2016 AR/SX 240 50hr service

[Britboater]

After being given a totally absurd quote for my 10hr service I decided to do it myself, complete success and so easy, so here's my experience with me completeing my 50hr service. A large part of the service is "check", I'd imagine the dealers charges are high because of the time it takes to check all the areas but being the owner your in the best position to know what does or does not work.

Complete service kit compliments of Jet boat pilot, $217.




First off I got the engines nice and hot, great shooting around on my own, I really got to feel how the boat handled with no weight on board. My oil extractor was purchased from West Marine but is exactly the same as the models sold on Amazon and alike, if I remember right around $90.
With the oil nice and hot and not rushing the extraction I managed to withdraw nearly the full 4ltrs (3.5 qt), puppy pads are a must, especially with taking the oil filter off.


Next was the removal of the oil filter, my particular wrench was also purchased from West marine and is the small size. This wrench is a breeze to use, no damage to the filter and with the easy access on our boats is ideal.



Installing the new filter, make sure you lube the rubber seal so it tightens fully by hand plus add a little oil to the cartridge just so the engine runs for a minimal time with no oil pressure on first start up.
Notice where the filters are manufactured? Maybe Geoff Copper can get us a deal .

Refilling the engine with oil I replicated the amount I'd withdrawn, around 3.5qt, just under 4ltr.

Next I checked the air filter, no replacement at 50hrs. Very clean as I'd expected but was surprised to see the factory had held the filter in place with a screw.




Next up the spark plugs, which I believe have conflicting info whether they get changed at 50 hours, my manual says yes but since my boat was a year old I'd change them anyhow. Once the plastic cam cover was removed it revealed the four coil packs which are removed by the two 10mm bolts on each. After withdrawing the plug cap you'll need a long reach socket for the plugs. I purchased NGK LFR6A, there is an alternative with -11 at the end of the plug number but these are not correct for the 1800 engine. The plugs come with the correct gap but it doesn't hurt to check, plug gap us 0.8-0.9 (0.031-0.035).


Now we come to greasing the intermediate bearing, such conflicting info on this and so much speculation, with my findings I hope to dismiss any myths.
My 2016 manual says at 10 hrs the bearing should have 33.0-35.0cc (1.11-1.18oz) which with my small grease gun I worked out to be 25 pumps. Now at every 50hrs or 12 months the bearing needs 6.0-8.0cc (0.20-0.27oz), this is confusing as cc is volume and oz is weight. My conclusion was both measures work out to a teaspoon and because I'm British I like tea , this teaspoon measure is 10 pumps with my small gun so that's what I put in and what I'll put in every 50 hrs or 12 months.


You can see just underneath my bearing carrier the excess grease that has been expelled from the last 40hrs of use, this is common and not detrimental. I used Quicksilver grease and the gun was also purchased from West Marine however I acquired the flexy pipe from an auto shop as the ridged pipe included did not fit in the space avaliable.


Finishing off the service now is really just checking over all the systems and components, the full check list is in the manual. Greasing everything that's moves is my motto with particularly attention to the steering and bucket shift cable and linkages.


Don't forget throttle cable and I like to grease my clean out plugs, some may differ and some may say no, the choice is yours.


And finally because I boat in salt water I like cover everything with Boe Shield.
I'm not a marine engineer but have an automotive background and this guide is just that, I've uploaded what I did for my 50hr service and hope its of some use to somebody.

 

[Ilmmct]

Nice write-up. Never heard of Boe Shield will check the product out.

 

[mpbassett44]

Thanks for the tutorial...Your pics will definitely help me out!!

 

[MrMoose]

Very nice write-up @Britboater.
Great pics.
Did you find any loose bolts?
Did you clean out your bilge pump screen? I've never checked mine, and assume that it's overdue since there's likely some factory debris stuck in it.
I'll be doing my 100 hr maintenance soon.

 

[swatski]

@Britboater Great write up, thank you.
How did you find the condition of the used oil? In my experience it tends to look a lot darker than I would like to see it coming out, even though change it every 30 hrs. Part of it maybe just how I drive though, LOL. Wonder what your observations are, and I know you know your oils!

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[blacksapphirez]

looks very comprehensive.

 

[Britboater]

No loose bolts @MrMoose thankfully , never really gave the bilge screen any thought, and theres my argument with self-service. I doubt very much a dealer would check it and any time it kicks in I take a quick look at whats coming out, if it was weak I'd assume there's a blockage so I would then clean/check it.

@swatski the oil was dark and surprisingly it had a strong, used smell too. It was however still transparent and had good viscosity when hot, so not too worried. I'd always advise people to change their oil and filters regularly, I was really surprised to find with some Yamaha manuals that an oil change was recommended but not filters. This is totally wrong, you NEVER change your oil and not the filters, at least thats what I was taught.

 

[swatski]

@swatski the oil was dark and surprisingly it had a strong, used smell too. It was however still transparent and had good viscosity when hot, so not too worried. I'd always advise people to change their oil and filters regularly, I was really surprised to find with some Yamaha manuals that an oil change was recommended but not filters. This is totally wrong, you NEVER change your oil and not the filters, at least thats what I was taught.

It is , it is VERY DARK, right? Thank you for sharing. That is exactly why I started my oil&filter closer to 30 hr intervals.
I think it is generally assumed that these 1.8l engines run very rich. Which may be okay, but I wonder what you think about that.

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[MrMoose]

It is , it is VERY DARK, right? Thank you for sharing. That is exactly why I started my oil&filter closer to 30 hr intervals.
I think it is generally assumed that these 1.8l engines run very rich. Which may be okay, but I wonder what you think about that.

