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BF 225 Overheat error at below operating temperature

double time

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So went out last evening and about 100 yards on plane get errors on the engine display Port Engine Over Temp Alarm >>> Error Level 1 >>> Engine Reduction in Power. Temp was cool 175 hadn’t even hit operating temps yet. Tried a few times including turn off and turn on and then complete shut down including all batteries but kept giving the same message. Always the port engine.

This morning I brought the Doctor down and it said no errors were logged. Hmmmm….

So fired it up and went out and it did the same series of errors at about 160-170 degrees. When it’s erroring(screaming in my ear) if I back off the throttle (1000 rpm(ish)) the power reduction goes away and I can ramp up to full(er) power and it goes off again. Then heading back to the dock it does it again but time when I got to full power(by full power I mean 4200rpm my cruise) and it was fine all the way back to the dock- no errors.

The engine is never showing over 178 degrees and the alarm goes away when I throttle back but I am never running over 4200 and usually starts about 3800ish rpm.

The pee spout is mostly blocked I noticed but clearly it is staying cool so I need to take a longer clean out (the first 2” is clear). Wondering if it is sensing water for the overheat alarm from the pee(coolant) which maybe not flowing enough but reading temp from the oil or something?

Thoughts?

Thanks!
 
The "pee" has nothing to do with the heat sensors. Which sensor does Dr. H say is being triggered? There are three possibilities - the starboard manifold (should be 160 F, alarms at about 190 F), the port manifold (same specs), and the ECT (block temp) which alarms at something like 220F (not totally sure of that.)

However, given that the pee stream is blocked, that may indicate that you have debris in the cooling passages, which is often caused by a deteriorated impeller. When is the last time they were changed?
 
That's the weird thing... Dr. H has no records of alarms.

Just got back from another evening session. Very repeatable... at ~170F gives the same string of errors. I back off the throttle until the engine stops being in its "safe mode" and runs regular again, then power up and it again until it goes into safe mode(10 seconds). I did it about four times when, like this morning, it just stopped alarming and ran totally fine. Got them both up to regular temps(198+-) and was running fine through several idle-4000+ RPM sessions.

I'll hook up Dr. H again tomorrow and I'll ream out the coolant indicator passage ~6" (paperclip depth) and see what she does. I do not know when the last time they were changed... I think they're 2016's. Previous owners probably didn't ever do it because they didn't have them that long.

Thanks so much for the input! Really appreciated!


The "pee" has nothing to do with the heat sensors. Which sensor does Dr. H say is being triggered? There are three possibilities - the starboard manifold (should be 160 F, alarms at about 190 F), the port manifold (same specs), and the ECT (block temp) which alarms at something like 220F (not totally sure of that.)

However, given that the pee stream is blocked, that may indicate that you have debris in the cooling passages, which is often caused by a deteriorated impeller. When is the last time they were changed?
 
I'm not sure what is going on. If the engine is truly in an overheat situation and is going into limp mode, then after 20 seconds it should shut down totally if the ECU is working properly. Try pulling codes the old fashion way. Here is the procedure: View attachment Procedure for Getting Fault Codes.pdf

You should get a code 6, code 25, and/or code 26. Here is a list of the codes: View attachment MIL Fault Codes Scanned.pdf

When the engine alarms are you sure that your green oil pressure light stays on? It should. If oil pressure is too low, that will also put the engine in LIMP mode, but the engine will continue to run at the reduced rpm's.

Because you are reading the actual temperatures on your console, it sounds like you are using an NMEA 2000 interface. I don't know much about that setup, but wondering if that could be part of the problem.
 
OK That's interesting. I was wondering about the green "E" on the engine MFD display. It's not on when I am at low RPM's but as soon as I hit say 1000 it comes on for both engines. I am wondering if that's oil pressure(thinking it is). Would make sense that if it is off at low RPM but comes on as I accelerate. When it goes into limp mode the E flashes on and off. Then when it comes back the E stays on. Can I assume that when the engine gets to operating temp(~195) there is enough pressure to clear the (erroneous) high temp error message. I'll put Dd H on it today to see if there are any other codes from yesterday. I'll also check the oil I just realized its been two years (would have sworn it was one!)

I'm not sure what is going on. If the engine is truly in an overheat situation and is going into limp mode, then after 20 seconds it should shut down totally if the ECU is working properly. Try pulling codes the old fashion way. Here is the procedure: View attachment 25063

You should get a code 6, code 25, and/or code 26. Here is a list of the codes: View attachment 25064

When the engine alarms are you sure that your green oil pressure light stays on? It should. If oil pressure is too low, that will also put the engine in LIMP mode, but the engine will continue to run at the reduced rpm's.

Because you are reading the actual temperatures on your console, it sounds like you are using an NMEA 2000 interface. I don't know much about that setup, but wondering if that could be part of the problem.
 
So the engines are 4 years old and haven't had the impeller changed and the oil/filter is two years old?
I expect the LU oil is original also!

Not exactly "well maintained" ��
 
It had a full 100 hour maintenance done at the dealer 8/2018. I just pulled the work order and they dropped both lower units changed LU oil and impellers and thermostats and all of other 100hr maintenance stuff to the tune of $3200.

So the engines are 4 years old and haven't had the impeller changed and the oil/filter is two years old?
I expect the LU oil is original also!

Not exactly "well maintained" ��
 
Ouch, ouch, ouch!!! If you have the time, a 100 hour maintenance plus new t-stats and impeller kit would cost you no more than $250 if you did the work yourself, which is easy to do. It's usually best to replace the entire water pump. If you buy the complete water pump, it's about $175 on boats.net.

Did you pull the fault codes as described in my previous post? If so, what were the results?
 
Going to do the work myself this time. Live and learn right? Storming here today so only got a change to pull the boat out of the water. Tomorrow hopefully I can get the codes and purchase all the parts.

Ouch, ouch, ouch!!! If you have the time, a 100 hour maintenance plus new t-stats and impeller kit would cost you no more than $250 if you did the work yourself, which is easy to do. It's usually best to replace the entire water pump. If you buy the complete water pump, it's about $175 on boats.net.

Did you pull the fault codes as described in my previous post? If so, what were the results?
 
If you send me an e-mail at [email protected], I will return a very detailed (anal???) maintenance list for 100 hour, 200 hour, 400 hour, and 800 hour maintenance intervals. Each item is tied to the relevant pages in the Helm shop manual.
 
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