Broken Intake Grate - '17 AR190 w/less than 10hrs

[2kwik4u]

It appears I just can't have nice things. Took the boat out on Saturday and had a great day, rained on us pretty hard on the trailer ride home, so the boat sat in the driveway instead of the garage overnight. No big deal. Had to wipe it down before it went back in, and found the problem.

Busted Intake Grate

So I went ahead and pulled it off. In hindsight, this might not have been the idea solution for a warranty claim. I haven't called the dealer yet, adn wanted to see what you guys thought here before I did.

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Anyone else have this happened? Any thoughts?

 

[Floyd]

Since the rod is bent it would seem that something hit it to bend it and broke the cast alloy at the end of it. Perhaps you hit something while boating, or somehow it got bent during the launch or retrieval by a trailer part(like a bunk)? The tiny nick in the paint on the bent rod doesn't look serious enough to bend/break the rod, and it's located in the wrong spot to do that.

 

[Scottintexas]

We don't see this very often, that was bad luck, do you remember running over something? do you beach or ever anchor in shallow water? have you been sideways on your trailer trying to load (I smile as I type, but been there/done that)?

I doubt warranty is going to help unless there's some indication of bad mfg, it's to easy for them to say operator abuse,

 

[Ronnie]

Don't know how it happened but o would not use the boat with that installed as is. If the tine breaks off it could end up in the pump (damage the implller, etc.). If you have to go out but can't wait for a new grate consider running without a grate or breaking the time off completely.

 

[2kwik4u]

It sure looks like it hit something. There is a scuff on the side that is broken that looks like a collision with wood. I seriously doubt this is a warranty issue. The only thing that makes it feel like it might just be bad manufacturing is neither the wife nor myself can remember any "bonks" or hits that sound like we ran into something. This is our first jet boat, but not our first boat. I've hit underwater debris before, and have never been able to find the evidence once on the trailer. I can't imagine that this piece is so fragile that an unheard contact with something underwater would break it like this.

Are there other options available for performance, or at least upgraded strength grates? If this is legitimately a fragile part, or known failure point, I don't mind upgrading.

Also, what are the chances I can find one of these for memorial day boating plans to still get done?

 

[Scottintexas]

in 8 years I've only heard of 2-3 broken grates, one was from a rope being sucked up and I think the other was from object hitting it, certainly if you got on a trailer bunk sideways I could see it breaking,

These aren't necessarily fragile, that's what's stumping us on how it happened,

not many choices for a new one other than your dealer or yamahasportsplaza, is that aluminum maybe you can get a machine shop to fix it ?? other than that if I had special weekend plans I would just run it without the grate or brake that tang off and just pay special attention when boating,

 

[2kwik4u]

Called and talked to the dealer. He said they've never seen one broken, and are very interested to get it in hand to investigate. Especially at less than 10hrs of use, and no noticeable impacts. I'm going to run it over at lunchtime tomorrow and see what they say/think about it.

Here is the part on YamahaPlaza.com website. F3A-U72B7-00-00 $75 plus shipping. If they don't cover it under warranty (seriously doubt they will, but it's worth an ask) then I'll go ahead and have them order me one.

Anyone see any issues with having this one welded back into position by a reputable shop? I have a friend that runs a machine and fabrication shop with both TIG and MIG welders and a ton of experience using them. Might weld this one back into place for the weekend trip, and then install the new one once it comes in.

Secondarily, anyone thing there is a market for a stronger version? For such an important piece of guarding, I somewhat expected it to be better than straight cast material. With that said I suppose the broken leg on the grate is better than a busted chunk of fiberglass at the mount point. Replaceable parts are better than fiberglass/gelcoat fixes any day.

Thanks to all for the help thus far BTW. This forum rocks!

 

[swatski]

That is unusual - thank you for sharing. Wow.

If that would make you feel any better, just imagine what it would be like - if you had a lower unit...
(Been there... disaster zone.)

 

[haknslash]

Did you happen to nspect this area prior to picking the boat up new? Did y'all do a water test? Just wondering if this could have been done prior to you getting the boat and not known of it. I would imagine something like that you would remember hitting something to case that kind of damage to it.

