Ar 190 questions

[LanierJet]

Hi all,

I am a fairly new owner of a 2015 ar190. Got a great deal on it, and actually found it through these forums.

I am getting used to the jet boat, and have been out every weekend since buying it. We love it!

Question 1:
We boat lake lanier, which has some big water. I feel when I am running the boat, I am always over 6k rpms just to keep the cruising speed. This seems to be just the nature of the motor, but it's a big difference from the I/O I am used to. Running at 6000-7500 for a majority of the hours isn't bad as long as I maintain proper maintenance, right?

Question 2:
I noticed a little water in the ski locker. Not much, not even enough to cover the bottom. However, when I opened the drain plug, water was visible there, and the water wouldn't drain. In fact, some water spilled into the ski locker when I unplugged the plug.

Bilge pump is always on, and I know it works thanks to getting caught in a storm a couple of weeks ago. Is it possible some debri is down in the draining system? If so, is there a way to access that?

Thanks!

 

[Matts18]

First off, congrats on the boat! Do you remove the drain plugs at the rear of the boat? If so, does any water drain out? You should try jacking the front of the trailer all the way up and taking out the rear plugs.

Running your engine at high rpms is what it was designed to do.....just do the scheduled maintenance and don't think twice about it.

 

[haknslash]

These boats have a drain system for each compartment and they are all connected. In order to drain your ski locker you will need to also open the drains to the other compartments. The drain system on a 19' SX/AR goes like this: anchor locker->ski locker->fuel tank->engine compartment (drain plug is in front of bilge pump)<-bilge/transom drain->. In order to get the water to flow out you will need to jack the trailer way up or get on a steep incline and open up all the drain plugs in each compartment.

These motors are PWC motors so they are made to rev high. No worries there as long as you maintain it which is practically nothing other than oil and spark plug changes for the most part each year.

 

[FLBulldogger]

Hi all,

I am a fairly new owner of a 2015 ar190. Got a great deal on it, and actually found it through these forums.

I am getting used to the jet boat, and have been out every weekend since buying it. We love it!

Question 1:
We boat lake lanier, which has some big water. I feel when I am running the boat, I am always over 6k rpms just to keep the cruising speed. This seems to be just the nature of the motor, but it's a big difference from the I/O I am used to. Running at 6000-7500 for a majority of the hours isn't bad as long as I maintain proper maintenance, right?

Question 2:
I noticed a little water in the ski locker. Not much, not even enough to cover the bottom. However, when I opened the drain plug, water was visible there, and the water wouldn't drain. In fact, some water spilled into the ski locker when I unplugged the plug.

Bilge pump is always on, and I know it works thanks to getting caught in a storm a couple of weeks ago. Is it possible some debri is down in the draining system? If so, is there a way to access that?

Thanks!

WELCOME to the community and congrats on the boat. Your concerns are very common for us that came from the I/O or sterndrive community. These engines are designed for the higher RPM's and for us with our N/A SX190 the 6000-6500 is our sweet spot for a nice comfortable 25 to 30 mph jog out to the bay, it gives us the best gas mileage and the ability to talk to each other. The rev limiter will hit 7800 and we hit 42 when we gotta get going, but you guys in the S/C AR's are going get moving a lot faster, this community has tons of folks with the AR's and have some great mods if you need. As far as the drainage issue the boats have a great system that drains well just inspect and clean them out and you will be golden.

 

[Matts18]

These boats have a drain system for each compartment and they are all connected. In order to drain your ski locker you will need to also open the drains to the other compartments. The drain system on a 19' SX/AR goes like this: anchor locker->ski locker->fuel tank->engine compartment (drain plug is in front of bilge pump)<-bilge/transom drain->. In order to get the water to flow out you will need to jack the trailer way up or get on a steep incline and open up all the drain plugs in each compartment.

Haknslash, not arguing, but, to clarify, what you are saying is that if my fuel tank plug and engine plug where installed and I filled the ski locker with water and then removed the plug (just for the ski locker) that the water would not drain to the bilge area and out the back of the boat?

 

[Scott Huse]

Haknslash, not arguing, but, to clarify, what you are saying is that if my fuel tank plug and engine plug where installed and I filled the ski locker with water and then removed the plug (just for the ski locker) that the water would not drain to the bilge area and out the back of the boat?

It would still drain, each of those areas opens to the bilge below, I found that out the hard way. I had my drain plug in the fuel tank area closed until last week, the rest of the boat was draining except that area.

 

[haknslash]

Mine would not drain unless I opened each compartment with the last bottleneck being the engine drain plug. Maybe it has changed or maybe mine is plumbed messed up lol. Only way water would make it out was if I opened the engine drain plug so it could flow to the bilge cutout hole/bilge pump. I know this because I was doing this in my garage and couldn't figure out how to get water out of my ski locker. It would only move once I opened the engine compartment drain plug and then all that water flowed thru the system and into the bilge pump which of course I wasn't expecting at the time and just starting pissing like 5 gallons of water out into my garage like an idiot . I had to turn off the bilge pump and then get my wife to hold a 5 gallon bucket the remaining time so the water could get out. Maybe it's different on other boats but for me that is what it takes to flow the water out on my boat. FWIW I keep all of my plugs closed/in when on the water just as Yamaha suggests (it's debatable topic on here about keeping plugs in or out while in the water lol). There was a map someone once drew of the drain system but I have no idea what post it was in.

