AK Ray
Cadet
- Joined
- May 7, 2011
- Messages
- 9
This motor - J40TLENJ - has sat since 2004 and I have been slowly going through it the last week after buying it with a great old hull. After draining the oil out of the carbs (VRO system filled the lower carb over the years) I managed to get it started and it ran great. Runs great.
What happened was while learning about the VRO filling the float bowls with oil it was not starting and just running a few seconds on the gas the primer system squirted in. The engine never ran long enough to get water up from the pump (long shaft) into the block and eventually the block was hot enough to trigger the temp switch and sound the alarm.
I asked a local mechanic about what might be doing this, learned of the VRO oil filling the float bowl issue and prest-O change-O "She Lives!"
However, the high temp alarm would not shut off. It came on as soon as the key was turned. The engine is cool to the touch. The water pump is pushing water pretty good. But that darn alarm just keeps whining. One loud BEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP. However, my ear tells me that there is a rhythm to this scream. I only notice it when I am trying to not listen to it. It kind of sounds like a really fast beep beep beep, but is lost in the scream of the BEEEEEEEEPPPPPP. I may just be hearing things.
So I turned to the iboats forums and found the dozens of excellent posts about how to test and what to test when there is an alarm. I did not know about the two oil alarms so that was handy. I had thought there was only one for the VRO system.
With the engine cold I turned the key and proceeded to unplug the temp switch. The alarm kept sounding its scream. The trouble shooting posts say that means it is a short or the buzzer is toast. I did the buzzer test and no more alarm. Sweet silence. However, the epoxy on the buzzer appears to be cracking so I will spend the big bucks and get a new one.
The basic trouble shooting left me with sorting through and testing the wire harness for shorts. I had to take the the top and side cowlings off to get to where I could see everything. I did find that there is a green ground wire on the trim/tilt harness that had melted and was pinched, but the wire was still good - just the cover was toast. This wire appears to run from the engine mount above the trim system to the engine block and does not actually appear to run current - just a ground.
What I found was really confusing at first. With the battery CONNECTED I determined which of the pins in the harness plug is the TAN wire for the temp alarm. The wire from the buzzer to the female harness plug is good with 0.2ohms or less. Then I tested the male harness pin to the temp switch bullet connector. WOW 2Mohms. that is a lot of ohms for what should be an open piece of wire about 8 inches long.
Now my head is hurting since this is supposed to be a wire that just feeds some voltage back to the buzzer telling it on or off. There should be a simple ohm reading from the harness pin to the temp switch connector showing it is an open circuit - just wire carrying the signal. Old Fluke meter is telling me it was reading 2Mohms when the battery was CONNECTED.
I pulled off the tape wrap and found a splice that has three wires going into one end and two from the other. Its about 2 inches into the harness behind the big red plug end with the male pins in it. See the photo.
So here is how things tested out. A 0 reading means the fluke meter did not read anything - no movement on the screen, no reading search - just like when you do no touch the lead tips together (no continuity).
Battery CONNECTED
Ignition end of TAN wire to Temp switch connector (same side of splice)- 0.2ohms.
Ignition end of TAN wire to harness pin - 0.
Temp wire connector to harness pin - 2Mohms down (up?) to 0 as the air temp dropped.
VRO Tank connector to Temp wire connector - 2Mohms down (up?) to 0 as the air temp dropped.
Battery DISCONNECTED
Ignition end of TAN wire to Temp switch connector (same side of splice)- 0.2ohms.
Ignition end of TAN wire to harness pin - 0.
Temp wire connector to harness pin - 0.
VRO Tank connector to Temp wire connector - 0.
I went back and forth for a while testing with the battery connected and not. Sporadically getting the 2Mohms readings or a big 0. When things cooled down as the sun set there were no more 2Mohms readings. At first I was worried something was feeding voltage into something and I was getting something from that, but as it cooled off towards dark no more mysterious 2Mohm readings.
So it looks like the splice is shot. I can't tell if this is a factory splice build or a really well done repair. There was electrical tape on this end of the harness and the wraps were well thought out and even.
What confuses me is that if all the TAN wires for the sensor alarm system all come together in a single splice then how does that work when one of the sensors changes? I guess that is why there is "stuff" epoxied into the back of the buzzer. Those gyzmos can tell what is going on when a sensor changes.
Have I nailed the temp alarm scream down to the splice being rotten?
What is the best way to deal with repairing the splice?
