A LITTLE FYI

[sgt1970-442]

long story guys so bear with it, it might save someone some headaches.

its a 1999 sunsetter lxi 310hp carburated with an electric fuel pump.

i put our boat away in oct 2008 because i had to go over to iraq. did all my usual winterizing stuff plus alot of extra care for a years worth of not going to use it.

finally uncovered it last week and started working on it for the holiday weekend. got it all cleaned up checked all the fluids again and charged the battery. put it back in and it fires on about the 4th roll over.

i was quite surprised to say the least. so i ran it in the drive way for about 20 minutes and check everything over and we're good to go.

friday afternoon we head down to the lake for a nice queit evening.

take off from the ramp and let it warm up a little. finally i'm in heaven as its been a long time since i got to open her up, lay into it and she is running better than i remember. so we head over to the ski course and we pass by the sand bar and see some friends we haven't seen in a while and stop by to say hello. hang out for about an hour and decide to go hit the course.

started it and go about 50 yards and the boat dies. try to refire it and nothing. check spark and its good. so crack the throttle and i'm getting just a little squirt from the accelerator pump but, not much. check the fuel pump and its not pumping. check all the circuit breakers and everything is fine. i figure the pump is bad so our friends tow us back to the launch.

start working on it sat morning early. i run a jumper wire to the pump from the battery and find the pump is good, so i run some fuel to the carb and start it to make sure it will run. fires right up. so i start tracing wires from the pump back to the circuit breaker and pigtail mounted on the back of the block. heres where it gets interesting, the wires coming off the pump are red(power) and black(ground), i also find in the same loom one more black wire and three purple wires. so i start tracing where the power wire from the pump goes and find its pluged into the oil sending unit on the back of the block. i find that there are three spade terminals on the sender so trace the other two wires and find the orange one runs the oil pressure gauge and the purple one is actually the power to feed the fuel pump. power comes in from the purple wire and feeds over to the red wire leading to the pump. i know why its done this way for a low oil pressure shut off. problem is i have great oil pressure and find out i have a bad sending unit. so i by pass the sender and jump the red and purple wire together and the pump runs fine.

now i call my dealer and get the run around on a holiday weekend of were busy and we'll call ya back. so an hour later i call again and get the gal at the parts counter that has know idea what the oil sending switch is and can't find it. she says let me get our tech to call you back.

so another hour goes by and i finally call them back, i get the same girl and she says i'm sorry i forgot to have him call you. so she talks to the tech and he tells her where to look, when she looks it up i ask her what does it look like and she says a big bell with one terminal, i said wrong one. i said mine has 3 terminals and is quite small with a 1/4 pipe thread on the end. she says i'll talk to the tech and have him call you back. i'm thinking here we go again. well i know i have good oil pressure and i run a jumper wire across the red and purple wire and we head to the lake. about three hours later the parts girl calls me back and says the tech told me that sender has been discontinued and is now a two wire sender. so i ask what am i supposed to do with the third wire. she says i don't know i'll have the tech call you back.. i said you're kidding right, and she says it probally won't be today as its getting late. then she says can you bring the boat in on tuesday and we can see what the part looks like. i said i'm 60 miles from the dealership how about i snap a picture and email it to ya. she said wow i never thought about that, thats a good idea. her final words, sorry you won't be out on your boat over the holiday weekend. i never even told her i was already on the lake.

i have always considered my dealer to be a good one and i know its a holiday weekend but, maybe things are not as good as they once were.

so long story but hopefully this might just save someone the headache knowing that it might not be the pump or any of the circuit breakers.

if you have a three wire oil sender it might be a good idea to check which two wires energize the fuel pump and make up a jumper wire to carry with you so you don't get stranded. just make sure you have oil pressure.

hopefully paul from bakes might chime in and know what sending switch i need or be able to come up with the right one.

Edited May 30, 2010 by sgt1970-442

[scfdfireman]

Check the fuel pump terminal of the pressure sending unit with a test light. It should come on after the motor get the oil pressure up. If it doesn't then it's the sending unit. I'd try a good Napa auto parts store for a new unit with 3 terminals. If they don't have one could you put a tee on the back of the block and just add another 2 terminal sending unit just for the fuel pump?

