Another oil cooler bolt sheared

[SCSTWG]

Had a chance to look this morning. Glad to see a big arrow pointing to the third bolt.

Nice. I plan to verify mine this week when I pick it up from the marina.

 

[redthumper9]

Dropped my boat at the dealer last Saturday.....on the way to pick it up in a few hours with updated oil coolers installed. Costing me around $118.00. I think $50 was the deductible for the insurance and the rest was for the oil. So glad to have this behind me.

 

[davel501]

Going on 3 weeks of the boat sitting at Nielsen's just to get the bolts replaced and a small fiberglass warranty fix in the cooler area. So much for boating on Fathers Day.

 

[Ronnie]

Dropped my boat at the dealer last Saturday.....on the way to pick it up in a few hours with updated oil coolers installed. Costing me around $118.00. I think $50 was the deductible for the insurance and the rest was for the oil. So glad to have this behind me.

That sounds about right on the out of pocket expenses. I have a 3rd party extended warranty and had to pay the deductible as well as the cost for the oil and filters.

 

[steined]

Yamaha really should step up to the plate here and just take care of this for people, their costs can't be that high on this part and the goodwill would go a long way, especially if they are even THINKING about selling a larger, more expensive boat here in the US. It's a design flaw obviously, otherwise why do the newer boats have a revised part and no problems!? Just my $.02

 

[davel501]

Yamaha really should step up to the plate here and just take care of this for people, their costs can't be that high on this part and the goodwill would go a long way, especially if they are even THINKING about selling a larger, more expensive boat here in the US. It's a design flaw obviously, otherwise why do the newer boats have a revised part and no problems!? Just my $.02

You can't rule out dealer shenanigans here either. They likely get more money from digging out a broken bolt or replacing under 3rd party warranty

 

[steined]

You can't rule out dealer shenanigans here either. They likely get more money from digging out a broken bolt or replacing under 3rd party warranty

Good point. If getting paid for warranty work is anything like a doctor getting paid from a health insurance company, maybe they don't WANT to file a claim with Mother Yamaha!

 

[veedubtek]

Just to revive a useful reference with a bit more info I've gathered this week. I went shopping over the weekend and looked at both a 2010 and a 2011 242LS. Checked out the 2011 first, and it had the updated coolers installed:

OC

• veedubtek
• Feb 9, 2015

New style

Notice the 3rd bolt down is slightly different and there is an arrow pointing towards it. This is the new style.

Then, looked at the 2010 and actually found it already had one of the bolts broken.

OC

• veedubtek
• Feb 9, 2015

Old style, broken bolt

Notice no arrow, and bolt head gone.

Now, he called his local dealer today, and they claim that you don't have to update the coolers. All they do is extract the broken bolt, and replace with an upgraded bolt. He said they only get the updated coolers while under warranty. Claims they've never had an issue repairing it this way. I'm curious if other Yamaha dealers/technicians agree...

 

[dan144k]

That was how they repaired mine also, extract broken bolt and replace with "upgraded bolt"
I tried to argue it but did not want to ruin my existing relationship with local dealer.
I am frequently checking my oil coolers, kinda paranoid about loosing all my engine oil.

Would be nice if YAMAHA just resolved the issue for people.

 

[pagekl]

I made this very repair myself. Drained all the oil from the cooler and removed the cooler to extract the bolt. Ordered new boots for the cooler along with a new seal. That was about two seasons ago and no issues what so ever. I check the cooler religiously before and after every outing. It's possible many people experienced complete failures from the sheared cooler bolt going unnoticed and over time the weak spot where the head sheared off gave out.

 

[Scottintexas]

@Julian this may be a good one to add to the FAQ thread, I don't think it is on there yet,

 

[Geiger41]

Does this issue apply to my boat ??? 2013 21X??

 

[veedubtek]

@geiger41 , no sir. 2010, and *maybe* select early 2011's.

 

[GiddYupJoe]

I made this very repair myself. Drained all the oil from the cooler and removed the cooler to extract the bolt. Ordered new boots for the cooler along with a new seal. That was about two seasons ago and no issues what so ever. I check the cooler religiously before and after every outing. It's possible many people experienced complete failures from the sheared cooler bolt going unnoticed and over time the weak spot where the head sheared off gave out.

There has been so much discussion over time on this issue that things get lost in translation... Do you have the information as to what bolt you ordered as a replacement and where from. If someone needs to swap the bolt this would be extremely helpful. I loosely remember discussion on the diameter of the new bolts for the new coolers not being a direct swap?

 

[pagekl]

@GiddYupJoe, I can't remember the part number for the bolts at the time. They are not the new bolts with the arrow on the head, but the same as the original ones I took out of the cooler. I might have ordered them from yamaha sports plaza (not 100% sure), but I do remember there was a backorder on them at the time. Took me well over a month to get them. It was around the time many owners were experiencing the bolt head shearing off.

 

[Steelerville]

I haven't had to replace mine yet but I don't have 100hrs on the boat. I do plan on replacing the bolt on both motors. I will also say it has to be a direct swap but with a better grade bolt. The dealer is not tapping the block to make it bigger for a stronger bolt, just providing a stronger bolt to handle the heat and torque. I haven't read on this forum or others the dealer is tapping for a different size.

Greg

 

[pagekl]

@Steelerville, I had a failure of the bolt with not even 50 hours on the boat. Personally, I wouldn't change them out if you haven't had any issues. If you do decide to change them all out, make sure to replace the cooler gasket as well.

 

[Ronnie]

It sounds too me like Yamaha and the dealer are going the cheap route if the problem occurs on an out of warranty boat. My coolers started leaking between 100 and 200 hours and both were replaced under a third party warranty. Yamaha sports plaza charges $650ish per cooler, my dealer charged my 3rd party warranty company $850 per cooler, after labor, oil and filters the total replacement cost was just under $2,500. What are dealers charging to upgrade the bolts? I'm guessing under $100 which most of the cost attributable to labor.

Incidentally, simple bolt replacement won't work if the face of the cooler is cracked or warped (I had one of each and no broken or sheared bolts/bolt heads). You have to replace the entire cooler and they don't sell its main parts individually.

 

[veedubtek]

Referencing the guy who has the boat I'm looking at - the dealer he called quoted him about $150 to extract the broken bolt and about 5 hours labor @ $85/hour. So, about $575. I'm planning on calling them myself tomorrow. The dealer is Chatlee in Sanford, NC, which I really haven't heard a whole lot of good about.

 

[Steelerville]

I guess I could wait and see. I was thinking the broken bolt was causing the face to crack or warp. If I replaced the bolt it prevent the other issues. Maybe I will get lucky and not have to do anything. Never had that type of luck before but there is always a first.