I have a question regarding the Engine Status Panel on my 2012 Glastron that is powered by a Volvo-Penta 5.7L V-8 engine. Over the five years I have owned this boat, the Engine Status alarm lights and horn never came on except to beep when starting the engine. However, this winter, after taking the boat out of storage, it has suddenly gone on several times while cruising at low speed (in canal). All instrument gauges are reading normal, dealer scheduled maintenance has been performed, and the engine is running smooth.

So a few days ago I had the dealer’s diagnostic guy come over. He hooked up his pre-programmed laptop and plugged it into the engine, but no fault codes came up. We tried with key off, key on, engine off, engine on, even when the alarm went off, but still no fault codes. He said he didn’t know what was causing the alarm horn and warning lights to come on, but he would call Volvo-Penta Tech Support when he returned to the shop, and let me know. That was several days ago.

So, the boat has just been sitting at my dock because I don’t dare take her on a cruise when I don’t know how serious the underlying problem is with the warning system. And I am reluctant to take it to the dealer, as they would probably run up a large bill checking over the whole boat, and maybe couldn’t find the problem.

Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom in FL

 

I received some feedback from The Hull Truth forum, and will follow that advice. I am hopeful that this forum can help me in the future with Penta questions. Also, since I have a Volvo SUV, I can post something on that part of the forum if necessary.
Tom

 

It will take continued work to find the actual problem. But if your gauges show proper oil pressure and normal operating temp then I would go ahead and use the boat.

I bought a 2011 boat with a VP engine with a 5.7
L engine that has some kind of intermittent issue with a engine status indicator stating that there is a problem. I will likely buy the hardware & software to allow me to run all the same diagnostics a dealer can.

I guess you can try and look to connection issues with all the engine sensors. And wiring harness issues. I would reseat every connector you can get your hands on.

My guess is that it's a sensor.