cwoav8r
Jetboaters Captain
- Messages
- 502
- Reaction score
- 377
- Points
- 212
- Location
- Naples, Florida
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2008
- Boat Model
- AR
- Boat Length
- 23
Long read... sorry... but if it can save one boat, or even a life, it's worth the read.
When I first thought about purchasing my boat, and for some time after I was very active on the forums. At some point years ago, other commitments took over, things went a different direction, and I lost touch with this great community. I’m back… here… and happy to see friendly faces.
I have never had a second thought about our decision to buy our 2008 AR230 and have been very happy with durability, fit, and finish... in the saltwater environment that it lives, it has never let me down, until this past weekend... and at one point I was scared that we would lose it. I can only think that had I kept up with the jet boater community, I could have avoided a very stressful day.
In 2012, I made the decision to move the boat to dry storage at a local marina for convenience. They are great at recovering the boat and flushing the engine, and I always rinse the inside and engine compartment when I get back to the dock and apply some corrosion preventative. The one thing that I have not kept up with is everything under the clean-out tray... something that I don't know would have been much different had I trailered the boat back to the house as I did before I moved to the marina.
This past weekend we were on the way back from a day at the beach running about 7700 rpm for about five minutes... I pulled the throttles back to idle entering a no wake zone and both engines quit. I immediately tried to restart and they would both turn over but not fire. After about two minutes they both started, so I turned away from the no wake zone and advanced to full throttle. Both engines only went to about 8500 rpm and over the course of 20 seconds dropped back to 1500 rpm and then stopped. I was shocked when I opened the engine compartment and found it flooded... water was up over the oil filters, and a check of the ski locker showed that it was over half flooded… I could hear water flooding into the boat in the area of the stern, but I could not tell from where… and the bilge pump was not running.
Problem #1:
The OEM bilge pump had failed six months prior and I replaced it with a Rule 750gpm using the existing wiring. When I tested the replacement, it was working fine. I had already bypassed the bilge pump switch and connected it directly to the circuit breaker at the helm so that it was always on when the battery switch was on. At the time I was not aware that the circuit breaker was faulty (intermittent) and that was the reason that OEM pump had not been not working.
My first action was to call a friend who was close by and let him know that I was taking on water and that I had no engine power. He dropped everything to get to us.
I turned my attention to the bilge pump and after some jiggling of the spade connectors and pushing the button (not tripped) on the circuit breaker the bilge pump came alive. This is the third circuit breaker I have had to replace over the life of the boat. I do not believe the OEM breakers are of the best quality and my failure to properly diagnose the original bilge pump issue could have cost us our boat... this is in my opinion the most important circuit on the boat and I will replace it with the highest quality breaker no matter the cost.
Problem #2:
Where was the water coming from? My first instinct was that the scupper had finally failed. My intent was to replace it with the Attwood stainless steel scupper, but I just put it off. That scenario did not really explain the sound if incoming water that I could hear. The bilge pump did not seem to be making any progress on the incoming water, but my friend arrived and he got us under tow. The tow took a little over an hour and it was pouring rain the entire time. (picture a cow and a flat rock)
My greatest fear was that the bilge pump would not keep up (the falling rain making it worse), and that the batteries would not last for the trip home. Along with the pump, I bailed by hand making some progress, and when I had determined that the water level was below the oil pan (about 20 minutes later) I cranked both engines and activated the no wake mode to keep the batteries as charged as possible for the ride home.
The engines would only run for about five minutes and then die. After a few minutes, they would start again... repeat. I noticed on the trip home, that there was a very strong odor of exhaust fumes when I would open the doors to the head and in front of the helm, or when I removed any of the rear cushions. I also noticed that the water in the bilge was warm.
By the time we arrived at the marina all water that the bilge pump could extract had been removed. I docked the boat under its own power and there was no indication of incoming water. The marina staff was unable to immediately recover the boat with the forklift because of heavy lightning in the area. I would not have had my a$$ on a forklift either... no boat, whatever the cost is worth a human life. The wife and I were cold, wet, and grateful to have made it home. If the boat were to succumb to the sea, at least the recovery would be simple... and insurance would take care of the rest.
The diagnosis:
When I arrived home the first thing I did was to fire up the computer and come back to where I knew I could find the answers to what had happened. After less than an hour of research drawing from the experience of this community, I had a very definitive idea of what I needed to look for. The marina put the boat on a work rack the next day so that I could troubleshoot what had happened. I installed the main drain plug and filled the boat with fresh water to search for a leak... this is what I found...
I quick look through the inspection panels in the clean-out tray immediately revealed the problem. The hose clamps on the muffler water box to exhaust output (elbow) on the port side were missing and the hose was completely disconnected allowing water to pump into the boat at high power settings… practically a four-inch hole in the hull. This explained the water in the engine compartment and exhaust fumes... After removing the clean-out tray cover I found over half of all the hose clamps in this compartment either missing or at the point of failure due to corrosion.
Folks… when this happens, the boat fills up quickly. If it took a 750gpm pump almost an hour to evacuate the water… I think we can all do the math and figure out how much water must have been in the boat.
