Yamaha 200 4 stroke noise issue

[Drewdaddy]

I have read several posts already that seem to maybe answer my question, but I would like some clarity. I recently purchased a 2005 Yamaha F200 4 stroke with 183 hours on the motor. Yesterday I did a full service on the motor from the oil and filter, to the fuel water seperator, fuel filter, lowerunit lube ect. After changing everything, i decided to start the motor up with the cowling off to check for leaks. When the motor idles, I can hear a loud tick on the back right side of the motor when I am standing behind it. This tick is only audible with the cowling is off. I heard some people say that this tick (which sounds like a valve) could be the fuel pump starving for fuel. Well I thought this makes sense, because I just changed the fuel filters. I pumped the primer bulb until there was plenty of fuel in the fuel bowl with the fuel filter before ever starting the motor. I still hear the ticking and I am a little concerned if its my valves or fuel pump??? I also seem to hear my fuel pump on my LEFT side of my motor, not my right side, which has me thinking it might not be my fuel pump. One other thing I feel I should mention, when I changed my fuel filter on the motor, there was a red plastic ring in the bottom of the clear fuel bowl just sitting on the bottom. I feel like it maybe doesnt belong there but I reinstalled everything the way I took it off. I also had a small air leak at the band clamp going into the fuel filter which I tightened very well BEFORE STARTING the motor. Sorry for the long post, but I feel all the details possible provide the best response. Thanks all who respond and hopefully you can help me figure out where to start with this noise. By the way, every part was bought from Yamaha except the fuel water seperator with was a napa gold filter. I have never had a 4 stroke so maybe this sound is normal, but I find it odd there is ticking from the right side of the motor and not the left if this was the case.

 

[multimech]

Re: Yamaha 200 4 stroke noise issue

Youve got two fuel pumps, if this is a fuel injected engine as I believe it is. The lift pump which will be on the back of the engine and the high speed pump for putting pressure in the rails. It is normal to hear the whirr of the high speed pump in the VST, I think that is the one you are hearing. If the engine is performing well, I don't believe fuel starvation of the lift pump is an issue. I also don't believe these engines have rocker arms that are adjustable, short of replacing the disc under the lifter, they are preset. Give us more info on this noise. The red plastic ring should be at the bottom of the filter. This is a float that will float on any water in the filter, it is a warning device.

 

[Drewdaddy]

Re: Yamaha 200 4 stroke noise issue

Youve got two fuel pumps, if this is a fuel injected engine as I believe it is. The lift pump which will be on the back of the engine and the high speed pump for putting pressure in the rails. It is normal to hear the whirr of the high speed pump in the VST, I think that is the one you are hearing. If the engine is performing well, I don't believe fuel starvation of the lift pump is an issue. I also don't believe these engines have rocker arms that are adjustable, short of replacing the disc under the lifter, they are preset. Give us more info on this noise. The red plastic ring should be at the bottom of the filter. This is a float that will float on any water in the filter, it is a warning device.

Thanks for the quick reply, yes this is a EFI engine yamaha F200TXRD. The noise sounds like a valve ticking "tick, tick, tick" not a knock. It sounds very similar to my chevy silverado when I first start it up before the oil kicks in and lubes everything. This tick however did not go away after idleing for a while, i did this since I just replaced the oil and thought it had not lubed everything yet. It it on the right side only in the back and it looks to be coming from what I would consider the valve cover. It is not a knock but a steady tick. I am unable to tell if it goes away with rpms because I can no longer hear it in the front of the boat at the shifter. You must have the cowling off and be standing behind the motor to hear it, but it doesnt sound normal to me. Again this is my first 4 stroke so I am not sure about the sound.

 

[Drewdaddy]

Re: Yamaha 200 4 stroke noise issue

I had time to tinker with the motor today and have some new information that hopefully will help someone give me some direction here. I have read several posts suggesting that this might be a fuel pump issue and they gave suggestions on how to determine if that might be the problem. I first started retracing all my previous steps, from checking to make sure the new fuel filters were tight, to checking all the fuel lines and band clamps that I could get to. I found no air leaks and tightened everything I could get my hands on. I then started the motor and pumped the primer bulb by hand while the engine was running. Someone said doing this might give the extra pressure to the pump that was needed if there was a restriction anywhere and that the ticking might stop, well it didn't. I checked the vent going to the gas tank and it was clear, I even cracked the fill spout to the gas tank in case there was a vacuum on the tank and the ticking still did not go away. After I let the motor idle for a while like this and scratching my head, the tick vanished while I was doing nothing. This is the first time in roughly 30 minutes of idling in the last few days that the tick randomly stopped. I then revved up the engine, only to have the tick reappear and increase as the RPMS increased. Once back to idle though, the tick vanished. I cut the engine off and pulled the back cover off the engine to be able to pinpoint the sound better and to pull my spark plugs to check for carbon build up. Someone also suggested that a plugged O2 sensor can cause this ticking, but does this 4 stroke have a O2 sensor??? After checking the plugs and finding only minimal carbon build up, I fired the engine up again and listened to pinpoint the tick. I can't find exactly where it is only that it is in the valve cover area where the spark plugs are on the back right of the engine. However once again the tick has vanished from idle and is only present when the RPMS increase or decrease. I should also add that I changed the oil and put the recommended 6 quarts in the engine, but according to the dipstick it is right at the high mark and maybe a fraction over. I read online where it was actually good to only have it 3/4 of the way up the dip stick. Do I need to drain some out, could this be causing a problem? Sorry for the long post, but I am nervous because I have a offshore trip lined up this weekend and it will be about a week and a half before I can take the boat to the dealer (if it even needs to be taken). Don't know if I should cancel my trip, of if I am just being paranoid over a tick that might be normal. If anyone has one of the engines and has or has not heard this tick, please let me know. Thanks to anyone who tries to help. The last thing I want is to be 20 miles offshore and have my engine blow or break down due to something that I could have potentially avoided.

I should also add that I purchased the Yamaha diagnostics software mainly to check engine hours and the occasional problem solving. I just got it and have had no time to properly read what all it will do. I did run diagnostics on the motor and it said that at 128 hours (engine has 183) that the oil sending unit and I believe the temp sending unit through a code. According to the previous owner this was all serviced last year. I see nothing throwing a code for the current hours. If the codes that were thrown at 128 hours were really fixed should I still be able to see them??? I don't see anywhere on the software to clear codes. I also ran diagnostics on the motor while it was running and the oil pressure for example read within the range it recommended. Just thought I would add this in case someone had a suggestion for me to try something with the software. Thanks for reading.

 

[robert graham]

Re: Yamaha 200 4 stroke noise issue

All outboards, 4 strokes included, make a variety of noises(especially with the cowls off). Wife and I were launching the boat one day(Yamaha 90C), and I said, "what's that noise?".... wife said the noise was "paranoia rattling inside my head, so let's go on down the river now!"....She was right, and there's never been anything wrong with the motor!...lesson learned! Hopefully your's is a similar "problem".