195 HO Overheating code p0217 question

[karter]

Hi

I am new to the forum and also new to Scarab Jet boats. I have a 2016 195 HO that is overheating when running at high RPMs and it is high enough to set error code p0217 and turn on the over temp indicator light. If I slow down to 3000 to 4000 RPMs the temperature goes back down to mid 190s. Antifreeze is full not sure what else to check. I did notice the guy I bought it from added a bottom coating that is fairly thick that also covers what I believe is the radiator just aft of the water jet intake. Is there any chance that could be causing the problem? Or what else should I be looking for? The boat has 56 hours on it and has been used in salt water.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[karter]

Oooops I meant was what i think is a heat exchanger on the bottom of the boat has the coating.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

The ride plate does act as a heat exchanger. Antifreeze flows through it and the metal is supposed to be in contact with the lake water to cool it down. What kind of coating is there? How thick?

 

[karter]

The ride plate does act as a heat exchanger. Antifreeze flows through it and the metal is supposed to be in contact with the lake water to cool it down. What kind of coating is there? How thick?

It is almost like a black truck bed coating texture that is maybe .03" to .04" thick.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Sounds like they tried to make it look good by putting that "paint" (by the way, the painted Scarab trailers have exactly that stuff painted on them, I use it to touch up my trailer sometimes). But yeah, I'd definitely strip that off. The ride plate isn't just there for beauty lol As you can see from this random forum post (help - Leaking heat exchanger (ride plate) RXT), it contains the antifreeze and that's where you empty it when it's time to change it. Inside the ride plate are various channels. Point is, it needs to be in contact with lake/sea water to cool down the antifreeze. The channels make the antifreeze circulate as long as possible inside the plate so that it maintains contact for as long as possible to cool it down.

So I'd definitely start by removing that. Then see how it goes.

 

[karter]

Sounds like they tried to make it look good by putting that "paint" (by the way, the painted Scarab trailers have exactly that stuff painted on them, I use it to touch up my trailer sometimes). But yeah, I'd definitely strip that off. The ride plate isn't just there for beauty lol As you can see from this random forum post (help - Leaking heat exchanger (ride plate) RXT), it contains the antifreeze and that's where you empty it when it's time to change it. Inside the ride plate are various channels. Point is, it needs to be in contact with lake/sea water to cool down the antifreeze. The channels make the antifreeze circulate as long as possible inside the plate so that it maintains contact for as long as possible to cool it down.

So I'd definitely start by removing that. Then see how it goes.

Thank you for the advice and that is where I was heading to remove it. Any suggestions on the besy way to remove it without dammaging the heat exchanger? I was thinking paint remover but was concerned about eating the metal away.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

That, I'm unsure of. Pressure washer? It's hard steel.... scrape it? Good luck! lol Better you than me! I just stripped hard core paint (like that truck bed liner stuff) off of an old deck of our "new to us" home. I stopped counting the hours stripping it.

 

[ALAN MANN SR.]

Paint striper will not hurt the heat exchanger, but I would make sure it does not come in contact with fiberglass. It should not be painted. One other thing that I ran into when my boat was new was a loose cap on the overflow tank. It would heat up at high RPM's then cool done when I slowed down. Good Luck with removing the paint on the heat exchanger. It is defiantly part of the problem.

 

[WREKS]

I am not familiar with Scarab boats but if the boat was run in shallow water often enough it may have ingested some sediment which was not or could not always be flushed out. That could explain an overheating problem. That was the case with my Yamaha 2007 SX.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

@WREKS Scarabs use antifreeze to cool down the engine. The exhaust system is cooled via lake water via an intake hole at the stern (on the transom). The only thing that can happen really are weeds or things like that can clog the hole. Sediment can't really get in that way unless you reverse into some sand (like, actually into sand). But even if it did, it would just flush out.

Although I don't think this is possible, but it is maybe the right time to mention to keep an eye on that hole at stern if ever you have other overheating issues. But I don't think this applies in this case.

 

[WREKS]

@WREKS Scarabs use antifreeze to cool down the engine. The exhaust system is cooled via lake water via an intake hole at the stern (on the transom). The only thing that can happen really are weeds or things like that can clog the hole. Sediment can't really get in that way unless you reverse into some sand (like, actually into sand). But even if it did, it would just flush out.

Although I don't think this is possible, but it is maybe the right time to mention to keep an eye on that hole at stern if ever you have other overheating issues. But I don't think this applies in this case.

@Luc Lafreniere Thanks for correcting me on this, Luc

 

[karter]

All fixed. No more overheating - engine temperature stays below 200 degrees at full throttle. Before it would overheat in about 3 - 5 minutes of full throttle operation. Used Easy Off oven cleaner and a scraper. Took about 30 minutes to get all the coating off and in some places the coating was .06" to .07" thick.

Thank you everybody for all the help and advice.

 

[Winerocks]

Awesome! Hopefully no permanent damage from the overheats. Thankfully the engines are smart and shut down to save their own lives.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Well that's great news. Easy enough fix! Glad it came off fairly easily.