The sound of incoming water I initially heard was because, at the time, there was enough water in the boat that the top of the bulkhead-mounted exhaust fitting (elbow) was below the water line and water was flooding in. We were dead in the water for almost 10 minutes at that point. Had I not been able to get the bilge pump running, along with the manual bailing, I am sure I would have lost the boat.
Filling the boat with fresh water also proved that the OEM plastic scupper was cracked and leaking. Yep, I put it off, and even though it was not the direct cause of the massive water intrusion, it was destined to become a 1 ½ -inch hole in the hull of the boat.
Oh yea… I found this screw under the scupper when I removed it. No idea where it came from and I can’t find one like it in the parts manual… if anyone can identify it please let me know.
Both engines start and sound to be running fine when attached to a fresh water supply. There is no evidence of water intrusion into the engine oil system so far. After replacement of all the hose clamps I will coat them with T9 before sealing up the clean out tray. When I complete repairs this weekend including an oil change and greasing of the gearbox, I will head out for a shakedown cruise and will know more about any further damage.
Lessons learned:
No matter what, the bilge pump is the most important system in your boat. Make sure that it is working properly. If possible, add a second pump or at least a bilge alarm… I am really kicking myself over this one. I almost elected to return home via the Gulf instead of the inter coastal waterway. Instead of a five minute run to the first no-wake zone, I would have been a 15 minute ride, oblivious to the fact that the boat was filling with water. The water level at that point may have been too much to overcome.
If you have a boat with a plastic scupper, inspect regularly… and replace as needed, preferably with bronze or stainless.
Inspect, at least annually, all the hose clamps on your boat. Two corroded $4 clamps almost sunk mine… I dropped my guard with respect to preventative maintenance because everything always worked, and I never considered the importance of the clamps under the clean out tray. Something I would have paid more attention to had I kept up with the forums, and something that I will never ignore again.
Good friends are invaluable! Have them, and be one yourself… the jet boat community is one of the greatest groups of people I have ever known... you all have taught me so much and I hope that from my experiences you can learn something as well.
Here is the scariest part of the entire day… remember the exhaust fumes? When I finally got the engines restarted under tow, the last I saw of my wife was up in the bow with a towel over her trying to shelter herself from the rain. At the time, I was bailing like a mad man… about 20 minutes later I turned to check on her, and she was gone. That panicked me for a moment until I realized that she had retreated to the head for shelter, and when I opened the door, she instantly complained of a headache. I pulled her out immediately recognizing the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning… I do not even want to think what could have happened if I had not taken a moment to check on her.
Take what you can from my experience, as embarrassed as I am to have to share it…
Sorry again for the novel length post…
Happy to be back,
Ed
When I first thought about purchasing my boat, and for some time after I was very active on the forums. At some point years ago, other commitments took over, things went a different direction, and I lost touch with this great community. I’m back… here… and happy to see friendly faces.
I have never had a second thought about our decision to buy our 2008 AR230 and have been very happy with durability, fit, and finish... in the saltwater environment that it lives, it has never let me down, until this past weekend... and at one point I was scared that we would lose it. I can only think that had I kept up with the jet boater community, I could have avoided a very stressful day.
In 2012, I made the decision to move the boat to dry storage at a local marina for convenience. They are great at recovering the boat and flushing the engine, and I always rinse the inside and engine compartment when I get back to the dock and apply some corrosion preventative. The one thing that I have not kept up with is everything under the clean-out tray... something that I don't know would have been much different had I trailered the boat back to the house as I did before I moved to the marina.
This past weekend we were on the way back from a day at the beach running about 7700 rpm for about five minutes... I pulled the throttles back to idle entering a no wake zone and both engines quit. I immediately tried to restart and they would both turn over but not fire. After about two minutes they both started, so I turned away from the no wake zone and advanced to full throttle. Both engines only went to about 8500 rpm and over the course of 20 seconds dropped back to 1500 rpm and then stopped. I was shocked when I opened the engine compartment and found it flooded... water was up over the oil filters, and a check of the ski locker showed that it was over half flooded… I could hear water flooding into the boat in the area of the stern, but I could not tell from where… and the bilge pump was not running.
Problem #1:
The OEM bilge pump had failed six months prior and I replaced it with a Rule 750gpm using the existing wiring. When I tested the replacement, it was working fine. I had already bypassed the bilge pump switch and connected it directly to the circuit breaker at the helm so that it was always on when the battery switch was on. At the time I was not aware that the circuit breaker was faulty (intermittent) and that was the reason that OEM pump had not been not working.
My first action was to call a friend who was close by and let him know that I was taking on water and that I had no engine power. He dropped everything to get to us.
I turned my attention to the bilge pump and after some jiggling of the spade connectors and pushing the button (not tripped) on the circuit breaker the bilge pump came alive. This is the third circuit breaker I have had to replace over the life of the boat. I do not believe the OEM breakers are of the best quality and my failure to properly diagnose the original bilge pump issue could have cost us our boat... this is in my opinion the most important circuit on the boat and I will replace it with the highest quality breaker no matter the cost.
