Yamaha Help. Intermittent Oil Light/Limp mode

[BigDaddy2027]

I have a 2004 Yamaha 225 VMax 2cycle (Model: VZ225TLRC) on a 2004 Skeeter Zx225.

 

Bought the boat, ran almost a full tank of oil through the motor over a couple of trips. Was trying to use up most of the oil so I could refill with a whole tank of fresh. Got close to the end of the tank, the low oil light started popping on for a few seconds and boat would go into limp mode and then take off again. Did that a few times on the way back to the ramp, thinking I just had ran it too low on oil, no big deal. 

 

Filled the tank back up the next day with the fresh oil went back out on a full oil tank, thinking all was good after a 20-30 min run up lake. After taking back off after first fishing spot, same problem - Cruising along, low oil light flashes on, boat goes into limp mode. Immediately headed back to the ramp, with a bad feeling.
 

Got her home cleaned out oil tank, some sludge and dirt in the bottom, but nothing super alarming. Replaced float in oil tank thinking problem was created by running tank low, being I went through a entire tank of oil and had no problems before I ran the oil low in the boat tank. Cleaned out motor mounted oil tank while I was there, nothing alarming. Emergency switch does pump oil from boat tank to motor tank. Messed with the floats while they were out of the tank and clean. Low oil alarm comes on and stays on for about a minute when bottom float on motor oil tank mechanism falls like it’s supposed to do. For some reason there is no alarm from the boat oil tank mechanism when you do the same experiment. That’s why I replaced sensor in the tank, but there is no alarm even with the new boat oil tank mechanism.
 

Figured I would give it a shot anyway and ran the boat this afternoon on the water. Ran flat out for about 20 miles no issue. Stopped and idled for a few minutes and took off to go back to ramp and problem happened again.
 

Low oil light comes on, motor goes in limp mode for about 3 seconds, goes back to normal mode, and oil light goes off.

 

This time when it happened, I stopped the boat, pulled the motor cover off to check the motor tank oil level, and it was right at the max full line. And the boat oil tank with the new boat oil tank mechanism, was full to the top also.

 

Anybody run into this problem before?

[Jigfishn10]

I personally haven't.

 

It might be time to take it into the shop.

[E-rude dude]

My guess is you have air bubbles in your oil lines.

Dealer can resolve this for an hour of labor, or at least diagnose the issue.

2 Stroke without oil for any amount of time goes kaboom.
Get it looked at by a pro. 

[BigDaddy2027]

No offense taken jig. Just to clear things up, because obviously first time posters are assumed to be complete morons with no mechanical ability. I never ran the boat tank or the engine tank completely out of oil. The engine tank never fell below the full line, meaning the oil pump was/is transferring oil. The boat oil tank, never at any time has had any less than 3 inches of oil when the low oil light has flashed. When I said I drained the tank after top off, thinking I just ran the oil level to low, I meant in the driveway I drained both the oil tanks after uninstalling it them from the boat and the engine. That’s when I cleaned them both and discovered the sludge buildup in the bottom of the boat tank. 
 

At the point I believe I’m outside of my mechanical ability I will take the dealer route. With that being said, I never played oil roulette, and the engine never has been run without sufficient oil.
 

A status update, now that we are past questioning a members intent or mechanical ability because they are new or have never posted to this board, even though they may have been following a long for some time. I have replaced the float mechanism in the boat tank, even though the old float ohms were good, thinking it was as good of a place to start given the chain of events. Took the boat out on the water with all fluids topped off and same situation. Next option is I’m going to replace the float mechanism in the engine tank being it’s the next cheapest, logical option. In the meantime I have tested all the wires from both float connectors to where they plug into the ECM using a diode test to actually put a load on the line as a ohms test will pass even if there is only 1 strand of wire, verifying there was no break in the wires somewhere in the harness. I then ran the trim of the motor up and tested the harness wires again, where everything checked out meaning the harness is good. 
 

I really hope the motor float fixes the problem, because the only next piece to replace, that I know of is the ECM itself. I want to exhaust all options before that if possible. I was just hoping to run into someone who has some experience with this particular problem.

 

With that being said, thank you in advance for any insight and response. Please don’t take any offense to my responses, after all  this is only my second post. 

[E-rude dude]

I still think you have air in your oil lines.

But it could be an injector also

Dealer could put it on a lap top and tell you if an injector is missing or throwing codes.

They can also reprise the oiling system.

 

that would be my starting point. Just blindly throwing parts at it may work or may not. 
JMO

 

 

Reprime the oil system 

[WRB]

Not being a Yammy Owner it’s hard to give any advice.

The problem isn’t random so that helps to isolate the problem. The engine runs good cold but not after restarting. 

Have you pulled the plugs after it limps along? Plugs tell you a lot about fuel-oil mixture being too lean or too rich by color. White gray is too lean, or dark brown-black is too rich, light tan is good. Stop as soon as the problem starts and Check a spark plug on each side.

It also could be the computer or bad oil line.

Tom