Almost sunk my boat ...

[zbell305]

Hi All,

Posting here because I believe I am having some similar issues:
- First occurrence I was going out Haulover Inlet, went to get my spear guns from the ski locker and noticed it was filled with water. The engine bay was filled too. I turned the bilge on and it pumped it all out.
- Since then I am very diligent about flipping the bilge to on frequently.
- I have not noticed that level of water since, but have not gone out the inlet and into the ocean since the first occurrence
- On plane, i can turn bilge on and see very little come out, but once I come off the throttles and the boat sinks bank down into the water, I flip the bilge and notice it pumps quite a bit out.
- Only other consideration is that my drain plug in the ski locker is the wrong size , but I often have it out anyways


Any ideas? Do i need to replace the anchor locker drain? Or the ski locker drain? Or both. Running in salt, I dont want the chance water gets up onto my metals.

Thanks

 

[drewkaree]

Start another thread so your post isn't lost in the mix, and is specific for you to refer back to, as you have leaks from someplace that need to be addressed.

Multiple postings and cross-posting only serves to muddy the responses, and won't cement a place to get you an answer or possibly a solution

 

[zipper]

Hi All,

Posting here because I believe I am having some similar issues:
- First occurrence I was going out Haulover Inlet, went to get my spear guns from the ski locker and noticed it was filled with water. The engine bay was filled too. I turned the bilge on and it pumped it all out.
- Since then I am very diligent about flipping the bilge to on frequently.
- I have not noticed that level of water since, but have not gone out the inlet and into the ocean since the first occurrence
- On plane, i can turn bilge on and see very little come out, but once I come off the throttles and the boat sinks bank down into the water, I flip the bilge and notice it pumps quite a bit out.
- Only other consideration is that my drain plug in the ski locker is the wrong size , but I often have it out anyways


Any ideas? Do i need to replace the anchor locker drain? Or the ski locker drain? Or both. Running in salt, I dont want the chance water gets up onto my metals.

Thanks

Any idea if the water was fresh, from rainfall, or saltwater? I would look for the source of the leak. The ultimate leak finding thread <post if you find a new source!>

 

[zbell305]

Any idea if the water was fresh, from rainfall, or saltwater? I would look for the source of the leak. The ultimate leak finding thread <post if you find a new source!>

The boat is stored on a dry rack so it should be draining completely on the fork lift/dry rack every time. It never spends more than 1-2 days sitting in the water. I filled the hull yesterday with fresh water and couldnt see any drain leaking, other than a little bit of small leak from the main plug in transom.

I also ran it on the hose and saw no visible leaks in the engine bay. I rigged the the clean out hatch using dive weights and ran each engine on the hose and didnt see any leaking there either.

 

[Julian]

Hi All,

Posting here because I believe I am having some similar issues:
- First occurrence I was going out Haulover Inlet, went to get my spear guns from the ski locker and noticed it was filled with water. The engine bay was filled too. I turned the bilge on and it pumped it all out.
- Since then I am very diligent about flipping the bilge to on frequently.
- I have not noticed that level of water since, but have not gone out the inlet and into the ocean since the first occurrence
- On plane, i can turn bilge on and see very little come out, but once I come off the throttles and the boat sinks bank down into the water, I flip the bilge and notice it pumps quite a bit out.
- Only other consideration is that my drain plug in the ski locker is the wrong size , but I often have it out anyways


Any ideas? Do i need to replace the anchor locker drain? Or the ski locker drain? Or both. Running in salt, I dont want the chance water gets up onto my metals.

Thanks

A few things going on here that need addressing:

1) your bilge pump should have an AUTO setting, and it should be in auto whenever the boat is in the water. If this isn't working I'd get it fixed.

2) you clearly have a leak. Read this thread and you'll almost certainly find the source

Thread 'The ultimate leak finding thread <post if you find a new source!>'

Jul 12, 2015

This is intended to be an ultimate leak finding thread! If you have a leak that isn't covered in this thread, reply and @Julian so I get notified to update it.


First Question:

1. Is the water in the bilge hot? If cold, move to section A, if hot move to Section B.

SECTION A: Your leak is not from exhaust water, so could be from one of the following sources (we've ordered them in a general order of likeliness)

1. Loose or poorly sealed through hull fitting.
   1. This could be the main drain plug itself, shifter cable, bucket cable, speedo, depth finder, or anything...

