2000 Optimax 225 WARNING LIGHTS

[tunnelgas]

I will start with the quick background...My father-in-law owns a 2000 year model Mercury Optimax 225 on a Triton TR21. The last time the boat was used over the winter when I took the boat to Dale Hollow smallmouth fishing. He and I usually fish together and in February I was transferred to Dallas, TX (he lives in Middle Tennessee). So...the boat has been on the trailer until yesterday (8 months +/-) when we put it in the water. It ran great but the check engine light came on after about 15 minutes of running. No buzzers, no rpm confinement.

We brought it back to the dock and checked the books (and a quick internet search) but nothing addressed the combination of the light and no buzzer. We fired it back up this morning and the oil light came on. Again, no buzzer and no rpm confinement.

The aux. oil tank is full as is the one on the engine. I have checked various forums for some previous posts but nothing exactly like what we are experiencing. As I mentioned, the boat runs GREAT...just like it always has - no hesitation, pulls right out of the water, no buzzers, no rpm confinement ... just warning lights.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
Steve
Gallatin, TN

 

[sxmerc]

Re: 2000 Optimax 225 WARNING LIGHTS

Typically a check engine light with no alarm is a sensor failure, or out of spec. Very common on these motors to show a TPS code after sitting for awhile. A small amount of corrosion can build up on the rheostat inside the sensor, and give wierd readings. The oil light however is a bit concerning. As far as I can remember, any kind of oil light should be followed by a horn as it indicates a major issue. Are you sure the horn is functioning at all? The horn should sound briefly when you first put the ignition key into the "on" position. If there is no brief horn, then the horn itself is probably bad. Either way, I would bring it to a shop that can plug in the CDS to just check the history on the engine, before you continue to run it, and potentially do damage. Hope this helps.