Yamaha Clean Out Plug Blow Out Poll

So you can't have a site without a plug blow out poll. It was probably the first poll I created over at YJB. The poll option here are a little different. Lets see if I can make it a little more effective.

This is a test to start....

So click only 2 responses....

A) Have you had a blow out of a clean out plug
B) Did you have any form of ant-blow out measure in place (nerf balls don't count)...pins or Jetboat pilot Tru-Locks

#plugblowout

(added hashtag)

Here is my blowout story....

Please keep in mind this boat was on consignment, the dealer had only taken it for a short checkout run and the dealer had little knowledge about Yamaha boats.

We drove almost 3 hours to get to the dealer. He was so confident I would but it that he had me tow it to the lake.

He took the helm and took us for about a 10 minute ride. Initially the engines sounded a little strange, perhaps it was cavitation. But the boat would get up and go. Along the way we bounced on a couple of large waves.

When he stopped the boat I thought something had gone wrong. The salesman suggested that I take the wheel for a while. I probably should have recognised that the stern was low in the water.

When I throttled up the boat hardly moved. The salesman suggested trying the engines one at a time and we found that only one was producing any propulsion.

My Wife, 5 year old daughter and 2 year old son were on the boat with the dealer and I.

We were trying to figure out what the problem might be. I remembered the plugs from looking the boat over at the dealership. I had no idea that they could eject and cause problems. Neither the dealer or I were certain what they were for. When I opened the cover one of the plugs was cocked to the side inside the rubber tubing and water was flowing into the hull around it. The clean out port cover was loose and rattling around in that area. The rubber tubes were not connected to it and it was sufficiently damaged that I do not think it would have been possible to make that connection.

I climbed into the area that should have been covered by the clean out port cover and tried to push the plug down. It was stuck in the rubber tube and I could not push it down. I decided to pull it out, straighten it up and reinstall it. It took all I had to pull it out. Once it was out I could not get it all the way down to lock it in place. I ended up sitting with one leg in and the other out of the boat holding the plug in to reduce the amount of water coming in around it.

A nearby boat offered to tow us in. The salesman tied their tube rope to our boat and we started in. Waves were splashing over the back of the LX2000 and since the clean out port cover was missing they were going straight into the hull. As we moved toward the ramp my family moved to the front of the boat to try to balance it. I often wondered if we could make it to the dock before taking on too much water. The whole time the salesman was trying to get someone on the phone, probably the owner. Occasionally he offered to switch places and give my arm a rest. But I was already in position and decided to stay there. The banks were rocky and looked steep. My guess is that it would have completely sunk even if we tried to beach it.

Once we were at the ramp the salesman went to get my truck and the trailer. He must have been pretty nervous since he almost jack knifed the trailer backing down the ramp. When we got to the ramp the back end was about 4 inches above water. The waves coming in from passing boats were going right over the back. By the time he returned the back end was 16 inches or so under water.

When he pulled the trailer out of the water the excess weight made the tires look flat. I pulled the the clean out plug and the drain plug to allow water to drain. I had no idea how much water was in the boat since I had been on the back edge without a view of what was happening inside.

After driving back to the dealership I tried as hard as I could to seat the plug and could not. I could not force it in with all of my 230 pounds. I asked the dealer if he thought there was water in the engine compartment. He checked and there was. I did not see where the water level was. He pulled a plug to allow that compartment to drain.

We parked the boat on a slight downhill slope to allow all the water to drain out. A few minutes after unhooking from my truck the tongue of the trailer lifted up and the back of the trailer hit the ground. I pushed the tongue back down but after thinking about it we put it back on the rear frame so it would not kick up again.

The next day I sent the dealer a message detailing how the clean out port cover had turned a bad plug situation into a sinking boat situation.

I asked him about the boat yesterday. He said it had not started since and that he expected it to be at the shop for 3 to 4 weeks.

We had quite an adventure that day.

Wow that was one heck of a test drive!!!!! And you bought that boat?

No, that one needed a lot of work. The seats and hull were in good condition. But the maintenance was terrible. The bilge cover had been removed which was probably the primary cause of it taking on so much water. The water coming in through the clean out port was going straight into the bilge.

Have had the boat for 4 years, never a blowout, however after hearing a few nightmare stories, after 2 years I decided not to push my luck and purchase E-Z locks.

I have the E Z locks from jeff.

