I was cruising along at LOTO and thanks to several cruisers creating a few tsunamis, I took a few hard hits. This is when I noticed my throttle response on my starboard motor wasn't right. I backed her down, then I heard the single beep. I shut it down immediately and checked under the hatch. Nothing was loose, everything looked good, checked oil, looked fine. Let it sit for a few minutes then cranked it back up, throttle was fine, then I looked up and saw I had NO oil pressure. Immediately shut it down again. Waited a few more minutes, cranked it and when it first cranked, the guage would rise slightly then go back to zero. Also noticed the single beep every 10 seconds or so. So I shut it down for good. Luckily we were only about a mile from Performance Boat Center, so I was able to limp in on the port motor (without hydraulic steering though!). By the time we got there, the last mechanic had left, so security let me just tie up to the courtesy dock and I left it overnight. I'm heading there right now to have them check it out. The real bummer is, it was my first day of a week vacation, and looks like I may have to haul the boat back home (300 miles) without even getting to use it. My question is this, can a hard hit cause the oil pick up in the pan to drop or break? And if so, was my running it for the few minutes without oil pressure going to cause bigger problems? Motors are stock (somewhat) 496HOs. I say somewhat cause I had BobL at Full Throttle turn my Mags into HOs with a cam and ECM change. Boat had been running great prior to this.

it sounds like the oil pickup might have fell off.running any engine without oil pressure for more than a few seconds can cause serious damage to the crankshaft&bearings.

I don't have a performance boat- but I experienced the same thing as you but it wasn't caused by a dropped oil pick-up or anything related. A number of years ago on Labor Day it was EXTREMELY hot out well into 100. At the time we had a 165 straight 6 Merc - Pre Alpha drive -- I was running this WOT for a pretty long - having a blast - all of a sudden the oil light went on and I immediately shut the engine down. We got towed back to the dock where I checked the oil - all was full no issues and just let the engine cool down -- water/engine temperature was just fine. After about an hour went out and tried to re-start the engine - fired right up but the oil light went on- Immediately shut it down - towed to the trailer and delivered it to the local Mariana. Next day I call and asked for the bad news -- Spoke with the mechanic and he said they were out driving the boat around and all was well -- there was NO issue with the oil pump, pressure gage etc. What had happened - I had been exclusively using Rotella Straight 30W oil in that boat since new-- NEVER had any issues- I religiously change the oil and filter every season -- I'm very anal regarding maintenance. According to the mechanic running it at WOT for the period I did- the oil broke down. He said when they drained it - I had a hose connected to the oil pan - the oil came out very similar to water -- little to no viscosity. They changed the oil and filter to a multigrade 15W-40 and the engine purred. I personally think it was crazy then and now - but it was my experience.

I hope it is something simple - especially since you are on vacation.

Please let us know what the final outcome was-

Oh by the way since the 165 we now have a 7.4MPI in a Cobalt 226-- WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

3pointstar

Have them ( and Im sure they will ) Put a machanical guage on it to see if its just a sending unit/wiring issue

Are the lifters rattling

No, engine sounded and ran fine. When I cranked it back up (for just a few seconds), the only indication of a problem was the beep and the gauge showed zero.

I can say however, I'm EXTREMELY impressed with Performance Boat Center! Yesterday at about 4, I motored up to their courtesy dock and explained to the security guy what my problem was, I asked if there was still a mechanic on duty (this was Sunday at 4), he said he wasn't sure but immediately got on the radio to check. Sadly he said the last mech had left just minutes ago. He helped us get tied up (trying to dock and a breeze, with one engine and no hydraulic steering is not easy). I then asked if I could just leave it there overnight and come back in the morning, he said sure, and don't worry about it, I'll keep an eye on it for you! This morning, when I get there at about 10, I notice my covers were on, (it started raining about 930). After talking to Carey, the service mgr, he said he always walks the docks first thing in the morning, and noticed my boat sitting out without the covers on. These guys don't know me from squat, but they have been SOOO helpful and accommodating. With a backlog of 78 boats to work on, Carey said he would get a mech to at the least scan and report back to me today. Now mind you, I'm not some baller with a million dollar boat but they sure treated me like one. That I will never forget and will always recommend them as we come to LOTO quite a bit and have many family members with places and boats here. Haven't heard from Carey yet, but so far all I can say about PBC is TOP KNOTCH business.

All is good now! Ended up being a loose ECM plug (from the rough ride). Performance Boat Center is AWSOME!!! These guys dropped their already overloaded schedule to get a boater back on the water! I can honestly say I have never done business with someone like them. Major kudos!! Even fixed a screw up of mine! Apparently when the ECM signal is dropped, all kinds of codes show up. Happy boater here!

I love it when it's nothing but a plug or something like that. Good for you!

Quit bragging on them or Myrick's head won't fit under the canopy of the Skater! Good to hear it was a simple, easy, inexpensive fix. Now go enjoy your time at LOTO!

When we were there, their race boat showed up from the Michigan boat race. They won their 4th in a row! Go PBC race team!