200 HP Yamaha oil pump problem! Need HELP!!!

captrich

Cadet
Joined
Jul 2, 2002
Messages
9
Hello,<br /><br />I have a problem with my Yamaha outboards and I am desperate for some help. My boat has been laid up for over three months and my mechanic just called this morning to inform me that he has given up on trying to fix the problem.<br /><br />I have twin 200 hp, 1992, counter rotating, oil injected outboards. One of the engines does not fill the engine oil tank automatically. It does fills off of the emergency switch. <br /><br />They have replaced electrical harnesses, interchanged the black boxes, and level sensors. They say everything checks out OK but it just doesn’t work!<br /><br />Can you give me anything that I might check? I am a fair troubleshooter myself and could find my way around the problem if I knew where to start. My guess is it is something simple that they just over looked. Any help would be appreciated.<br /><br />Thanks!
 

clanton

Rear Admiral
Joined
Jul 9, 2001
Messages
4,876
Re: 200 HP Yamaha oil pump problem! Need HELP!!!

I dont work on yamaha, so my opinon dont mean much. I think the remote tank has an electric pump to move the oil to the tank on the engine, a service manual with wireing diaphram should show the power supply and control for the pump, may be from power pack or computer on engine.
 

captrich

Cadet
Joined
Jul 2, 2002
Messages
9
Re: 200 HP Yamaha oil pump problem! Need HELP!!!

Thanks for the information. I will follow up on some of the suggestions this weekend. Let me also give you some more details as to the problem and what has already been checked out.<br /><br />Three months ago the boat was taken to the yard for three problems:<br />1. The oil problem<br />2. A problem with the alarms that would sound as soon as the battery power was turn on at the selector switch. This was resolved by replacing the wiring harness on the engine because of a bad connector. It was shorted across two lugs. Before the engine harness was replaced, the front harness from the key switch to the engine was replaced. <br />3. The engine trim indicator didn’t work on one engine. Now after the mechanics work, neither work! Minor problem but just for info.<br /><br />To try identifying and solving the oil problem a number of things were done. Such as:<br />1. The float switch was taken off the bad engine and put on the good one and the good engine still functioned OK.<br />2. The “black box” the computer brain was interchanged from bad engine to good engine and the good engine again functioned OK. <br /><br />Conclusion: no problem with the float switch or the black box?<br /><br />Also the emergency switch will fill the tank on the bad engine; conclusion, the pump pumps oil?<br /><br />Any thoughts or more info that you might want?<br /><br />I will stay in touch.<br /><br />Thanks again!
 

captrich

Cadet
Joined
Jul 2, 2002
Messages
9
Re: 200 HP Yamaha oil pump problem! Need HELP!!!

OK guys,<br /><br />I just spent about six hours finding out some more information on the problem. I would like to spend another six telling you how bad Yamaha’s are wired. (Hundreds of splices hidden under electrical tape, a number of wires that go in one color and never come out only to find after removing the tape that they too were spliced onto a different color wires and comes out two ways.) But live and learn!<br /><br />It is some more info:<br /><br />- Each engine has a separate black box.<br />- There is a trim safeguard of 30+ degrees.<br />- Numerous rats nest were corrected so that I could follow the wires.<br />- The wire harness to the problem tank has over ten feet of slack.<br />- Grounding the blue/white wire on the engine tank sensor had no effect.<br />- Measuring voltage at the plug going to the remote oil tank with the main switch on produced:<br />o 11 volts Blk/Red<br />o 0 volts Blk<br />o 13 volts Brn<br />o 0 volts Blue<br />o (these readings were the same on BOTH engines)<br /><br />- Following these wires and tracing out others lead to the following discovery:<br />o The Blk/Red wire is spliced to a Green/Blk wire that goes to 1. the black box and 2. a harness that feeds the “Digital tack / oil warning system / trim meter”<br />o Checking the voltage with coming from the boat / control end showed:<br />§ Grn/Blk (formally Blk/Red) = 4 volts<br />§ Grn/Red = 4 volts<br />§ Y/R & Yellow = 0 volts<br /><br />Conclusions / questions?<br />- Back feed from tach oil warning and trim meter wiring.<br />- Could the fact that the trim meters don’t work have some effect on the oil pump problem.<br />- Engine tank sensor is OK based on the fact that by swapping them between engines they showed good. <br />- FYI, the oil warning alarms do work. <br />- FYI, I have my hands on an official Yamaha manual, for what it is worth. I don’t have all the special test equipment that they call for to run some of the test however.<br />- I will keep checking and welcome any guidance.<br />- Is there a way to put in a manual switch to force the pump to work with out using the emergency switch or stopping the engine and pouring oil into the engine tank by hand? I would use this as a temporary fix till I solved the mystery.
 

seahorse5

Rear Admiral
Joined
Jan 24, 2002
Messages
4,698
Re: 200 HP Yamaha oil pump problem! Need HELP!!!

Does your motor have the separate black box controller or is the emergency switch on the "brain box" on the back of the motor? If it's on the brain box, your tilt and trim sender has to be operational to tell the brain box that the motor is not tilted up.<br /><br />If it is the small black box, make sure it is not mounted upside down as there is a mercury switch inside of it to tell if the motor is tilted over 30 degrees.<br /><br />Make sure to check that the black wire going to the oil tank sensor has a good ground and that there is no wiring harness problems<br /><br />If you hit the emergency switch and the pump operates, then the pump and the wiring from the controller to the pump is OK. If you ground the engine harness blue/white wire and the pump does NOT work, then the ground wire is not grounded and/or the wiring to the controller is not correct or there is no voltage to the tank sender.<br /><br />I have heard stories of the wrong harnesses installed as they look identical but the trim sending wiring was different on a later one and that would affect the oil transfer system.
 

captrich

Cadet
Joined
Jul 2, 2002
Messages
9
Re: 200 HP Yamaha oil pump problem! Need HELP!!!

I want to first “Thank” all those that helped cheer me on and assisted me in solving this problem. If you all will drop me a line at my e-mail address, I would like to thank you individually plus stay in touch. captrich@wt.net<br /><br />The final resolution of the oil pump problem was linked to the motor trim. There was a bad sending unit on the problem engine. It is an electrical-mechanical switch, located under the mainframe bracket that attaches to the transom. I discovered it by disconnecting the wires and checking for resistance. It showed nothing, thus the brain was being told that the engine was tipped up more than 30 degrees. The safety circuit as mentioned above will not let the pump work if the motor is tipped. By replacing it that problem was solved. <br /><br />Now I have only one other item to track down and that is the fact that the main engine gauge is not working. (Speed, trip, time, fuel) I believe that the mechanic who worked on the problem originally has some wires misconnected. That will be this week’s trouble shooting project.<br /><br />Thanks again to all.<br /><br />Capt Rich
 
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