BF225A4 - No "Beep Beep" when key is turned, but engine starts

When I turn the key to start one of my BF225A4s, I do not get the "beep beep" and the lights do not turn on. But the engine starts and runs fine. The green light then turns on when I'm running.

I'm assuming this has to be an issue with the ignition switch. It's the ignition switch for the starboard engine having the issues so I'm going to connect my port ignition switch to my starboard engine to see if that resolves the issue, but I wanted to drop this here in case anyone else had dealt with this before and new of any other potential causes.

If the engine starts and runs then ypur switch is fine, do your gauges work, if not, there is an inline fuse on the gauge harness that could have blown, or the alarm itself has failed

It wouldn't be the ign. switch. Those beeps are the result of internal testing done by the ECU.

Looks like you were right. The switch is fine. I tested it on the other engine and vice versa. It worked fine on the other engine, while the good ignition switch did not work on the bad engine.

The gauges also work.

After messing with a lot of things today, I also do not think the alarm itself has failed because when I leave the key in the "on" position, and turn the battery on to the engine, I get the standard, two beep alarm immediately upon turning the battery on--just as if I had turned the key to the on position. However, if I turn the ignition switch to off, then back to on, again, it doesn't do the alarm. This was repeatable. Anytime the key is in the "on" position and the battery is off, then turned on, I get the standard, two beep alarm.

I unplugged and cleaned all the plugs at front of the engine and cleaned all the fuses in the fuse box. Didn't fix it.

What I did find is that "I think" the engine makes a very, very faint buzzing noise anytime the battery is on--regardless of key position. There is a lot of background noise, so I wasn't totally sure, but I'm pretty sure. It is not the fuel pump, because it is much quieter than that. I could not identify the source.

Check your earths and your connections between the gauge harness and the ignition switch. Also try disconnecting a temp sensor while it is running to see if the alarm sounds

Thanks for the reply. I'm very new to this so probably have some dumb questions, and I know this is probably a rather silly issue since the motor runs fine, but it just indicates to me that there is a problem somewhere, but my worry is that (1) my alarms may not be working on the engine so I won't know if a bigger problem arises and (2) this is a potential indicator of a bigger problem that I really don't want to fully manifest 40+ miles offshore. I'm just trying to nail down all the possible failure points to diagnose since I won't be at the boat again until Saturday and will just have a day to work on it then until the next weekend.

Ground
I will check the ground. This is probably a really dumb question, but where is the ground connected on the engine?

Ignition Switch to Gauge Harness
The ignition switch is good and the connectors on the switch side are okay (since it worked with the other engine). So you are saying the connection between gauge harness that ties into the ignition switch and the gauges may be at fault? I think these are the wires off the clear plastic plug off of the ignition switch--not the three gray plugs. I can check those, as well as the connections to the gauges themselves.

Temperature Sensor
For the temperature sensor, I understand it is on the back of the motor directly in the block (between the heads). If the alarm goes off with the temperature sensor unplugged, is the problem with the temperature sensor? If the alarm does not go off with the temperature sensor unplugged, what does that tell me? I can always swap the temperature sensor from the good engine over to check.

Power to Engine When Key Is Not Engaged
I'm confused about the power to engine issue even when the key is not engaged -- the fact that the engine makes the faint humming sound regardless of key position (that the other engine does not make). And if I pull a fuse when the battery is on, but key is not engaged, I hear clicking noises in the engine.

Looking at other issues in the forum, any chance the main relay is causing the issue? Any harm or usefulness in pulling the relay over from the good motor to check.

Additional Info On the Problem
So to be clear, my ignition switch is the one pictured below. Previously, when turning the key to the on position (but before starting) the red and green lights circled would turn on, and I would get the two-beep alarm. These would stay on until I cranked the engine, then the green light would stay on when the engine was on. Now, no lights and no alarm comes on when I turn to the on position. But when I start the engine, the green light turns on and stays on. I understand that the circled red light is temperature and the circled green light is oil pressure, correct?

Sorry for so many posts, but after thinking about this, the only thing that has changed at all on this engine since it functioned properly is that I had removed the trim tilt switch on the motor and resoldered a wire on the back of the switch that was torn out. This fixed the trim/tilt switch so it would function, but perhaps my less than precise soldering created a minor short that is causing these issues, including the humming noise I hear regardless of key position (since power is always to the trim/tilt even when the engine is off).

The first thing I will do next time I see the engine is disconnect the switch and see if the problem persists. I think the trim/tilt runs on the same fuse as the gauges so perhaps this is causing a cascading issue.