[Engine Nut]

long story guys so bear with it, it might save someone some headaches.

its a 1999 sunsetter lxi 310hp carburated with an electric fuel pump.

i put our boat away in oct 2008 because i had to go over to iraq. did all my usual winterizing stuff plus alot of extra care for a years worth of not going to use it.

finally uncovered it last week and started working on it for the holiday weekend. got it all cleaned up checked all the fluids again and charged the battery. put it back in and it fires on about the 4th roll over.

i was quite surprised to say the least. so i ran it in the drive way for about 20 minutes and check everything over and we're good to go.

friday afternoon we head down to the lake for a nice queit evening.

take off from the ramp and let it warm up a little. finally i'm in heaven as its been a long time since i got to open her up, lay into it and she is running better than i remember. so we head over to the ski course and we pass by the sand bar and see some friends we haven't seen in a while and stop by to say hello. hang out for about an hour and decide to go hit the course.

started it and go about 50 yards and the boat dies. try to refire it and nothing. check spark and its good. so crack the throttle and i'm getting just a little squirt from the accelerator pump but, not much. check the fuel pump and its not pumping. check all the circuit breakers and everything is fine. i figure the pump is bad so our friends tow us back to the launch.

start working on it sat morning early. i run a jumper wire to the pump from the battery and find the pump is good, so i run some fuel to the carb and start it to make sure it will run. fires right up. so i start tracing wires from the pump back to the circuit breaker and pigtail mounted on the back of the block. heres where it gets interesting, the wires coming off the pump are red(power) and black(ground), i also find in the same loom one more black wire and three purple wires. so i start tracing where the power wire from the pump goes and find its pluged into the oil sending unit on the back of the block. i find that there are three spade terminals on the sender so trace the other two wires and find the orange one runs the oil pressure gauge and the purple one is actually the power to feed the fuel pump. power comes in from the purple wire and feeds over to the red wire leading to the pump. i know why its done this way for a low oil pressure shut off. problem is i have great oil pressure and find out i have a bad sending unit. so i by pass the sender and jump the red and purple wire together and the pump runs fine.

now i call my dealer and get the run around on a holiday weekend of were busy and we'll call ya back. so an hour later i call again and get the gal at the parts counter that has know idea what the oil sending switch is and can't find it. she says let me get our tech to call you back.

so another hour goes by and i finally call them back, i get the same girl and she says i'm sorry i forgot to have him call you. so she talks to the tech and he tells her where to look, when she looks it up i ask her what does it look like and she says a big bell with one terminal, i said wrong one. i said mine has 3 terminals and is quite small with a 1/4 pipe thread on the end. she says i'll talk to the tech and have him call you back. i'm thinking here we go again. well i know i have good oil pressure and i run a jumper wire across the red and purple wire and we head to the lake. about three hours later the parts girl calls me back and says the tech told me that sender has been discontinued and is now a two wire sender. so i ask what am i supposed to do with the third wire. she says i don't know i'll have the tech call you back.. i said you're kidding right, and she says it probally won't be today as its getting late. then she says can you bring the boat in on tuesday and we can see what the part looks like. i said i'm 60 miles from the dealership how about i snap a picture and email it to ya. she said wow i never thought about that, thats a good idea. her final words, sorry you won't be out on your boat over the holiday weekend. i never even told her i was already on the lake.

i have always considered my dealer to be a good one and i know its a holiday weekend but, maybe things are not as good as they once were.

so long story but hopefully this might just save someone the headache knowing that it might not be the pump or any of the circuit breakers.

if you have a three wire oil sender it might be a good idea to check which two wires energize the fuel pump and make up a jumper wire to carry with you so you don't get stranded. just make sure you have oil pressure.

hopefully paul from bakes might chime in and know what sending switch i need or be able to come up with the right one.

You need a P/N S496007 fuel pump safety switch kit. Coast Guard regs mandate that an electric fuel pump must only be able to run when the engine is cranking or running so you can't accidentally pump the bilge full of fuel if the float in the carb sticks open. The orange wire on the switch comes from a terminal on the starter solenoid that is only hot during the crank cycle. The purple wire on the switch is hot when the ignition switch is on. When there is no oil pressure applied to the switch, the orange wire is connected to the red wire so the punp runs during the crank cycle. Once the engine starts and oil pressure is built up, the orange to red connection is broken and the purple to red is closed so the pump continues to run. The replacement switch kit is a two wire switch. The orange and red go on one terminal and the purple goes on the other terminal.

[sgt1970-442]

Check the fuel pump terminal of the pressure sending unit with a test light. It should come on after the motor get the oil pressure up. If it doesn't then it's the sending unit. I'd try a good Napa auto parts store for a new unit with 3 terminals. If they don't have one could you put a tee on the back of the block and just add another 2 terminal sending unit just for the fuel pump?

went to our local parts store yesterday morning (nice old real parts store) and went though there standard ignition illustrated catalog and found nothing. i know for fact its the sending unit because i can by pass it and the pump works.

