I've been alarmed by my engine alarm...

[Rob]

A funny thing happened on the way back to the marina...

Last weekend, wife and daughter and I had a great sail. We started by motoring out of our marina. The little Westerbeke 10TWO purred like a kitten. I make it my practice to monitor the gauges and wet exhaust every few minutes (which is no mean feat given that the gauges are at ankle level in the cockpit). Everything was perfectly normal. Oil pressure at 50 psi and temp at about 180.

After sailing for 2 - 3 hours, I put the trans in neutral, pushed in the stop and gave power to the gauges and fuel pump. On doing so, I was greeted by my engine alarm and all my gauges "went to eleven" as they say in Spinal Tap. I know the alarm will go off with temp, and I suspect it monitors oil pressure too. I went down below and checked the engine. It did not seem to have overheated. I had not lost any coolant. Oil checked out too on the dipstick.

After puzzling for a few minutes, I gave power to the gauges and fuel pump and depressed the glow plug button. All the while the alarm was going off. As soon as I started the engine and it turned over - the alarm went off and the gauges returned to normal. Everything was normal on the way back to the marina.

Any ideas? I should mention - though I don't think it's related - that the engine will typically leak a tiny bit of oil after running (the amount lost can easily be wiped up with a paper towel). This collects aft of the oil pan and just forward of the transmission.

 

[Gary Peterson]

Might have a ground issue with your gage package or an issue with your ignition key switch.

 

[treilley]

Puzzling. If the boat has an oil pressure alarm it should sound when you turn the key on before you start the motor. Once the motor starts and the pressure comes up, the alarm should turn off.

 

[Kim Schoedel]

Rob, don't know if this helps but with the exception of the gauges going bonkers, the alarm on ours aways sounds when the key is on and will continue to sound until I start the engine. Our alarm is strickly a low oil pressure alarm. So it makes sense that it sounds until the engine starts and the oil pressure comes up. Takes about a couple of seconds for the alarm to quit. Nasty sounding buzzer it is. But it is loud enough to hear if oil pressure drops while cruising under power.

 

[Gary Peterson]

That is how ours works. The Oil Pressure sender is NC (normally closed) until oil pressure builds and opens the contact which removes the alarm and light from the circuit.
The reason I said there might be an issue with the ignition switch is that I had my alarms activate when I was sailing one day last year. The switch was internally shorting and the ignition circuit activated.