Having dealt with a lot of electrical issues like this on an old car, I know you can have a problem/short with what appears to be a completely unrelated component causing cascading effects to other components in the system.

You are way over thinking everything here. If the check engine and battery or charge light are not working, then they are not connected,coming from the igntion switch is an aprox 18 inch long thin harness with a three pin plug, I suggest that may be disconnected. As far as testing to see if ypur alarm is working, disconnect the exhaust temp sensor on top of one of the manifolds with the engine running, an intermittant beeping should be heard, all this test is doing is telling you if the alarm actually works. It's difficult to help like this, for a tech this would be a quick easy fix.Don't worry about grounds at this point, there are a number of them but I think your problem is simply a disconnected plug behind your dash.Sometimes at installation they are not connected and locked in properly and can become disconnected

Thanks. You're probably right. I'm overthinking this a bit. I looked at at least two different ground connections and they looked fine. The alarm works fine -- I get the intermittent alarm when disconnecting the exhaust temperature sensor. So this is not a catastrophic problem.

The humming noise on the engine when the battery is turned on (regardless of key position) appears to be a low hum from the starter, which ends after a minute or so and becomes a faint buzz that I cannot locate. The other engine does not make either of these sounds when turning the battery on. The engine appears to basically think the key is always in the "on" position regardless of key position for some purposes. But the alarms still only function when the key is actually turned to the "on" position. So the normal two-beep start alarm can only be heard when the key is in the "on" position right when the battery is turned on.

The problem is intermittent -- it actually worked a few times last night when I first tried it before it stopped working again -- though I always had the hum from the starter area when turning the battery on (which the other engine does not make). This makes me think it is a loose connection/corroded wire somewhere.

I'm clearing out all the accessory wiring behind the dash because it is a huge mess. It's a rat's next back there with multiple unconnected accessory wires from what are probably old devices that were replaced without removing wires mixed in and wrapped around the wiring harness, so hopefully I can see what is connected/not connected behind the dash after doing so. I have extremely poor behind-the dash access (this is a walkaround -- not a center console). There are some plugs from the wiring harness that are not plugged into anything (but are tied back as if they are intentionally not hooked up). But I'm assuming this is actually a loose connection issue.

And my gauges are all analog, by the way.

Just make sure no accessories are powered by your engine harness, I've come across this before and they can cause a power back feed into the harness where it is not wanted . Aldo check your plugs for any form of corrosion or oxidation, salt water is conductive so will also cause power leaks where not wanted.In a case like this I would normally connect a separate control to the motor to isolate the boat wiring to confirm whether the fault in on the engine side or the boat side. 99% of the time it's the boat side.

Problem wasn't resolved with checking and cleaning all connections behind the dash (they all looked fine with no corrosion at all), or by swapping the entire behind-the-dash wiring/gauge harness from the good engine (all behind-the-dash harnesses worked fine on the good engine but I had the same problem with the other behind-the-dash harnesses on the bad engine). I also fixed the ground to the gauges and removed accessories powered off gauges with no effect.

So the problem must be somewhere from the main wire harness back to the engine or on the engine. Next step will be to just move the wiring harness over completely for the other engine at the engine to see if that resolves it/see if the fault is in the main wiring harness. The starter solenoid makes the humming noise when the battery is switched on to the engine even when the wiring harness is completely disconnected at the dash, which further makes me think the issue must be further down the line.

However, I'm probably going to run it as is for a month unless someone thinks this could cause major issues down the line.

Just to rule out engine, unplug the main harness at thebig round plug on the engine and see if the starter hum goes away..

I think I resolved this, and it was the main relay. I still had a hum with the main harness disconnected. I checked all my connections and they seemed fine. I moved the main relay over from the good motor, and everything now seems normal after several tests today. The connections on my good motor did have some corrosion when I pulled them apart to get to the good main relay so I cleaned them up. I've got another main relay on order.

wildebeest said:

I think I resolved this, and it was the main relay. I still had a hum with the main harness disconnected. I checked all my connections and they seemed fine. I moved the main relay over from the good motor, and everything now seems normal after several tests today. The connections on my good motor did have some corrosion when I pulled them apart to get to the good main relay so I cleaned them up. I've got another main relay on order.

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Hi! Did the relay resolve the problem? I have the same problem. The engine dosnt beep but i starts. When i turn on the main power switch, the engine sends 3,5 volt to the ecm and the instruments (gauges). But when i turn key, the voltage is 12 volt..? This problem just suddenly appeard.