Alarm every 5 seconds

[Slightly Stewpid]

2003 Volvo Penta GXI with a blower. 300 hours on the engine. Cruising at 4000 rpm for 15 minutes, everything was running great. Pull the throttle back at the mouth of the harbor and immediately I get the alarm. The temp gauge was reading cool. The oil pressure was good. The only thing I can think of was the alarm from the exhaust temp sender. I cut the motor and lifted the hatch. No steam in the engine compartment. Tried starting it up and nothing. Waited 15 minutes and I could get the engine firing by pulling it out of gear and giving the boat some throttle, but it was very roughly at idle. Limped back in 10 minutes to the dock with the alarm sounding every 5 seconds. This was yesterday.

This morning, I went down to the boat and fired up the boat by taking it out of gear and giving throttle, once it fired out came black smoke and soot. As the engine warmed up, I continued to throttle back until the throttle was at idle. After it warmed up, the boat ran very well when I took the boat to the fuel dock, and around the harbor. It fired right up 4 or 5 times today(I did not need to pull it out of gear and give it throttle). What happened? Is there anything I need to check or get looked at?

 

[Kirks World]

I posted a response to your question in my old thread. I have a couple of questions, by blower, do you mean supercharger? Is the boat operated in fresh or salt water? When were the exhaust manifolds, risers, and exhaust elbows replaced?

 

[Bondo]

2003 Volvo Penta GXI with a blower. 300 hours on the engine. Cruising at 4000 rpm for 15 minutes, everything was running great. Pull the throttle back at the mouth of the harbor and immediately I get the alarm. The temp gauge was reading cool. The oil pressure was good. The only thing I can think of was the alarm from the exhaust temp sender. I cut the motor and lifted the hatch. No steam in the engine compartment. Tried starting it up and nothing. Waited 15 minutes and I could get the engine firing by pulling it out of gear and giving the boat some throttle, but it was very roughly at idle. Limped back in 10 minutes to the dock with the alarm sounding every 5 seconds. This was yesterday.

This morning, I went down to the boat and fired up the boat by taking it out of gear and giving throttle, once it fired out came black smoke and soot. As the engine warmed up, I continued to throttle back until the throttle was at idle. After it warmed up, the boat ran very well when I took the boat to the fuel dock, and around the harbor. It fired right up 4 or 5 times today(I did not need to pull it out of gear and give it throttle). What happened? Is there anything I need to check or get looked at?

Ayuh,.... What sorta Blower,..??

 

[Slightly Stewpid]

Hello Kirk's World,

Thank you very much for the response. It is a Whipple Supercharger 2300 AX and it is/ was operated in salt water, but it is fresh water cooled using a heat exchanger. I just bought the boat, so I have very little history with it. I did have a mechanical inspection on the motor prior and all checked out ok, also the sea trial went well before I purchased. Upon taking delivery, I sent it immediately to the local shipyard to have a "tune up" and yearly maintenance done, so again it passed sets of eyes without any obvious problems, but after searching the internet trying to figure things out, I am thinking that I should replace the sensors and clean the contacts as a preventative step, maybe this would give me a better baseline to work out further problems with the boat.

 

[Kirks World]

The fresh water cooling is a plus, however it is my understanding that the exhaust manifolds, risers if there are risers, and exhaust elbows are cooled by raw water. Is there any sign of leaking around those areas (rust streaks, corrosion, etc.....). The reason I ask is because you experienced the hard to start, black smoke issue, and on initial thought it sounds like a possible restriction in the exhaust system. It is my understanding that the manifolds need to be replaced every four to five years, or at the beginning signs of wear. The last thing you want is water intrusion into the engine. Do you have Captains Call exhaust diverters on your boat?

 

[Slightly Stewpid]

That makes sense about the cooling of the risers and elbows. There is captains call on the boat but I am lost as to the relationship with those being restrictive. We were cruising at 4000 rpm for awhile prior to pulling back on the throttle. When we were going the motor felt very strong, I don't think that pulling back would have restricted the exhaust, would it?

 

[Kirks World]

As for the Captains Call, it adds another variable, however it would not be likely that the issue has anything to do with the Captains Call. I was asking more to get an idea of your configuration. Most of the time a water restriction dealing with exhaust cooling is, manifold, riser, or elbow, especially on a closed cooling system. The part that is puzzling me is that it was hard to start, and then the black smoke and soot. To me that indicates the motor is/was running rich.The next question would be why? If it were me, I would check the plugs to see how they looked, and while they were out check compression too. If you have, or can borrow a compression gauge it can give you some peace of mind.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/do-yourself-boating-budget/103342-make-marine-efi-code-tool-less-than-$1-00-a.html

Some of you may know this trick, but I thought I would share it in hopes that it helps some folks. It is very easy to make a simple, but very useful, Marine EFI Code reading and clearing / Base Timing Tool. And you can make it for under $1.00!

