Engine starting issues

[gpag]

Took the boat out today and had more starting issues. The first video shows the engine not turning over with two accompanying beeps. The second video shows the same thing but there is a series of three new beeps. The third shows the engine starting but then dying; after a few tries it stays running. The last video is the engine running after it started.

The service manual says nothing about the meaning of these different warning beeps; the owner manual is not much better. Can someone help me understand what these beeps are telling me. Any insight into possible causes.

[mosquito13]

Year of outboard? model #? Did a quick google and not seeing anything about audio "code". My 90's ford pickup does a beeping code so maybe... Think my 2003 goes off with low oil or high temp. only . You have the manual on your outboard? Can do a search and download for free off the intraweb. Might be something in there. I would sort it out before I ran the engine beside for diagnostic's. Let us know what you find out.

[985crabs]

Do you have the Yamaha multi-purpose tach/tilt/trim gauge connected to that motor? I have a similar-looking early 2000s 150 2-stroke. It's never beeped, but I'd think the gauge thing would offer some clues.

[Juan]

This probably won't be of any help at all but I used to have a Yamaha OX66 250 2-stroke and it too would only beep if there was an oil or overheating issue. That thing would never start and stay running unless I sprayed starter fluid at the carbs. Once it started that first time, it would start every time and run all day without missing a beat but if it ever cooled down for more than a few hours, I'd have to use the starter fluid again. I figured it was a problem with the automatic choke but I never fixed it and sold it that way.

[gpag]

It is a 2003 SX200TXRB. It ran great all last year and the first time out this year, the second time it started having this problem. I have both the owners manual and the service manual; neither are much help beep-wise. No gauge but I once running it runs great, gets on plane with no loss of rpms. I brought it to Hyannis Marina this morning for them to look at. I should know something tomorrow.

[985crabs]

Hyannis Port? Obviously it’s Trump’s fault!

Aiyeeeeeee!

[gpag]

Hyannis, not Hyannisport. There were a couple of good size boats flying Trump flags though. Probably raised and lowered by the Hispanic help in between cooking and cleaning.

[mosquito13]

Post up what they find.

[gnrphil]

My bet is a bad ground, the only alarms you'll get are low oil or over temp, all of which are signaled by a ground connection. Could also be the oil level switch or temp switch, all of which is a simple fix.

[gpag]

I called Hyannis Marina to check status on the boat. It’s repaired but the service guy didn’t have a total yet because the tech hadn’t written it up yet. He did say, “I know it was the fuel delivery system that needing replacing as the engine was receiving too much air with the fuel”. Not sure what that means but I hear cash register bellss ka-chinging with abandon. During my maintenance in the Spring I replaced the low pressure fuel pumps and the O2 sensor, which, I assume, are part of a he fuel delivery system.
What comprises the fuel delivery system on a Yamaha 200hp OX66?

I have never brought anything in for marine service before. They wanted my credit card # when filling out the order on Thursday. Today I emailed the service rep. asking if, once diagnosed, they would call me before doing any repairs (like my car mechanic does for anything significant). He said that they had repaired it during the diagnosis. Is this SOP for a marina? I did not ask to be called if the repair was over a certain amount. I’m thinking their not calling me means that it is not going to be as expensive as I’m imagining or, it is going to be so expensive that their eyes lit up and they got right to it. 😲

[Juan]

"repaired it during the diagnosis" makes it sound like it was an easy repair/fix but I've had a lot of bad experiences at marinas and dealers over the years when it comes to repairs so I hope I'm wrong but I'm guessing you better get out the KY jelly.

[gnrphil]

Don't like the sound of that, either it was a quick easy fix or as Juan said, bend over old chap. 

[gpag]

So I picked the boat up today. The good news is that when diagnosing the problem, the engine checked out great- compression really good, fuel pressure fine, good spark. The problem was air in the fuel system. The two low pressure fuel pumps were leaking from the gasket squeezed out between the cover on one side and the diaphragm. Same problem on each. Not sure why this happened but I installed them in the Spring. Maybe it was before I got the torque wrench.
Also the fuel/water separator was allowing air into the system. The part of the housing where the filter gasket sits was really rough preventing a good seal. The housing was the original Yamaha housing, it had a Racor filter on it when I bought he boat and that is what pI had just put on. The tech said that to use a Racor filter n the Yamaha housing there should be an o-ring on the threaded connection. Sometimes they ship with the Racor filters and sometimes they don’t. If you don’t use the o-ring air can enter the system. He also replaced the fuel lines from the tank to the engine. Something I was planning to do anyway. He also replaced the primer bulb which needed to be done. The fuel itself was good, no water, no separation.

Bottom line is the parts were cheap, just $250. The part prices were less than what I’ve found online. Labor was $912!! The slip doesn’t list the number of hours so I don’t know what the hourly rate is. I’m going to ask tomorrow. What would you guys on Cape Cod expect to pay for an hourly rate?

One thing I was very surprised by is that the boat did not have much fuel in it. I thought it had a 104 gallon tank and had about 70 gallons in it based on what my fuel monitor said. When I filled it up it only took 45 gallons. That was a big surprise.

I spent about 30 minutes talking to the tech, Travis about the causes of the problems, asking about replacing the injector filters ( he brought out a bunch of dirty filters of different types to show what a filter that needed to be replaced looked like), what is important to do maintenance wise, and other related things. I learned a lot.