Problem #2:
Where was the water coming from? My first instinct was that the scupper had finally failed. My intent was to replace it with the Attwood stainless steel scupper, but I just put it off. That scenario did not really explain the sound if incoming water that I could hear. The bilge pump did not seem to be making any progress on the incoming water, but my friend arrived and he got us under tow. The tow took a little over an hour and it was pouring rain the entire time. (picture a cow and a flat rock)
My greatest fear was that the bilge pump would not keep up (the falling rain making it worse), and that the batteries would not last for the trip home. Along with the pump, I bailed by hand making some progress, and when I had determined that the water level was below the oil pan (about 20 minutes later) I cranked both engines and activated the no wake mode to keep the batteries as charged as possible for the ride home.
The engines would only run for about five minutes and then die. After a few minutes, they would start again... repeat. I noticed on the trip home, that there was a very strong odor of exhaust fumes when I would open the doors to the head and in front of the helm, or when I removed any of the rear cushions. I also noticed that the water in the bilge was warm.
By the time we arrived at the marina all water that the bilge pump could extract had been removed. I docked the boat under its own power and there was no indication of incoming water. The marina staff was unable to immediately recover the boat with the forklift because of heavy lightning in the area. I would not have had my a$$ on a forklift either... no boat, whatever the cost is worth a human life. The wife and I were cold, wet, and grateful to have made it home. If the boat were to succumb to the sea, at least the recovery would be simple... and insurance would take care of the rest.
The diagnosis:
When I arrived home the first thing I did was to fire up the computer and come back to where I knew I could find the answers to what had happened. After less than an hour of research drawing from the experience of this community, I had a very definitive idea of what I needed to look for. The marina put the boat on a work rack the next day so that I could troubleshoot what had happened. I installed the main drain plug and filled the boat with fresh water to search for a leak... this is what I found...
I quick look through the inspection panels in the clean-out tray immediately revealed the problem. The hose clamps on the muffler water box to exhaust output (elbow) on the port side were missing and the hose was completely disconnected allowing water to pump into the boat at high power settings… practically a four-inch hole in the hull. This explained the water in the engine compartment and exhaust fumes... After removing the clean-out tray cover I found over half of all the hose clamps in this compartment either missing or at the point of failure due to corrosion.
Folks… when this happens, the boat fills up quickly. If it took a 750gpm pump almost an hour to evacuate the water… I think we can all do the math and figure out how much water must have been in the boat.
The sound of incoming water I initially heard was because, at the time, there was enough water in the boat that the top of the bulkhead-mounted exhaust fitting (elbow) was below the water line and water was flooding in. We were dead in the water for almost 10 minutes at that point. Had I not been able to get the bilge pump running, along with the manual bailing, I am sure I would have lost the boat.
Filling the boat with fresh water also proved that the OEM plastic scupper was cracked and leaking. Yep, I put it off, and even though it was not the direct cause of the massive water intrusion, it was destined to become a 1 ½ -inch hole in the hull of the boat.
Oh yea… I found this screw under the scupper when I removed it. No idea where it came from and I can’t find one like it in the parts manual… if anyone can identify it please let me know.
Both engines start and sound to be running fine when attached to a fresh water supply. There is no evidence of water intrusion into the engine oil system so far. After replacement of all the hose clamps I will coat them with T9 before sealing up the clean out tray. When I complete repairs this weekend including an oil change and greasing of the gearbox, I will head out for a shakedown cruise and will know more about any further damage.
Lessons learned:
No matter what, the bilge pump is the most important system in your boat. Make sure that it is working properly. If possible, add a second pump or at least a bilge alarm… I am really kicking myself over this one. I almost elected to return home via the Gulf instead of the inter coastal waterway. Instead of a five minute run to the first no-wake zone, I would have been a 15 minute ride, oblivious to the fact that the boat was filling with water. The water level at that point may have been too much to overcome.
If you have a boat with a plastic scupper, inspect regularly… and replace as needed, preferably with bronze or stainless.
Inspect, at least annually, all the hose clamps on your boat. Two corroded $4 clamps almost sunk mine… I dropped my guard with respect to preventative maintenance because everything always worked, and I never considered the importance of the clamps under the clean out tray. Something I would have paid more attention to had I kept up with the forums, and something that I will never ignore again.
Good friends are invaluable! Have them, and be one yourself… the jet boat community is one of the greatest groups of people I have ever known... you all have taught me so much and I hope that from my experiences you can learn something as well.
Here is the scariest part of the entire day… remember the exhaust fumes? When I finally got the engines restarted under tow, the last I saw of my wife was up in the bow with a towel over her trying to shelter herself from the rain. At the time, I was bailing like a mad man… about 20 minutes later I turned to check on her, and she was gone. That panicked me for a moment until I realized that she had retreated to the head for shelter, and when I opened the door, she instantly complained of a headache. I pulled her out immediately recognizing the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning… I do not even want to think what could have happened if I had not taken a moment to check on her.
Take what you can from my experience, as embarrassed as I am to have to share it…
Sorry again for the novel length post…
Happy to be back,
Ed
. Thanks all... nice to have such a welcome home...
