Mercury- 6 BEEPS- FIXED!!!! FYI

[toonfish]

I am getting a intermittent alarm- 6 beeps. Lost my manual- anybody know what this indicates? Just had the rectifier/regulator replaced and the spring run up done on it??? Seems like it goes off when I drop speed and RPM's to idle and also at low idle RPM's seem to pulse a bit (up/down. Any ideas??? This is a 2004 Merc 4 stroke 60 hp.

[harvey lee]

I have a 50hp Merc 4 stroke and that buzzer for my motor states that you may have an issue with one of your engine functions.

Thats all my manual states. This is for 2005 and up for 40/50 and 60 hp motors.

Sorry I cannot be of more help. I would have the motor hooked up to see what the issue is. It could be one of many issues.

[BoxMN]

Maybe if the impeller is bad? I.e. high rpm it is pushing enough water, but when you drop rpms the water isn't pumping through in high enough volume... That happened to a 25hp rude of mine, but if it is 6 beeps consistently, then I am not sure.

Good luck.

[toonfish]

I get a steady stream of water, but the alarm only comes on a t low idle, is my water pump going bad?

[BoxMN]

That's what minje was. Something to consider. How long has it been since you replaced it, or since it was new? I am not sure if that is it, but if it was 6 years or more, I would replace it, as it probably needs it at that age, IMHO. Others let them go longer, but not me

edit - I see now yours is 2004. I would not think it is that already, but we always try to do them at the 4-6 year time frame. So in my garage, your boat would be about due for one, especailly if used in dirty stuff (our duck boat) or hitting sand bottom fairly often.

Good luck!

[harvey lee]

In the 05 and newer models, the water pump alarm is not intermittent.

[LMITOUT]

It wasn't in 1999 either.

[propster]

Not sure if this applies, and I don't have my manual in front of me, but for my merc there is steady beep and intermittent beep. One is overheating and one is low oil. Not sure which is which, but may be worth checking.

[propster]

Forgot to add, on my 40 merc, last time the sensor went off I changed the impeller (even though I had a steady stream), made sure it had plenty of oil and was pumping, and still the warning beep went off. Turned out it was a faulty warning sensor, which there is a test for. Ordered and replaced it and no problem after that.

[marine_man]

Here's a snapshot of the warning system troubleshooting:

marine_man

[toonfish]

I can't pull up the attachement, is it the page from the owners manual? I am thinking of bringing it to Shakopee Marine to get checked, it is close, but anybody had work done by them? Reviews/Pricing????

[toonfish]

Talk to another shop today, they said before I bring it in to make sure the oil is all the way up to the top fill line ,which I noticed it wasn't when I checked but it was in the "full zone". the shop said that the motors can be very picky when it comes to the oil level. I am going to try it and will give you an update. Just something I wouldn;t have thought of considering that the oil was in the safe zone!

[marine_man]

is it the page from the owners manual?

Yes, it's the page from the owner's manual.

Can you see other pictures that are posted by people? That's all it is.

The oil is a good catch... but, based on the operator's manual, 6 beeps indicates a problem with an engine function that the dealer will have to troubleshoot, so I don't think it's oil related.

marine_man

[toonfish]

I can see the page now...thanks for posting- Dang on the oil...Is there an alarm for low oil? the page from the owners manual is so vaugue....to me an 3engine problem could be anything from low oil to disaster....

[propster]

I found my manual and read - intermittent beep is low oil on both my 150 Merc and my old 40 Merc, or the oil level could be fine but the pump isn't working. But mine doesn't stop at 6 either so MM might be on to something there as far as other engine trouble.

[harvey lee]

On my Merc., the oil alarm is a continous sound. I just had to have the oil sensor replaced due to the alarm this spring.

[FishinMaverick]

In the 05 and newer models, the water pump alarm is not intermittent.

good thing he has a 2004 then huh!!!

[FishinMaverick]

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[toonfish]

Shop called me today and said that they hooked it up and the codes they were getting were for high rev and low voltage??? Water pump is good. The alarm did not sound for them after they cleared the codes??? So 139.00 to clear the codes and still don't know if there is a problem until I get it out on the lake and see if the alarm comes back on. Frustrating

[toonfish]

Took the boat back out this weekend- still get the 6 beeps at startup....after runnning the boat at Different RPM and shutting off and on a number of times- the beeps went away and then came back, after anchored for a while and restarting. Can someone who works in a shop give me some advice? Should I take it back to the same shop, seems like they can't REALLY tell me what is wrong (last time they just cleared the codes for 139.00 shop time) Do I just let them keep trying things until it goes away? I don't have much experience with outboard shops vs. car shops, but seems they should be able to tell me what is wrong, instead of me just paying them shop time to tinker and experiment??Or is that how it works? Advice?

Ohh the other thing is my volts drop from 14 to 12 quite frequently is this normal or could this be battery related.....Thanks in advance

[harvey lee]

I had some of the same type issues and the shop that worked on minedidn't get it fixed the 1st time and did not charge me a penny as they said they could not charge for for nothing.

The issues I had was the oil pressure sensor and it would work and then not work in the motor. They finally pulled it out and tested it and it worked. They replaced it and now all is fine.

They did call Mercury and they told them to replace the part and that did it.

The shop I used was B&B sports in Hutchinson and they were very good to work with. I have had my boat to 3 different Merc dealers and this shop was hands down the best.

Shoot me an e-mail if you need help finding them if you would like to try them out. Not that far from you.

[toonfish]

I talked to the shop again, they are going to call Mercury- we will see, but I am not willing to pay for more shop time if it is not fixed- any other recommendations of a good shop closer to Prior Lake?

[toonfish]

Sorry to bump this to the top again, but I am still having the same issue, but I have narrowed it down a bit. After a few trips to the shop and still no results, their last resort was to try the non-oxy gas, which I did after syphoning the whole tank out. Still have 6 beep alarm.

The thing that I have noticed though is everything is fine when I am going full throttle or at least 3,000 RPM. The alarm only sounds when I back off and drop to idle, when I am at idle the motor drops below 1,000 RPM and immeadiately the alarm comes on???? Further when i am just cruising at 2,000 RPM or less the motor seems to surge pulse to 2,000 and then drop to 700-800 and then surge back up???

Any ideas on other things ato try on my own?

When I syphoned the old gas out I did notice what seemed to be plastic shavings (looked like pencil shavings) in the bottom of the gas tank. Could these be clogging the intake from the tank? There were only 2-3 of them. Or could it be that I need a nes fuel filter? Any other ideas would be helpful as I have already spent a bit of cash trying to figure this out. Would the 2 things that I mentioned be worth taking care of to see if that solves it, or is it highly unlikely that they are the culprit?

[BoxMN]

Toonfish, I know the codes and beeps do not indicate it, but on my 25hp it was doing the exact same thing, except continuous beep. But the symptoms, especially the surging part you just mentioned and that it only sounds when at slower speeds (i.e. when the pump is not spinning fast enough getting enough water to cool it down), were exactly the same.

Mine was a water pump. I know they "said it was good" but did you put a new one in? Maybe worth a $30 part, but I know you don't want to keep throwing money at it, but I still think it sounds just like mine did. Good luck! Stinks when you have motor probs, regardless what brand or age.

[toonfish]

Thanks- I am definitely willing to put the cash into it, I was just frustrated with not being able to diagnose before shelling it out and fix. Thanks for the input on the water pump...I was thinking this had to be more fuel related for the surging to happen, but if you had the same symptoms it may be it...I just wouldn't think the water pump would affect the rmp surge??? (I also don't know alot about motors)