• Julian
• Replies: 75
• Forum: General Discussion

• 
• 

 

[14SX190]

Hi,
Been out in that inlet several times. I have some videos posted.

The only time water has filled my engine compartment and ski locker with water was when I did not seal the clean out plug.
I sure boat felt heavy and would not get on plane.

Big leak can come from intermediate bearing or busted hose. You'll need to see if there is a leak while in the water underway.

I'm in Miami if you need a set of eyes to help you find leak

 

[zbell305]

Hi,
Been out in that inlet several times. I have some videos posted.

The only time water has filled my engine compartment and ski locker with water was when I did not seal the clean out plug.
I sure boat felt heavy and would not get on plane.

Big leak can come from intermediate bearing or busted hose. You'll need to see if there is a leak while in the water underway.

I'm in Miami if you need a set of eyes to help you find leak

Hey, that would be great. I keep the boat at North Beach Marina now.

I found a leak in the anchor locker -- wondering if that could be the source? Just hard to think that would be enough water to flood the engine bay and ski locker. I have a go pro video of it but need to upload from my gopro.

Since that one time, I have not gotten that much water yet.

 

[zbell305]

A few things going on here that need addressing:

1) your bilge pump should have an AUTO setting, and it should be in auto whenever the boat is in the water. If this isn't working I'd get it fixed.

2) you clearly have a leak. Read this thread and you'll almost certainly find the source

Thread 'The ultimate leak finding thread <post if you find a new source!>'

Jul 12, 2015

This is intended to be an ultimate leak finding thread! If you have a leak that isn't covered in this thread, reply and @Julian so I get notified to update it.


First Question:

1. Is the water in the bilge hot? If cold, move to section A, if hot move to Section B.

SECTION A: Your leak is not from exhaust water, so could be from one of the following sources (we've ordered them in a general order of likeliness)

1. Loose or poorly sealed through hull fitting.
   1. This could be the main drain plug itself, shifter cable, bucket cable, speedo, depth finder, or anything...

• Julian
• Replies: 75
• Forum: General Discussion

• 
• 

Thanks. Im going to go through that checklist.

Is the auto bilge easy to fix on my own?

 

[tdonoughue]

Depends on if you have the stock bilge pump or not as to how easy it is. The original manual would clarify, but I know on my 2012 when the bilge pump is switched 'on' it is actually being switched to 'auto'--it senses if there is water and keeps pumping if there is some there. Once the water is gone (e.g. the impeller spins freely), it turns off. It 'tests' every 5 min or so by spinning the pump to tell if there is water there or not. Your manual should tell you what type was stock.

Then the question is whether the pump was ever changed from stock. There are pumps that support 3 positions (off, on, auto) and some that just do on/off (you use them typically with a float). So if the pump was changed, it will depend on what type of pump replaced it and how it was wired. Still very DIY-able, I would say, but certainly different levels of complexity...

So, do you know if the pump has been changed?

 

[zbell305]

I will have to look and see -- I got the boat with 39 hours (1 previous / original) owner, on it so I don't believe it was replaced. It looks like the original

 

[zbell305]

For reference, water is coming in here, I used my gopro.

@drewkaree I am ordering the 3/8 fitting from amazon that you sent a link to. If you have a '19 210, it should fit my '18 210

 

[drewkaree]

It's REALLY imperative to go through that thread @zipper mentioned, and @Julian was kind enough to get a link for you. I know it's a lot of information to go through, but look at it like this - you have a lot of water coming in, and you may have multiple sources, so just because you found one item, doesn't rule out the possibility of other issues, including some significant items that others have found, that can quickly sink your boat if those are also in the mix.

The conditions you were boating in are also relevant to diagnosing possible issues. If you had a lot of people in the bow of the boat, at low speed or rough waters slowing you down, that anchor locker drain could have been underwater a good amount of time, and your forward progress would be forcing water into that 3/8" hole. From there, it goes over the edge of that compartment, and into the bilge and ski locker, and if it drained out of the anchor locker before you looked in there, you'd never think that could be the issue. @FSH 210 Sport also started using a snap handle drain plug, and got me one as well, and when using that, the anchor locker is bone dry - this was one of the main culprits of water in my boat.

