Overheating beep

[County guy]

I have a 1998 Challenger 1800. On my last boat ride a constant beep began while docking. I shut off and put it on the trailer without power. Once home I began the "flushing" procedure but experienced the constant beeping within about 15 seconds of starting each engine. It's unlikely both engines would have exactly the same overheating problem, no?

In another post here KustomKarl referred to the overheating warning as a constant beeeeeep. The warning I get is a constant beep, beep, beep. Is that two different things? Is a malfunction of the beeper itself a common problem? How do I check if my engines are actually overheating, or defeat the beeper?

Any suggestions or reports on past experience would be helpful.

 

[kustomkarl]

The constant beeping is a solid beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep indicating a over heat problem. Is the "Tell Tail" squirting water from the engines? Feel the top of the heads, are the engines cool to the touch? Check the exhaust too. If it's hot than it is a over heat problem. Here are the codes of the mpem;

DESS Codes/ Beeps
2 Short beeps …the engine is ready to start
1 Long beep …no communication to MPEM
4 Short beeps… (on Jet Boats) Shifter is in gear
8 Short beeps…defective MPEM
1 continuous beep…engine over heating


Advanced Self- Diagnostic Mode


By pushing the start/stop button 5 times, you’re putting the DESS in advanced diagnostics. When you have successfully done this, you'll hear 1 short, 1 long beep then, put on the lanyard cap. The engines should start if everything is ok.

2 Short beeps means MPEM can’t read the lanyard cap or it has bad magnet. It could be a bad wire connection at the Lanyard switch.
2 Long beeps means wrong lanyard or bad connection of DESS connection
3 beeps signal the wiring harness of the DESS switch are grounded, or a short circuit somewhere.

You may have a bad connection in your wiring harness, from corrosion. Go through your electrical systems connectors and check for corrosion. Clean them with some contact cleaner, then die-electric grease.

To listen to the codes again start from the beginning.

I hope this helps.

Karl

 

[County guy]

It's not a long beep, it's non-stop short beeps

Thanks Karl. I'll check all the connections - I assume everything is under the dash?

I'm pretty sure it's not actually overheating because I got the same warning after 15 seconds on a cold engine (and on both sides - unlikely both engines had the same problem at the same time).

The list of audible warnings you posted didn't include constant, non-stop short beeps. Is that an actual warning or is it a warning malfunction?

 

[kustomkarl]

Over heating is the last of the DESS codes...it will have a constant beep, till you shut it down.

How many beeps did you count?

 

[County guy]

Number of beeps = countless

The beeps don't actually stop. It's not like there's a certain number of beeps and then the pattern is repeated. Rather, it's like the noise a commercial vehicle makes when backing up (beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, etc.), except that it's waaay loud.

Your list of DESS codes says that the overheating warning is one long beep (although that is also what you listed for "no communication with MPEM").

BTW, the boat was running fine when the beeping first started although it was after about a 5 - 10 minute ride at "no wake" speed. I thought that may have caused overheating and expected to not get the warning 2 hours later when I was "flushing" on the trailer, but during flushing I got the same beeps within 15 seconds of starting.

Is it possible that I picked up some debris that's now stuck inside the engines? (late summer = a lot of algae in my lake). If so, how do I get it out? I'm not sure I had pinched off the water hose that exits through the transom well enough while flushing. Is it better to attach the garden hose to the transom water pipe so that I don't have to pinch off any hoses?

 

[kustomkarl]

There was typo in the codes...the last one is corrected. A continuous beep is over heating. That's a different one for me. Let me do some research on the multiple beeping. There is no way that alge would cause any problem in the engine to cause this, unless it clogged up a cooling line, which isn't likely. When I use the cooling line under the deck lid I usually don't pinch off the stern line. If you use hi pressure city water, the extra pressure will just go out the rear line while flushing. Just be sure the "Tell Tail" is squirting out and indicating that its cooling while flushing.

Let me do some checking on the multiple beeps. It sounds like a short or something.


Karl

 

[County guy]

I think I need to know more about the "Tell-tail"

Just so I don't screw something up this weekend while flushing on the trailer - where should I see the "Tell-tail" squirting from at the back? For the few seconds I was flushing last weekend I thought I had water coming out from the jet pump, which was deflected downwards since I had it in neutral, and also some water coming from the transom cooling connection. There may have been water coming from the Tell-tail but I wasn't looking for it so I only noted a lot of water coming out the back in general.

Sorry if that question is really basic - I have the full detailed operator's guide (111 pages) and I didn't see anything in there on that.

 

[kustomkarl]

The "Tell Tail" should be in the tow hook on the rear of the boat by the handle. If you have 2 engines it will have 2 of them.

Karl

 

[County guy]

Maybe beeping is for low fuel?

Hey KustomKarl,

Thanks for all of your knowledgeable advice so far. I just noticed from another thread on the overheating beep with a 97 Challenger that the owner found the beeping was due to low fuel! I didn't even think of that but it could be the cause in my case - I know my fuel level is low but since I can actually see an inch or two of fuel at the bottom of the tank I assumed I was okay on that (oil level is almost full). I'll fill up on the weekend and report back on my success. With a full tank of gas and a full tank of oil I will almost double the value of my boat!

Cheers.

 

[kustomkarl]

I'll check to see if the 98 1800 Challenger has a fuel sensor, that beeps...I don't recall if that model did or not.

Karl

 

[I man]

check your water/fuel separators IF this boat has them. I got the same sounds from My Islandia and it was water in the serperator.

 

[County guy]

Turns out it was low fuel!

Okay, so maybe I should feel a little dumb, but with the cost of fuel bouncing around the way it is I put off re-fueling last weekend because the price of fuel was too high (the way it goes up and down erratically can make a $20 difference in the cost of a fill-up!) So, my beep warning was for low fuel, not overheating. I now have a full tank of gas and I think that just about doubles the value of my boat!

Good on this forum for having such a wide variety of issues discussed and a good array of knowledgeable contributors. Thanks KustomKarl for offering good advice.

Cheers,

 

[kustomkarl]

Glad you found that the problem was "operator error"... Let us know if we can help any more...now go have some fun.

Karl

 

[unixdood]

Challenger 1800 beep codes

Karl,
Dont know if you or anyone else here on the forum can answer this but let me try.
97 Challenger 1800. New Engine ports side.

1- Plug in the lanyard. 2 beeps. Start the port engine. engine starts but I get 7 beeps then the engine dies.

2- plug in the lanyard. 2 beeps. Start the stbd engine, starts and runs fine. Start the port engine, starts, then 7 beeps then BOTH engines die.

This can happen anywhere from 2 to 15 times. Then like magic I can start both engines.

I dont know what the 7 beeps mean and there is nothing in the shop or user manual about 7 beeps. I am SURE it is 7 beeps. Any clue?????

Thanks so much! IM FRAZZLED!