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My 10 hr change (dealer) was dark. My 10.1 hr change was dark (self). My 50 hr change was very clean looking, relative to the prior two changes, and relative to what my auto oil looks like at 3K miles.

 

[swatski]

My 10 hr change (dealer) was dark. My 10.1 hr change was dark (self). My 50 hr change was very clean looking, relative to the prior two changes, and relative to what my auto oil looks like at 3K miles.

You didn't trust the dealer or what was the reason for the 10.1 hr change? Why was it dirty at 10.1, when fresh at 10.0? Was it still the crap that's there after break-in?

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[MrMoose]

You didn't trust the dealer or what was the reason for the 10.1 hr change? Why was it dirty at 10.1, when fresh at 10.0? Was it still the crap that's there after break-in?

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Well, my dealer first told me that "they all leak" when I told him that my boat seemed to take on lots of water, so I wasn't very confident in their commitment. I could see that the dealer had eff'd up on repairing my swimdeck cup holder drain, so I decided to double-check the other things that they had "fixed" or done as maintenance. I checked the dip sticks and one of them was reading really high, too high, which made me suspicious. Long story short, they didn't suck all of the old oil out when they did the change. So, I did it properly at home before bringing the boat back to the lake, and I never returned to them for service again. Among other things, they also cross-threaded one of the screws that holds the engine cover on; it was jammed and barely screwed-in, but I was able to "chase" it with a tap and restore the threads. Upon further investigation, the tech that did the work had just started working at the dealership; he was an ex-Sea-Doo tech.

 

[Devin Jensen]

Nice write-up. Never heard of Boe Shield will check the product out.

i was thinking the same thing.

 

[Britboater]

i was thinking the same thing.

http://boeshield.com/

@Ilmmct T-9 Boe shield, as developed by Boeing, I give the engines a good coat too.

 

[Ilmmct]

@Britboater thanks

 

[firecap797]

Great write up. I've been debating on doing it myself this year or not. With all this information, I don't see why it should be an issue.

 

[MrMoose]

I don't want to take away from @Britboater's excellent post, but I'd like to add to it with respect to annual maintenance (or every 100 hrs). It's important to know that the impeller duct bearing also needs to be checked, per the owner's manual. Here's a post that talks about this:
https://jetboaters.net/threads/survey-did-you-know-every-12-months-or-100-hrs.12347/

In addition, when doing my annual maintenance this year, I pulled the dust boots back on the reverse gate control shafts and the steering shafts located at the nozzles, applied marine grease to the shafts, then reassembled the dust boots. This way, the marine grease gets packed up into the cables and there's a grease barrier on the inside of the dust boot that protects the inner parts of the cable, and lubes the shaft.

 

[swatski]

I don't want to take away from @Britboater's excellent post, but I'd like to add to it with respect to annual maintenance (or every 100 hrs). It's important to know that the impeller duct bearing also needs to be checked, per the owner's manual. Here's a post that talks about this:
https://jetboaters.net/threads/survey-did-you-know-every-12-months-or-100-hrs.12347/

In addition, when doing my annual maintenance this year, I pulled the dust boots back on the reverse gate control shafts and the steering shafts located at the nozzles, applied marine grease to the shafts, then reassembled the dust boots. This way, the marine grease gets packed up into the cables and there's a grease barrier on the inside of the dust boot that protects the inner parts of the cable, and lubes the shaft.

@MrMoose, not to offer a dissenting opinion, but I don't know if we have seen a single example of a pump that looked like it was in need of that service at 50 hours, yet. Personally, I wouldn't mess with it until (way) later. When? I guess it depends how you run the boat, if you notice anything suspicious, etc. It is easy enough to do, but I would not worry about it in the first 2+ years.

This is strictly IMO, YMMV. I'm not a mechanic.

Maybe one of our forum dealers can chime in, but I don't think the dealerships do it as a routine service, certainly not in the first year.
By the same token, I wouldn't mess with valve clearance adjustments at 200 hrs, recommended by the manual, unless I notice the engines starting hard or running rough.

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[MrMoose]

@MrMoose, not to offer a dissenting opinion, but I don't know if we have seen a single example of a pump that looked like it was in need of that service at 50 hours, yet. Personally, I wouldn't mess with it until (way) later. When? I guess it depends how you run the boat, if you notice anything suspicious, etc. It is easy enough to do, but I would not worry about it in the first 2+ years.

This is strictly IMO, YMMV. I'm not a mechanic.

Maybe one of our forum dealers can chime in, but I don't think the dealerships do it as a routine service, certainly not in the first year.
By the same token, I wouldn't mess with valve clearance adjustments at 200 hrs, recommended by the manual, unless I notice the engines starting hard or running rough.

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Good points @swatski. The fact is, we don't know the data/logic behind the Yamaha's "Annual/100 hrs, whichever comes first" maintenance requirements. I would bet that the 100 hrs/annual frequency for the impeller duct bearing check is a direct spin-off from the prop-drive industry, where you drain the gear oil annually and check for water in the oil while doing so in order to make sure that the shaft seals are intact. This annual maintenance requirement is 100% accepted in the prop industry, and I have to admit that our impeller duct bearing setup is very similar to the scenario of the seals around a prop drive shaft, except probably a more extreme environment considering that it's at the tail end of the jet drive system.

 

[MrMoose]

Let's not be the guy who has been eating his hamburgers raw all of his life, and tells everybody he knows that it's safe to do so.

 

[Ilmmct]

I am the guy eating the raw hamburgers. Thanks to you great cooks and health inspectors, who have given me enough confidence to work on parts of my vessel that I previously considered "mystery meat". Keep up the informative banter !