Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

[jeff7599]

1996 Evinrude 88 special (traditional wiring harness)<br /><br />Warning horn comes on after about a minute, even if the engine isnt running. Run the engine, horn comes on after a minute. Even with engine COLD, horn will come on after a minute or two with key in on position. Seems very odd. I have been reading the posts, and Im still lost. Heres what Ive been troubleshooting:<br /><br />- if its a short to ground, why doesnt horn come on, and stay on the whole time. I grounded one of the sensors, and the horn, stays on the moment I turn the key on. <br /><br />- horn will still come on after a minute or two with BOTH sensors disconnected. <br /><br />- horn starts off weak, then gradually gets to full volume after about 2 minutes. (engine off)<br /><br />- horn will silence if I disconnect the 4 pin connector inside the engine. (dont know if its supposed or not)<br /><br />This thing is really bugging me. Im gonna guess its shorting to ground somehow. But dont understand why its doesnt sound immediately. Stupid horn goes off even with engine off, and both sensors unhooked. I may also have a bad rectifier ( 6 amp, unregulated). Could this be related. I noticed the purple wire in the schematic goes to the rectifier. I even unhooked the purple wire from the bus (engine off), and it still goes off. Any ideas would be great. I'll continue to look for a short.

 

[jimchere]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

Jeff, I have an '82 rude 55hp commercial and had a very similar problem. One day the overheat horn sounded and I thought it was a cooling problem, but the heads felt fine using the touch test and I had good flow out the pee stream. I changed the water pump anyways to be safe, did a test run, same problem. Engine not overheating. Sometimes it would go off without the engine running, too. I found some deteriorating wiring and did lots of wiring re-work thinking maybe that was the cause. After my wiring work, I was running the motor in the driveway on the muffs for testing and did some voltage readings and realized my engine wasn't charging the battery. I followed the procedure in the Seloc manual to test the rectifier and it was definitely bad. The charging wire (red) that goes from the rectifier to the starter solenoid was one of the deteriorated wires I had fixed because the insulation broke down and it grounded to the block. This was what blew my rectifier. I replaced the rectifier, and the horn now works as it should. I guess to make a long story short, a bad rectifier can cause this. Not to type any longer, but by looking at the schematic and assuming a bad rectifer I can see how it does. Check all your wiring for frayed insulation as even marine grade stuff breaks down after enough exposure, especially in salt. Before you buy a new rectifier, make sure its actually bad by testing it. Your problem could also be in the control box.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

Jeff..... Remove the TAN wire from the horn while it's sounding off. If the horn continues to sound, it is faulty and will require replacing.<br /><br />Also see topic "Johnson Warning Buzzer" without the quotes of course.

 

[jeff7599]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

Thanks for the help. I thinks its the horn. Let me make sure my assumptions are correct:<br /><br />black wire: continous ground<br /><br />purple: continous +<br /><br />tan: open.. unless sensor gets hot then goes to ground<br /><br />Horn does a test sequence/circuit when the key is turned on, THEN SHOULD TURN OFF. Sounds like mine doesnt want to turn off. <br /><br />When I pulled the tan wire, the horn still sounds. That means the horn, test circuit has failed? Right?? I tested the tan wire, and it is not to ground, so that can only mean the horn is getting its ground from the back wire, which is only there for the test circuit. So $55 for a new horn huh. Oh well, thanks for all the help.

 

[mrtool2u]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

I had a horn that was melted,so I went to the local auto parts store and bought a new backup beeper(12 volt) for 8 bucks,,compared to 53.00 for a new OMC buzzer.It was a little bit of work,I had to wire the buzzer up under the dash,and it seems to work fine.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

The '96 wiring connections and alarm system are different than with the earlier motors. You have to have the correct "horn" or you will have problems, even though the 88hp only uses the overheat sensors. Do you have the 4 System Check lites on the tach or the 2" gauge?<br /><br />Check you electrical system for the correct wiring and adapter kits (if needed) and for the right horn. The Parts and Accessory Catalog at the dealer's should have the diagrams and info that you need to make a determination.

 

[jeff7599]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

For those of you that replaced the horn with an automotive backup horn, how did you wire it? Does the horn still test when you turn the key, or did you have to wire in a manual test button?

 

[cpasseno03]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

I hate those things! My suggestoin to you is to take off the control cover, and bash the horn with a sledge hammer The VERY first thing I did when I got my truck, was tore the dash apart yanked out the door/key buzzer, threw it on the ground and jumped on it! same goes for other such items. Strange though, I dont have a huge problem with alarm clocks. Take it out and install yourself a temp guage, not only will it look cool, it will perform the same functoins as the stupid annoying horn, AND it will lead you on to a possible problem long before the horn couldve, I am sure you know why they are called "idiot lights"?<br />thats my opinion! <br />Craig

 

[ob]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

Craig,Unlike seat belt reminder buzzers in cars ,an outboard engines only line of defense against an overheat situation in the making is the warning horn.When working properly they do not emit an annoying sound,but rather one that will allow the operator to shut down engine and possibly prevent a meltdown.They are calibrated to sound before a damaging temp is attained.Temp guages are good to have as well as a monitoring device but just like malfuntioning alarm buzzers are capable of error.<br /><br />I too find some of the auto audible buzzers to be an annoyance ,but the outboard alarm system is something totally different.

 

[cpasseno03]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

I was operating under the assupmtion that they were as loud and annoying as certain other buzzers. (never had one on an outboard) You know what they say about assuming... However I have had a 55hp rude and have grown to HATE the wiring on that @#&%$ thing! Nothing but crusty insulation and shorts. I know you will find this hard to beleive, but I swear it is TRUE.<br />I was fiddling with it once, the key was off, evrything was off. I nudged a bundle of wires while working on the throttle linkage, and that crazy thing started running!!! one of them pistions just happened to be at the right spot, and i somehow gave it an arch, and she fired up and ran for a good 5 seconds, scared me half to death! afterall the key was off all along, and it didnt even need the use of its starter motor! i gave up on the throttle linkage in search of someone to perform an exorcism on that thing <br />so in short, I understand how the wiring can cause inexplicable shorts.<br />Craig

 

[jimchere]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

Even if your motor has been treating you well, I think this is a good time of the year to give the wiring system a good scrub. I give my wires the "fingernail test," where I feel the wire all along and if I can apply a little pressure with my fingernail and start to strip the insulation, its junk and time to replace. Wire is cheap by the foot, along with the right connectors and heatshrink. Do my best to use the correct colors IAW the wiring diagram too to keep future troubleshooting simple. A lot cheaper than a tow, at least. Just my .02. I think a wiring scrub should be a part of the winterizing and spring wakeup.

 

[mrtool2u]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

Jeff,,,,All that I did was run 1 wire(I believe that it was the brown one)from the control box , just spliced onto terminal on old buzzer,to up under the dash. Then I picked up a hot feed that was only hot with the key on,,,took that to the other side of the backup beeper,with the brown wire from the control box to the other side.When the engine overheats,it completes your ground with the brown wire.My motor is a 1986 Johnny 90 hp,,,but the VRO was already unhooked so I did not need to worry about that.Good luck...

 

[OBJ]

Re: Warning Horn.. How do I make it stop !!!

Jeff...in your original post, you said the horn will silence if you diconnect the four pin connector. Is this the connector from the VRO pump?