SugarSand Tango Extreme 240HP

[BenBanBoat1]

My 2003-ish Tango Extreme came to me in Vermont from Florida. Was "running great". Up here however, it was getting low oil indicator alarm and powering down above idle speed. They replace reserve oil tank and sensor and got water out of fuel system. Charged $1400. Still won't go above idle throttle and stalls out. My dad, who'd boat it was, thinks it's still the fuel. Any other throughts? Throw some Red Hot for boats or something? Other than taking back to boat service place and giving them another go at it?

Thanks.
SB

 

[zipper]

@BenBanBoat1 Welcome to the forum...where in Vt. are you? If you think it is a fuel issue, get rid of the old and put some new in. Also put some SeaFoam in tbe tank to help clean out the fuel system. When did it run well last? Do you boat on Champlain or a smaller lake?

 

[BenBanBoat1]

I'm in Waterbury. I'll be using it in Lake Champlain and Waterbury Reservoir mostly. My father had the boat in Florida for 10 years. So it's salty. He used it rarely as he has another bigger more seaworthy boat. He claims that when he moved it from the dock to a local boat ramp to trailer it, that it worked fine. When I got it into Lake Champlain, it ran well for about 10 minutes and then the oil indicator started to go off and the engine would power down and/or stall.

Vermont Home and Marine went through it. Said they cleared fuel lines of water. I had recently filled they tank with fresh fuel. It had maybe an 1/8 tank left when I received it. I'm not sure if VHM drained all the fuel when the "cleared the lines". Also, they replaced the reserve oil tank, saying the the internal magnet sensor was bad. Their theory was that the sensory was broken, indicating low fuel and the engine was powering down to avoid damage. All sounded perfectly reasonable.

But put it in water yesterday and couldn't get beyond idle speed without loss of power and stalling. No indicator alarm though. So that's where I'm at. Basically exact problem I put it in shop for, now without any beeping.

 

[BenBanBoat1]

Wondering if it could have anything to do with switching it from salt to fresh water? Also, any other suggestions for good Mercruiser service in Vermont?

 

[BenBanBoat1]

And lastly, I thought about something in impeller too, as I've removed various things in past with boat in FL. But, I would expect the RPMs to go up when I throttle and then just get no thrust, right? Not the engine powering down and stalling.

 

[zipper]

Wondering if it could have anything to do with switching it from salt to fresh water? Also, any other suggestions for good Mercruiser service in Vermont?

Here are a couple of screen shots of Mercruiser service near me.


Fox and Saba marine in Colchester are near me. Being in Waterbury, the Addison co. Places will be closer. Point Bay Marina and several others in that area. Point Bay is good, but I did not use them for Mercruiser service. Good luck. Without seeing it...your issue does sound fuel/pump related and not something stuck in impeller.

 

[Bilmon]

fuel filter?

 

[biffdotorg]

That particular boat uses a Mercury SportJet 240 EFI if I am not mistaken. Let's be clear, you are getting a low oil, not a low fuel message right? So the fuel system is not the issue.

The Merc 240EFI had two oil tanks as well. I want to say you have a roughly 2 gallon remote oil tank, and an on-engine oil tank and both should have sensors in them. There is also an oil injection impeller which was known to fail, as it was a Nylon/plastic part. But that should not throw a low oil sensor.

My recommendation is getting service manual for the Merc 240 and running through the oil injection troubleshooting. Find the sensors for the two oil tanks and go from there. Your next stop may be a SeaDoo dealer that will still work on the Merc SportJets as 90% of merc cruiser and Merc outboard shops will not touch it. But the same goes for 90% of the SeaDoo dealers. You just need to find one that sold the 2000-2005 models that shipped with the Mercury SportJets. They should be able to work on your boat.

The key is coming to them with a Mercury Sportjet 240 Efi, not a Sugarsand Tango, as they will turn you away.

Good luck

 

[spatty99]

My Tango Extreme had a low oil alarm, and I eventually realized that the o-ring on the smaller oil tank cap wasn't sealing properly and was allowing air in. Found a similar sized o-ring at the hardware store for a couple bucks and problem solved (that was only problem I had in about 5 years owning it).

 

[Bilmon]

@biffdotorg Main [3 gal] tank does not have a sensor, you are correct that engine tank will trigger the alarm[ series of 4 beeps] Also in mid 01 or 02, I forget which, the 240 was redesigned and switched from the internal gear drive pump to an external computer controlled electric pump, if that fails the computer will shut the motor down. You are right about the dealers, most seem to get real stupid when you say jet

 

[biffdotorg]

That is spot on. My 2002 got the newly revised 240EFI. I got lucky as when I bought it, I had no clue.

The external tank must be designed by the boat MFG, as the one on my SeaDoo X20 may not have had a sensor either, but it was roughly 2 gallons. The only reason I didn't know if it had a sensor, was I bought my oil in Gallon jugs, and I would always top the tank when it dropped below half full. That would allow me to dump the full gallon jug in.

So with that process, I never would have experienced a low oil sensor from the tank, even if it had one. My guess is he is still having that oil sensor error from the on engine tank then. And it is putting the engine in limp mode, rather than shutting down. If the mechanic truly put a new sensor in, then I would think they would warranty their work.

It's a scary thought, and almost makes a person want to disable it and run pre-mix. Good luck either way.

 

[Randall905]

Also, remember the oil remote tank hose goes to the engine and will pull oil over to the engine tank as needed but the engine has to be running before it will work. check the small tank and make sure it has oil in it and also make sure all the caps are tight. Make sure you check and replace all the inline oil filters as well. also, check all the fuel filters as you have more than a water fuel separator. Good Luck