My luck continues

[Mooseman75]

This a bit late as my adventure continued on 3/30/24 Saturday at Lincoln beach. My son and I ran out to check a few things on the boat to see how they work, or don't in my case. The only good thing is my new gmc yukon pulls the boat nicely. But anyhow we got the boat in the water about 9:30. I parked the SUV and walked over to the dock and my son says a beeping sound just turned on like a horn. I'm guessing low oil or low gear oil so maybe I have bad seals???? I do not know the cause. I tested the batteries and they were at 12.6 volts so I tried my bow mount trolling motor and when you plug it in it just beeps as well, so I'm lost. I told him let's get it on the boat fast I will get trailer in place before he moves the boat to trailer it. That was interpreted hit dock with side of boat fast and bist through fiberglass and put a hole in boat..... Not big but it's about 1" wide by 8" long or so where he took the fiberglass right of the boat so now I don't know what to do. Who do I contact to fix that???? I'm about to give up fishing the way my luck has been

[Cowboypirate]

Man that sucks. I dont have any repair contact but I bet other will. Hope you get her back on the water soon.

[wiperhunter2]

Sorry to hear that but things like this happen when dealing with boat stuff, we have all been there, so don't give up. First, I'll address the fiberglass repair. You can look it up on YouTube but fiberglass repairs are not a big deal, just buy a kit do the repair and you will gain some experience, now painting it to match the rest of your boat will be harder but that's another issue. The beeping noise is likely a motor issue and from my experience, it is normally low oil, I would check you oil reservoir, if it's a 2 stroke. There could be other reasons for the beeping sound but that is the most common from my experience. Hope this helps.

[BearLakeFishGuy]

Why were you in such a rush? The beeping sound just alerts you to an issue, but it does not mean the motor is gonna blow up. Could be a kinked oil hose. These newer (2000+) motors have so many built in safety features that automatically either slow the RPM's or simply shut the motor down. NEVER, rush when loading/unloading boats since that is a sure-fire way to have more problems with personal safety, ruining equipment (both yours and others around you). I saw this same type of scenario play out dozens of times in my years working at Bear Lake. Personally, if I was near by (which I typically was) I could see these things coming seconds and minutes before they come to fruition. (I have to admit I enjoyed watching the mishaps too.) I do hope you get your boat fixed, but SLOW down and THINK it through before doing anything that will jeopardize your safety and/or others.

[Mooseman75]

Why were you in such a rush?  The beeping sound just alerts you to an issue, but it does not mean the motor is gonna blow up.  Could be a kinked oil hose.  These newer (2000+) motors have so many built in safety features that automatically either slow the RPM's or simply shut the motor down.  NEVER, rush when loading/unloading boats since that is a sure-fire way to have more problems with personal safety, ruining equipment (both yours and others around you).  I saw this same type of scenario play out dozens of times in my years working at Bear Lake.  Personally, if I was near by (which I typically was) I could see these things coming seconds and minutes before they come to fruition.  (I have to admit I enjoyed watching the mishaps too.)  I do hope you get your boat fixed, but SLOW down and THINK it through before doing anything that will jeopardize your safety and/or others.

You see it's a 1989 Force outboard and I'm not a certified mechanic nor claim to be a backyard mechanic, as such I didn't know how long I could run it if it were low on oil or whatever the issue is so since they don't make parts for Force anymore I have to be especially careful and baby my boat. I don't have $18000 for a my new 150 hp outboard nor $100 to fill my gas tank so again I took precaution and said hurry.  Now I worked in a level 1 trauma hospital in the ER and managing restaurants and I learned how hurry is carried out safely. I'm not new to the word. There were not other boats around as we were the only ones out there. Now I have not had a boat all my life I admit. Only a few years ago I'm learning but I'm also not a first week boater either and just because I'm not a mechanic does not mean otherwise.

[Bduck]

Chances are the alarm your hearing could be an over-temp condition, possible thermostat issue. It can still have the appearance of a good P-stream which would run ok at lower rpm, but the engine would overheat as soon as higher rpms were throttled up. This has happened with mine; the T-stat was stuck in a partially open position and would not operate when tested in a pan of hot water. With that said also need to do an inspection of impeller condition. Have you ever had the impeller changed?


Thermostat on right side stuck open
vs new T-stat

Next, I agree with Curt about fiberglass work. Its not that hard to do but can be a messy task. Matching color Gelcoat is a different animal and still can be done. I know guys over the years that did their own. 

[Mooseman75]

Chances are the alarm your hearing could be an over-temp condition, possible thermostat issue. It can still have the appearance of a good P-stream which would run ok at lower rpm, but the engine would overheat as soon as higher rpms were throttled up. This has happened with mine; the T-stat was stuck in a partially open position and would not operate when tested in a pan of hot water. With that said also need to do an inspection of impeller condition. Have you ever had the impeller changed?


Thermostat on right side stuck open
vs new T-stat

Next, I agree with Curt about fiberglass work. Its not that hard to do but can be a messy task. Matching color Gelcoat is a different animal and still can be done. I know guys over the years that did their own. 

Messy I can handle, I'm not concerned so much about the look if I don't have to spend $1000 or more to fix. I'll definitely look into it and appreciate the vote of confidence in being able to accomplish the task. I'll watch some YouTube and Google fiberglass kits. 