 

[2kwik4u]

We did not inspect this piece before we took delivery. We also did not do a water test. I have some faith in the dealership, but accidents do happen. Hard to say at this point how/when it was broken. I was nervous about taking delivery without a test drive, but waived it off as being overly cautious and again I have a good feeling about the dealership from speaking with others that have had motorcycles purchased/serviced there.

I had some questions about a "rattle" that I had heard from the very first startup. Sounded like a large metal on metal vibration, much like a pillow block bearing going bad in an industrial machine. Perhaps this is what I heard, and it was broken on delivery. Might also have been road debris that caused it. Hard to say really.

I'll take some closer pictures when I get home and see if I can't figure out the cause. I'm going to crawl under the boat with the DSLR as well as I don't want to tow it to the dealership for this, and they didn't request to see it, but want to take the pictures to show them. I'll see if I find any other damage under there while I'm doing that.

That is unusual - thank you for sharing. Wow.

If that would make you feel any better, just imagine what it would be like - if you had a lower unit...
(Been there... disaster zone.)

Yea, I hit a submerged rock in the last boat (1998 Rinker 182BR - 3.0L/A1 outdrive) that actually stalled the motor. Put a little ding in the stainless prop, sheared the hub holding the prop onto the lower unit, dinged the skeg, and stalled the motor. That was a SIGNIFICANT impact that stopped the boat in it's tracks and scared the crap out of the three of us aboard. I would have expected a similar "thud" from this type of damage, but we can't remember any such impact. I also would have expected same damage to the hull with that kind of impact to break this piece. Perhaps we did hit something and just didn't realize it because this boat sounds so much different than our previous, but I really think we would have noticed it.

I'll be sure to keep everyone posted on what comes of the dealer visit tomorrow. I expect a lengthy show/tell session, as well as some discussion on what happened. The end result is an order for a new part. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll split the cost with me? I'm not holding my breath though, as this is so easily attributed to abuse. We'll see though.

 

[mdwarchichoke]

Here is mine last year. Sucked up a tree from the depths below!

 

[haknslash]

We need a "wow" or "OMG" rating emote! Looks like you sucked up Cousin It!!

 

[haknslash]

Crazy we can suck up all sorts of heavy things and apparently do some damage yet in this video by JBP and the dude has his hand near the grates. Granted it's at idle so not a lot of thrust but still it would make me nervous!

 

[Speedling]

Wow man! It's some aluminum alloy just so you know. Almost like an aluminum pot metal. It will weld but not very nicely. Please prove me wrong! But if you do let me know what he used to do it!

 

[2kwik4u]

Wow man! It's some aluminum alloy just so you know. Almost like an aluminum pot metal. It will weld but not very nicely. Please prove me wrong! But if you do let me know what he used to do it!

Yea, to be 100% honest it looks like cheap pot metal in the casting. I'm an aerospace engineer and deal with intricate castings on a regular basis. There is a large amount of of precipitate (large nodules of material) in the broken section. It's also fairly light as compared to what I expected.

Talked to my fab friend this afternoon. He's pretty confident he can get it welded up to get me through the Memorial Day weekend. Not a long term fix, but it's better than running without I think.

Headed to the garage to get some pics once the boy goes to bed here in a few.

 

[mraz72]

I would guess that was damaged by the dealer or in shipping. Forklift fork got in there or something...

 

[haknslash]

Why the dislike @Ronnie ?

 

[2kwik4u]

Went off and left the grate sitting in the garage this morning. Might run home at lunch to grab it, then try to hustle over to the dealership before they close at 6 tonight. I didn't take pictures last night either like a big dummy.....maybe I can get those at lunchtime too?!?!

 

[2kwik4u]

Stopped by the dealer this afternoon. Took some pictures of it, and are going to run it through warranty to see if it's approved or not. Told them to go ahead and order the part, as I need a new one regardless of who pays for it.

Hoping to get it welded Friday night. I'll be sure to take some pictures of how that works out.

 

[2kwik4u]

Got the grate welded last night. Not the prettiest, but it actually welded much better than expected. Going to run it this way for the weekend.

Here's some pictures of the process. I'll come back and add captions when I get to a computer again.


















More pics here
http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/MDobrick/library/2017 Yamaha AR190

With any luck this will work acceptably until the replacement piece comes in.