Engine alarm

G

GREEK22

Member
Joined
Apr 7, 2015
RO Number
33866
Messages
2
Hi Everyone,
Does anyone know what would cause alarm to stay on when I start my second engine?
If I turn one engine off, either one, the alarm goes off
When the second engine is started, either one, the alarm stays on
I have the 2004 Cat 3126 mechanical diesels
Engines were fine in fall, no alarm
First start after winterization and the alarm stays on when I have both engines running
Only changes to engines were oil change and filter and antifreeze thru engine
Thanks for any help
 
Did you check the oil level? Disconnect and clean the oil pressure sending unit connector.
 
Both oil and temp sensors would be independent to one motor so this doesn't seem likely I'm thinking more like a voltage issue what are your battery switches set to and are all the batteries topped off? My 3126s will drop my voltage quite a bit while they warm up. I don't have a voltage alarm on my boat but then I have a 96'. Have you tried to run one at a time for a several minutes just to make sure the gauges all seem correct. You may find if you start one and run it for a while then start the other it may not go into alarm this is not a fix but it may help pin point the problem. My gut says power related check and test the batteries.

I guess I should also state the obvious check all the fluid levels in both motors first.
 
Clogged shared water inlet? Fine with one but can't handle the flow of two.
 
you don't tell us if the oil pressure and temperature readings are OK?????
 
Just throwing out quick thoughts for this odd puzzle:

As Dave sort of asks, are battery switches on "Both" ,and if so, does it continue if you have each engine only on it's independent starting battery?
Are the batteries and possibly electronics the only item that have been reconnected? Could there be a wrong small wire connection at the battery or switch or lost ground so the alarm buzzer is somehow back-feeding?
Are the negative cables connecting all batteries negative posts together properly reattached?

The alarm buzzer on your boat isn't normally shared by both engines, is it? If the start switch circuits normally sound their own buzzers do they sound slightly different (like mine) so you could tell whether it is only 1 alarm buzzer sounding now in each situation ?
Do the alarm switch wires get daisy-chained from one station's buzzer to a 2nd station? Is there a 2nd station any of the wires get daisy chained to?

When this happens is Everything else turned off and unplugged from shorepower?
 
I was thinking there could be a corroded connection making contact but causing higher resistance which could affect the signal from the sending unit.
 
It's a boat. I always look for ground issues first.
 
Thank you all for the replies
I have narrowed the alarm down to the Seafire Fire Suppressant system
I noticed when i start the starboard engine I get a green light on the display, the alarm sounds until engine start
When i turn on the ignition on the port side, i have a red light lit and the alarm stays on after engine starts
If i switch to overide, the alarm goes off but i still have red discharged lite lit
I checked the Halon bottle and it is in the green range
I think the cold weather sent the pressure gauge into the red Area tripping a sensor
Anyone know how to reset the sensor
Thanks again for your help
 
Working from last fall memory here. My fire suppression system was doing something wonky, (the light) and the engine room blower wouldn't work. Thought the blowers were bad. Turned out it was as ground issue.
Grounded the blowers, they work properly, and the fire system returned to it's normal green light.
Never found the loss of ground. Hadn't been working on anything so the issue just came out of the blue.
Didn't like just jumping a ground to another source but it fixed the problem, and given the gazillion wires, hidden in a huge bundle and behind bulkheads 15' away, it seemed more logical than tearing the boat apart.
 
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