2001 Mercury 175 EFI, LOW POWER AFTER OVERHEAT ALARM ?

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone can help me? I own a Mercury 175 EFI, at the end of last season, I experienced an overheat alarm
after sucking up some sand in the motor I believe? After flushing out the motor (nothing was found), and checking the compression (all at 120 psi, except one at 115 psi) now the boat has low power and is hard to get my boat on plane, and doesn't have the top end speed it used to have? I am wondering if it is possible and capable of setting a code, causing it to go into a "limp" or reduced power mode? and if so, how to clear it? Any help would be greatly appreciated !

Re: 2001 Mercury 175 EFI, LOW POWER AFTER OVERHEAT ALARM ?

Over heat condition could have damaged a sensor. Overheat sensor is around 195F. That's not all that hot. Course what did you do after it came on. If you continued on your way the actual internal temp of the engine could have continued to climb.

But, you said you found nothing in the engine flush which could mean that you had a sensor malfunction and weren't operating OT at all, or you could have had a switchbox/computer control module/ whatever governs performance malfunction indicating that you were OT and weren't and that same box could have other failings.

I think you need go walk through the process the last time you were out and make that information available so the someone in the know can make an intelligent decision for you.

HTH,
Mark

Re: 2001 Mercury 175 EFI, LOW POWER AFTER OVERHEAT ALARM ?

Remove the spark plugs, turn the flywheel by hand, use a penlight and inspect the piston tops, what color are they, and do any of them look blistered or have pock marks on them like a bad case of acne scars?