Engine Just quit

[Yamaha242lsdallas]

It better! If it didn't, that would cause steady drain on the battery with the engines running.

That's the only thing that still gives me a slight queasy feeling, why would my engine simply cut out wile running over nice smooth water at 5500 RPM?

I'd also pull and reconnect the lanyard.

I was thinking none of the engines would fire up if it was 1/2 out. But still one more easy thing to check and make sure.

 

[Yamaha242lsdallas]

I also was not planning on changing the plugs yet but after checking all the above and if it still does not help I may as well pull the plugs and check them.

 

[Bruce]

I was thinking none of the engines would fire up if it was 1/2 out. But still one more easy thing to check and make sure.

I believe each engine has its own connection to the lanyard. So it is possible that it would disable one engine. The disabled engine would crank normally but not start in this scenario.

 

[maboat]

I'd also pull and reconnect the lanyard.

I was thinking none of the engines would fire up if it was 1/2 out. But still one more easy thing to check and make sure.

The guts of the lanyard switch is actually TWO switches - one for each engine. Its possible (and seen before) for the contacts/connections for one engine to get wacky while the other one is fine. Even though its all just one lanyard

 

[Ronnie]

I have two suggestions, the first, a long shot being verify that your docking lights are and were off, they drain the batteries quickly. Second, @Ajohn5555 had a similar problem on his 2013 242 LS when he brought it to the shop they added a ground cable between the batteries which eliminated the warning he was getting. I don't recall the details hopefully he will chime in on this.

 

[smthng]

I'm also in the bad battery connection camp. .. or bad battery switch. Engine vibrations can cause a loose cable to cut out at any time. My Jeep taught me that several times at highway speed.

 

[Yamaha242lsdallas]

Update:

I checked all the following (some for a second or third time).
-Lanyard - pulled it out and back in, checked for it possibly coming lose on the mount. Did not check the integrity of the connection but everything seemed to be fine in that department.
-Re-checked all the battery terminal connections. No corrosion present and all terminals were very snug, I loosened them all and re-tightened them again to be sure.
-Checked the ground cables and power going into the engines. No corrosion that I could see and all connections were tight.
-Checked the charge of the starter battery, put it on a charger and it right away came back as more then 85% charged.
-Checked the oil one more time just for kicks.
After every step I tried to turn over the engine. It turned over fast at first and almost sounded like it wanted to start for a second (only the first time) but right after that on the second try the low battery alarm kicked in and the engine would hardly turn over. The battery also dropped right away below 85% (according to my charger that I kept on the battery). On the other engine it would crank over right away with no issues and fire right up, no alarm. And that was right after trying the bad engine that would hardly crank over. The low battery alarm would never come on while starting the good engine.

I left the battery on the charger for about 4 hours came back and tried one more time -at around 95% charge on the battery it hardly would turn over and still tripped the low battery alarm.

I'm almost certain its an electrical issue and somewhere there must be a bad connection not found by my basic poking around. I put the cover on it and will be dropping it off at the dealer at lunch today.

I purchased the boat on 8/24/2013 so its still under the original warranty, whatever the issue is I would not think I'd have a hard time getting it fixed...I hope!

Maybe trade it in for a new 2015

 

[Volffas]

Update:

I checked all the following (some for a second or third time).
-Lanyard - pulled it out and back in, checked for it possibly coming lose on the mount. Did not check the integrity of the connection but everything seemed to be fine in that department.
-Re-checked all the battery terminal connections. No corrosion present and all terminals were very snug, I loosened them all and re-tightened them again to be sure.
-Checked the ground cables and power going into the engines. No corrosion that I could see and all connections were tight.
-Checked the charge of the starter battery, put it on a charger and it right away came back as more then 85% charged.
-Checked the oil one more time just for kicks.
After every step I tried to turn over the engine. It turned over fast at first and almost sounded like it wanted to start for a second (only the first time) but right after that on the second try the low battery alarm kicked in and the engine would hardly turn over. The battery also dropped right away below 85% (according to my charger that I kept on the battery). On the other engine it would crank over right away with no issues and fire right up, no alarm. And that was right after trying the bad engine that would hardly crank over. The low battery alarm would never come on while starting the good engine.

I left the battery on the charger for about 4 hours came back and tried one more time -at around 95% charge on the battery it hardly would turn over and still tripped the low battery alarm.

I'm almost certain its an electrical issue and somewhere there must be a bad connection not found by my basic poking around. I put the cover on it and will be dropping it off at the dealer at lunch today.

I purchased the boat on 8/24/2013 so its still under the original warranty, whatever the issue is I would not think I'd have a hard time getting it fixed...I hope!

Maybe trade it in for a new 2015

Well damn... At least you aren't going to drop it off and find out later it was a super easy fix and you wasted your time taking it there.. Hopefully they will take care of everything under waranty. Let us know what you find out.

Good luck!

 

[4x15mph]

It is nice that you have a dealer that you can go to for a quick fix.

