By LOREN BROOKS
Are boat problems contagious? There has been a lot of talk around town lately about problems with boats and motors. In a followup on last months story about a beeping sound in my boat, Ron and Cheryl asked me if I found out what the noise was.
I know anglers want to know who is catching fish, where they are being caught, and usually, they asked how many and how big. I don’t have much news in that regard this week, but I can tell Ron and Cheryl I did get a lot of help on the beeping problem. I consulted the internet and discovered a lot of other people with the same problem. So here’s my story:
It took four guys working in and around my boat to solve the problem. The 125-hp Mariner motor has a warning alarm, or a beeping sound, to indicate “low on oil.” According to YouTube, a continuous beep requires replacing the float, which is almost impossible. In other words, buy a new reservoir for lots of bucks and labor.
The alarm was stuck in the “on” mode, driving those in my boat who could hear it, crazy. It was funny. Three of the four people helping me could not hear the beep. Bonnie, who was walking past the boat could hear it. Rodney could hear it. Bud, Larry, and I could not. So, we put Rodney in the boat with the key to the ignition. When he turned power on, the beep came on and stayed on.
We took the glove compartment out to gain access to the wiring under the dashboard. This allowed us to see the wiring easier since it is hard to see anything by laying on your back under the steering wheel. Just ask Bud about that.
By looking in the glove box hole, you could see the mass of wiring that goes to the five different things on the dashboard. We were looking for the “alarm” which is hidden and is not visible on the dashboard. We did not know what this device looked like, nor which wire lead to this alarm device. It turned out that it looked like a black roll of tape. It was about three inches in diameter.
Bud found the wire that went to this object and when he pulled the wire, Rodney yelled that the beeping stopped. What a chapter! So this high-pitched beeping, warning alarm, is now off. It’s a gadget to remind the boat captain to check the oil. When the float goes bad in the oil tank, it gets stuck and the alarm is triggered.
So, that’s what happened in this twenty-two-year-old motor. It is kind of like a toilet. When the float valve goes bad in a toilet, you hear the water running. The same in the oil reservoir of this boat motor. Thanks for good hearing, Rod. And thanks, Bud for tracing the path to the alarm. Thanks to Larry for finding the screwdriver. That’s another story.
I hope to hear from all of you anglers your days of good fishing, where you caught them, how many, and how big.
