Brand new Beta50 engine, twice low pressure alarm.

[Pepijn]

With a brand new Beta 50 engine we finally left the shipyard in Malta. Right smack in the middle of Valetta harbour the low oil pressure alarm went off (engine running at about 1400rpm) and the engine switched off by itself. As we were drifting to a few barges alongside we quickly dropped anchor. Panic.

I checked the oil level and it was just above the add line (about 20% of the add-full range. Nothing else out of the ordinary. I added up to half the range. Started the engine again without issues. For about 20min all is fine, cruising at 1500rpm. Outside the harbour I ran the engine gradually to 2500rpm with steps of 200rpm. At 2500rpm again low pressure alarm. Checked the oil level, added a bit more and restarted again without issues.

We ran the engine for another hour, between 1800 and 2200 without issues. We are now at anchor.

Monday I will contact Beta, but hoped to get some wisdom here as to what the possible causes. Is it because it is new? The new oil frothing? Or?

[Turtle Blues]

I see the installation / operators manual has no specific break in instructions for new engines other than changing oil at 50 hours.
Ancient wisdom was to vary load and rpm for several hours to set (seal) piston rings then change oil.

Certainly contact them with your issue but it may be that maintaining proper level and operating at various rpm's for a short break in period then changing oil may resolve problem.

[donradcliffe]

If you have low oil pressure at 2500 rpm, I would suspect the sender or the wiring. However its a new engine, and you may have gotten a dud. Definitely talk to Beta and document everything.

[Cheechako]

Sounds like that engine has a "black box" control/auto control which shuts it down? That's too bad. See what Beta says. Many gen sets are problematic because they have too many automatic controls inhibiting their use when nothing is wrong.

Maybe you have an oil pressure sender issue. Or maybe you DO have an oil pressure problem.

[SailingHarmonie]

If you had sprung the extra cash for the engine panel that had gauges instead of just idiot lights you’d probably already have enough information to sort this out.

All others repowering , take note!

[skipperpete]

Originally Posted by Pepijn

With a brand new Beta 50 engine we finally left the shipyard in Malta. Right smack in the middle of Valetta harbour the low oil pressure alarm went off (engine running at about 1400rpm) and the engine switched off by itself. As we were drifting to a few barges alongside we quickly dropped anchor. Panic.

I checked the oil level and it was just above the add line (about 20% of the add-full range. Nothing else out of the ordinary. I added up to half the range. Started the engine again without issues. For about 20min all is fine, cruising at 1500rpm. Outside the harbour I ran the engine gradually to 2500rpm with steps of 200rpm. At 2500rpm again low pressure alarm. Checked the oil level, added a bit more and restarted again without issues.

We ran the engine for another hour, between 1800 and 2200 without issues. We are now at anchor.

Monday I will contact Beta, but hoped to get some wisdom here as to what the possible causes. Is it because it is new? The new oil frothing? Or?

The worrying thing for me would be that the engine actually stopped, Betamarine originally only had the auto shutdown on their gensets. Do you by any chance have the Beta option of a remotely mounted oil filter? Running a new engine with the oil level so low is never wise.

[NorthCoastJoe]

First get a mechanical oil pressure gauge. That will tell you everything you need to know.

Why are you not filling to the full mark? Are you leaking or burning oil?
I have a new Beta 50 with about 250 hours on it crossing Hawaii to San Francisco no problems. No oil usage between changes, running around 50 psi on the gauge.

[Reefmagnet]

Is the engine installed at an angle? It's not uncommon for the dipstick reading to be inaccurate due to the angle of the engine versus dipstick and oil pickup location. The user manual could possibly have a note in it regarding this.

[wholybee]

I am trying to think of something that would cause the oil pressure to go away, and then come back once started. In theory, it could happen if the oil level was very low, and the little bit of oil in the pan was pumped into the engine. But it would need to be very low, and it wouldn't make sense that it ran for a few hours between it happening.

