Motor Question Need Help

[Berkley]

 To make a long story short... The oil line from the oil reservoir to the carburetor busted. I was idling when this happened and the alarm went off.  So I shut her down went to town grabbed a new line started it back up and she started fine but the alarm constantly goes off now. The motor is peeing and you can tell its getting oil because of the smoke. Could my alarm be broke or stuck on? When you start the motor it takes about 5 seconds for the alarm to start.  Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Slipkey]

Berkley,

Not sure of you motor setup, but is there a possibility that air is getting into the oil injection system somehow?  I had this happen on my Opti when the oil reservoir cap became cross-threaded on a bumpy ride to the Bass Islands.

My symptoms were the same as yours.   Once the system was airtight again, I had to rev for a minute or so at 2500 RPM's to get the air out of the system and make the warning horn stop.

HTH,

Jon

[SethV]

On many motors, the motor has a small oil resivor that is fed by the larger oil tank.  On the top of that tank is a cap, with a level sensor.  That is what signals the alarm, if the hose gets pinched or you forget to add oil to the main tank, the alarm sounds before you grenade the motor.

Take the cowl off, find the oil res.  I bet the level is low.  It will continue to oil the engine, but it takes a long time for the system to supply the oil to refill the tank on the engine.  Take the cap off, fill it with oil and you should be good to go.

Seth

[bshaner]

Good call Seth.  I knew nothing about this until my mechanic pointed it out after the power head replacement.  No doubt in my mind you are right on.

B

[Cy]

If the fix suggested by Seth doesn't solve your problem here is something else to think about.  I put a new fuel line and primer ball on my boat 2 summers ago.  I tried 3 different balls and 2 types of fuel line before I got one to work correctly.  I ended up having to use the official BRP parts to get the fuel problem light and horn to stop.  So, it might just be the line.

Cy

[Revtro]

On many Mercs, all you have to do is take the cap off of that oil reserve while the motor is running and it refills itself pretty quickly.  I've never had it happen, but that's what I was told when I bought mine.  Might be easier than using a small funnel and getting oil all over the place.

[Berkley]

Thanks for all the replys. I checked it out when I got home and my oil resivour on my motor was low about a 1/3. The cork on the cap that measures the oil was dry. Filled it up hooked up the garden hose and ran her for a few minutes and no alarms. Saved me a trip to the local marina. Thanks again.

[thedude]

On many Mercs, all you have to do is take the cap off of that oil reserve while the motor is running and it refills itself pretty quickly.  I've never had it happen, but that's what I was told when I bought mine.  Might be easier than using a small funnel and getting oil all over the place.

yep. bleeds the resevoir. had the merc tech show me this trick when i bought my boat. he did warn me that it wasn't the "advertised method" of filling bleeding the oil line.