Here's the snap handle drain plug - I don't even want to tell you what size, as I'd be guessing and may give you bad info, but I've tagged in @FSH 210 Sport who got the correct size for that drain fitting. If you have a hardware store close by, it's likely they'll sell these as well, and possibly for a much better price, and quicker deployment for you

Clicky Amazon Link for snap handle drain plug

There's another reason to read that leak thread, and there's a clue in one of your responses as to why:

The boat is stored on a dry rack so it should be draining completely on the fork lift/dry rack every time. It never spends more than 1-2 days sitting in the water. I filled the hull yesterday with fresh water and couldnt see any drain leaking, other than a little bit of small leak from the main plug in transom.

Dry rack storage is NOT a guarantee that your boat will drain. This is because the lowest point in these boats (yours included) is actually the ski locker, and if your boat is stored level (highly likely with dry stack), that water is sitting in the middle of the boat. Getting the boat on plane, with the bilge running, should get a good amount out of your boat, but getting it on a trailer, with the bow lifted higher than you'd think, is going to give you a better chance of success.

Also, the amount of time it sits in the water doesn't matter - UNLESS - it's leaking from more than one place. Off the top of my head, there's 5 places that have been discovered to be potential leak sites, and only 2 are 100% under water when you're sitting in the water in a slip. Anchor locker, rub rail, drain plug, scupper, cleanout plug...almost forgot your bearing. See what I mean about going through the thread? Just familiarizing yourself with these areas will help you if/when something else arises, and better to know about them now, than to be caught unaware.

I'd suggest swapping your scupper out with a stainless one, if you still have the white plastic scupper in place. That's the catastrophic one, and it may not show up on visual inspection - some have found that a crack in theirs would only open up when underway. It's cheap insurance - it WAS $50-70 at the time I did mine, not sure now.

I also ran it on the hose and saw no visible leaks in the engine bay. I rigged the the clean out hatch using dive weights and ran each engine on the hose and didnt see any leaking there either.

That's a good sign for leaks from there. The Leaks thread will show you other possibilities. Post up your findings here, now that you've got your own thread, and we can help walk you through anything you'll find. If it were me, I'd try to make a checklist of stuff that you feel will be good preventative measures or possible solutions, and plan a day to pull the boat out on a trailer and tackle everything all at once. Sounds like you've got a great offer from an experienced member in @14SX190, and he's got a great handle on how to deal with these boats - maybe the trailer can get you to a meetup spot convenient for the both of you.

Keep us posted, you'll have a dry boat if it kills us!

 

[drewkaree]

For reference, water is coming in here, I used my gopro.

@drewkaree I am ordering the 3/8 fitting from amazon that you sent a link to. If you have a '19 210, it should fit my '18 210

Forgot to address this - this is a common size for many years. If it's slightly snug, it should still thread in there. You may want to have a round file just in case to help it slide in easier, and I'd recommend not using silicone, I'd go with 3M 4200 or 5200 for that fitting, and seal it up inside the anchor locker as well. If the divider is still in your anchor locker, I'd pull everything out, and remove those screws and the divider. Reinstall them after you swap the fitting.

Also, your bilge pump looks to be the OEM pump. FIND OR DOWNLOAD YOUR OWNER'S MANUAL. It'll tell you how your bilge pump is supposed to work, and how you should utilize the button on the dash - that still may not be correct, sadly, but the manual should tell you how to test it, and you can report back to us. I'd also pull the pump and check to see if the screen on the bottom is filled with debris. There's plastic tabs on there to allow the body to be removed - should be pointed out in the owner's manual. @tdonoughue described it perfectly as to how the bilge pump is supposed to work, so you need to cross check that your model operates that way, and make sure to test it to verify that it's working, working PROPERLY, and works in the manner laid out in the manual. If any of those 3 things isn't happening, let us know.

 

[drewkaree]

View attachment 238240
This is what mine looks like. But does this water ultimately flow to the ski locker / bilge in the engine bay?

