Getting two beeps every minute.....need help

[bcollins 18]

Hey guys, need some help diagnosing an issue I ran into at the river this past weekend. Long story short I am getting the two beeps every minute warning. What’s weird is I’m now getting them immediately after I start the engine. The Mercruiser manual suggests this warning is for excessive transmission fluid temperatures.

I went to the river this past weekend starting on Thursday. Here’s kind of what went down.

1) Thursday – Launched boat. Winds were really bad so basically just drove the boat about a mile up river to the house we rented. No warning beeps, etc. All fluid levels good. Temp, oil pressure, etc. all good.

2) Friday – Drove the boat about a mile to a good spot to board. Pulled a couple riders. Got two beeps, minute later another two beeps, then nothing….might have been 3, basically by the time I started worrying about it, it stopped. Pulled more riders, no problems. Drove back to house, still no issues. Temps, pressure, etc. all good.

3) Saturday – Drove about two miles up river to a better spot. Pulled riders for in excess of two or three hours. No problems. Back to the house. Ate lunch, got in the boat and drove to the sand bar…after about 5 minutes I started getting the beeps, two every minute. Was close to sandbar so got there, anchored, and checked everything including manuals reference to beeps which stated that the warning meant the transmission fluid was overheating. Transmission fluid didn’t seem hot at all and levels were good as was everything else. Stayed at sandbar for a couple hours and started the boat up to leave. Two beeps every minute, checked everything…no issues. Drove the boat back to the house, drove great…temp, pressure, etc. all good.

4) Sunday – had to drive back down to launch to trailer boat. Immediately got the two beeps at start up, continued every two minutes. Again, everything seemed fine. Temps, levels, pressure…all good. Had to get it down to the launch so drove it about 20 mph for a mile. Drove great, all readings good…still had the two beeps until I put the boat on trailer. Checked again and nothing was hot, levels were good, etc.

Did some research and while the manual says the two beeps are for excessive transmission fluid temperatures it sounds like the two beeps can mean a multitude of things….so I’m lost. I’m really hoping it’s just a bad sensor or something but I have no idea. Any ideas, suggestions, etc. Need help figuring this out because even if nothing is wrong I can’t drive the boat around in good conscience until the warnings stop….plus the beeps are annoying as heck. Thanks in advance.

[CenturionSkier 43]

Sounds like a bad transmission temp sensor to me. If you had the correct reader you could get the actual code. But I have heard of this being caused by the transmission temp sensor failing.

[bcollins 18]

Thanks, any idea where that is exactly? I did some looking around on here and it sounds like it could be a couple different things including the block pressure sensor or water flow sensor, maybe they're the same thing. I looked into getting the scan tool but damn, they ain't cheap. I've also read that even if I fix the problem I'll need to have the code reset?

 

Anyway to test these things without buying and replacing? Hate to spend $100 on a sensor that's not the problem. We don't have a centurion shop/dealer in town but I do have a place I kind of trust but they're booked up pretty solid, plus I would love to correct myself if possible.

[truekaotik 458]

Your MAT sensor prolly went bad... It at the top back of the motor where the hose off the water pump connects to.. Kneeling on the back seat looking at motor, closest to you, by the distributor cap, then a hose goes from it to the left... That's what my mysterious 2 minute beep was. I dis numerous things prior to try and solve it... I changed the sensor, and POOF... No more beep

[jshayerT5 0]

The tranny temp sensor is typically on top of the tranny bell housing, it is a 3 wire sensor. Mine is located right next to the throttle cable prob with in 8in of the throttle body.

 

The nice thing about the guardian system is that when you do fix the problem the codes do go away on their own.

The problem with the guardian system is that there are several sensors that will make it beep beep....

 

If you are in Ventura county, I do have the Rinda scanner that would help.

[jshayerT5 0]

I did have this problem last year as well. And when I scanned my boat the code was "blk pressure sensor", which is the sensor on the tranny bell housing.

[truekaotik 458]

Shoot... My bad, it was the "blk pressure sensor", not MAT, I meant to say... I looked it up last night after I posted.... It is located in the place I describe on black scorpions... You cannot miss the sensor...

[jaxcenturion 5]

Agree with Truekaotic...I would put money on it. Mine went bad 3 times, there have been a few threads about it...But its in the location he said, even if you get a new one, the code has to be cleared to get the beeping to stop...The sensor in my opinion dosent even need to be there, BUT it is and its a 5 min fix then getting computer re-set....It wont hurt to run boat but my god the beeping

[bcollins 18]

This the one you guys are referring to? Part 881879-3 which was replaced by 8M6000623, pressure sensor? It's attached to the transmission cooler and connected to a 3 pronged plug. I pulled it last night, as you can see it looks kind of corroded but I have not idea what it should look like. The fact this costs $100 is beyond me but what can you do. I also pulled what looked like a brass plug with two prongs coming from it that had a wire plugged into each...followed the wires and it said transmission temp sensor or something like that. It was also attached directly into the transmission cooler, the tube looking thing were all the debris collect just in case I have that wrong. I pulled them both and cleaned them up a liitle bit. I will run the boat tonight at which point I fully expect to get the two beeps....but maybe I'll get lucky and the wires weren't sitting right or something. I really don't have the resources to get this scanned any time soon so I might just pull the trigger on the sensor if you think that's it.

[bcollins 18]

 

Agree with Truekaotic...I would put money on it. Mine went bad 3 times, there have been a few threads about it...But its in the location he said, even if you get a new one, the code has to be cleared to get the beeping to stop...The sensor in my opinion dosent even need to be there, BUT it is and its a 5 min fix then getting computer re-set....It wont hurt to run boat but my god the beeping

 

The beeping, I'm stil having nightmares....just when you think maybe it's gone, BEEP BEEP....argghhhhh. I get why it's loud, but it's so fricken loud. I have to agree, why the heck is it even there? If the flow is bad, won't the engine overheat at which point you would get an alarm for overheating? Looking at it, it looks like it should cost maybe $10, not $100+.

