Water in my bilge

[MrMoose]

I notice when I was at the dock for an overnight trip and when I open my hatch, I had 6" of water.

My money is on the drive shaft hull fittings. It's my belief that, based on my observations, they do not properly clean the hull surface after cutting the hole, which causes the silicone seal to fail. If anybody thinks that I'm full of it, then check to see how well your little rectangular storage cup (to the right of the captain's chair, directly behind the throttle levers) is sealed to the boat shell. Remove the 4 screws and lift. You'll likely find that the silicone did not seal to the shell because of cut-out debris.

 

[Matt Phillips]

I leave my boat in the lake for 10 weeks each year. About the only time my bilge pump cycles water is when we are actively wake boarding when people are on and off the stern and the wake comes up on the swim platform. Otherwise, it's very dry. It does look like your drain plus has a leak in it and I'd have the dealer chase that down under warranty. Others above have listed the best places to start looking when it comes to leaks here & there.

 

[MrMoose]

Wow it seems to me that these boats may leek from a lot different places which is crazy!! I'm beginning to think buying a jetboat was a mistake.

I was surprised by the number of leaks in my new boat and the dealerships' (two of them) position that it was acceptable... "They all leak"
Don't worry @Jaime, it's all fixable.

 

[MrMoose]

I should add, that the first time I realized that my boat was leaking, I towed it home and filled the bilge with a garden hose to see if I could find water leaking out. Nothing leaked out.

 

[Mainah]

@MrMoose - let me reply to almost all of your posts so far on this thread by saying ... Sad but true.

@Jamie - My boat did the same thing when I first got it. My drain plug threads were all messed up. I also noticed machining burrs in aluminum receiver threads. My dealer gave me a new plug and I cleaned up the burrs in the receiver threads with a dremel wire brush wheel. I also applied some vaseline to the O ring and threads. That sure helped a lot. From time to time I still get a bit of water in there but only when the boat has been moving. So if just sitting at the dock at night no water. Run around the lake for 30 minites and there is what seem like a gallon. I am convined this is either the impeller shaft seals or the anchor locker issue. I will have to wait a few more months to figure it out.

 

[MrMoose]

Wow it seems to me that these boats may leek from a lot different places which is crazy!! I'm beginning to think buying a jetboat was a mistake.

@Jaime You'll love your boat once you get through this "fix the leaks" phase. It's just odd that Yamaha couldn't do a better job at the factory.

 

[Julian]

My first 2 jetboats were bone dry all the time.

My 242X leaked at the plug because it had so much crap in the bilge from manufacturing that the plug couldn't be sealed. Once I cleaned that out it seals perfectly.

Don't accept a dealer that says "all the boats leak"! They do NOT. They are just hoping you will walk away and not raise the issue again and then they can make more money working on all the I/Os doing winterizations/summerization etc than us self sufficient jet boaters! So make them fix it!

You should NEVER have 6" of water in the bilge! If you do, your pump isn't working, or your battery died! That much water is WAY out of the norm!

 

[tdonoughue]

Mine does not leak half that much. I think if I am on the water all day with kids coming in and out of the boat and everything, the bilge may come on once. Maybe.

I agree with everyone that the 'they all leak' answer is crap. For me, the problem is that you can take it to the dealer to fix it, but a) that may be far away (not for me, but for some folks) and b) more importantly, they will keep your boat for 2-4 weeks, then either i) hand it back to you saying it is 'fixed' when they have done nothing to it (forcing you to repeat the exercise) or ii) tell you it will be 2-4 weeks more because they are waiting for the silk worms to make more silicone (or some similar inane excuse). The upshot of all of that is, while you are right as rain that it should not leak and that they should fix it, you wind up paying because you can't get in the water with your boat. For me, with some of these things, then, I just suck it up and fix it myself. Because I can have it done in an hour or two and be back on the water.

 

[Jaime]

@MrMoose - let me reply to almost all of your posts so far on this thread by saying ... Sad but true.

@Jamie - My boat did the same thing when I first got it. My drain plug threads were all messed up. I also noticed machining burrs in aluminum receiver threads. My dealer gave me a new plug and I cleaned up the burrs in the receiver threads with a dremel wire brush wheel. I also applied some vaseline to the O ring and threads. That sure helped a lot. From time to time I still get a bit of water in there but only when the boat has been moving. So if just sitting at the dock at night no water. Run around the lake for 30 minites and there is what seem like a gallon. I am convined this is either the impeller shaft seals or the anchor locker issue. I will have to wait a few more months to figure it out.

Thanks for your reply, I already checked the anchor locker and it seems to be fine.

 

[Jaime]

My first 2 jetboats were bone dry all the time.

My 242X leaked at the plug because it had so much crap in the bilge from manufacturing that the plug couldn't be sealed. Once I cleaned that out it seals perfectly.