 

[2kwik4u]

I think mine drains each compartment straight to the bilge.......I think......I've been leaving all the plugs out on mine until recently.

I've been chasing a persistent leak. Like the bilge runs every 10 minutes or so while on the water, and I'm getting 2-3 gallons of water out of it when I pull the plugs on the ramp. I think I have it narrowed down to crap around the O-Rings on the hull drain plugs. While on the water the other night I pulled the inspection port on the starboard side under the rear cover and looked down into the bilge with a flashlight. You could see a continuous stream of water near the paddlewheel mount, and near the bilge drain plug. I hopped in the water, pulled the plug (not as scary when it's held in place by a tether I've learned), and reinstalled. The trickle stopped and the bilge quit running from then on for the rest of the night. Not sure if I had something in the path of the O-Ring, or if the plug wasn't tight enough and the water provided just enough lubrication to get the plug in as tight as it needed to be for the O-Ring to set properly..........The point of all this rambling is that both my fuel compartment and ski locker had water in them when I got home and checked the next day. The plug for both was just "sitting" in the hole, and not tight. With these tethered plugs you can't really "remove" them, and the water can easily force itself by to get into the space, but then can't really get back out as easily. Leading to a buildup of fluid in the compartments. When this heat wave passes and I can get the boat in the driveway for a few hours, I'm going to drag the water hose over and start filling up the compartments to figure out where the water is really going, and how it moves around inside the boat. Until then it's gonna be "dry the area, lightly lube the O-ring, and leave them completely inserted in place".......I'll report back when I have more data.

Question 1:
We boat lake lanier, which has some big water. I feel when I am running the boat, I am always over 6k rpms just to keep the cruising speed. This seems to be just the nature of the motor, but it's a big difference from the I/O I am used to. Running at 6000-7500 for a majority of the hours isn't bad as long as I maintain proper maintenance, right?

I too came from the I/O world with an engine that wouldn't even spin to 6k if it wanted to, much less near 8. So far, aside from sound, I can't find anything to validate my "un-easy-ness" about it. I do find it really interesting that the thrust is non-linear with rpm......

1k = 1mph
2k = 3mph
3k = 5mph
4k = 10mph
5k = 12mph
6k = 20mph
7k = 35mph
7.8k = 42mph

I don't know if those super accurate data points (although I might collect those now that I'm thinking about it), but they're close enough to illustrate the wildly non-linear nature of the jet.

*edit*
So I just made this chart from Boattest.com data. Jet is an AR190, SternDrive is a Rinker 196 with 200hp 4.3. Looks like my own thoughts about non-linearity compared to a sterndrive aren't accurate at all.........Stupid Data

X-Axis is engine RPM, Y-Axis is speed.

 

[haknslash]

I do the same check periodically removing those inspection covers while on the water. Just to have a look to see if the bilge drain plugs are holding back the water. Thankfully my boat has always been a relatively dry boat. I think I got lucky at the factory as most mine will dump out even if using ballast bags with rub rail under water is maybe a gallon at most. My bilge pump never cuts on while on the water. Knowing on some wood now .

@DBamaC had his bilge pump passing water on me and I check his bilge drain plugs while in the water. They were tight. I think his oring has some crap on it too or something causing the water to get past. We should have inspected his bilge thru the inspection covers while on the water but I think we were too busy having a good time to worry about it

 

[LanierJet]

Thanks for all of the replies and the welcomes!

When i pull the rear drain plugs, nothing comes out. I leave them unplugged during storage and the jack as high as possible to let it drain. I will try pulling all the plugs in the boat to see if that helps.

 

[Matts18]

You may need to find a steep hill of use a block of wood to get the jack higher. Then it should run out the back.

 

[DBamaC]

The issue that day was the kids dumping buckets of water that was finding its way under the cushions. I fixed them and the problem was gone.

 

[2kwik4u]

The issue that day was the kids dumping buckets of water that was finding its way under the cushions. I fixed them and the problem was gone.

The wife and I and some friends spent about 3 hrs in HEAVY rain a few weeks ago. The carpets in the storage areas were BARELY damp when we pulled out, and the boat only had a few ounces of water come out of the bilge the next morning. Those kids must have been hammering the cushions with water to get past the built in drain channels. I'm 99% certain my carpets were damp because of the cup holders. I think plugging those will happen before our next outing.

 

[DBamaC]

They were. I always keep a 3 gallon bucket on board so on really hot days we can pour water on the Seadek to cool it off. My kids were up on the front of the boart with the filler cushion in dumping bucket after bucket. With their weight pitching the boat forward (adults were in the water) the water couldnt find it's way to the floor very effectively and ended up going to the bildge. I'm calling them kids, but it was two 175 lb boys and my 12 y.o. daughter...