No oil alarm, then disappears

[bmorris11]

Went down to my boat last night, and ran the engine for a few minutes, just to keep her feeling like she is wanted

The engine is an 89 225 Evinrude V6 looper. It still has the VRO connected (not interested in removing it just yet, my father in law and co-owner, blew up an engine after forgetting to mix).


Ran for a few minutes smoked good at startup, then settled down. Then the oil alarm sounded every few seconds (no oil?). I shut it down, checked the level in the tank, it was about 2/3's full. I added more to fill it up, then started it again.

This time, it never sounded the alarm and smoked the same as before, right at startup and high idle, then settled down as I brought the rpm's down.

Would a float be sticking in the tank, then "unstick" when I added a bit more oil? Or should I be looking for an air leak in the oil lines somewhere?

I've been looking all over the forums, and read quite a bit about the VRO system, but I'm not sure why the alarm would sound one time, and not the next.

Could there be a short in the control box or a loose connection? We recently replaced the ignition switch, and had everything tight....

Thanks all....

 

[bmorris11]

Re: No oil alarm, then disappears

anyone have any ideas? I'm hoping to take another look at it tonight....

 

[Speakrdude]

Re: No oil alarm, then disappears

My 94 does the exact same thing. I think it is the float contacts in the oil tank. Mine has been doing it on and off for years now.

 

[seahorse5]

Re: No oil alarm, then disappears

Ran for a few minutes smoked good at startup, then settled down. Then the oil alarm sounded every few seconds (no oil?). I shut it down, checked the level in the tank, it was about 2/3's full. I added more to fill it up, then started it again.
..

Most likely there was an air bubble in the line or a sticky check ball in the primer bulb. Adding oil to the tank doesn't make a difference with an NO OIL alarm, only on a LOW OIL alarm which is one beep about every 30 seconds.

 

[dajohnson53]

Re: No oil alarm, then disappears

...then the oil alarm sounded every few seconds (no oil?). I shut it down, checked the level in the tank, it was about 2/3's full. I added more to fill it up, then started it again.

This time, it never sounded the alarm and smoked the same as before, right at startup and high idle, then settled down as I brought the rpm's down.

Would a float be sticking in the tank, then "unstick" when I added a bit more oil? Or should I be looking for an air leak in the oil lines somewhere?...

"Low Oil" alarm: alarm beeps every few seconds.

"No Oil" alarm: alarm beeps every 1 second or so.

If yours was truely every "few" seconds, it was "low oil". Low oil alarm sensor is on a float in the tank like you said. My guess is that the float was stuck as 2/3 full shouldn't sound it. (mine goes off at about 1 qt remaining, if I recall correctly).

I'm not a mechanic or expert, but if that happened to my system, I'd pull the oil pickup out of the tank and just clean it up and check for any obvious reasons the float isn't working right. I'd also definitely take the opportunity to change the filter on the end of the pickup. When you reassemble, just make sure the gasket is in good shape and you install it properly so that the oil pickup fitting is nice and waterproof.

FWIW: the "no oil" alarm is much more urgent sounding and the sensor is in the fuel pump. Wouldn't be affected at all by adding oil to the tank, unless the tank was bone dry which in turned caused the no oil alarm.