2006 Bayliner 185 with Mercruiser 4.3 TKS - Ignition alarm

[jd1984]

Hello everyone,

My boat is a 2006 Bayliner 185 with the Mercruiser 4.3 TKS. I'm a brand new boat owner and not much of a greasemonkey so I'm learning as I go. I've had this boat for about 2 months and taken it out six times.

On our last outing on Sunday, the ignition alarm would stay on after starting until I got the boat in gear and started giving it some throttle. Previous to this, it has always stopped immediately after starting once the oil got up to pressure.

My understanding is that this alarm only indicates three things on my year and model of boat

- Low gear/lower unit oil, which the reservoir is full and the oil was just changed. The previous owner claims he did it, but on the advice of an old friend who used to be a boat junkie, I did it again following some video guides and have had it out 3-4 times since.

- High temp, the engine temp gauge never rises past middle (175-ish temp when operating.)

- Low oil pressure - the oil pressure appeared fine on the gauge though it does seem to fluctuate pretty dramatically.

My current planned course of action is to replace the oil pressure sending unit. Given that the alarm goes away once I start giving the boat a little bit of throttle, I'm inclined to believe it's probably the oil pressure sending unit and not related to the lower unit lube or the temperature gauge.

I just thought to be safe I would ask here and see what advice you guys had to diagnose this issue?

 

[Bondo]

- Low gear/lower unit oil, which the reservoir is full and the oil was just changed. The previous owner claims he did it, but on the advice of an old friend who used to be a boat junkie, I did it again following some video guides and have had it out 3-4 times since.

Ayuh,...... Unplug the sensor, on the oil bottle, 'n see if it's stickin',.....

They're notorious for that,.....

 

[QBhoy]

Agree with bondo. Check the float in gear oil.
also a chance that it may be related to charging system and battery. What’s the voltage whilst it does this ?

 

[jd1984]

I will check that gear lube sensors as well, thanks for your input. From my reading in the owners manual, the alarm can only mean the three things I stated (oil pressure, gear lube level, and engine temp), so I am doubtful it is voltage related. My voltage sits around 12-14 on the gauge during usage but admittedly I don't really watch that too closely, going off shoddy memory here.

 

[QBhoy]

12v when running would mean it has an issue. I’m almost certain that if you aren’t charging you will get an alarm from the buzzer. Or if the ignition is cut whilst running you will get an alarm.

 

[achris]

12v when running would mean it has an issue. I’m almost certain that if you aren’t charging you will get an alarm from the buzzer. Or if the ignition is cut whilst running you will get an alarm.

No alarm for low voltage on a TKS/TB-V. MPI, yes...

Those dash voltmeters are not calibrated, so a reading between '12 and 14v' I would consider 'normal'. If the battery wasn't being charged, you'd find out fairly quickly when you next attempted to start...

And again, TB-V, no alarm on ignition cut. A couple of confirmation beeps at 'key on', but nothing at key off. It all just 'stops'

Chris....

 

[QBhoy]

No alarm for low voltage on a TKS/TB-V. MPI, yes...

Those dash voltmeters are not calibrated, so a reading between '12 and 14v' I would consider 'normal'. If the battery wasn't being charged, you'd find out fairly quickly when you next attempted to start...

And again, TB-V, no alarm on ignition cut. A couple of confirmation beeps at 'key on', but nothing at key off. It all just 'stops'

Chris....

Excellent. Good point chris again. I must admit I thought all later models (even carb..as in the ones that are a little more clever than the old ones, being able to show hours and a couple of alarms etc etc) had an alarm when voltage low.