Materials needed:

One 12volt resistor type LED light
One small paperclip cut in half

That?s it!

This home made code tool works every bit as well as the one I paid $50.00 for. It will work on most 1993 to 2000 marine EFI systems with the ten pin Data Link Connector. This includes Mercruiser, Volvo, Crusader, PCM, Indmar, and a few others.

How to hook it up:

1) Ignition key ?OFF?

2) Remove the cap from the Data Link Connector (DLC)

3) Slide the LED into the female terminals of position E and F on the DLC, making sure that the positive side goes into terminal F and the negative side into terminal E. No damage will occur if you get it backwards, it just won't work.

4) Turn the ignition key to the ?ON? position. The LED should come on steady.

5) Insert the half paperclip into terminals A and B ? This puts the engine in ?Service Mode? and codes will begin to flash on the LED. On 1996 and earlier engines you may hear the fuel pump come on. If not you should be able to hear the Idle Air Control (IAC) motor move. Use care in this step, do not insert in the wrong terminals or ECM damage could result! Look closely, the terminals are clearly marked.

6) Read codes by observing LED flashs. If the self diagnostic system is working it will flash code 12 ? one flash, pause, two flashes, long pause ? it will repeat three times. If other codes are present they will flash in order of lowest to highest. Continue to read codes until the code 12 sequence is repeated.

You can also be clear codes (by moving the throttle to 100% and back) and set base timing while in Service Mode.

Dave

Update

Just wanted to add that a computer safe test light can be used instead of a LED. As common as LED's are, I don't think most people have them laying around, but you may have a test light.

Anyway, when using a LED, the ECM supplies constant 12+ to terminal "F" providing power to the LED, and then the ECM flashes the LED by closing the ground circuit on terminal "E".

To use a test light instead of a LED, you would provide power to the light by connecting the alligator clip to a 12v+ source (engine breaker, starter, battery, or whatever is an easy place to connect). Then you would (still using a paperclip to jump terminals "A" and "B"), touch the probe end of the test light to terminal "E", and the light should begin flashing.

Again, the test light must be the type that is approved for use on computer circuits. A non-approved test light will not work and could even damage the ECM.​

Attached Thumbnails

Attached Images

e: Make a Marine EFI code tool for less than $1.00

Dave1972,
It reallly wasn't that hard to figure out, but I did my homework before I tried it. No fried ECM's to date. The next step was to build it into a connector. See picture below.

DanB,
Below is a list of MEFI trouble codes that I compiled.

Dave​

Attached Thumbnails

Attached Images

 

[1994almeida]

Hi
During the Marine EFI Code reading the engine is off or is running ?

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Hi
During the Marine EFI Code reading the engine is off or is running ?

How to hook it up:

1) Ignition key ?OFF?

2) Remove the cap from the Data Link Connector (DLC)

3) Slide the LED into the female terminals of position E and F on the DLC, making sure that the positive side goes into terminal F and the negative side into terminal E. No damage will occur if you get it backwards, it just won't work.

4) Turn the ignition key to the ?ON? position. The LED should come on steady.

5) Insert the half paperclip into terminals A and B ? This puts the engine in ?Service Mode? and codes will begin to flash on the LED. On 1996 and earlier engines you may hear the fuel pump come on. If not you should be able to hear the Idle Air Control (IAC) motor move. Use care in this step, do not insert in the wrong terminals or ECM damage could result! Look closely, the terminals are clearly marked.

6) Read codes by observing LED flashs. If the self diagnostic system is working it will flash code 12 ? one flash, pause, two flashes, long pause ? it will repeat three times. If other codes are present they will flash in order of lowest to highest. Continue to read codes until the code 12 sequence is repeated.

 

[Slightly Stewpid]

Thanks for the quick code reader! I will give this a shot and see what comes up.

Kirk, I just had the yearly on it, changed the plugs, and had the compression tested. All cylinders were close. From what I have read online, Whipple flashes the ECM to run a little richer when the supercharger is added. The idea is that this helps keep the operating temperature down and helps to prevent pre detonation. I am wondering if he boat went into limp mode and that messed with the ref lash and the thing started to run super rich. I have an email into Whipple, I hope they can help.

 

[Kirks World]

That does make sense as a possibility. I do not know how the supercharger works for your application, as a matter of fact this is the first time I have heard of one on a 8.1GXI. I know I live in a small world. I know several people that have overlooked the manifolds only to wind up with a trashed engine. One guy got water intrusion, and thinking he probably had a cracked head or block, rebuilt another engine, and never considered replacing the manifolds. You guessed it, water intrusion on engine #2. Don't want to see it happen to you. Let us know what you find.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Ok take the time for code reading note the codes go over to offshore only.com. Get the exact engine model number and exact blower model and the exact model off your ecu and post everything that is going on. This type of problem is not in iboats wheel house so to speak.