150 Optimax

"I am new to this forum and ho

"I am new to this forum and hope someone can help...

I have a 2001 150 Optimax on a 26' tritoon.
I am getting what I beleive to be a check engine alarm that gives me a steady beep for about 10 seconds. Then the light stays lit. In a few minutes the light gos off and stays off for a while and then the alarm goes for another 10 seconds.. then off again..
This only happens occasionally. Sometimes, I can run for 30-40 minutes with out it coming on at all?
The motor seems to run fine through all of this.
However, sometimes when I idle, I get a a high temp and oil tem alarm and the engine bogs down. I shut it off, the alarms clear, I start upagain and have no furhter probelms.

Could this be shorts in the alarm system or could I have bigger problems....

Thanks"

"The 2001 Opti's had chron

"The 2001 Opti's had chronic cooling system issues.

So first off, how old is the impeller? more than 2 years, replace it.

Your model has 3 temp sensors. One in each head and one at the compressor.

An overheat horn with no reduction in rpms is a result of the sensor located at the compressor.

An overheat WITH the rpm reduction is coming from one of the heads.

A lower rpm overheat at the heads is likely either a bad thermostat or a bad sensor.

At higher rpms it would be a bad poppet.

An overheat alarm at the compressor is usually the result of a clog in the strainer that filters water that cools the compressor and fuel rails.

In this particular model the "pee stream" is fed by the water that cools the compressor - so just because it pee's does not mean that it's cooling the heads and conversely, just because it doesn't pee, that doesn't mean the heads are not getting water."

"Thanks for the info... I wil

"Thanks for the info... I will have this checked out.

As for the impeller, it was replaced last year and has about 3 hours run time on it.

Is the attached drawing look like an overheat alarm? If so, I believe it is the sensor on the compressor you mention above. Or is it a check engine alarm? (Sorry for the poor drawing)

This is the alarm that comes on wth a continuous beep for about 10 seconds, then stops. The light stays on for a while and then goes off. A little later, it starts all over again. It is like it clears itself and then alarms again.

Thanks a lot for your help.

This is agreat forum!!

Jim
Alarm - resized

"[img][/img] Yes, I believe th

" Yes, I believe that's a pretty good "artists conception" of the overheat alarm..

On your model after the waterpump gets the water up the tube to the base of the powerhead it splits into two different (channels).

One goes over to the heads, the second feeds a tube which goes to the compressor and rails. At the end of that first tube (hose) there is a little filter that Merc calls a "strainer" - it's just a 10 dollar part, but it has quite a fine mesh screen that can get blocked up easily which then can restrict waterflow."

Graham

Thanks again for you

Graham

Thanks again for your help. I will get on this this afternoon and let you know how it turns out.

Jim