E115 Oil Alarm

[petere1144]

I have a 94 E115 (E115TLERC), and i’m getting an oil alarm roughly every 5 minutes when running, engine runs fine, and then the alarm stops when the ball is pumped on the oil container, it also occasionally goes off on its own. I was told it is probably the filter, but the filter doesn’t appear worn or anything. Any ideas?

 

[jakedaawg]

Run on 50:1 premix until resolved and a selfpriming and initial setup test has been performed.

A few things to rule out:
check the oil hose at all fittings. Possible that your sucking air. Firings at vro, cowl, bulb, tank.

Try a new oil tank cap. The vents go bad.

Do you have a manual? There is a test for usage using a graduated cylinder.

make sure oil line is not getting kinked or collapsed anywhere. You want minimal turns and bends in that line.

 

[Joe Reeves]

Here is a listing of the engine's warning system: There is no "every 5 minute beep". You need to be specific. Don't speak in generalities that leave us guessing as to what you're speaking of.

The fact that you mention that the alarm stops when the oil primer bulb is pressed indicates warning #3 below (air in the oil line or VRO failure. Prime the oil bulb to (hopefully) get rid of a air bubble... as further down this list.
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(VRO Horn Warnings)
(J. Reeves)

NOTE: I retired around 1991/92. Possibly some of the later V4 engines and others may also incorporate a fuel vacuum switch that would enable a fuel restriction warning to sound as mentioned below, an unknown factor to myself.

1 - A steady constant beep = Overheating - The V/6 engines, possibly some others, have a fuel restriction warning which is also a steady constant beep.

2 - A beep every 20 or 40 seconds = oil level has dropped to 1/4 tank. (Late model engine = Every 40 seconds)

3 - A beep every other second = VRO failure, air leak in oil line, oil restriction, (anything that would result in a lack of oil being supplied to the engine).

NOTE - If the warning horn is the black plastic (overpriced) three wire type horn, the warning horn should beep once when the ignition key is turned to the ON position. If it does not, it is either faulty or someone has disconnected it (a stupid move!). At any rate, if it does not beep which indicates that the horn is non functional, find out why and do not run the engine until the problem is corrected.
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(Priming The VRO Pump)
(J. Reeves)

When hooking up or installing a VRO whether it is a new or original VRO pump, it must be primed in order to dispel any air that might be in the oil line.

Have the Oil line attached to the engine fitting BUT detached from the VRO. Add a piece of fuel hose if necessary to the oil line so that it can be aimed into some sort of container.

Pump the oil primer bulb, catching the oil flowing out of the line into the container until you are absolutely sure that you have rid the oil line of every bit of air that might have been trapped there.

Now, connect the oil line to the VRO and secure it. When the oil line is secured, apply pressure to the oil primer bulb ONE TIME only. That's it.
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[jakedaawg]

Joe, your write ups are great. I wish you could make a thread and have each one in a post, then we could have a link to it to give each of the folks that need it. I know I wished I could search well and find them when you were on vacation the last time awhile back.

 

[petere1144]

It’s definitely the 3rd alarm. Every other second but it happens until i pump the oil primer ball and then it goes away for 5 minutes at no wake speed. Once I get up to cruising speed it doesn’t happen at all. Since it goes away after the pump would that indicate the air bubble somewhere like you guys were talking about? What is the best way to search for an air leak?

 

[Joe Reeves]

It’s definitely the 3rd alarm. Every other second but it happens until i pump the oil primer ball and then it goes away for 5 minutes at no wake speed. Once I get up to cruising speed it doesn’t happen at all. Since it goes away after the pump would that indicate the air bubble somewhere like you guys were talking about? What is the best way to search for an air leak?

Do the "Prime The Pump" procedure as I included in post reply #3.

There is no search 'air bubble" search method... Either a air bubble exists or the VRO is failing for some reason.
However... since you say that no alarm sounds off at a higher rpm, possibly instead of a failing VRO (if the priming procedure doesn't cure the beeping problem), a loss of crankcase pressure, needed to operate the VRO, could exist<-- This could be due to the piston/cylinder that generates that pressure encountering a problem that results in poor compression, etc., in which case, do a compression check, then get back to us with the psi readings per cylinder.

 

[jakedaawg]

While a compression test is always a food idea, after performing that I personally would do this:

mix 50:1 in your fuel tank. Run boat with oil cap very loose so it can vent...does problem go away? If yes replace oil cap or the whole tank assembly. If no then:

perform self priming/initial set up sequence in manual. If that passes replace oil line and bulb or better yet, the oil tank assembly that comes with new lines and everything you need.

in my experience though, if an oil cap fails to fix you probably will end up needing to replace the VRO. This assumes good compression. Although good cylinder compression does not necessarily mean good crankcase compression. The fact that it runs at speed would tend to rule out poor crankcase compression because the same pulses that pump oil pump fuel.

 

[petere1144]

Update: Was running the boat on a portable 6 gallon tank when I had this problem. Switched to 20 gallon tank, no beeping, back to little tank, beeping started. This tank was filled when I bought it and I didn't know what was in it. Is it possible that this gas is premixed and that would've stopped the alarm?

 

[racerone]

The alarm does not know if oil is mixed in the gas or if no oil is mixed in the gas.----Does not work that way.

 

[jakedaawg]

That's really weird...never encountered such a situation.

 

[petere1144]

Another update: If I run it with the vent on the portable tank closed, the alarm also doesn't beep. This is really throwing me for a loop

 

[flyingscott]

Take the pick up out of the portable tank and see if it is cracked or has a hole in it.