This left me stranded 6 miles up the coast…

[Miitch]

A beautiful Sunday we had! 0 ft waves as far as the eye can see here on Lake Ontario! Took some friends out to a local beach, got a little crowded, so we decided to leave and head up to the lower niagara River, then cruise on back. (About 10km one way).

pleasant ride up, soaking up the sun, almost WOT thanks to the glassy water. Get to our destination and spin around only to hear miserable sound of “gears grinding” followed by a sudden loss of power. I killed the engine. Restarted it with no issues, went to give it power and sure as shit, massive cavitation and insane vibrating at anything higher than 3000rpm or 4mph… I immediately went to check the engine compartment thinking it was a bad carbon seal replacement I did. Thankfully, no water was coming in, so the carbon seal lives another day.

the culprit? A toothpick sized piece of wood stuck at the top of the impeller. Probably from running over a stick of some sort. (see image).. thankfully, we had a few good friends on jet skis who limped the 6 mile journey back home with us. Pulled the pump snd removed the wood. Boat is back up and running 1 day later.

would a clean out port have saved me here??

 

[Babin Farms]

would a clean out port have saved me here??

Possibly. I have had the same thing happen and it took me 3 times of feeling around to finally figure out that it was wedged in the impeller like the pic you posted. I was able to remove the debris while on the water and proceeded to have a great day. Our impellers are not quite like yours and have more room between the blades but to get your hand all the way to the blades is a task.

 

[rkluck]

Don't know but would the reverse move help with a runner?

 

[Miitch]

would a clean out port have saved me here??

Possibly. I have had the same thing happen and it took me 3 times of feeling around to finally figure out that it was wedged in the impeller like the pic you posted. I was able to remove the debris while on the water and proceeded to have a great day. Our impellers are not quite like yours and have more room between the blades but to get your hand all the way to the blades is a task.

so the cleanout port goes directly over the shaft? then you can just move your hand back in the direction of the impeller and fiddle with the impeller if your hand reaches?

 

[Babin Farms]

Don't know but would the reverse move help with a runner?

Reverse move is more for stuff that is not wedged in there. If something is on the intake grate or floating around in the tunnel a lot of times the reverse maneuver will work.

so the cleanout port goes directly over the shaft? then you can just move your hand back in the direction of the impeller and fiddle with the impeller if your hand reaches?

Yep over the shaft and the intake grate

 

[Miitch]

Don't know but would the reverse move help with a runner?

I did try the reverse move but no luck. When i went to physically remove the stick after pulling the pump, it was really stuck on there. I had to get a pair of plyers to help..

Im also not a big fan of the reverse move. Last year our marina was flooded with weeds for a short while. Ended up sucking some up on a weekly basis. Reverting to the reverse move each time. Since our exhaust is cooled by raw water, when you lower the reverse bucket, youre directing water almost right over the exhaust port. Now i dont know if that was the culprit, but last year shortly after that week of reversing non stop, the hose clamp for the exhaust tubing in the engine bay came lose. Water poured in my engine bay through the exhaust opening since it was no longer connected to the muffler. almost flooded my engine bay.

 

[Sean R]

I few summers ago I had almost the exact thing happen but the cleanout port saved the day. I used a small screw driver and used it like a finger nail and chiped away at the small piece of wood. Not the most comfortable position and it took a good 10min, but got it out and was on our way.

 

[Acard7]

Sucked up a few wood chunks that size and maybe one larger when I was on Lake of the Ozarks. Got them all out with the clean out ports. Only had to use a small pocket knife to get more leverage on the larger piece. So would clean out ports help? They did in my situation and many more like it as more and more comment. Will they always work? Sadly no.. Feel like it’s just bad luck though, because we sucked up everything only one of the four days we were there.

 

[Ronnie]

I think a clean out port would have helped but only if you had a set of pliers as well. I’ve had pieces of wood floating in the area infront of the impeller cause cavitation and me to pull the plug to fish for the part. Mine were never wedged between the impeller and housing though. The reverse move only drops the bucket it does not reverse the spin of the impeller so i don’t think the reverse move would have helped.

the clean out port is also useful in allowing the operator to find and remove fishing line from the shaft. I had some wrapped around one of mine once and it caused a ton of cavitation. I was able to remove it though the clean out port, if I was on a boat without one I would have had to put the boat on its trailer to get to the line.

