Oil feed sensors on Grady 272

sigp220in45

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I have a 2000 272 Sailfish with twin Yamaha 200 2 stroke engines. The gauges that show the amount of oil in the reservoirs do not read correctly. Though I have filed both tanks the gauges read 1/2full on one an full on the other. I am willing to change the sending units but have a question. Do the gauges show the amount in the storage tanks of the amount of oil in the engine mounted tanks?
 

seasick

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Hmmmmm. What guage is showing the amount of oil?

I am not familiar with that function. In any case, if there is an oil level, it would be for the remote tank ( the big one in the locker).
The tank on the motor (called the Main oil tank) is generally always full or filling.

On my oil tank for my 2001 SX150 , the sender in the main tank only knows when the oil is low in that tank. That condition generates an alarm
 

sigp220in45

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My gauges show full-2/3-1/3 and warning low. The gauges remain in guy and 2/3 so I will need to change the sending units I believe.
 

glacierbaze

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IIRC, the float switch on the main/engine tank only demands oil from the remote/boat tank. The float switch in the remote tank is read by the gauges. I think the wiring harness has some plug in connections. Make sure they are clean, and that you have good grounds.
 
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SkunkBoat

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I sold my OX66s and the manuals but IIRC from the troubles I had....

The "main" tank is the small one in the motor. The aux tank is the big one in the bilge.
The small main tank senses full-2/3-1/3 and warning low. The big tank only tells you its empty.
The sender in the cap of the small tank causes the oil pump in the big tank to refill the small tank before it gets to 1/3. It should refill BEFORE that even.
If one is not keeping up I would suspect the inline filter on the bottom of the big tank.(PIA!!!)
 

seasick

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Yup. that's how I understand the system to work, so I still don't understand what the OP is referring to.
Both the senders in the main and remote tank don't measure levels per se but rather specific points like low.
 

glacierbaze

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This thread reminds me how seldom I look at the details on those gauges. Also reminds me how much more convenient it is to have 4 quarts, instead of a gallon jug, when you try to refill either tank in a choppy ocean.
 

seasick

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Haha..
I think the let the dots you are referring to are circles that may be filled in or not are not levels, they indicate the status of the oil tanks. On older gauges there may be colors on the faceplate. On later model gauges you will have grey dots. There should be symbols above( or is it below) the dots. The manual for the gauges and the Grady Owners manual explain what the various combinations of dots mean.

Basically there warnings for different conditions of the oil levels in the two tanks. Low oil in the main tank (the one on the motor ) is a red alarm and is critical. Even with a full remote tank, you can get a low oil in the mail tank if you have a clogged tank filter, sludge in the remote tank, wiring issue, or a bad oil pump in the main tank. Running the motor in that condition can cause it to blow up as we say.
Low oil in the remote tank is a yellow alarm condition I think they call it. That tells you that you basically have no oil in the remote but still have oil in the main. As you use the motor, thatmain oil will be consumed, leading eventually to a critical oil condition
 
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glacierbaze

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When the oil in the main gets critically low, should also get an alarm, and the engine should go into limp mode.
My previous boat had that problem, until I removed the remote tank, and flushed it out with solvent. At that time, I also moved the little filter to the middle of the oil line, in the splash well. That meant that the oil going through the remote tank pump was unfiltered, but I never had any problems after I cleaned the tank.
 
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seasick

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Sorry, info on gauges is in the Yamaha Owners manual for your motor.
Here is a link to a SX 150 manual. See if you can match up your gauge to one in the manual. Go to Chapter 3, operation.
 

seasick

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I don't think its that simple. The bars tell you not only that there is low oil but also which tank is low. Of course if the main is low you will get a critical alarm condition
 

seasick

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I forgot to mention not only the motor trim but the fact that running different trim angles on the twin motors can cause issues. Don't rely completely on the trim angle display. Take a look to see if the motors are at the same trim angle (start will all the way down and go from there.)
Also check to see if you have anodes on the lower units that have fins. They are not need on twins if one motor is counter rotating. The anodes with tabs are OK but if set incorrectly, that can cause imbalance when at speed. Straight alignment of the tabs is correct.
If a skeg is bent, that can cause the uneven thrust that causes listing.
If the hull lists under speed but not at rest, weight distribution (like batteries on one side) are less likely to be the cause of listing at speed