[sgt1970-442]

You need a P/N S496007 fuel pump safety switch kit. Coast Guard regs mandate that an electric fuel pump must only be able to run when the engine is cranking or running so you can't accidentally pump the bilge full of fuel if the float in the carb sticks open. The orange wire on the switch comes from a terminal on the starter solenoid that is only hot during the crank cycle. The purple wire on the switch is hot when the ignition switch is on. When there is no oil pressure applied to the switch, the orange wire is connected to the red wire so the punp runs during the crank cycle. Once the engine starts and oil pressure is built up, the orange to red connection is broken and the purple to red is closed so the pump continues to run. The replacement switch kit is a two wire switch. The orange and red go on one terminal and the purple goes on the other terminal.

larry,

thanks for the info great having someone direct from indmar right here on the forum.

which wire feeds power to the oil pressure gauge or is there another sender that i missed?

is that part number an indmar number?

thanks again steve

Edited May 30, 2010 by sgt1970-442

[Engine Nut]

larry,

thanks for the info great having someone direct from indmar right here on the forum.

which wire feeds power to the oil pressure gauge or is there another sender that i missed?

is that part number an indmar number?

thanks again steve

The sender for the gauge is located on the side of the engine just above the oil filter. Yours might be attached to a T fitting with the gauge sender on one side (larger bell shaped component)and a switch on the other side for an audio warning.

[Engine Nut]

larry,

thanks for the info great having someone direct from indmar right here on the forum.

which wire feeds power to the oil pressure gauge or is there another sender that i missed?

is that part number an indmar number?

thanks again steve

That part is an Indmar part number.It is a kit with the switch,a fitting and electrical connectors as well as some instructions.

[sgt1970-442]

That part is an Indmar part number.It is a kit with the switch,a fitting and electrical connectors as well as some instructions.

thank you very much for all this info larry.

[JasonK]

Go Larry! YOU THE MAN!

[dgangle]

subscribed. Excellent reference for future troubleshooting. Anyone know a Napa/other part number for this switch?

[dylan]

Anyone know a Napa/other part number for this switch?

Not positive these will work just yet, but I ordered them last week and will be picking them up tomorrow.

Part #s came from local NAPA

#OP6610 (cost $11)

#OP6618 (cost $4)

Edit: I'm not the original owner, so I don't think the part I matched up was OEM.

Edited August 16, 2011 by dylan

[dgangle]

Not positive these will work just yet, but I ordered them last week and will be picking them up tomorrow.

Part #s came from local NAPA

#OP6610 (cost $11)

#OP6618 (cost $4)

from napaonline.com these both appear to be the 3-prong electric fuel pump oil pressure switch.

Let us know what works as these are considerably less than the dealer.

Edited August 17, 2011 by dgangle

[dylan]

Installed the OP6610 today, works just fine. If someone is interested I can post a pic of the setup, since I have a oil pressure gauge tee'd in, I'm sure its not factory.

Edited August 20, 2011 by dylan

[Sashamalibusportster]

I have now a similar problem with my Malibu Sportster 2004 with a Carburated 310hp engine. My boat is running great and than just dies, afterwards it starts up again and I can go on boating.

 

I once replaced the Oil pressure sensor for the buzzer alarm, because this was going off with good oil pressure. I'm not sure if i have this sensor with 3 terminals, I will have to check if I have this and where the wires from the fuel pump go to.

 

Will keep you guys updated, Big thanks for this post!!!

[racer808]

On 5/30/2010 at 8:52 AM, Engine Nut said:

You need a P/N S496007 fuel pump safety switch kit. Coast Guard regs mandate that an electric fuel pump must only be able to run when the engine is cranking or running so you can't accidentally pump the bilge full of fuel if the float in the carb sticks open. The orange wire on the switch comes from a terminal on the starter solenoid that is only hot during the crank cycle. The purple wire on the switch is hot when the ignition switch is on. When there is no oil pressure applied to the switch, the orange wire is connected to the red wire so the punp runs during the crank cycle. Once the engine starts and oil pressure is built up, the orange to red connection is broken and the purple to red is closed so the pump continues to run. The replacement switch kit is a two wire switch. The orange and red go on one terminal and the purple goes on the other terminal.

Larry, on my 2013 MB b52 it has the 6.0L engine.  My manual says to use Penzoil marine oil, but a guy on the MB forum with the same boat but a 2014 says his Indmar manual says to only use full synthetic? 

[Sashamalibusportster]

Big big thanks for this post!

I jumped the oil pressure sensor (mine is a 2 terminal sensor) and problem is resolved. Just need to order a new one, because when jumping this sensor the pump starts pumping immediately when you turn on the electronics.

 

Kind regards!

[Engine Nut]

On ‎5‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 8:27 AM, racer808 said:

Larry, on my 2013 MB b52 it has the 6.0L engine.  My manual says to use Penzoil marine oil, but a guy on the MB forum with the same boat but a 2014 says his Indmar manual says to only use full synthetic? 

The 6.0L has always used conventional oil. The 6.2L LS3 and  6.2L LSA engines use synthetic.