Clean out plug question

[Trm1765]

Hello all, a quick question about the internal workings of the clean out plugs. Mine have been giving me occasional difficulties when removing the cobra locks, at times they feel jammed. I assume the plugs are working loose and putting pressure on the locks, but the locks have prevented them from blowing which is a good thing. I thought maybe the inside of the plugs might have some sand or grime inside and pulled them apart to check them out. Everything actually looks good on the inside and they appear to be working well but there is a very small amount of slimy substance on the inside. Is there suppose be some lube inside or should I clean this out?

 

[RForester]

You should put a coating of marine grade grease on the rubber seals. This should help you be able to remove them and put them back in easily if nothing else. Clean all the old off of everything first.

Good luck!

 

[Trm1765]

There was nothing on the seals, the inside was actually full of water. The slim was in small clumps all within the internal moving parts.

 

[Britboater]

I'd imagine its petroleum jelly or like, thats what I'd use if I was reassembling.

 

[Scottintexas]

are you having problems removing the cobra locks or the plug after you take the cobra lock off ?

my cobra locks were very snug and difficult to operate for the first couple dozen times but I increased the hole size slightly and they are much easier to get on and off,

 

[Gym]

There is a lubricant on the white sliding mechanism inside the plugs. I relubed mine with white lithium but any water proof greese should do. I believe your problem is that your plugs may not be seating properly. Check the metal part of the tube that your plugs sit in. Is it rough with a lot of mineral build up on it? If so you can scrub it with a kitchen scrubble pad or steel wool. If your build up is heavy you can also use lime away. Just rinse well after using it. Also check the two slots that the plug dogs sit in to make sure they are clean so the dogs can slide all the way in.

The rubber skirt on the plugs should also be clean. You can do this with the scrubble pad also. There is a lot of controversy about greasing the rubber plug skirt or not. They don't come lubricated from the factory, neither are the rebuilding kits greased. I don't grease mine. They are the original plugs that came with my 2006 SX230 and still work great. I do use the Cobra locks also.

 

[Trm1765]

are you having problems removing the cobra locks or the plug after you take the cobra lock off ?

my cobra locks were very snug and difficult to operate for the first couple dozen times but I increased the hole size slightly and they are much easier to get on and off,

The difficulty is getting the EZ locks out, but not every time, just occasionally. They have almost 300 hours on them and used to come out easy. The plug normally come out of the tube fairly easily.
Gym, that is good thought, I haven't even looked at the tube, I think that could be a good possibility. I will scrub that out and lube up the white slider.
Thanks all.

 

[Scottintexas]

If you having problems getting the easy lock off next time take a second to push the T handle back down to see it resets the dogs and if the EZ locks then remove easily, this will help determine if you're having a plug blowout situation and the EZ locks are actually doing their job and saving you.

Have you tried to set the T handle and EZ locks outside of the tube just to try to duplicate the problem? this would help you narrow down if it is tube issue or a plug issue.

I agree with Gym's assessment also,

 

[RForester]

what is slim? Scum?

 

[Ajax]

My plugs started sticking real bad and also hard to reinstall. Scrubbed metal seat inside tube with steel wool, cleaned gasket on plug real good. Then applied food grade silicone (only thing I had on hand at time) to both. Plugs go in and out easy everytime now.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

The locks will tell you if they stopped a blowout, when you try to remove them they will stick. This is due to the parts putting pressure on the ends of the locks, just push down firmly on the t handle to take the pressure off the locks and they should come out easily.
I do not recommend drilling the holes larger. As that allows the dogs more room to move if the original tray releases. The bigger the hole is the more the plug dogs can retract and this is not what you want to happen. I send the correct drill 9/64ths so people will have the correct size .
I am not sure that you would want any lube in the plug as that would attract and capture sand in an area where I suspect sand etc. is the reason the original locking part fails to completely engage in the first place.

 

[buckbuck]

Sounds to me like the EZ Locks are preventing blowouts. Happens to me a couple times a year. But according to Yamaha, blowouts are the result of operator incompetence. I guess I just haven't mastered it after 6 seasons and over 400 hours.
Just want to say once again, Thanks Jeff, for keeping my plugs in place with your product.

 

[mljhnr]

Mine come out tough also, this is my first season using them. When difficult I still needs to push the button to get the plug out so it doesn't appear to be blown. I had a blowout for the first time this last weekend but I'm going to attribute it to a faulty install of the plug and the lock not engaging. My port side plug seems more difficult to get in right and just wasn't paying attention. However, WOW, I put the boat in and drove across a small lake (200 acres) moderately, docked and noticed the bilge pump running. I keep the bilge on all the time when in the water. Opened the engine hatch and had at least 6-8 inches of water in the bottom. Within a minute I found the blown plug and the boat was drained by the bilge pump. Why are these boats designed to flood when a plug blows. Surprisingly I honestly couldn't tell it was blown when driving. I've noticed when I had accidentally left both unplugged. Maybe if I had tried to attain top speed I would have noticed right away but just a nice cruise I couldn't. Glad I have the locks, just need to double check the seating of the plugs.

 

[Scottintexas]

@mljhnr normally a plug blow out only causes loss of thrust as it becomes dislodged and the water just comes up and goes into the cleanout tray. There are times when a plug can blow and it can dislodge the rubber tube it sits in and then the water will flow directly into your bilge area and of course quickly back up into your engine bay (if you engine bay plugs are out) as you apply more thrust. A plug dislodging the tube is an unusual circumstance.

I would look at your plug tubes to make sure they look secure before you next outing and monitor it closely for the first 30 min - hour to make sure your not still taking on water, maybe even run with your engine hatch open the first few minutes.

I would suggest some kind of lock product or at least nerf footballs. If a plug blows under extreme pressure it can damage your cleanout tray hatch adding even more problems. EZ locks are simple, cheap and effective. You can look at the FAQ for more info on locks.