Logo
FULL SITE MENU

Mystery Alarm and debris in cooling system

A

adrianlp

New member
Hi all.

Two parts to this post, sorry.

There is quite a lot on alarms here and it is all really helpful. However I am a little confused about something that has started happening to my BF130.

I changed the thermostat this week and cleaned the overheat sensor at the same time. No particular reason. There was a lot of salt and deposit in the tell tale so I assumed this was choking the system. The thermostat was very clogged. I flushed through the system with fresh water (as I always do after boating) and also flushed through with the thermostat removed.

Back up and running and I get an alarm when idling. Long intermittent, both ACG and PGM lights on permanently. As the alarm kicks in the engine idle rpm climbs a little.

The oil light is green and there is no hot water warning.

Switch off the ignition and restart clears the alarm but it will soon return on idle. At high revs underway it does not appear to alarm. The alarm also occurs shortly after cold start.

I am trying to get the diagnosis by light flashing through shorting the Diagnostic but being new to electronics I expect I am doing this wrong.

I came back to the engine after 12 hours having pored over the forum and had not done anything to make the alarm occur (restart) but just shorted the terminal and switched on the ignition. No lights flashing just the usual ignition and the double beep etc.

So would anyone be able to tell me the correct way to get this self diagnosis to happen?

Or would anyone want to hazard what might be the problem? From the helpful post by Chawk man it suggests this alarm isn't cooling related... is that a fair call?

Secondly, I am still getting salt crystal like debris coming through the telltale which frequently blocks with it. There is a new impeller however and when I remove the plastic tee which leads to the tell tale outlet I have good pressure there. So any tips on REALLY clearing the cooling system would be appreciated too!

Apologies for the lengthy post. Summer is here (kind of) so this is a frustrating niggle...
 
Update...

Using a bit of common sense I made the engine repeat the alarm just now. Start from cold and sure enough off it goes straight away. Only the PGM light is on so I was WRONG about that... the light sequences were as follows...

7 short
1 long
4 short
2 long
4 short

sequence repeats...

Any thoughts.. and how do I clear them down as a matter of interest.

Many thanks in advance..
 
So going back over hondadude's excellent posts I followed instructions to reset the memory. The only difference was that on my console you have to short the red diagnostic plug, turn on the ignition then pull the kill switch OUT five times not push it in, hold it out on the fifth and get a double beep denoting reset.

He suggests 2 long and 4 short flashes is an overheat sender fault. Considering I removed and cleaned this that fits neatly (the rule of it it works don't p*ss about with it applies here of course). But the 7 short 1 long 4 short part of the sequence is a mystery. (What else have I messed with you ask)

ANYWAY, I reset the memory as described above. On restarting the engine I no longer get the fault.. or any alarms for that matter. Sure I have removed the cables on the sender and checked but otherwise I have done nothing. So how can the problem have disappeared? Do fault codes throw themselves at you even after the problem has gone away?

If my ramblings have been any help so be it.. if anyone has any thoughts to offer then great..

Thanks to Hondadude for the posting history.
 
There are different types of kill switches, so sometimes you have to pull it out, sometimes you have to push it in the reset the computer. In general, if you push it in to stop the engine...push it in. If pulling it out, stops the engine...pull it out.

7 short is a faulty, disconnected, or open throttle position sensor circuit

1 long and 4 short is 14 - disconnected, faulty or open iac valve.

If any of these had an issue, were disconnected or developed a bad connection, it would have recorded in the memory. You may have already fixed the connection on the heat sensor when you cleaned it.

It sounds like you have a lot of salt issues with that motor. It might be good to pull the connectors to the throttle position sensor and the iac and clean them also. At least reseat them several times.

Not being around salt water, I am not sure what to suggest what to use to reduce your internal salt buildup. Perhaps, someone else on the forum like pilotart or chawk_man can jump in and provide some input there.

Good detective work!

Mike
 
Mike that is extremely helpful, thanks. I'll give all the connectors a check over.

The engine often misses a beat when accelerating from idle so there may actually be issues in there somewhere.

Do you know what the 2 long 4 short (24?) code is by any chance?

On the salt buildup question I have had SaltX recommended to me elsewhere for flushing the cooling. Not sure if anyone has an opinion on this.

Thanks again

Adrian
 
Please ignore the last post query about 2 long 4 short. Hondadude already established that was a fault in the overheat sender.

Something I need attached to my head clearly.
 
Hi chawk_man

I have just ordered the service manual so I can spare you guys the task of answering questions which a book should be answering!

Having cleared the faults I am now in a situation where the alarm (long intermittent) is not sounding when starting from cold or after leaving warm up. This is on the hard of course not in the middle of the Irish Sea where alarms normally choose to sound.

I have not yet checked the diagnostics to see if any faults are being stored again but I assume the alarm would have sounded if they were.

I have checked and reseated the connection to the IAC.

I will wait to see what alarms reoccur.

I am concerned about salt and debris build up in the engine but have only flushed with fresh as usual.

As soon as the manual arrives I will be removing and cleaning the IAC and the throttle control body anyway. I hope this will help deal with the hesitation on acceleration.

I would welcome your sea-going advice on clearing salt etc from the innards though.

This is an engine that though much loved by me was clearly left out in the marina for 3 years and probably was rarely flushed. It is in good nick cosmetically however.

Adrian
 
There is a product called "Salt Away" that has been highly recommended for getting salt out of the cooling system. You need to use the concentrate. It's pricey and you need to use a special mixing unit that will connect to your intake. I have not personally used it. See...
http://www.saltawayproducts.com/OutboardFlushingPage.htm

There are folks pro and con. See the following discussion...
http://continuouswave.com/ubb/Forum3/HTML/013389.html

Personally I do a 15-20 minute fresh water flush after every use and have had no problems so far. But, if the salt build up is already in place, I would use Salt Away. Unlike many have said, once the salt has caked, fresh water alone will not clear it out.
 
Back
Top