Would jumping over the splice with some kind of home made test lead be a good way to test the alarm scream system? Trying to figure that one out is a head scratcher. How much of the system to I have to put back together, or just go from the temp switch all the way up to the buzzer with a single wire and bypass the whole harness?
What happened was while learning about the VRO filling the float bowls with oil it was not starting and just running a few seconds on the gas the primer system squirted in. The engine never ran long enough to get water up from the pump (long shaft) into the block and eventually the block was hot enough to trigger the temp switch and sound the alarm.
I asked a local mechanic about what might be doing this, learned of the VRO oil filling the float bowl issue and prest-O change-O "She Lives!"
However, the high temp alarm would not shut off. It came on as soon as the key was turned. The engine is cool to the touch. The water pump is pushing water pretty good. But that darn alarm just keeps whining. One loud BEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPP. However, my ear tells me that there is a rhythm to this scream. I only notice it when I am trying to not listen to it. It kind of sounds like a really fast beep beep beep, but is lost in the scream of the BEEEEEEEEPPPPPP. I may just be hearing things.
So I turned to the iboats forums and found the dozens of excellent posts about how to test and what to test when there is an alarm. I did not know about the two oil alarms so that was handy. I had thought there was only one for the VRO system.
With the engine cold I turned the key and proceeded to unplug the temp switch. The alarm kept sounding its scream. The trouble shooting posts say that means it is a short or the buzzer is toast. I did the buzzer test and no more alarm. Sweet silence. However, the epoxy on the buzzer appears to be cracking so I will spend the big bucks and get a new one.
The basic trouble shooting left me with sorting through and testing the wire harness for shorts. I had to take the the top and side cowlings off to get to where I could see everything. I did find that there is a green ground wire on the trim/tilt harness that had melted and was pinched, but the wire was still good - just the cover was toast. This wire appears to run from the engine mount above the trim system to the engine block and does not actually appear to run current - just a ground.
What I found was really confusing at first. With the battery CONNECTED I determined which of the pins in the harness plug is the TAN wire for the temp alarm. The wire from the buzzer to the female harness plug is good with 0.2ohms or less. Then I tested the male harness pin to the temp switch bullet connector. WOW 2Mohms. that is a lot of ohms for what should be an open piece of wire about 8 inches long.
Now my head is hurting since this is supposed to be a wire that just feeds some voltage back to the buzzer telling it on or off. There should be a simple ohm reading from the harness pin to the temp switch connector showing it is an open circuit - just wire carrying the signal. Old Fluke meter is telling me it was reading 2Mohms when the battery was CONNECTED.
I pulled off the tape wrap and found a splice that has three wires going into one end and two from the other. Its about 2 inches into the harness behind the big red plug end with the male pins in it. See the photo.
So here is how things tested out. A 0 reading means the fluke meter did not read anything - no movement on the screen, no reading search - just like when you do no touch the lead tips together (no continuity).
Battery CONNECTED
Ignition end of TAN wire to Temp switch connector (same side of splice)- 0.2ohms.
Ignition end of TAN wire to harness pin - 0.
Temp wire connector to harness pin - 2Mohms down (up?) to 0 as the air temp dropped.
VRO Tank connector to Temp wire connector - 2Mohms down (up?) to 0 as the air temp dropped.
Battery DISCONNECTED
Ignition end of TAN wire to Temp switch connector (same side of splice)- 0.2ohms.
Ignition end of TAN wire to harness pin - 0.
Temp wire connector to harness pin - 0.
VRO Tank connector to Temp wire connector - 0.
I went back and forth for a while testing with the battery connected and not. Sporadically getting the 2Mohms readings or a big 0. When things cooled down as the sun set there were no more 2Mohms readings. At first I was worried something was feeding voltage into something and I was getting something from that, but as it cooled off towards dark no more mysterious 2Mohm readings.
So it looks like the splice is shot. I can't tell if this is a factory splice build or a really well done repair. There was electrical tape on this end of the harness and the wraps were well thought out and even.
What confuses me is that if all the TAN wires for the sensor alarm system all come together in a single splice then how does that work when one of the sensors changes? I guess that is why there is "stuff" epoxied into the back of the buzzer. Those gyzmos can tell what is going on when a sensor changes.
Have I nailed the temp alarm scream down to the splice being rotten?
What is the best way to deal with repairing the splice?
Would jumping over the splice with some kind of home made test lead be a good way to test the alarm scream system? Trying to figure that one out is a head scratcher. How much of the system to I have to put back together, or just go from the temp switch all the way up to the buzzer with a single wire and bypass the whole harness?