Another Timing Chain Casualty - Repair & Sell? 2011 242 LS

[bmas]

I know this topic has been covered but I too just experienced a broken timing chain and your input & opinions are greatly appreciated as I'm facing several decisions . I purchased my 242 LS new in '11 and although 12 years old, I followed all protocols for maintenance and meticulous care of the boat and engines. I was considering an upgrade to the 250 or 252 within the next year or two but even if they resolved the 3/4 TC with 4/5 TC I'm disappointed in the lack of any support from Yama Corp. The most important factors in my decision to purchase a Yamaha was reliability & value however 2 weeks ago I the strb engine died (~320/350 hours) while I was increasing rpm from a no wake zone. Tried to restart multiple times during the 45 min crawl at no wake speed back to the marina. Today I received the diagnosis & resolution:
TOOK COMPRESSION AND ALL 4 CYLINDERS ON STBD ENGINE AT ZERO LBS.
FOUND A LOT OF OIL AND DEBRIS IN ALL CYLINDERS AND PISTONS. REMOVED VALVE COVER AND FOUND TIMING CHAIN IS
BROKE CAUSING PISTON TO VALVE CONTACT. NEED TO PULL ENGINE AND DISASSEMBLE FOR FURTHER INSPECTION.
8/16 - CUST APPROVED PULLING ENGINE AND INSPECTION APPROX 5 HOURS.
TEAR DOWN FOUND 6 VALVES ON 3 OF THE 4 CYLINDERS HAD MADE CONTACT WITH PISTON. VALVES ARE BENT WITH
MINIMAL MARKS ON PISTON TOPS. REQUEST FOR NEW HEAD AND NECESSARY COMPONENTS TO REPAIR.

This repair is a total $9,475. I called Yamaha Motors and spoke with customer service- they won't do anything. I'm planning to execute the repairs however I'm not confident on the reliability anymore, especially with the port engine. Any recommendations from the community? Sell? Replace the TC every couple hundred hours?

 

[Scottintexas]

Glad to have you join us and sorry we had to meet like this,

I don't think we've heard of any of the new style timing chains breaking after the originals broke,

If it were me I'd keep the boat and replace the timing chain on the other engine while they had it there. it's a big pill to swallow but better than being broke down on the water,

If not, you're always going to be worried, before you go out "is it going to ruin the trip", while you're out "how long if we have to limp back in" and when you're one "is the next time going to be IT",

I would have suggested a jetski shop for the repairs, the rates would have hopefully been cheaper than the marina mechanic,

 

[Ronnie]

The price to fix seems high to me which is saying a lot because here in NCal my trusted pwc shop charges $170 per hour. When my timing chain broke I had a mobile mechanic do the initial investigation and it took him all of 30 minutes to do a compression check, remove the valve cover and verify the chain broke. The shop charged another $1,700 to tear apart the engine further and determined that the chain, some guides and 9 of 16 valves were bent and had to be replaced. The chain and guides were under $150, the valves are $25 to $50 each, the total repair bill would have been about $5k which includes the $1,700 diagnostic fee.

if you sell the boat “as is” expect to take a big hit on the sales price since in effect you are selling someone else a known problem. That said, I would at least have the repairs done but shop around for a better deal. I ended up having a new chain installed in the other engine but not using the engine which is now up for sale, $3,500 as is and buyer must pick up from 94505.

if you plan to keep the boat repair the bad engine and consider replacing the timing chain in the other engine as well for peace of mind.
if you are worried about reliability yamaha sells an upgrade kit (thicker chain, new cam, etc) for about $2,500 each.

alternatively you could look for an engine with less hours from a junked Waverunner or boat. Keep in mind that some engines have catalytic converters so if you go with a used/new to you engine compare the power output on the badge on each engine, it should be the same).

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

try to find a good P W C engine and replace it with that, stay away from the 2014 0r earlier 1800 engines And yes I would replace the timing chain on the other engine before it fails also just to be safe. I had 2 - 2014 engines one hatched the other did not and went close to 1000 hours before I sold it.