Trojan Boat Forum

One of my 318s warning horn is not working when you flip the toggle switch horn. How do you repair?

Thanks

Start with checking for ground and checking for power to and from the switch

I was getting ready to post a similar subject since no alarms are working on mine. I have twin Mercs and I am assuming there should be an alarm system.

Is it possible that the alarm itself is bad and needs replaced? This may sound really ignorant, but where is it located and what does it look like? What all triggers the alarm?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Are we talking about horns ? or alarms ? sounds like 2 different problems ??

I was talking about the system that sounds an alarm, horn, beep, whatever when you first switch the ignition on before the engine starts. Maybe I am saying it wrong.

I thought you were but it sounds like fpawn1 is talking about the horn ,as he said horn switch , was not a clear question . I was answering assuming he meant horn , but maybe he meant alarm .


My alarms look like circuit boards under the dash , but they may be different then OEM as I am repowed with diesels.

Thanks for the info Paul - I will look to see if I can find anything like that in my console. Trying to get SeaDog's systems all fully functional.

I meant t o say it is the alarm that beeps when you turn on the ignition switch. It is working on one engine and not the other. They are 318 engines on a 1981 f32---what should I look for

Thanks

Your alarms are tied to the oil pressure sensor. When your oil pressure drops below a certain pressure, the alarm sounds. They usually start buzzing right when you hit the toggle until the pressure builds and they shut off. They are located in the dash console just below the gauge cluster that you can open when you remove some of the screws in the gauge cluster. They look like a small brass colored box about 1" x 2".

Thanks Tom - I looked last weekend and saw those and wondered what they were.

You coming back down to Michigan City this year? We're planning to be in South Haven for the 4th weekend weather permitting.

I would like to go to Michigan City this year but the fuel costs are a little much for me this year. We will be in South Haven for the 4th of July weekend. We are located up river from the draw bridge right across from the taller condos.

The buzzer can be replaced for about 35 bucks. It may also buzz if the engine temperature climbs too high as well. I think both oil pressure and temp sensors are wired to that buzzer.

That would have helped last weekend. I sucked something into the starboard water intake and the temperature shot up. I was close to the break wall and only going about 6 kts so I shut it down. I re-fired it once inside the marina to dock the boat since it doesn't handle well on one engine and whatever had been blocking the intake cleared and it ran at normal temperature the rest of the way.

I scan the instruments constantly - a habit I picked up as a pilot many years ago - so I don't think it was over-heating for very long before I caught it but the alarm buzzer would have surely helped.

I know this subject has come up before but I wonder how many boat owners are also pilots. I am a pilot myself and I haven't flown in many years but it seems like quite a few boaters I talk to are both pilots and engineers as I am.

I also scan my guages all the time while running and I seem to worry when things just don't look right. It is even more fun with a 33 year old boat. I see my batteries charge at different rates and my oil pressure fluctuating between 20 psi at hot idle and 40 psi at cold idle and up to 50 psi at cruise so when I had a guage give me a pressure at 80+, I knew I had either a bad sender or guage because the temperatures were all fine and I could touch the engine and nothing was really that hot.

Hope to see you this weekend in South Haven

I am pilot too, although I have not piloted a plane in a long time... and I am scanning all the time too.

Cars, motorcycles, boats, planes.....what is left...

I am an engineer, a pilot, own a boat and a motorcycle. That gauge scanning thing has saved my bacon more than once - especially in the plane. I am also a HAM radio operator and find that many pilots are also HAMs.

I like old boats and old planes - my last one was a '48 V-tail Bonanza - the year I was born. Been 12 years since PIC. Flew F4s in Nam.