[truekaotik 458]

This the one you guys are referring to? Part 881879-3 which was replaced by 8M6000623, pressure sensor? It's attached to the transmission cooler and connected to a 3 pronged plug. I pulled it last night, as you can see it looks kind of corroded but I have not idea what it should look like. The fact this costs $100 is beyond me but what can you do. I also pulled what looked like a brass plug with two prongs coming from it that had a wire plugged into each...followed the wires and it said transmission temp sensor or something like that. It was also attached directly into the transmission cooler, the tube looking thing were all the debris collect just in case I have that wrong. I pulled them both and cleaned them up a liitle bit. I will run the boat tonight at which point I fully expect to get the two beeps....but maybe I'll get lucky and the wires weren't sitting right or something. I really don't have the resources to get this scanned any time soon so I might just pull the trigger on the sensor if you think that's it.

That looks to be it bro!! Change it and BOOM... No beep... Lol

[bcollins 18]

Okay, thanks guys. I'll give it a shot and let you know the outcome. At this point I'll pay whatever it costs to never hear that horrible beeping sound again.

 

Sorry, one more thing...truekaotik, you mentioned it stopped beeping once you changed the sensor or does the code need to be cleared, by a scanner/computer, before the beeping stops?

Edited May 22, 2012 by bcollins

[jaxcenturion 5]

It has to have the computer re flashed / re programmed / cleared what ever you want to call it...I had it happen 3 times...Trust me, i order extras sensor thinking it would fix if ever happend again and it would not stop even with new sensor....yep and 100$ for something that cost $1 crazy

[truekaotik 458]

I have a 05' Avy.. I did numerous things to find the beep and had it reset 3 times... Beep beep came back everytime so my last option was the sensor... I went and got the sensor, replaced it and turned the key... NO beep beep... Mine may be different as I was also told it HAD to be cleared.. Change it first and see bro...

It takes them 2 minutes to hook the scanner up, 1 minute to read, 30 seconds to clear.... $65 please... WTF?? So I prayed I didn't have to pay that for the fourth time... It seemed to work...

Edited May 22, 2012 by truekaotik

[bcollins 18]

Okay thanks fellas, I'm probably going to go to the place I get my parts from and see if they'll make me a deal. I buy the sensor from them, hopefully they have it, at thier rediculous price and they scan the boat real quick once I replace it. They'll probably tell me to pound sand but I buy all my parts from them so you never know. Anyway, thanks again...I'll let you know once I replace it.

[truekaotik 458]

Oh did you pull the hose off the right side and clean any debri out? I did and found crud and a old impeller chunk... Figure your right there why not...

Never mind it seems you did by your post earlier. My bad

Edited May 22, 2012 by truekaotik

[jshayerT5 0]

Truekaotik...strange that you had to clear the code for yours. When i replaced mine the code cleared on its own.

The active codes will come and go as the sensors are replaced, however the "history" faults stay until you clear them, so that you can have flash frames of when the code was thrown.

 

Once I replace mine the beep beep stopped. I unplugged it just to test it and the beep beep come right back.

 

bcollins, my advice. Get someone to scan for codes. It really does say a lot about what is going on with your motor. And if some one will scan for under $100, it is worth the time and cost of parts to get the right one right off the bat.

 

Pretty much every 3 wire sensor on the motor will trigger the beep beep noise. So if you really want to buy and try all of them you may get the correct one eventually. However this will only work is the wires going to each harness are good. In which a DMM is going to be the best for testing that.

Edited May 23, 2012 by jshayerT5

[truekaotik 458]

Truekaotik...strange that you had to clear the code for yours. When i replaced mine the code cleared on its own.

The active codes will come and go as the sensors are replaced, however the "history" faults stay until you clear them, so that you can have flash frames of when the code was thrown.

 

Once I replace mine the beep beep stopped. I unplugged it just to test it and the beep beep come right back.

 

bcollins, my advice. Get someone to scan for codes. It really does say a lot about what is going on with your motor. And if some one will scan for under $100, it is worth the time and cost of parts to get the right one right off the bat.

 

Pretty much every 3 wire sensor on the motor will trigger the beep beep noise. So if you really want to buy and try all of them you may get the correct one eventually. However this will only work is the wires going to each harness are good. In which a DMM is going to be the best for testing that.

No I stated that mine did disappear without a reset. I replaced other things and thought it needed to be cleared, so I paid to have it cleared. Finding out that wasn't the problem. Again, once I replaced the sensor the beep beep stopped... Without a clear... I agree with you

Edited May 23, 2012 by truekaotik

[bcollins 18]

Thanks guys, no update really....I ran it off the hose last night. It ran fine, everything looked good but the beeps continued as I expected. Going to call the local place today and see what they say. Doens't look like the weather is going to cooperate this weekend so probably just going to take out our friends boat and do some runs. That should give me a little more time and see if I can get it scanned prior to buying the part.

[bcollins 18]

well got the part from the local shop and replaced it....no dice, beeps persisted. Completely lost at this point. Any idea before I suck it up and pay the guys $100+ to scan the motor. Already wasted $125 so don't want to keep replacing things that aren't broken. was hoping to get the boat out this weekend so figured I would roll the dice but looks like that back fired big time. Oh well, hope it's not something major....can't imagine it is as boat is running well. Tempted to replace the tranmission temp switch but I think I'll just hold off on spending more money until I get it in. Figure I'll do one more look around and make sure I didn't knock anything loose, etc.