Any other issue I can think of would be a catastrophic failure of the pump, and pressure would never come back. _Maybe_ a stuck pressure release spring in the pump could dump all the oil pressure and than return to normal after the engine stopped?

Anyway, it's hard to imagine it isn't an issue with the monitoring system. I think adding an oil pressure gauge is in order.

[more]

Originally Posted by Pepijn

With a brand new Beta 50 engine we finally left the shipyard in Malta. Right smack in the middle of Valetta harbour the low oil pressure alarm went off (engine running at about 1400rpm) and the engine switched off by itself. As we were drifting to a few barges alongside we quickly dropped anchor. Panic.

I checked the oil level and it was just above the add line (about 20% of the add-full range. Nothing else out of the ordinary. I added up to half the range. Started the engine again without issues. For about 20min all is fine, cruising at 1500rpm. Outside the harbour I ran the engine gradually to 2500rpm with steps of 200rpm. At 2500rpm again low pressure alarm. Checked the oil level, added a bit more and restarted again without issues.

We ran the engine for another hour, between 1800 and 2200 without issues. We are now at anchor.

Monday I will contact Beta, but hoped to get some wisdom here as to what the possible causes. Is it because it is new? The new oil frothing? Or?

why you ask as,you have new engine with warranty .call guy who install and sold you engine.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Turtle Blues

I see the installation / operators manual has no specific break in instructions for new engines other than changing oil at 50 hours.
Ancient wisdom was to vary load and rpm for several hours to set (seal) piston rings then change oil.

Certainly contact them with your issue but it may be that maintaining proper level and operating at various rpm's for a short break in period then changing oil may resolve problem.

Like modern automobiles, Beta’s [Kubota based] marine engines do not really have a 'break-in' period.
Modern metallurgy, and the fine tolerances the engines are manufactured to, make it unneccessary.
Now, there are a few things that you can do that will extend the life of the engine, and most of this should happen within the first 10 to 20 hours of operation.
UNNECESSARY - But Can't Hurt:
1) Do not operate the engine at full throttle, for more than a few minutes.
2) Do not operate the engine at a constant speed, for more that 30 mins at a time, vary the engine speed while underway.
3) Do not Idle the engine, for more than a few minutes at a time.
4) Change the engine oil and filter, when convenient, between 10 and 20 hours. Note that a condition of your warranty, you should only use Beta Marine or Kubota approved parts.
5) When changing oil, select a brand and type that is suitable for the engine, and is available wherever you may sail. Then try to use only this oil at oil changes.
When changing oil, thoroughly check your engine, transmission, hoses, clamps, mounts etc for loose fixing, chafing, leaks etc.
Beta Installation Manual ➥ https://betamarine.co.uk/resources/O...-HE-OM/#page=1

[Lou-In-NJ]

Aren't most marine engines mounted at some angle away from being perfectly level? That being the case, why would anyone recommend not filling the sump to the top fill line on the dipstick?

Depending on the engine design and the angle it's at, you could have a significant amount of oil, pooling in the valve cover, unable to return to the sump quickly, because it may all be trying to return through only one passageway. Some engines have a protected dipstick tube, so you can check your oil level while the engine is running; if yours does have a protected dipstick tube, checking the level while running would be the first thing to do!

In the service manual for my old Volvo, it specifically states to maintain the oil level at the top mark of the dipstick if the engine is mounted at anything other than level.

[jamhass]

You noted this was a brand new engine. Did the installer run the engine before delivery? If not, then the low oil pressure and level may have been the engine filling all the nooks and crannies including the oil pump and various galleys.

[Lepke]

Originally Posted by NorthCoastJoe

First get a mechanical oil pressure gauge. That will tell you everything you need to know.
.

Ditto

[skipperpete]

This is now between the installer and Betamarine, if the owner starts doing diagnostics independently, both Betamarine and the installer may be entitled to decline warranty. Until Betamarine authorises the opening of the oil filter canister or operating the engine with theoretically no oil pressure to test the lube oil pressure, your only input will be adding lube oil or checking to see what specific oil was used.