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2012 Honda 90 EFI , intermittent alarm

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Papa Rock

New member
In fall , boat ran fine, winterized. Started boat with ears on. Stared fine, but intermittent alarm came on about 5-10 seconds after engine running. Tell tail, good force. Alarm stayed on with increased RPMs, oil level ok, engine runs smooth. Not sure what’s triggered alarm. Don’t want to chance launching boat. Any thoughts? first time on site. Appreciate advice. Papa Rock
 
Hi Papa,
Welcome.

No warning lamps?

Is green oil light on when running?

Any sign of critters gnawing?

I don't know, but I would try running it in a trashcan with adequate water above the cav plate and see what it does.

Not a big of muffs personally.
 
My pontoon boat doesn’t have the various warning lamps mentioned. No sign of critters. I was wondering if it was possible, that I was not getting enough flow of h2o. But the tell tail was strong. And the alarm started almost as soon as engine was running. I appreciate your response jgmo, and will put the engine in a large tub I have used before. It’s just strange, with overheating problems, ie thermostats, the alarm usually takes a while to indicate overheated. Thanks again, Papa Rock
 
I agree that overheat should take awhile but that's for a system receiving an adequate amount of water. It is actually AMAZING the amount of heat being produced when these engines are running and, if there's inadequate water flow, "localized" temp spikes can occur within the block and heads.

You can prove this by holding your hand under the tell-tale stream on a properly cooled engine while it's running then shut the engine off. BUT BE CAREFUL AND QUICK!

Because, the COLD water that had just come into contact with the block while running will now rush back out and exit through the tell-tale via gravity evacuation. It can be SCALDING to your skin even after having been only briefly inside the engine.

Hope the trashcan test reveals something positive for you. Tank testing is really the only substitute for seeing what will happen on the water.
Just don't forget to monitor THAT temperature and keep it cold as well because it can get hot while you're standing there trying to analyze what is going on with your outboard.

Good luck.
 
Thanks a lot for the advice, will try this in the next week, when I am back to the shore. Will let you know. Hopefully, lack of enough H20 is the problem. Then I can feel safer to launch, and enjoy boating.🙏
 
jgmo said:
Yes! That would be great news.

Standing by awaiting for your, hopefully, successful report.
Click to expand...
I replaced both thermostats, rebuilt the water pump( the old impeller looked like new, soft and flexible) . Restarted engine, again good tell tail but nor Tilt motor won’t bring the motor back down, and intermittent alarm is still going off. Question even though the tilt motor worked putting the motor up to work on. Could that be the cause of the alarm. How do I test that?
 
Papa Rock said:
I replaced both thermostats, rebuilt the water pump( the old impeller looked like new, soft and flexible) . Restarted engine, again good tell tail but nor Tilt motor won’t bring the motor back down, and intermittent alarm is still going off. Question even though the tilt motor worked putting the motor up to work on. Could that be the cause of the alarm. How do I test that?
Click to expand...
 
Well, I don't know but anything is possible.

Does your outboard have a "tilt limiter" system? I don't know much about those but I see where some can cause the power to be de-rated so, yes, that might set off an alarm too. I'm just the wrong guy to ask. Hopefully, someone else here will chime in on this.

An owner's or shop manual should have info on that. Do you have either of those?
 
Thanks for responding, I went through my shop manual. There is a tilt sensor on the stern I hope to get to if motor is high enough. Also plan to talk with service mechanic tomorrow, if unable to find cause. Thanks again , Papa Rock
 
I don't have the wiring diagrams but they should be in the back of your manual. All I can offer is to locate the fuse for the tilt motor circuit and verify it is good.

Please update with what you learn. It's definitely an odd problem and I don't know why an inoperable trim might cause that alarm to sound.

Good luck.
 
So after charging both thermostats, rebuilding water pump, changing the separate fuel water filter, found that the alarm was from the smaller water/fuel filter on the motor. That is where the sensor is. Soon as that was emptied and reinstalled, intermittent alarm went off. Such an easy fix, .! You would think the larger fuel/water separator before the engine would have done the necessary water separation.
The other problems, with the death finder, corrected itself when I changed the transducer. Lastly, the tilt motor went bad, needs to be replaced, just ironic it should occur with the other problems. Waiting for parts. I think I found a good outboard mechanic, finally. Diagnosed the problem over the phone. Is correcting the problems when parts come in. Thanks for suggestions. Hopefully, back on water next week.
 
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