97 Merc XR6 150 Low Oil Excessive Heat Light and warning sound

Hey guys! I'm gonna thank you all in advance, in the past I've always gotten straight forward and accurate information here. I've yet to be able to contribute so once again thanks.

as i stated in the title my horn and light are activated when my engine is over idle speed. I can get on pad and go a short distance and it will kick on, other times it would kick on at 2k- 3k RPM. After limping back in to the dock without the sensor or light coming on it kicked on again at 1400 rpm. I've got water pressure and a good stream but it does not seem to be cooling. Got oil in the reservoir on the motor head and in the oil tank. Any ideas? water pump imp.?

Cody Smith

Re: 97 Merc XR6 150 Low Oil Excessive Heat Light and warning sound

beeping blinking light, or solid tone/light?

One's oil, and one's temp.

John

Re: 97 Merc XR6 150 Low Oil Excessive Heat Light and warning sound

beeping blinking light and tone

Re: 97 Merc XR6 150 Low Oil Excessive Heat Light and warning sound

Trout Troller said:

beeping blinking light and tone

Click to expand...

That's the oil alert signal. It could be caused by:
1. Oil level not completely full in the reserve tank on the motor.
2. Faulty switch on the reserve tank. (usually a solid fault)
3. Oil pump not always turning, signal from oil pump motion sensor missing. (usually caused by a stripped plastic worm gear on the crank that drives the oil pump)
4. Oil pump motion sensor faulty.
5. Compare signal missing from the ignition. Would be accompanied by a miss.
6. Low battery voltage can make the oil alert module flakey.

Mix oil at 50:1 with the fuel in the main tank till you figure it out. Too much oil might foul a plug. Not enough will foul up your finances for awhile.

If it turns out to be major, for instance a stripped gear, then the economical solution is to remove the auto oiler system (using a block off kit) and premix from then on.

hope it helps
John

Re: 97 Merc XR6 150 Low Oil Excessive Heat Light and warning sound

I had the same problem. The water pump in the 135 and 150 Optimax have to be changed every year. I changed mine and fixed the problem. It runs great.


Larry

Re: 97 Merc XR6 150 Low Oil Excessive Heat Light and warning sound

thank you guys for the help, I changed my impellar and topped off my reservoir tank and she runs like a brand new motor. No problems at all and was back on the water thursday. Once again Thanks for the help!

Re: 97 Merc XR6 150 Low Oil Excessive Heat Light and warning sound

Trout Troller said:

thank you guys for the help, I changed my impellar and topped off my reservoir tank and she runs like a brand new motor. No problems at all and was back on the water thursday. Once again Thanks for the help!

Click to expand...

Problem was the low oil in the reservoir. Now the question is why. It gets low because it can't get there from the boat tank. Usual fault is a loose cap on the boat tank. Second in line is something (battery) sitting on top of the oil hoses. There's a check valve and the hoses themselves could be at fault.

If the alarm goes off, and you look under the cowl and the reservoir is going down, you can run it till it's empty (1/2 hour at WOT) or the horn drives you nuts, whichever occurrs first. At least you can get home without damage.

hope it helps
John