Alarms going off

[winn_peeples]

"A friend of mine has twin 454

"A friend of mine has twin 454’s, and was heading back in this weekend when BOTH engine alarms went off, both water temp gauges indicating over heating. He shut them both down and checked below, not really noting anything out of whack. After a few minutes he restarted the starboard engine and the temp showed normal and the alarm stopped. The port engine alarm however, never would go off. Even after sitting overnight it still sounds. He replaced the water temp censor and that didn’t stop it either. He has gauges for trans oil temp, water temp, and oil pressure

Thoughts???

The weird part is BOTH engines alarming/showing over heating at the very same time.

Could this be an electrical gremlin?

The port engine gauges (ALL of them) have a history of “jumping around” and acting erratically."

 

[fastjeff]

"Sounds like a ground problem

"Sounds like a ground problem to me. Most alarm systems operate on the 'sensor grounds the circuit' when something goes wrong, be it oil pressure of temperature. A bare wire shorting out someplace would do it.

Jeff"

 

[makomark]

"See if the warning system lea

"See if the warning system lead is grounded out. If the lead is not grounded, check each switch, one at a time. Something has to be closing the circuit otherwise the horn wouldn't sound.

I'm with Jeff on the ground problem and the gauges being irratic. Could also be the feed to the gauges from the key.

If you find the cause and it appears to be installation related, check for the same/similar problems on the other side."