I have EZ Locks too. Never had a NON EZ LOCK blowout, but I have found that I couldn't remove the plugs after a run. Why you ask? Because the plug unlocked and would have blown! The EZ Lock prevented the dogs from releasing and stopped any possible blowout. Easy to deal with...just relock the plug T handle, remove the EZ Lock, and unlock and remove the plug! One of the best insurances I had on the boat!

Therefore...the poll needs a column for YES, but because I had countermeasures in place it did not blow.

txav8r said:

I have EZ Locks too. Never had a NON EZ LOCK blowout, but I have found that I couldn't remove the plugs after a run. Why you ask? Because the plug unlocked and would have blown! The EZ Lock prevented the dogs from releasing and stopped any possible blowout. Easy to deal with...just relock the plug T handle, remove the EZ Lock, and unlock and remove the plug! One of the best insurances I had on the boat!

Therefore...the poll needs a column for YES, but because I had countermeasures in place it did not blow.

Click to expand...

I've had the same experience as Mel. I've had ez locks on since owning the boat. They've saved me at least once.

9 years and nothin'!

Murf'n'surf said:

9 years and nothin'!

Click to expand...

Ditto, but make it 11 years!

An ALMOST blowout. Good thing I had the old fashion DYI pins in place.

I've had a plug blowout before, nothing too dramatic, but a blowout none the less. I ended up drilling holes through the locking mechanism and inserting stainless steel pins. No problems since then. I also started spraying my plugs with silicone spray and they seat and lock much easier now.

8 seasons with no fixes or blowouts.

I have never had one yet.

What was the situation with the person who had a blow out using EZ-Locks?

I don't have anything installed at the moment but have both ez-locks and tru-locks at home. I read that a person is having warranty issues due to drilling, is that true for anyone who puts those on? Is that the same issue for tru-locks since you are changing stock plugs ?

Boat Crazy said:

Have had the boat for 4 years, never a blowout, however after hearing a few nightmare stories, after 2 years I decided not to push my luck and purchase E-Z locks.

Click to expand...

8 years and now blowouts but have had the EZ locks for the last 2 years. The E-Z locks are so cheap and "E-Z" that it seemed silly not to get them.

almost 9 years with no blowouts, but I keep them out when not in use, siliconed religiously, and we keep our nerf footballs in the plug holes cause its the perfect storage space for them! =)

Here is a video that is very informative on the clean out plug etc. federal warranty laws are very clear about a warranty claim being denied because of a modification. it places the burden on the manufacturer to PROVE that a modification CAUSED their part to FAIL, if that can be proven they can refuse to cover that part and only that part. EZ locks do not void your warranty, To My knowledge Yamaha doesn't covered a plug failure as they claim it is user error with the exception of the failure that Johnny O had due to defective clean out port rings, In that case he had the purple plug fix on his clean out plugs, but they still blew out Fairpilot will certainly recall all the problems Johnny O had with those. Yamaha replaced his aluminum rings under warranty. Johnny O had no more issues with his plugs right around that time I developed the ezlocks and he then changed to those. If two big 3/16 inch holes drilled through both sides of the plug for the pin fix doesn't cause a issue with the warranty, a single 9/64ths hole certainly isn't an issue. see video

Never had a blow out. Got the EZ locks starting my second season with the boat. Sleep better now. I don't see how it could affect any warranty. It's just a lock like locking your trailer or installing a lock on your glove box or helm locker.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson–Moss_Warranty_Act
this is the federal law, also Yamaha people explained that even with the early model steering that bolted to the nozzle, they said it was no different to them than customers bolting stabilizing fins to the lower unit of one of their outboard engines. No issues . I also found it interesting that no one previously or after ever claimed to have a failure of an ezlock. The thread is on the other board and the poster had like 10 pages of complaining about Yamaha and their bad clean out plug design, I recall that he drove his boat to the point that it filled the engine compartment with water and this damaged the engines. He claimed to have both true locks and ezlocks on his plugs, other that doing a bad installation I fail to see how a plug can come loose with a ezlock in it installed properly other than a bad tube like Johnny O had. In any event adding ezlocks has been pretty standard for many years with great results I'm proud to say.

I put on the easy locks and fins before I put the boat in the water for the first time. I keep the seals greases with DOW silicone grease and remove them after every outing. No issues. With the locks it is a physical impossibility for the plugs to come out. They are a decent design but when you introduce plastic mechanisms and some manufacturing tolerances, the fit of the dogs is very loose. Thanks for the EZ locks Jeff, a smart and simple solution. Cam.