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Check engine alarm.


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Yesterday I finally get the boat out on the lake to do some break in time and manage to get 4 hours on the clock. I decided to take some pics of the wake at various speeds with wedge and ballast loaded. All goes well at 20 and 22 mph. I bump the speed up to 24 and am about to take a couple of pics and the darn alarm starts to beep and the display reads check engine. All gauges are normal so I bring the boat to an idle and open the engine cover. All looks normal. I hit the display toggle switch, the alarm stops and does not sound for the rest of the day. What's up with that?

I know the normal things like temp, oil pressure, tranny temp and knock sensor will sound alarm but the gauges were normal and I certainly didn't give the tranny much of a workout.

As the boat is in the lake on a hoist I really don't want to go through the hassle of hauling it out and going to the dealer if there is nothing to worry about. I was hoping someone could provide some insight into the most likely culprit of the alarm sounding.

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Did you have the boat weighted evenly? Or did you have the bow high? With excessive bowrise the oil in the pan moves away from the oil pick up, the pump sucks a little air and sounds the alarm. Not uncommon on V-Drives (Huh Troy?).

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Or did you have the bow high?  With excessive bowrise the oil in the pan moves away from the oil pick up, the pump sucks a little air and sounds the alarm.  Not uncommon on V-Drives (Huh Troy?).

Yea - if I take off hard with lots of weight, my oil pressure drops right about the time it begins to plane out.. Seems to me that it is due to the oil moving away from the pickup (with the steep angle) - I can usually overcome it by running a extra quart in the pan... otherwise, it is just some little annoyance

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Or did you have the bow high?  With excessive bowrise the oil in the pan moves away from the oil pick up, the pump sucks a little air and sounds the alarm.  Not uncommon on V-Drives (Huh Troy?).

Yea - if I take off hard with lots of weight, my oil pressure drops right about the time it begins to plane out.. Seems to me that it is due to the oil moving away from the pickup (with the steep angle) - I can usually overcome it by running a extra quart in the pan... otherwise, it is just some little annoyance

I guess you learn something new everyday. I never ride with a bow high attitude so I've never run into the issue before. Definitely something to keep in the back of the memory banks.

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Bow wasn't perceptively high. Front ballast was full as well. The only thing I did different was up the speed from 22 to 24mph. The boat speed had already settled at 24.

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Hmmm, very interesting. Biggrin.gif

Is there any possibility that it was your depth alarm and not your engine alarm? Just a thought. Not much you can do then besides check all your fluid levels, maybe check you impellor (?),...Good luck.

Edit: never mind about the depth alarm....I just reread your original post. Crazy.gif

Edited by NorCaliBu
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Well - it is hard to totally confirm, but I know my alarm is oil pressure (since I have a MMC thing, it actaully says "oil pressure" and gives the reading during the alarm)

And it only happens when you launch hard, with super loaded ballast - so that is the hypothesis I came up with .. I wonder if eventually Malibu got it worked out with better baffling in the oil pan or something.

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I'm wondering if its the knock sensor because the boat was under load. Anyone know if the engine management system is programmed for a break in period? I was wondering if it was just letting me know that maybe I was pushing the limit a little to far during the first 10 hours? I know my last SkiDoo Summit with the 800 had a programmed breakin that limited a number of parameters.

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Anyone know if the engine management system is programmed for a break in period? 

I don't think so, BICBW. Maybe your dealer can pick something up from the computer at your first service. Keep an extra eye on your gauges and triple check your fluids.

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Checked with my dealer and one of his techs today and they think its probably a poor connection at the knock sensor so I'll check that this coming weekend.

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The knock sensor wire was not loose...it was in fact completely disconnected! After locating the wire with the connector I plugged it back on the knock sensor and not a beep was heard all weekend. I suspect whomever drained the block at the dealer and reinstalled the knock sensor simply forgot to install the wire.

BTW, I love the VLX.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had the same problem, took it to the dealer and they said that many times they have had this problem and it is usually the temperature sender wire connection. It is usually loose. Sure enough, they tightened it and it was fine. Took about 3 minutes....

05 LSV

  • Like 1
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