If it does, it would make sense. I have no issues on plane or sitting, only when throttle back from plane to no wake

Yes, it fills up the anchor locker until it overflows into the ski locker and/or bilge. All of those areas eventually lead to the engine bay, which is necessary, as that's where your bilge is located. That pic you took looks like it's showing the divider is in place in your anchor locker as well, which should be removed to make things easier for you. Should be 4 phillips screws, if it's like mine was.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Here’s a couple of threads for you to check out… as far as the snap plug goes, you can find them on Amazon, just be sure to verify the correct size. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000AYEK2?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2&th=1

Thread 'Replaced my anchor locker drain fitting due to leaks'

May 15, 2021

Do you have some mysterious leak in your boat and you can't figure out where it's coming from? Well, if you found this thread from a search, you're trying to track it down, and you've maybe even taken a look in there to see what people might be talking about, and if your boat is affected. My money is on EVERY one of the models that have an anchor locker drain having this issue with varying degrees, with the best situation being that the fitting juuuuuuuuuuust reaches inside the anchor locker.

I've removed the piece inside my anchor locker that would support an anchor that fits the...

• drewkaree
• Replies: 166
• Forum: Member Tips and Ideas

• 

Thread 'Almost sunk my boat'

Aug 6, 2020

I was camped out on the lake this week. Stepped on the back of the boat. Hear a bunch of moving water and the bilge turns on. Figure its just 3 days of fun and rain draining. As it keeps running, I open the engine hatch to see water up to the carpet and oil filters! Stern plug is secure, no big gaping holes in the bottom..WTF! What are the biggest leak offenders, besides leaving the drain plug out. Just glad it happened this week and not when it was sitting at the marina for a week. Pretty sure the water got over the dipstick hole, so oil change and spark plug pull for sure. Any other...

• giroux68
• Replies: 104
• Forum: General Discussion

Adding a bit of verbiage from what @tdonoughue said.

Typically the auto / manual bilge pumps have three wires.
-One wire is the ground.
-Another one of the other wires is the auto and is fused separately and is always hot in the newer boats whether the battery switch is on or not. The older boats have to have the battery switch on and this will be addressed in the owners manual. According to the manual I just looked up for a 2018 AR210 your battery switches have to be on for the bilge pump and anchor lights to function. If memory serves, your auto bilge function will be the run to test for water type.
-The remaining wire goes to the rocker switch, Manual, on the dash and has its own power source.

The older style bilge pumps will cycle every so often to check for water then shut off if there is no water, the newer style have an internal float or sensor and will turn on when the water level gets high enough.

A lot of times with the newer style auto / manual pumps the auto fuse will blow and there is no auto function. This fuse is typically located near the batteries in a stand alone fuse holder, in my boat there are three of these stand alone fuse holders, with one being the auto bilge pump fuse.

Several of us have added a second bilge pump to our boats for redundancy, this is how I did mine.

Thread 'Additional Bilge pump'

Apr 11, 2022

Another thing I had wanted for some time was additional bilge pump. I had thought about the best place to mount it, next to the oem one would be convenient, but lower in the bilge would be better.

My friend suggested a simple mount that would be easy to put in and easy to remove for service. As it turns out when I tested this set up the two bilge pumps came on at the same time. The mount material is expanded pvc board.



I meant to remove the duck bill back flow preventer but forgot, I’ll be cutting that out before the next outing. The oem bilge pump did not have a...

• FSH 210 Sport
• Replies: 22
• Forum: Yamaha Center Console FSH 19x, 21x, 22x, 25x

• 

Did you get the owners manual with your boat? If not you can find it here;

YAMAHA LIT-18626-11-80

boats.yamaha-owners-manuals.com

Looks like there is a fair amount of crap in the bilge from your pictures, put the plug in your boat and take 5 gallon buckets of hot water from the house with a lot of dawn dish soap in it and dump that in the bilge. Enough to cover the bilge pump and the go tow your boat around for 20 minutes or so on city streets, the sloshing action will help to get that solution in places you cannot reach. Come back and pull the drain plug. Put the plug back in and refill with hot soapy water and use a soft brush and brush everything down, get under the engines and such, ski locker etc then pull the plug. Then raise the nose of the boat as high as you can get it and rinse from ski locker back, including the aft bilge, if you can get hot water from the house even better. Leave all the compartments open and let air dry completely. Then spray the engines and aft bilge with a light coat of silicone spray, be sure and hit the electrical connectors. Just a light coat! This will leave your bilge looking and smelling the best it can, and the silicone will disperse any water / moisture in the future and make it look nice.

Be sure and pop your bilge pump out of its cradle to make sure there is no debris in there after cleaning.