Now as far as impeller, I have owned this boat 2 or 3 years and I have not changed it to my knowledge and I'm not sure when it was done before I got it. Now I say it like that because I had some ram work done 1 1/2 years ago and I'm not completely sure about what all he did. I'm pretty sure he didn't open it up because it had nothing to do with the rams that raise and lower the motor. 

I didn't even think of thermostat, in my mind I was hoping simple low oil alarm, but that definitely puts a new possibility into the equation. 
Thank you

---

Sorry to hear that but things like this happen when dealing with boat stuff, we have all been there, so don't give up. First, I'll address the fiberglass repair. You can look it up on YouTube but fiberglass repairs are not a big deal, just buy a kit do the repair and you will gain some experience, now painting it to match the rest of your boat will be harder but that's another issue. The beeping noise is likely a motor issue and from my experience, it is normally low oil, I would check you oil reservoir, if it's a 2 stroke. There could be other reasons for the beeping sound but that is the most common from my experience. Hope this helps.

Do all 2 stroke have an oil reservoir? I've never dealt with one on this boat. Ive just poured the oil in the gas tank and been done with it. It's an 89 Force and it's as clean as it came off the showroom floor. The previous owner took really good care of it I say this because if i would need to be putting oil somewhere I think it would be a little dirty. I don't know. I'll look when the snow melts. Thanks for the suggestion.

[Fowl-Hook]

Chances are the alarm your hearing could be an over-temp condition, possible thermostat issue. It can still have the appearance of a good P-stream which would run ok at lower rpm, but the engine would overheat as soon as higher rpms were throttled up. This has happened with mine; the T-stat was stuck in a partially open position and would not operate when tested in a pan of hot water. With that said also need to do an inspection of impeller condition. Have you ever had the impeller changed?


Thermostat on right side stuck open
vs new T-stat

Next, I agree with Curt about fiberglass work. Its not that hard to do but can be a messy task. Matching color Gelcoat is a different animal and still can be done. I know guys over the years that did their own. 

Messy I can handle, I'm not concerned so much about the look if I don't have to spend $1000 or more to fix. I'll definitely look into it and appreciate the vote of confidence in being able to accomplish the task. I'll watch some YouTube and Google fiberglass kits. 

Now as far as impeller, I have owned this boat 2 or 3 years and I have not changed it to my knowledge and I'm not sure when it was done before I got it. Now I say it like that because I had some ram work done 1 1/2 years ago and I'm not completely sure about what all he did. I'm pretty sure he didn't open it up because it had nothing to do with the rams that raise and lower the motor. 

I didn't even think of thermostat, in my mind I was hoping simple low oil alarm, but that definitely puts a new possibility into the equation. 
Thank you

---

Sorry to hear that but things like this happen when dealing with boat stuff, we have all been there, so don't give up. First, I'll address the fiberglass repair. You can look it up on YouTube but fiberglass repairs are not a big deal, just buy a kit do the repair and you will gain some experience, now painting it to match the rest of your boat will be harder but that's another issue. The beeping noise is likely a motor issue and from my experience, it is normally low oil, I would check you oil reservoir, if it's a 2 stroke. There could be other reasons for the beeping sound but that is the most common from my experience. Hope this helps.

Do all 2 stroke have an oil reservoir? I've never dealt with one on this boat. Ive just poured the oil in the gas tank and been done with it. It's an 89 Force and it's as clean as it came off the showroom floor. The previous owner took really good care of it I say this because if i would need to be putting oil somewhere I think it would be a little dirty. I don't know. I'll look when the snow melts. Thanks for the suggestion.

88 135 mariner you remove the motor cover and locate a plastic 2 pint container that holds 2-stroke oil pumped up to it from a 2 gallon oil reservoir located on the floor of the boat. Remove the plastic cap and top off the reserve reservoir to a point that when you reinstall the cap it doesn't flood over and make a mess. Mine has a float attacked to the cap that generates  the beep beep alarm to the operator. This reserve allows the boat to be operated for a short time when the big oil tank becomes empty. If the reserve tank is down only an inch the alarm will start beeping the warning.

[Gone Forever]

You can still gets parts and manuals. https://www.marineengine.com/parts/marin.../index.php

Join a mariner OB owner page on facebook. Lots of information from owners all over America and the world.

[Mooseman75]

You can still gets parts and manuals.  https://www.marineengine.com/parts/marin.../index.php

Join a mariner OB owner page on facebook.  Lots of information from owners all over America and the world.

Wow thank you. I know certain parts are available but I've been told by many boat mechanics in shops and in backyards that if anything major were to happen they could not get parts. But things like impeller and seals I'm OK. But for instance he wasn't able to fix my ram mount except with Lucas power steering stop leak because he couldn't find ram mounts. But this website looks hopeful to try and get as many parts as I can

[Bubman1]

If your mixing the gas manually it's not a oil alarm I don't have a ton of experience with your motor but if that is the alarm that is suddenly going off were it wasn't before I would look at the cooling system like the others have suggested

[SkunkedAgain]

Hey Justin, sorry to hear about the mishap, but I agree with others recommendations, the fiber glass isn't the end of the world you can fix it... Couple of years ago I put in a new motor on my old boat and had to put the alarm in and I'm trying to remember what warnings it provided. It seemed like there were a couple that were pretty minor issues, you may have to do some YouTube searches for videos that talk about your motor. They have always helped me start to figure out what to do... Good luck and most likely the fix won't be too serious.. Later Jeff