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beep....beep....beep oil level warning

Beckoning

Member
1988 100hp 4cyl oil injection, 19' Sea Nymph Great Lakes Special. I am posting this on a few FORUMS to see if I can get as much information as possible.

For no reason yesterday, warning horn beep...beep...beep from Commander Control box. Not a constant beeping, but regular beep, similar to in a car when seat belt isn't fastened. I couldn't make the beeping stop, even after the boat was in the hoist for awhile....beeping started immediately. According to what I've read, that indicates, on 100hp 4cyl oil injection engines, that the oil level is low in the side-mount tank on the engine. That is the only tank. I put in oil, and still beeps. Apparently, it is common for the oil level sensor to be at fault (at least $300 parts/labor with a certified mechanic), or the magnetic float mechanism is faulty. If either of those two is the cause and the oil pump is still working, there should be blue smoke upon starting and idle.

I think, (I'm not positive), that upon starting now, there is no blue smoke, which seems to indicate the oil injection system may not be working properly. However, if the beep...beep...beep ONLY indicates oil level and not injection system malfunction, I'm puzzled. As I understand, replacing the oil injection pump is a $1,500 job. Best option at that point on a 30-year old 2-cycle is to replace the engine.

I'm on a short runway as my son arrives in 2 days and we want to fish on Lake Michigan. I motor out 2 miles at most, troll for a few hours on my 9.9, then run back in on the big motor, so my use of the 100hp is minimal, but necessary. My short term solution is to add 2-cycle oil (50:1) to the 15 gallon below-deck gas tank, and run with that for the week, then fix later.

My questions:
  1. Is there a screen or something that could clog the oil line going to the injector pump?
  2. Other than blue smoke, is there an easy way to see if the injector pump is pumping?
  3. What is the damage of running a 50:1 mixture if the oil injection system is still working even though I don't see blue smoke?
  4. How to turn off the warning horn (beep...beep...beep) if I run a 50:1 mixture? Water is flowing well from the pee-hole so the cooling is good. Can I just disconnect the warning horn wire in the control box for a week-long fix (thus risking overheating?)
  5. From other forums, I think I know how to check the magnetic float without removing the oil tank, but I'm not sure. Any ideas on how to check to see if the float is at fault? Any ideas on how to check if the oil capacity sensor is at fault?
  6. How could the beep...beep...beep be related to a lack of blue smoke?
  7. The oil tank cap rubber gasket does not allow an absolutely air-tight fit, and the gas bulb takes forever to fill in order to prime the system, and the starter solenoid is weak allowing the starter to spin sometimes even though the batteries are fully charged. Could any of these symptoms indicate something related to the beeping?
  8. Any other ideas?

Thank you in advance for your help on this.
 
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