oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

[danjellum]

Rodbolt I have read almost all your replies to alarm issues. I have a 1995 Yamaha 150 hp TXRT Saltwater Series engine on my Grady White. It has run flawlessly since I bought it in 1998 until two years ago. At that time the alarm started buzzing when I went over a wave or exceeded 3700 ? 3800 rpms for 15 minutes or so. The alarm was a solid (rather than intermittent) buzz and all three oil indicators flash (green, yellow and red) followed by reduction in rpms. I would power down to 1500 rpms or so and the alarm would stop and I could run again for a while. After replacing the oil sensor unit in the engine mounted tank, checking the heat sensors, etc. to no avail, I took the boat to an authorized dealer and they ultimately determined there was corrosion in ?the harness? which they cleaned. The engine ran great until a few weeks ago then the problem started again. I have checked all harness connectors and only found corrosion in the black lead coming from the remote oil sensor. (There are 4 wires coming from the sensor: black, white on blue, green on blue and red on blue (which is spliced and two red on blue wires go into the connector but only one comes out the other side of the connector)). I cleaned it, then spliced it (ultimately soldering the connection) but still have the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[danjellum]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

Does anyone know whether the ground wire coming from the oil sensor is supposed to be shiny copper under the insulation? Mine looks like it has black varnish on the strands. Second question is whether the wiring bundle coming out of the CDI going to the oil sensor plugs in and can be replaced as a bundle? Thanks

 

[rodbolt]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

ok
first we gotta get on the same page.
there are NO sensors used in the oil system.
they are switches,either on or off.
second the remote tank wires are blue,brown black/red and black.
the wires you described above are for the engine tank switch.
back up,lets not splatter gun this.
will the oil transfer manually with the emergency switch with the key on and the engine off ?
your first problem is more indicative if a clogged filter at the remote tank.

 

[danjellum]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

ok, thankyou. I mistakenly referred to the Oil Level Guage Assembly as the oil sensor. Second, yes the remote tank wires are blue, brown, black/red and black. Finally, yes oil does transfer manually with the emergency switch with the key on and the engine off. Also, every time I have looked the engine tank is full of oil.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

ok, no level sensor nothing but switches. they are either closed or open one or the other.
on the engine tankblue/white float all the way up is grounded to tell the ECU to turn off the transfer pump, float midway blue/green is grounded telling the ECU to turn on the transfer pump.
if the float goes all the way down blue/red is grounded telling the ECU to sound the audible,sets the visual and goes into RPM reduction.
the switch in the remote,if its closed you get a green lamp or the far right bar indicating there is enough oil for at least one more transfer automatically.
if the switch opens due to low level or a wire breaks the ECU dissallows automatic transfer and the yellow lamp or the middle bar lights.
if the engine oil tank is low yet the remote is ok you get 3 bars flashing because this cannot happen .
usually this is due to a restricted filter that allows the engine to consume oil slightly faster at high speed then the pump can transfer it.

 

[danjellum]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

ok, I understand what you are telling me. How fast should the engine tank fill when I activate the manual oil transfer switch? One of the experiments I tried last week was to run the boat in the river with the engine oil level gauge assembly disconnected for a few minutes. When I stopped after about five minutes and removed the cowling, whoa what a mess, the engine tank had overflowed and there was oil everywhere. Does the fill rate have anything to do with rpm's?

 

[rodbolt]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

I cant help unless you talk about stuff the engine actually has, an oil level guage aint one of them.
I asm trying very paitiently to explain to you how the system works but if you refuse to discuss things the motor has none of us can help.
the oil transfer is so incredibly simple its not funny.
however you must understand there are several things going on at once.
the engine oil tank should be able to refill from empty in 180 seconds or less.
if it cannot either there is a restriction or low pump voltage.
both are simple to find.
but ya gotta quit with this non existent guage thingy
the engine oil tank switches simply turn the pump on,off or alert the operator to low engine tank level via RPM reduction,audible and visual alarms.
the remote tank switch has 2 functions, one is to alert the operator either there is enough for an automatic transfer or not.
the second, if not, the yellow lamp is lit and automatic transfer is prohibited by the control module in the ECU.on 2.6L V6 motors from 90-95 the trim sender must be below the tilt level or auto transfer is prohibited.
does your trim guage work?

 

[danjellum]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

Yes, the trim gauge does work.

Yesterday I looked for an oil strainer which I thought was in oil line from the remote tank and could not find one. Only thing in oil line is a nipple 3 inches from remote tank which I inspected and is clear.

 

[danjellum]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

The trim gauge also works during the alarm condition.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

by being able to transfer manually it says the pump 12v supply is ok and the pump is capeable of working.
by the trim sender working it tells me that circuit is ok.
now you need to unplug the engine oil tank, with the key on engine off jump the brown wire,possibly blue/green, to the black pump should run, to turn the pump off move the jumper to the white or blue/white,pump should turn off.
the filter is located on the remote tank at the bottom between the tank nipple and the pump. tank removal is required to access it.

 

[danjellum]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

With key on and engine off I jumpered black and brown. Pump did not immediately turn on but when I reconnected connector pump turned on so it must take a moment before it turns on. Engine tank was visibly filling. Disconnected connector and jumped black to blue reconnected connector and pump stopped.

Started to remove remote tank and too much oil came out of hose so looking for stopper for nipple before continuing.

 

[danjellum]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

Checked oil strainer in oil line in back of remote tank. Gently blew out wth compressed air, seems clear but could certainly tell there was some type of filter or strainer there. Any reason that couldn't be moved to location more accessible? Will try to test tomorrow, but plan to buy a new one and a spare next time I go to town.

 

[danjellum]

Re: oil alarms, Rodbolt please help

Temporarily replaced oil strainer with nipple and ran for a few days while waiting for the replacement oil strainer. Ran ok for 2 days at plus 3700 rpms. Installed the new oil strainer and ran the boat yesterday. After a few minutes got the three alarm warning at 3600 rpms. Happened several times. Removed some of the tie wraps on oil line and plan to test tomorrow. If still problem will check lines from tank to strainer and from strainer to engine mounted tank.