pressure Sensor Low
63 Fuel Temperature High
64 Fuel Temperature Low
81 See Scan Tool*
* Scan tool will display specific details on the type of Code 81 that is
set. Code 81 is associated with a variety of system faults

So I'm going to assume all the above are OK. That leaves me with good old 'general warning #2', of which I can find no reference on-line.

Right about now I'm so wishing we were Merc dealers...

VetteLT193
06-02-2009, 10:13 PM
manifold pressure high sets a code? seems like that might be a bit off from factory :nilly:

zelatore
06-02-2009, 10:19 PM
Unfortunately, I didn't actually set any of those codes except #14. I double checked the sender there and found I hadn't fully seated it. Fixed that and now I'm left with just the 'general warning #2'.

I wouldn't think a MEFI 3 would have many other inputs to trigger an alarm! It's not that advanced of a system!
:nilly::nilly::nilly: