I have had my 01 Optimax 225 in the shop this week. It started giving me a 4 beep warning Sunday. The tech replaced the fuel filter and thought he had it, but the beep kept going. He called Mercury and they said it is a failing ECM. He quoted me $1300 plus labor. Now I have the dilemna of putting $2000 into a 12 year old motor. Any suggestions or has anyone dealt with anything like this before?
I'm having the same issue (along with several others, just check the recent posts), and my motor is a 1998. One option is having it rebuilt by Simon Motorsports, from what I can gather it will cost about $500 to $600. Some sources I found on the net indicate that they will return your ECU free of charge if it is not repairable, which tells me in the end you may have to get a new one.
Had mine rebuilt by Simon at Don's suggestion. Boat has never run this great. Cost was $500.00 and included return shipping. Got it back fast too.
Lake Norman, N.C./New Britain, CT.
An Khe 66-67
thanks for the advice guys. Do you know what the turnaround time at simon is? I found a couple of used ones in that 500 dollar range trying to decide which road is the best to go.
How is your on board oil tank level? It could be air in the tank or a bad sender in the tank. Be sure to bleed it, if the beeping persist, remove the two wires from the bullet connectors (blue with black stripe I think) and run a jumper wire between the two on the ECU side wires, not the wires coming from tank. See if that fixes your problem.Originally Posted by Bushwacker
+1.....
Also wise to obtain PRINTOUTS from the ECM (Computer Diagnostic System) of:
-Run History
-Freeze Frame (Fault) History
-Fault Seconds Counters
Very unusual to receive this particular warning with a failed ECM (not impossible, but RARE).
Last edited by EuropeanAM; 07-02-2012 at 06:07 PM.
Dual Mercury Master Technician- for Mercury Outboards, Mercruiser and Mercury Racing at European Marine in Greenville, SC.
Still consider myself a "Marine Apprentice" after 47 years (learn something new every day).
Mercury Parts, Mercury Outboards, Smartcraft & Accessories, Injector Service, TDR Reeds- BBC Sponsor
I am not very confident in the tech that worked on it. I had it there for four days and he said it would take one. He said the way he diagnosed the ECU being bad was that all the other boards were ok. I asked him about the oil and he that was fine. He said he had trouble with hooking it up to the computer and couldn't run the history because the ECU is bad. The motor runs great, just has the warning signal. Would it act up if the ECU was bad?
Bushwacker, I feel VERY confident that you have a bad sender in the Motor Mounted oil tank. These are notorious for going bad and can be diagnosed within minutes. The sender in the tank is no different than what is in a fuel tank. When the sensor drops in relation to the level of the oil going down, it beeps indicating to the operator that you only have "X" amount of oil remaining and to fill it up ASAP. The sensor, when bad will give a false reading. Your tank can be 100% filled and air free but do to a faulty sensor, still give the warning beeps you are indicating.
I will post pictures tonight of how you can determine that the oil tank is faulty using the jumper wire. I would do it now but my wife has our digital camera with her.
Bushwacker, I feel VERY confident that you have a bad sender in the Motor Mounted oil tank. These are notorious for going bad and can be diagnosed within minutes. The sender in the tank is no different than what is in a fuel tank. When the sensor drops in relation to the level of the oil going down, it beeps indicating to the operator that you only have "X" amount of oil remaining and to fill it up ASAP. The sensor, when bad will give a false reading. Your tank can be 100% filled and air free but do to a faulty sensor, still give the warning beeps you are indicating.
I will post pictures tonight of how you can determine that the oil tank is faulty using the jumper wire. I would do it now but my wife has our digital camera with her.
Thank you very much. I really appreciate the help. I can tear into my 1968 Evinrude 6hp on my duck boat with no problems. But the 225 Opti is a little intimidating!!! The pics would be great!
Bushwacker my 2001 225 opti is in the shop for the same problem the oil tank. I was getting 4 warning tones also on my smartcraft monitor.
For diagnostic purposes ONLY:
Water in Fuel: Disconnect sensor lead at fuel filter. If warning CEASES: WATER IN FUEL.
Oil Level Warning: Disconnect connector from the oil tank sensor on the engine mounted oil tank. On the ENGINE side of the connector, jumper the two wires or pins TOGETHER. If the horn ceases: it was a low oil warning (if tank is 100% full with no air, it's highly likely that the tank AND sensor need to be replaced).
Dual Mercury Master Technician- for Mercury Outboards, Mercruiser and Mercury Racing at European Marine in Greenville, SC.
Still consider myself a "Marine Apprentice" after 47 years (learn something new every day).
Mercury Parts, Mercury Outboards, Smartcraft & Accessories, Injector Service, TDR Reeds- BBC Sponsor
Heres pictures of the jumper wire.
With the motor and key OFF disconnect the bullet connectors.
Strip the ends of a 12-16ga piece of wire approx 4-8 inches long.
Put one stripped end into EACH connector and make sure the connections are good.
Turn the key on and see if you get the beeping. You do not need to have the motor running for it to beep for this alarm. Simply turn the key to "on" and wait.
As Don stated, this is not a fix or repair. This is purely to diagnose the problem in lieu of a DDT scanner. If you were to leave it like this and something were to happen with your oil feed, you could have a catastrophic failure and never been warned.
Good luck and let us know!
Thank you very much! I will try it tonight to see what happens!
Bushwacker I just had my tank replaced for the same problem you are having. Tank was 62.00.
I tried the jumper wire and the alarm stopped. Thank you guys very much for helping diagnose it over the internet when my tech couldn't do it in four days at his shop... Now, do I have to order the whole tank or just the sensor. It looks like I should be able to replace it myself, or is there more to it than it looks? Either I do it myself or try out a new shop! Thanks!
You will have to to replace the WHOLE tank. As far as it being a do it yourself job, other than the 3 bolts and some oil lines it's pretty strait forward replacement. However, afterwards I believe you will need to run an "Oil Pump Prime Sequence" through a DDT scanner but Don can verify this.
I would look for a better more qualified mechanic around you. You can find them on the Mercury website that are close to your zip code. A competent mechanic familiar with these motors would of had this diagnosed within minutes.
+1
Oil pump prime sequence MUST be performed after tank replacement (utilizing the Computer Diagnostic System, or a DDT).
You WILL want to replace the TANK AND SENSOR (BOTH). Smile.... they're WAY cheaper than a PCM (and you already know that they'll solve the problem).
Dual Mercury Master Technician- for Mercury Outboards, Mercruiser and Mercury Racing at European Marine in Greenville, SC.
Still consider myself a "Marine Apprentice" after 47 years (learn something new every day).
Mercury Parts, Mercury Outboards, Smartcraft & Accessories, Injector Service, TDR Reeds- BBC Sponsor
Thanks Guys!
I have a buddy with a 2006 Opti with possible ECM issues. It will fire but shuts itself off immediately when the alarm sounds. He took it to two different marinas. The first said that when they hooked up the DDT that they only got a white screen. The second place was a Merc dealer and they said it would not connect to the DDT at all. Has anyone else experienced this? Do you guys have contact info for Simon? Thanks in advance.
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