Did you try switching batteries and putting the battery that works on the side that is having the problem starting? I see you put the batteries in parallel, so be sure you connected them back up correctly since we have seen batteries put in backwards (polarity)

Stay away from the new boats... don't even give it a look.

 

[Yamaha242lsdallas]

It is nice that you have a dealer that you can go to for a quick fix.

Did you try switching batteries and putting the battery that works on the side that is having the problem starting? I see you put the batteries in parallel, so be sure you connected them back up correctly since we have seen batteries put in backwards (polarity)

Stay away from the new boats... don't even give it a look.

To late about the new boats! But that's for another topic.

I just used the 3rd switch to use the batteries in parallel then switched it off after. I guess I should have added that to my checklist that I also tried. No luck with that as well, still turned over very slowly.

Dealer has been good to me so far and always treated me fairly - Phil Dill Boats

I'll update after dropping it off.

 

[tdonoughue]

Probably too late, but I would also recommend checking the safety switches on the wet storage locker. There are two of those also (one for each engine). Some folks have reported one getting loose and it not making firm contact. A coin taped on the top temporarily would let you know it was being pushed down enough (as long as they are all tight, etc).

Note, I would check what everyone else said first as well. Just running through in my mind what else it could be...

 

[itsdgm]

I agree with @tdonoughue check the clean out switches.

Also, I'm assuming that you have dual batteries. It almost sounds like your wired to start one engine with each battery. I don't know if/how that would be possible though. Put a volt meter on each battery when you fire up each engine. Look for a voltage drop in each battery while firing up each motor.

 

[tdonoughue]

Although if @itsdgm is correct (and I think he is), you may have one bad battery... Especially with the voltage drops you reported on start. I would yank them both and take them to an Auto Zone or similar place for a battery check, too.

 

[itsdgm]

Although if @itsdgm is correct (and I think he is), you may have one bad battery... Especially with the voltage drops you reported on start. I would yank them both and take them to an Auto Zone or similar place for a battery check, too.

That's what I was thinking. Possibly one dead battery (engine won't start) and one good one (starts the other engine just fine).

I guess I left that part of the diagnosis out. Oops. Thanks for pointing that out @tdonoughue

I don't know why the boat would be wired to start one engine on each battery, but it sounds like it could be given the symptoms the OP described. Possibly some wires got crossed somewhere down the line?

 

[Yamaha242lsdallas]

Appreciate all the input. But I think the battery is fine, after trying to start the bad engine (the one that barely turns over and trips the low bat alarm) I can right away start up the good motor with no low battery alarm.

The two batteries are wired correctly, one for house and one for start (both motors).

It could be one of the kill switches in the cleanout tray but I don't think they would turn over at all if it were bad or tripped so I'm pretty sure its not them.
Could be a bad connection from the lanyard kill switch, with the lanyard pulled the engines will turn over but not start - again, unlikely.
Could be a bad connection from the start battery to the starboard motor - most likely IMHO and that of the Yamaha mechanic at the dealer when i dropped it off yesterday and demonstrated the issue to him.
Could be catastrophic mechanical failure of the motor - again, unlikely, the motor is not exhibiting and other symptoms related to that and no unusual noise is coming from the motor when it does turn over. I did not pull the plugs but that would have been my next step.

They (dealer) felt confidant they would have me all up and running by early next week. They plan on calling me today or tomorrow once they pinpoint the exact issue.

I'll update.

 

[Yamaha242lsdallas]

I agree with @tdonoughue check the clean out switches.

Also, I'm assuming that you have dual batteries. It almost sounds like your wired to start one engine with each battery. I don't know if/how that would be possible though. Put a volt meter on each battery when you fire up each engine. Look for a voltage drop in each battery while firing up each motor.

Most of the time in testing these past few days I only would turn on the start battery, the house bat I leave off. If it were wired one to each battery I would not be able to even turn over the starboard motor (or port) with it like that.

 

[tdonoughue]

That is just plain weird. Be sure to report back on what they find at the shop. I will be very interested to know!

 

[Yamaha242lsdallas]

Wish i could get back to everyone with good news..like it was a lose wire or something....

But nope.. All wiring is good. the engine has 0 compression in all 4 cylinders. So the dealer called me today said they were turning it into Yamaha after they pull it out of the boat and tear it down to find the problem. They seemed to feel there should be no reason it would not be covered under warranty because they saw no neglect or owner induced issues.

I just cant figure out how the engine would do that ...run just fine at around 5000 RPM and just quit. only 114 hrs on it.

Upset but what can you do. I just hope Yamaha does not try anything to not cover it.

 

[octavio3311]

Sorry to hear this.
Keep us posted. Definitely interested to see 1) what was the cause and 2) how Yamaha handles this.

 

[buckbuck]

This is the first I've heard of the 1.8 motors having a problem (other than oil coolers). Please take pictures of the motor torn down and report back. This is quite strange.