 

[mwalker4]

I have a special long handle curved needle nose pliers and normal needle nose for just such an occasion.

 

[octavio3311]

I had a very similar situation a few years back with a piece of wood. Took me 5 minutes to work it out, but was able to do it thru the clean out port.
Most recently, a month or so ago - I sucked up a large garbage back in our marina that wrapped itself several times completely around the shaft. Took me 15-20 minutes to unwrap it thru the port.

 

[2kwik4u]

@Miitch I get those small pieces of wood stuckin the impeller a few times a year. I can typically remove them through the cleanout port. I would say that might have saved the day here. 100% depends on if you could have felt it and removed it. Access wouldn't be the issue, the removal is 100% by feel. I'm a 6'2" tall guy with monkey long arms, and I have been armpit deep in there trying to get stuff out of the grate from above. My shoulder and upper arm is just large enough to be uncomfortable stuck down in the cleanout tube.

Same with the rear portholes in the cleanout tray. I can't get past my elbow without it severely abrading my bicep/tricep area. Another 2in in diameter would have easily fit in that space, and would allow MUCH greater access for me.

 

[Miitch]

Seems the cleanouts would have helped LOL i was never really sure on where exactly they were positioned. My understanding was they were over the driveline but nowhere near the impeller. Clearly i was wrong. But that's good to know. one more reason for me to "upgrade" down the road

in the last 1.5 years this is only the second thing to have gotten sucked up next to a tow rope. I just couldn't believe how much power i lost from something that small.

 

[Julian]

A clean out port and hook blades for a utility knife would have worked (since it was wood). It might have taken a little whittling and perhaps a couple of blades, but you'd have gotten it out.
Hook blades are a must have if you have a Yamaha with clean out ports. It is much safer and easier to pull towards you as you try to whittle these things out. Works really well on rope too!

$4.97 for 10 and Home depot!

 

[Sean R]

For that price you won't care if or when you drop it in the water

 

[2kwik4u]

My understanding was they were over the driveline but nowhere near the impeller.

The center of the cleanout is about 4-6in forward of the leading edge of the impeller. The rearmost edge of the cleanout port is only about 1-2in forward of the impeller. You can touch all of the leading edges of the impeller from the port. I can't imagine attempting to operate pliers upside down and backwards with my giant hand stuck down in there. I usually just use my work hardened thumbnail to chip/peel/pry away at whatever is stuck in there.

 

[2kwik4u]

For that price you won't care if or when you drop it in the water

I carry one of these on the boat for just such an occasion. Haven't used it yet though.

Robot or human?

They come out of the package sharp as dammit, and have serrations to help really cut through heavy stuff. I'll admit I tend to use them for a trip and toss/replace afterwards. They don't keep an edge worth a crap, but they're cheap enough to not really matter.

 

[Cambo]

would a clean out port have saved me here??

Most likely I just had a stick that size get wedged in my impeller and was able to slide it out. I had a 3/4 inch wide by 2'' long thin nylon strap piece get wedged in the impeller some starting and stopping then reaching in and it was able to be removed.

 

[Matt Phillips]

Several years ago on Lake Shasta I had just finished wakeboarding and a friend was driving the boat for the next boarder. He's an experienced towing captain. The next boarder just fell and as we were circling back around to pick them up, there was this nasty-awful grinding sound from the starboard engine. We shut it down and picked up the boarder.

We started it up again and it made the same awful sound. Once I opened up the clean out port and felt around, I came back with a 1-2" piece of wood no more than about 1/4" in diameter. We both laughed about how in this entire lake he had to pick up this piece....

 

[Guy in a Boat]

Clean out ports are a must on a jet boat. Why other manufacturers do not use them is beyond me. I have sucked up sticks, rocks, poly pipe, you name it. Believe it or not I sucked up a rock on 160’ deep water going 30mph! Use your imagination on that one. Having hand tools on board and clean out ports saved t he day about 10 times that day. Recent floods and a lot of debris in the water.