Warning Alarm for "no?" reason (Good Reason)

[bassm1n]

Serial 2B402296. 2017 Pro XS-250 with torquemaster. Occasionally, like every fifth time out and for what seems like no reason my warning alarm goes off and motor loses power. Happens mostly at idle but under power as well. Sometimes on restart it goes away and occasionally immediately comes back. Does it whether in water with weeds etc or in clear areas. Smartcraft puts out an alert as well but need to pay better attention next time as to exactly what it says since that might help. What addl info should I try to get next time to help diagnose?

[06 SB]

Alarms are never something to ignore and there is ALWAYS a reason for one. It is possible for a bad sensor to cause an alarm but it is normally difficult to diagnose at home. Shutting a motor down and restarting will only mask a problem, never solve one.

If you had a Mercmonitor, a lot of alarms are displayed in plain language. They are well worth the investment. Other than that, get the motor to a dealer to read the alarm codes.

[bassm1n]

thanks

[bassm1n]

Does anyone know if the past smartcraft nessages can be accessed via the gauge.

[Savage]

No they can't. You have to go to a Dealer, or buy a scan tool for $600.

[tomloans]

this is a real good tool to have and it is the least expensive code reader out there. Works perfect...

http://www.rinda.com/techmatepro/

Call them for better pricing then you will find anywhere. Direct is best in this case.

[SilverFox579]

Engine is still under warranty, take it to your dealer so problem is documented for warranty purposes.

[bassm1n]

Taking in next week. I think gauge message was something like Starboard thermostat. We will see.

[EuropeanAM]

DON'T run the engine again until you've had PRINTOUTS done of the Run History and Freeze Frame (Fault) History.

Thermostat Faults are no joke... an engine that is not coming up to temp can actually sustain DAMAGE if you attempt to run it above 1500 RPM's.

[bassm1n]

Hopefully the Mercury dealer will do this when they check it out this week as a starting point. Thanks.

[06 SB]

Ask specifically for print outs of the faults and run time history. It can help in future troubleshooting or in the case of multiple malfunctions.

[EuropeanAM]

+1.... ASK for them (in advance).

[bassm1n]

Update. They are replacing a thermostat and sensor. Said it was definitely getting hot on starboard side but no apparent damage. Warning horn did its job. Go Mercury!!

[bassm1n]

Interesting update. Picked boat up. Service manager said starboard side running hot but not enough to always set off warning/guardian mode. Checked and said no engine damage before replacing the thermostat and sensor. Why am I not feeling entirely good about this!!! Will run this weekend to see.

[z7extreme]

Update. They are replacing a thermostat and sensor. Said it was definitely getting hot on starboard side but no apparent damage. Warning horn did its job. Go Mercury!!

But u didn't. You shut it off an ran it like that. You just lost some hours on the engine..

[Hez]

[bassm1n]

I did the best I could since I got it fixed as soon as I got back from the trip. I figured if the guardian did not kick in then the engine must be running ok. The motor was always shut down immediately when the alarm went off. I would imagine there is running hot and then there RUNNING HOT since the guardian threshhold was not triggered most days. If running hotter than normal at any temp less than the alarm threshhold causes lost hours then I probably lost some.

[bassm1n]

Well got the boat back after they replaced thermostat and sensor. Said the printout showed it ran at 300 degrees but they called Merc and decided no way that reading was accurate. In any event, picked it up and went to the lake. Boat did not run like it did on the last trip before taking it in to the dealer. Hole shot was like I only had 75% throttle and lost 800 rpms on top end. Sluggish and lot more throttle to cruise at 4000 rpm's too. Now it is back at merc dealer waiting to be further diagnosed. Said the symtoms are similar to a problem with that model re (I think he said) the compressor. Strange that the problem was not there last time on the water and only occurred after the work was done.

[JOE54]

leak down test check for compression going into cooling system, how much wpsi at idle ????

[bassm1n]

Dealer called to advise they found a bad plug. Totally unrelated to prior problems. Will test out this weekend.