Hi all, new to the forum here. I just bought a Stratos fish & ski with an '89 Johnson GT 150 on it. We took it to the lake and ran it for about 45 minutes and it ran fine. However, when I pulled back to the dock, the busser started going off. I was pissing a good stream of water. The VRO was disconnected from the motor.
I know the buzzer will go off if it's running hot or not getting oil, but this didn't seem to be the case, as I made sure it was pumping water.
Ideas???
TIA.
Well, it was a solid intermittent...It went off for about 2 minutes, then quit, then went off again. I cut the boat off while the trailer was being backed in just in case something bad was happening.
Make sure the oil tank sender (low oil) is disconnected at the motor. Usually on an 89 GT the ground wire is attached to the starter. And the tan wire is close by.
A marine dealer removed the VRO off the boat. I don't even see the tank for the oil back there. I'm not mechanically inclined, but I'll check it out and see if there is a tan wire and a ground on the starter. If there is, I'll disconnect them.
I'm just spooked now to take the boat back out, until I know for sure that I'm not going to do major damage.
What else would cause the alarm to go off? The motor not getting oil and running hot are the only 2 things I'm aware of.
Thanks for everyone's help, have a safe and happy 4th, and God Bless America!
Any other ideas? I couldn't find a shop open today, and it is driving me C-R-A-Z-Y not being able to take the boat out!!!
I had a 86 GT 150 That the buzzer kept going off and it was peeing a stream of water but the water pump impeller was still bad, I had it replaced no more buzzer, it may not be producing enough water pressure to cool engine properly. How old is the impellar, if your not sure it would not hurt to replace it anyway.
Hey 184, thanks for the response. I was told it was replaced last year.
If you are sure that the connections for the VRO and Oil tank have been disconnected then there are only two other sources for the alarm. One is the vacuum switch which is just above the VRO pump and the two overtemp alarms. If you have a set of muffs start it at the house with water running and wait for the alarm to sound. The over temp senders are on each cylinder head at the top. Disconnect one at a time by unplugging the tan wires. If that gets it then you have a temp issue, if not then disconnect the tan wire at the vacuum switch if that kills the alarm you have a fuel restriction issue.
Well, I can't say 100% that the connections were disconnected properly, but I was assuming since a marina did it that they did it properly.
I called the guy I bought it from to ask him if this ever happened to him and he said it never did. He's being very nice about it and said find out what it needs and he will work with me on the repair.
I do have the muffs to start it with here, but it took over 30 minutes running it at the lake before it started beeping, and we were running it close to WOT most of the time. Any way to speed this up in the driveway? I think my wife will shoot me if I leave it running that long.
If it happened at WOT or over 5,000 RPM then it is the vacuum switch sounding the alarm especially if it didn't cause a loss of RPM (S.L.O.W.) mode. Check your fuel lines for kinks or pinches. If you have a portable tank make sure the vent is open on the cap or the tank isn't laying on it. This alarm is alerting you to a possible lean out condition.
No problems at WOT. I ran it about 30 minutes like that. It was when I pulled in to the dock, let my buddy out to back the trailer down, and started to take off that it sounded.
Do you have a H20 pressure gauge? If not I would strongly think about getting one you can get an after market kit for @ $50.00.
I think there is one on there. If so, what should the water pressure be?
at idle around 5-8 psi and at WOT anything over 18 PSI is acceptable.
Would a sticking thermostat cause that?? Maybe fine until running hard for a while then stopping and counting on the thermostats to cool...doesn't the water run through the poppet valves when running wide open?? Just a thought...while on muffs put your hand on top of each cylinder head....you should be able to hold your fingers there for no longer than 5-8 seconds or so...if it burns as soon as you put your hand on the head its to hot. You can get wax sticks that will either melt or not melt until certain temps...I dont' know what that engines stats open at but the older ones were 143 degrees I think...just something to think about.
Well, I started it and ran it on the dogears for about 30 minutes, revved it up, etc...and no buzzer. I put my hand on the cylinders and they were nowhere near hot. The water pressure gauge was not registering anything, but it was peeing a stream of water, although nowhere near as strong as at the lake. My wife came out and told me it was time to shut it off.
I'm half tempted to take it to the lake and stay close to the dock and run around for a little while. I know it will be bad if something does happen with all of the boat traffic from the long weekend.
Should the water pressure gauge registered anything? If so, I'll definitely have to get that fixed. I didn't have my hose on full blast, if that matters.
If you have a small compressor, remove the hose at the T on the discharge line and blow some air down it you should see the gauge move usually around 10psi will do it.
I put my boat in the shop yesterday. I'll post the findings and results as soon as I get them. Thanks to all that responded.
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