Arminius
Well-Known Member
- Oct 30, 2019
- 1,060
- Boat Info
- Bowrider 200 Select, 2003
- Engines
- 5.0L MPI, 260 hp w/Alpha 1 Drive
I'd appreciate a referral to a manual explaining the possible fault codes of my 2003 5.0 L MPI
w/o Smartguard, S/N OM 600590 or some guidance. Not young, I've watched and used the codes as they came into my autos, trucks and motorcycles. I now know that the first thing to do with any performance concern or CEL (engine light) is to read the codes and Google the OBD2 meaning and similar complaints and resolutions for my model.
They appear to be more obscure and less useful with the boat.
First, I found a chart of the beep codes: Ignition on and there is a tone to indicate they are active. Then there are a variety of malfunctions which result in a constant tone, steady beep or 2 bp/min and a % power reduction. Constant tone and up to a 94% power reduction indicate low sea water or oil pressure, overheating, or overreving. Fix the fault and the tone and power reduction presumably go away.
Next, you have stored fault codes in the engine computer. My cellphone reads my cars with a
$25 adapter and a free app. The boat takes a $400 Rinda scan tool but the codes can also be read by shorting contacts on the diagnostic plug and counting the voltage pulses as LED flashes or needle swings on your meter. Unfortunately, there seems to be little useful info in the codes (guess I have MEFI-4):
"18 GM EFI TROUBLE CODE CHART MEFI-3 & MEFI-4 Code Description 13 Oxygen Sensor 1 or 2 Malfunction, 14 Coolant Sensor Voltage High (cold), 15 Coolant Sensor Voltage Low(hot), 21 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage High, 21 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage Skewed High, 22 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage Low, 23 Manifold Air Temperature Sensor High (cold), 24 Speed Sensor Inactive (if installed), 25 Manifold Air Temperature Sensor Low (hot), 31 Governor Not Tracking, 32 EGR Valve Not Tracking, 33 Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor High, 34 Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor Low, 41 Electronic Spark Timing Open Circuit, 42 Electronic Spark Timing Grounded Circuit, 43 Electronic Spark Control Detects Continuous Knock, 44 Knock Sensor 1 or 2 Inactive, 51 Calibration Checksum Error, 54 Oxygen Sensor 1 or 2 Lean, 55 Oxygen Sensor 1 or 2 Rich, 61 Fuel Pressure Sensor High, 62 Fuel Pressure Sensor Low, 63 Fuel Temperature High, 64 Fuel Temperature Low, 81 See Scan Tool* * Scan tool will display specific details on the type of Code 81 that is set. Code 81 is associated with a variety of system faults." https://www.rinda.com/acro/Merc_manual_v5.pdf
Apparently that's it! I'd like to know if the MAP is at fault (as my MB mass air sensor was always a likely suspect) but counting the pulses would reveal that w/o spending $400 or dragging the boat to the marina. Any further explanation would be appreciated, especially if the "specific details" disclosed under Code 81 are of the useful type. Incidentally, my boat doesn't have any problem but I thought I would use this Corona time positively.
w/o Smartguard, S/N OM 600590 or some guidance. Not young, I've watched and used the codes as they came into my autos, trucks and motorcycles. I now know that the first thing to do with any performance concern or CEL (engine light) is to read the codes and Google the OBD2 meaning and similar complaints and resolutions for my model.
They appear to be more obscure and less useful with the boat.
First, I found a chart of the beep codes: Ignition on and there is a tone to indicate they are active. Then there are a variety of malfunctions which result in a constant tone, steady beep or 2 bp/min and a % power reduction. Constant tone and up to a 94% power reduction indicate low sea water or oil pressure, overheating, or overreving. Fix the fault and the tone and power reduction presumably go away.
Next, you have stored fault codes in the engine computer. My cellphone reads my cars with a
$25 adapter and a free app. The boat takes a $400 Rinda scan tool but the codes can also be read by shorting contacts on the diagnostic plug and counting the voltage pulses as LED flashes or needle swings on your meter. Unfortunately, there seems to be little useful info in the codes (guess I have MEFI-4):
"18 GM EFI TROUBLE CODE CHART MEFI-3 & MEFI-4 Code Description 13 Oxygen Sensor 1 or 2 Malfunction, 14 Coolant Sensor Voltage High (cold), 15 Coolant Sensor Voltage Low(hot), 21 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage High, 21 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage Skewed High, 22 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage Low, 23 Manifold Air Temperature Sensor High (cold), 24 Speed Sensor Inactive (if installed), 25 Manifold Air Temperature Sensor Low (hot), 31 Governor Not Tracking, 32 EGR Valve Not Tracking, 33 Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor High, 34 Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor Low, 41 Electronic Spark Timing Open Circuit, 42 Electronic Spark Timing Grounded Circuit, 43 Electronic Spark Control Detects Continuous Knock, 44 Knock Sensor 1 or 2 Inactive, 51 Calibration Checksum Error, 54 Oxygen Sensor 1 or 2 Lean, 55 Oxygen Sensor 1 or 2 Rich, 61 Fuel Pressure Sensor High, 62 Fuel Pressure Sensor Low, 63 Fuel Temperature High, 64 Fuel Temperature Low, 81 See Scan Tool* * Scan tool will display specific details on the type of Code 81 that is set. Code 81 is associated with a variety of system faults." https://www.rinda.com/acro/Merc_manual_v5.pdf
Apparently that's it! I'd like to know if the MAP is at fault (as my MB mass air sensor was always a likely suspect) but counting the pulses would reveal that w/o spending $400 or dragging the boat to the marina. Any further explanation would be appreciated, especially if the "specific details" disclosed under Code 81 are of the useful type. Incidentally, my boat doesn't have any problem but I thought I would use this Corona time positively.
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