Don't accept a dealer that says "all the boats leak"! They do NOT. They are just hoping you will walk away and not raise the issue again and then they can make more money working on all the I/Os doing winterizations/summerization etc than us self sufficient jet boaters! So make them fix it!

You should NEVER have 6" of water in the bilge! If you do, your pump isn't working, or your battery died! That much water is WAY out of the norm!

Thanks for your reply!!! I called the dealer again today and they were getting back to me!!.
Keeping my fingers cross!!!

 

[Jaime]

@Jaime You'll love your boat once you get through this "fix the leaks" phase. It's just odd that Yamaha couldn't do a better job at the factory.

Thanks!!!. I'm very suprise that Yamaha would built a boat that leaks from so many different places!!

 

[MattFX4]

Do the Vortex boats leak?

 

[Neutron]

I had found that every hose clamp for the exhaust hoses under the clean out tray was either very loose or not even on the hose at all 50% of them were just dangling on the aluminum elbow. Could not believe the lack of quality control in the final assembly process
50+ grand and they cant even install exhaust hose clamps

 

[Jaime]

I had found that every hose clamp for the exhaust hoses under the clean out tray was either very loose or not even on the hose at all 50% of them were just dangling on the aluminum elbow. Could not believe the lack of quality control in the final assembly process
50+ grand and they cant even install exhaust hose clamps

Thanks for the input!! This Friday I'm going to take the day and check everything!! before I take it to the dealer, hopefully I can fix it my self.

 

[Jaime]

I want to take a moment and thank everybody here that gave me input on these boats waterleak issues, I will post my findings after Friday!! But I'm very disappointed at Yamaha's quality control!!.. We should not be dealing with water leaks on any new boats regardless of the price. This weekend I will be at the Miami International Boat-Show and will be expressing my dissatisfaction with the Yamaha rep.

 

[MrMoose]

I want to take a moment and thank everybody here that gave me input on these boats waterleak issues, I will post my findings after Friday!! But I'm very disappointed at Yamaha's quality control!!.. We should not be dealing with water leaks on any new boats regardless of the price. This weekend I will be at the Miami International Boat-Show and will be expressing my dissatisfaction with the Yamaha rep.

It's even more disappointing when you consider how long it has been going on for.

 

[Jaime]

It's even more disappointing when you consider how long it has been going on for.

I just confirmed with my sales rep that a Yamaha rep will be at the show so I can't wait to speak on our behalf.

 

[Julian]

Keep in mind that not all Yamaha boats leak from the factory, and it is the dealers job to prep your boat and ensure it is seaworthy (that it wasn't jolted around on the shipping trailer to the dealer and fittings loosened)....and that should include that it doesn't leak. But it can never hurt to give Mother Yamaha some direct in person feedback - vs their employees that read the forum in their spare time

 

[Bill D]

I don't buy that the dealer is responsible for factory installed equipment. Installing the batteries, sure. Cleaning up the dust and debris from the trip on the truck, absolutely. But, these boats shouldn't be getting out of the factory with such poor craftsmanship as missing sealant, screws only through one part of what they are supposed to screw together, thru-hull fittings that don't go through... etc. I love my Yamaha as much as any of us, but the product coming out of the factory recently is unacceptable. The last thing any new boat owner should expect to do is spend a year taking it back to the dealer or fixing dozens of things that weren't done right.

 

[MrMoose]

Keep in mind that not all Yamaha boats leak from the factory, and it is the dealers job to prep your boat and ensure it is seaworthy (that it wasn't jolted around on the shipping trailer to the dealer and fittings loosened)....and that should include that it doesn't leak. But it can never hurt to give Mother Yamaha some direct in person feedback - vs their employees that read the forum in their spare time

I'm sure that the dealerships would be happy to fix all of the leaks before we take delivery when Yamaha pays them to do it. This includes all of the sea trial time looking for water in the bilge, going back to the shop, fixing and sealing, going back to the lake for another sea trial, going back to the shop to fix another leak; insert if/then do-loop...
Although you may think that I'm joking, I'm not. The dealerships get X amount of $ to get the boat cleaned up and ready for delivery. After being brushed-off by the first dealership, I engaged a second one to fix my leaks. They wouldn't touch the boat unless I first agreed to pay them for the time to hunt down the leak if Yamaha wouldn't pay them in the situation that they could not find exactly what needed to be fixed in order to correct the leak. I agreed. They found a leak. They provided proof to Yamaha, who then gave them approval to fix it.
It's important to realize that the dealer doesn't get reimbursed for anything unless they can specify a defect that needs to be corrected. "The boat leaks." does not work with Yamaha. It needs to be something specific.
So, Yamaha has had hundreds if not thousands of examples of where their boats are leaking, yet the new ones arriving at the dealerships right now leak. I know this to be the truth because I stuck my head into the anchor locker of a brand new 242X two weeks ago, as it was being unpacked and set up at the dealership, and I found this:


I think that it's wrong to put this onto the dealerships. It's a factory quality assurance issue, plain and simple.