check engine warnings without obvious cause

[eticket]

Jet boating brethren,
I was out today and had strange sequence of events/warnings that I need some help on before I send the boat to the dealer and possibly miss out on some prime Summer boating:

I last used the boat on Sunday for several hours with no problems. The boat has about 115 hours on it, last serviced by me around 100 hours (plugs/oil/grease).

Today, launch with good cooling flow and no warnings/problem indications. We boat over to spot for watersports, maybe 10 minutes with some varying speed. My kid jumps in water, I go to start engines and the starboard engine indicates low battery warning, but starts. I kill engines, check voltmeter and both engines show 12.8VDC. I start the engines again, but now I get check engine light on port engine and almost no cooling flow.

Check clean outs, clear. Check screens from aft side of impellers, clear. After a few engine starts, cooling restored both engines, away we go. Kid has epic run of maybe 10 minutes, no warnings and strong cooling flow.

We swap kids in water, have several more runs, no issues present themselves.

Then I get in the water, my buddy is driving now. Soon after getting underway it seems something is not right, as I am getting way more jet spray than normal. I swing wide to Starboard and see only one strong cooling discharge. I suspect only one engine is running so I bail out and he shuts down.

My buddy believes both engines were running and does not recall any warnings/codes, but I am not sure he would have checked/noticed at speed pulling me. I start both engines but get check engine light on Starboard engine, almost no cooling flow again. I check clean outs, clean. Check pump screens, clean. I check water lines from output fittings back to engines, no kinks, cuts, leaks, the look good. the lines coming in from bilge to engine compartment look good, no leaks or other visual problems. Fearing we were running under one engine, I check oil and it is good color and the level is right and further there is no oil present in the compartment.

I wait about 5 minutes, get cooling flow again at idle so I decide to get back to marina with both engine in no wake mode as the check engine warnings are gone. During way back to marina I speed up to see what happens and I get check engine warnings on both engines, yet have good cooling flow for both. I continue back to Marina at no wake speed with good cooling flow but the check engine warning comes on several times for Starboard engine.

So, do I take it into the dealer now or give it another run later this week and hope the warnings reset and there is no real problem? I've read in a few threads that disconnecting the battery can reset warnings. Also, at no time did I get and engine overheat warning despite strange behavior with the cooling flow.

Thanks in advance for any inputs!

 

[Scottintexas]

Was the engine light flashing at all or a constant on? sometime it will flash a sequence to identify the problem,

Do you have a YDS?

Since you had no overheat warning and the engines always started I would run it another day to see if the problem returns or that you can isolate it more,

The issue of the lack of cooling water indicator flow moving from one engine to the other is very confusing,

 

[eticket]

@Scottintexas
The check engine indications and accompanying alarms came on solid until I could clear them with the buttons.

I don't have a YDS and the boat is still under my YES, so anything beyond simple steps will likely drive me into the dealer. My only hesitation for the dealer is the turn time, I don't want to give up the boat unless I have to.

I am also confused about the cooling water behavior. I would think it is a purely mechanical system and only an obstruction would impair flow. However, my jet intake screen was clear and the lines looked good, at least from the outside.

 

[swatski]

I would charge the batteries overnight, make sure they get full charge not a trickle. Then turn off the battery switches, wait a minute or so and turn them back on - that should clear any codes.

To me this sounds like some electric gremlins, maybe low battery.

I would also re-post or move this to general discussion, you will get more eyes on it. @Administrative

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[eticket]

@swatski , I think you called it. I spoke to my dealer and they advised a low battery could throw the check engine code. Even though I had 12.8V showing on each battery that was without load. The tech I spoke to suggested the multiple starts and restarts are hard on the battery and the one thing I did not do in my troubleshooting was to switch over to my other battery. He also said it was possible to get your cooling blocked thru the jet screen, perhaps with algae. I can't see the connection between my cooling flow impairment and the codes but I got out today and nothing is wrong. Cooling flow is strong and no codes with 90 minutes of varied use.

As to the batteries, voltage underway with system charging is 14.1, but I did notice that the stereo and amps pull that down to 14.0, so that draw is affecting charging. I can't charge overnight any longer as I have dry stack service now but I am thinking about alternating batteries going forward to keep one strong while the other carries the load.

So, case closed and hopefully for good!

 

[scokill]

Pee holes may/may not discharge at idle. They could be clogged but do not contribute to cooling in any way. Not sure about the newer models but there is a dedicated overheat light and not an engine code. I would suspect that you are OK.

 

[swatski]

@swatski , I think you called it. I spoke to my dealer and they advised a low battery could throw the check engine code. Even though I had 12.8V showing on each battery that was without load. The tech I spoke to suggested the multiple starts and restarts are hard on the battery and the one thing I did not do in my troubleshooting was to switch over to my other battery. He also said it was possible to get your cooling blocked thru the jet screen, perhaps with algae. I can't see the connection between my cooling flow impairment and the codes but I got out today and nothing is wrong. Cooling flow is strong and no codes with 90 minutes of varied use.

As to the batteries, voltage underway with system charging is 14.1, but I did notice that the stereo and amps pull that down to 14.0, so that draw is affecting charging. I can't charge overnight any longer as I have dry stack service now but I am thinking about alternating batteries going forward to keep one strong while the other carries the load.

So, case closed and hopefully for good!

That's great if all works, what a relief. Keep us posted, we are all learning!

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