Stumped on alarms

[JJ Cano]

I have a 04 Maxum 2500 se sport. I keep getting 2 beeps about 5 minutes apart (any rpm). Water temp is 175 and good oil psi. I can’t find an engine manual so if someone has a link to that it would definitely help me. I’m hoping someone can guide me in the right direction. Right now I feel like I’m on ghost hunters.

[mmwjr]

Welcome aboard

Under Documents of this site there are Mercruiser manuals and you should be able to find the one for you engine. The computer may have the fault stored in its log so if you have a mechanic have him scan for fault codes.

[Phillbo]

Outdrive lube level ok?

[JJ Cano]

I read some forums and when I get home today that’s the first thing I’m gonna check.

[Captncooln]

Did you get anywhere with this? I have same problem. 2 beeps every couple of minutes. Had a guy hook computer up to boat computer and there were no error codes. Leaning towards the ECM is getting glitchy.

[JJ Cano]

Nope! Dropped the boat off yesterday to get put on a computer. It acts like it’s in limp mode and starving for fuel. It won’t go over 3600 rpm and should be 4800 to 5000. 2 weeks prior the dry impeller went out and I had a new one put on. I’m hoping that when the heat temp went off it threw it into limp mode. Hopefully I’ll find out soon.

[Captncooln]

Yours sounds worse than mine. Mine runs fine, for the most part. Like I said the computer hookup didn’t find any errors but the readings were a bit wonky at first. But once he reset everything all the numbers checked out. I can actually get the alarm to go off if I shut it off and restart it a few times. 3rd time is usually the charm. So it’s almost like the computer just is glitching or something.
I also have an issue restarting the boat after running it at operating temp. Like if I take it out and go get gas, it won’t restart after fueling. Same if we drop anchor for a bit. Have to put throttle in neutral and “floor it” to get it to turn over. I’ve been every road with that one. Not a “vapor lock” or fuel sensor... This also why some people think it’s time for a new computer. We’ll see.

[JJ Cano]

I don’t have any starting problems and it runs fine just won’t go over 3500 rpm and that dam alarm. As far as your boat try turning the key on a few times to see if it starts better. It could be a weak fuel pump. Is it mpi? Mine is.

[Captncooln]

Yes, I’ve got an MPI.
I just hung up with mercruiser. They’re super helpful by the way. I call them all the time. You might want to call and get an opinion. *(920) 929-5040‬ Have your engine serial # ready.
He basically said don’t buy a computer. They rarely need to be replaced. He also said don’t reprogram them. He told me a mercruiser certified guy needs to get his computer on there with the right software and “delete” that alarm once it’s ruled out that it’s nothing. Otherwise it’ll never go away. He also doubts my restart issue is computer related. The last guy I had there with a computer wasn’t mercruiser certified. But the guy I’m having look at it next is. I’ll update you.
I was thinking about your RPM. I rarely have my boat over 3700. That said, mine could go higher if I wanted. Sounds like yours won’t. I’ve got 2900 scr with only one engine. It often depends how many people are on board and how many beers they brought! But using the trim tabs I can get her on a plane at around 3500. Anyway... I’ll be playing the tunes loud this weekend to hide that alarm

[mmwjr]

Originally Posted by Captncooln

Yours sounds worse than mine. Mine runs fine, for the most part. Like I said the computer hookup didn’t find any errors but the readings were a bit wonky at first. But once he reset everything all the numbers checked out. I can actually get the alarm to go off if I shut it off and restart it a few times. 3rd time is usually the charm. So it’s almost like the computer just is glitching or something.
I also have an issue restarting the boat after running it at operating temp. Like if I take it out and go get gas, it won’t restart after fueling. Same if we drop anchor for a bit. Have to put throttle in neutral and “floor it” to get it to turn over. I’ve been every road with that one. Not a “vapor lock” or fuel sensor... This also why some people think it’s time for a new computer. We’ll see.

When you’re having this problem does the engine not crank or crank but not start?

[Captncooln]

Originally Posted by mmwjr

When you’re having this problem does the engine not crank or crank but not start?

It cranks but won’t fire up. It’s like a flooded car. Have to put in full throttle it in neutral to get it to eventually start then quickly yank it back when it does

[mmwjr]

Originally Posted by Captncooln

It cranks but won’t fire up. It’s like a flooded car. Have to put in full throttle it in neutral to get it to eventually start then quickly yank it back when it does

But no issues when cold? Cold idle issues are typically the IAC. In your case it sounds like a flooded engine which is rare for MPI. Leaky injectors?

[Captncooln]

Originally Posted by mmwjr

But no issues when cold? Cold idle issues are typically the IAC. In your case it sounds like a flooded engine which is rare for MPI. Leaky injectors?

It starts on a dime when cold. No issues. Leaky injectors are high on the list. I had them cleaned at one point and it seemed to help a little. Problem is new ones are $250 a pop and there’s 8 of them. I suppose we could remove them after the issue occurs and look for leaky ones but it takes a while to get them off and might be hard to pin point which one(s) are leaky. Thanks for chiming in

[Phillbo]

Originally Posted by Captncooln

It cranks but won’t fire up. It’s like a flooded car. Have to put in full throttle it in neutral to get it to eventually start then quickly yank it back when it does

I had a boat that did that. 6.2L Merc. I never did find the issue. Just got use to starting it that way when warm.

I think I remember reading that when you advance the throttle to full the ECM cuts off the air flow. May be a weak fuel pump???? Like I said, we never figured it out.

[Captncooln]

Originally Posted by Phillbo

I had a boat that did that. 6.2L Merc. I never did find the issue. Just got use to starting it that way when warm.

I think I remember reading that when you advance the throttle to full the ECM cuts off the air flow. May be a weak fuel pump???? Like I said, we never figured it out.

Wow. I’ve stumped several mechanics as well. I’ve also got a merc 6.2. Good bit of info tho, thx. Sorry JJ for hijacking your thread! I’ll let you know if I get the alarm resolved. Cheers fellas

[JJ Cano]

Well, the shop was a bust! They couldn’t read it with the computer because the alarm didn’t go off. I told them they had to go over 3000rpm for it to go off but their pit won’t allow them to go that hi. So that pretty much screwed me. However, they did say they could come out to the lake next time we go and check the PC codes. I’ll update when that happens. Dam this is frustrating.

[Captncooln]

Originally Posted by JJ Cano

Well, the shop was a bust! They couldn’t read it with the computer because the alarm didn’t go off. I told them they had to go over 3000rpm for it to go off but their pit won’t allow them to go that hi. So that pretty much screwed me. However, they did say they could come out to the lake next time we go and check the PC codes. I’ll update when that happens. Dam this is frustrating.

Bummer. Were they mercruiser certified? The guy on the phone at mercury said if they are they should be able to see a log of the last 20 hrs where all codes that came up should be visible. I’m sure there are different levels of exactly how certified some mechanics are

[JJ Cano]

They are supposed to be. Maybe I’ll call Mercruiser to be certain.

[JJ Cano]

Just got the boat back from a certified MerCruiser dealer. They said the idle speed control motor was sticking and no alarms were stored but that was what was causing the beep. I’ll be taking it out this weekend to see and I’ll let you know.

[Phillbo]

The IAC ?