Mercury 175 Optimax upper oil reservoir not filling all the way
My Merc 175 Optimax (2006) was running great on its first trip of the season. I did a cross lake 10 minute run at 5000 rpm and my oil sensor alarm went off. I just filled my lower oil reservoir the day before, so I know my oil was not low. I take off the coiling and noticed that my upper reservoir was not all the way full and obviously the sensor at the top is going off. I went to relieve pressure by unscrewing the upper reservoir cap as often I needed to re-pressurize after filling my lower reservoir so it could slowly fill up the upper reservoir. It was highly pressurized, but after I did this and put even more oil in (even though I knew that was not the case) the upper res. did not refill. (maybe a very little increase, but then no increase) I took the cap off my lower reservoir and took out the plastic intake to see if it was clogged, but it seemed to be okay. I wiped the screen on the bottom of the lower res. intake plastic piece to see if there was a clog there, but it seemed ok. I took a slow run back to the ramp with the upper res. oil sensor going off every 2 minutes unsure if my engine was not getting oil. The oil level in my upper res. tank is 65 percent full still, so I'm guessing my engine is getting the oil it needs, but it is not filling properly. Is it clogged tube somewhere? All caps are on tight, and after running the engine it seems to build pressure in the reservoir tanks (but maybe not enough?). Has anyone had this problem before? This is the first time this has happened to me. Here's a pic of how it has been since this happened yesterday:
https://i.vgy.me/C8KQvQ.png
2005 Ranger 185vx – Tournament Edition – Comanche Series
Mercury 175L OPTI serial number 1b424986 Sep 2006 Model 1175D73HY
