1996 Merc 150 - Oil Alarm?

Hi,

I'm up on Lake of the Woods and would greatly appreciate an educated opinion on what is going on with my motor. This evening, I ran approximately 10 miles to a section of the lake, fished a spot for 30 minutes, then fired up the motor to move to the next spot. When I gave the motor some gas an alarm went off. It wasn't a constant beep, it just kept on beeping. I can't remember for sure whether this is the oil alarm or the engine heat alarm. So, my first question is which alarm this is.

Next, the motor is getting oil (as indicated by the usual smoke coming out of the engine), the oil reservoir on the engine is full (pulled off the cap and checked) and the main reservoir in a compartment of the boat has plenty of oil in it. The float under the cap of of the oil reservoir on the engine seems to move freely and there seems to be a good seal on the oil system because when I take the cap off the main oil reservoir in the compartment of the boat (as opposed to the one on the engine), it releases pressure.

After checking all this stuff and making sure the pee stream was good coming out of the motor we ran the boat 10 miles back to the resort without problem other than the annoying alarm going off the whole trip. I disconnected the power to the cap of the reservoir on the engine when I got back, fired up the engine again, and the alarm still went off.

Any idea as to what this might be? One guy I talked to said it was likely just a faulty sensor or a short of some kind. Sound possible?

I'm going to try and take the boat to a mechanic in the morning, but that is a pretty big chore and I'd really appreciate an educated opinion on what is going on with my motor as soon as possible.

Thanks in advance!

-Chris

Re: 1996 Merc 150 - Oil Alarm?

My 225 does the same thing when the tank under the cowling is not completly full---Hows the fishing??

Re: 1996 Merc 150 - Oil Alarm?

It is the oil alarm, and systematic troubleshooting for that system is in the book.

It is recommended that you mix oil with your fuel until you determine for sure what is causing the oil alarm. Double oil will maybe foul a spark plug. No oil will foul up your wallet big time.

Hope it helps
john

Re: 1996 Merc 150 - Oil Alarm?

Thought I'd get back to you folks...

Turns out I had water in the gas. Earlier in the day (approximately 25 miles worth of running around earlier) I noticed the gas cap was open on my boat. I have a 1996 Champion 191DC and the genius who designed the boat decided to put the gas cap way in the back so that anytime I come down off plane water gets splashed over it. Not sure how the gas cap ended up being open but it did.

Took the boat to a mechanic right away the next morning and told him what was going on and about the gas cap being open. The mechanic tells me the alarm may be tied into the fuel filter as well so we check that and sure as heck we pull the wire off and the alarm quits. Put it back on and the alarm goes off again. Pulled the plug out of the bottom of the filter and water gushes out. Ended up siphoning a couple gallons out of the tank and that took care of the problem.

Thanks for the responses fellas. The fishing was ok. 9 muskies up to 49 in 4.5 days...was hoping for more but it was Africa hot up there most of the days.