CONTINUOUSWAVE

An alert “check Pitot” occurs on a Verado 150-HP engine. I have checked several times and haven't found any debris in the Pitot tube inlet.

Q1: can this [perhaps means the water passage associated with the Pitot tobe pick up] be blown out with air from [some access point located somewhere at] the top of the engine?

Q2: do Pitot sensors go bad?

Q3: what is the cause of the “check Pitot” alert?

Check the operator’s guide for the engine. Typically if an engine gives an alert to the operator, the operator’s guide will have an explanation of the alert and will recommend an action to be taken.

If you have already done that, and the action did not provide a remedy, you may need to purchase the service manual. The service manual will typically describe the function in more detail and suggest diagnostic tests.

Typically with Mercury engines a proprietary and expensive electronic tool is needed to access the engine control unit (ECU) and obtain data about the engine needed for further diagnosis of problems.

On the basis that the ECU must be monitoring the Pitot tube sensor in some manner in order to give an alert, there likely is some sort to hose that routes the water pressure at the Pitot tube to a pressure sensor that connects electrically to the ECU. Loss of a proper signal from the Pitot tube could be due to:

• debris obstructing the path between Pitot and pressure sensor
• a circuit discontinuity in the wiring between the pressure sensor and the ECU
• a failure of the pressure sensor
• a failure in the ECU

To deduce from you narrative of events what precisely is the cause of the alert is impossible.