Engine starts up then Alarm and dies

[3 green tornados]

I just bought a 2015 212x w/ 35.4 hours on port motor and 34.7 on starboard motor. It still has two months left on factory warranty.

Back story:
Started both motors at home waiting about 5-10 seconds before turning on the water. Things went great. Turned off the water after about 2 minutes then the motors about 5 seconds later. Then drove 7 hours through the desert with my amazing wife, 5 kids and two dogs.
Launched at about 8:30pm.
boat was floating but still tethered to the trail when I started both motors. They idled fine and water was coming out the side ports.

I disconnected the the trailer strap and jumped in with my boys from the bow as my wife pulled the motorhome and trailer to our spot.
Shortly after turning the boat at virtually idle speed the starboard motor “sputtered” and rpm jumped and fell a couple hundred rpm then smoothed out as I slowly throttled up to 3-5mph and the starboard engine alarm starts and a flashing check engine sign. Seemed like just a second later the motor died.

I turned it off and continued around the jetty as slow as I could possibly go because I was worried about 1. Hitting something with the three boys in the bow and 2. Forcing water into the starboard engine.

this morning I have checked:
electrical connections all seemed tight and good. Battery voltage was 12.49 and virtually no resistance across terminal connections.

Checked clean out hatch switches and seemed like the were positioned correctly as I can tell.

Checked kill switch

Ensured throttle was in neutral.

both engines start this morning but starboard motor check engine light is still on and sounds an alarm before it dies.
Port engine is starting fine and seems fine at idle.

Can’t take it in for almost a month as all dealers are super busy now at the start of the season.

any ideas?

 

[Russell]

Check your oil level always! I learned this the hard way. It the hot Texas sun it can be hard to read the flashing lights on the dash, I'm glad you saw them. Check oil levels, that's where I'd start. You don't want a piston scored engine or a cracked water jacket casing.

 

[3 green tornados]

Thank you.

I checked the oil and it was clean and about 2/3 up from the empty fill line to the full.
Any way to check what the codes is with out a diagnostic tool?

 

[djetok]

Thank you.

I checked the oil and it was clean and about 2/3 up from the empty fill line to the full.
Any way to check what the codes is with out a diagnostic tool?

Did you check for anything blocking the intake grate. Overheat warning?

 

[3 green tornados]

I did also checked the clean outs, exhaust manifolds were barely even warm and water was coming out the witness ports.

consulted the owners manual and it was a short couple sentences. Reduce power as much as possible to make it to shore and take the boat immediately to an authorized service center before continued use.

 

[3 green tornados]

Solution to start up and immediate shut off after alarm.

It is a 2015 212X and only had 35 hours at the time the problem started.
When the computers were scanned no codes were registered by the Yamaha certified master mechanic at Temecula Motorsports. He started with all the things mentioned above and then started to pull plugs. The starboard motor had two plugs that were so badly fouled they would only spark occasionally. When he we talked about the boat i shared that the boat had been at a Yamaha dealership in another city for about a year and per the sales person had fallen out of financing more than a dozen times. Mechanic believes that the boat was started and only ran for a few minutes so many times that the plugs never got up to temp and able to burn off the excess build up that gets deposited on start up. The mechanic recommended, that anytime, other than fogging the motor, the motors are started you let them run for at least 15 minutes before shutting them down.

The port motor had plugs that were on their way to the same spot but they caused the O2 sensor to fail first. This code did not show up until a few minutes after the mechanic started his diagnostics. He stated that the code was likely still processing when i shut off the battery. He claims that the computers on board can take several minutes to properly log codes if they occur as the motors shut down or are being turned off. I was turning off the battery with in a minute or so of turning the keys off, so the computer couldn't log the codes properly and so they were not showing up.

The O2 sensors are pricey and not easy to locate, at least here on the west coast. Now i keep a spare O2 sensor, recommendation of the mechanic and spare plugs on board. Keep the O2 sensor because the engine won't run with out them operating properly.

Hope that helps others.

 

[Inthrustwetrust]

Solution to start up and immediate shut off after alarm.

It is a 2015 212X and only had 35 hours at the time the problem started.
When the computers were scanned no codes were registered by the Yamaha certified master mechanic at Temecula Motorsports. He started with all the things mentioned above and then started to pull plugs. The starboard motor had two plugs that were so badly fouled they would only spark occasionally. When he we talked about the boat i shared that the boat had been at a Yamaha dealership in another city for about a year and per the sales person had fallen out of financing more than a dozen times. Mechanic believes that the boat was started and only ran for a few minutes so many times that the plugs never got up to temp and able to burn off the excess build up that gets deposited on start up. The mechanic recommended, that anytime, other than fogging the motor, the motors are started you let them run for at least 15 minutes before shutting them down.

The port motor had plugs that were on their way to the same spot but they caused the O2 sensor to fail first. This code did not show up until a few minutes after the mechanic started his diagnostics. He stated that the code was likely still processing when i shut off the battery. He claims that the computers on board can take several minutes to properly log codes if they occur as the motors shut down or are being turned off. I was turning off the battery with in a minute or so of turning the keys off, so the computer couldn't log the codes properly and so they were not showing up.

The O2 sensors are pricey and not easy to locate, at least here on the west coast. Now i keep a spare O2 sensor, recommendation of the mechanic and spare plugs on board. Keep the O2 sensor because the engine won't run with out them operating properly.

Hope that helps others.

Good to know. I had a similar issue racing motocross back in the early 2000s. Fouled plugs were common on 2 strokes. Upgraded to a 4 stroke and one day the bike just wouldn’t start. Took 4 or 5 of us kicking it over for a good 15-20 minutes at the track before it started. It was pretty new so I took it to the dealer, apparently they saw it often with sport bikes, dudes start em up to impress the ladies for a few seconds and kill it right afterword. I was curious if these motors had similar issues, especially since I usually launch alone, so I start the boat, get it off the trailer, pull into a empty slip right next the launch, (maybe a minute or two of engines running) kill the engines, tie up, and get the truck out of the way. I don’t really want to leave the engines running and the boat unattended, and the water is pretty shallow, I don’t want to suck up a bunch of sand and dirt either. Guess if I have issues I have a starting point.

 

[3 green tornados]

I tend to have to do the launch and retrieval myself also. That short start stop sequence on top of each other and then when i flush everything at home leads me to believe it is a good idea to just keep an extra set of plugs on the boat. Although i am sure that those 5 start/stops are a lot fewer than what the dealer was doing when he was showing it for that year.

 

[BrentEB]

Pull the thermostat and see if it's plugged by salt. Clean if it is and do a quick flush with the thermostat out and then reinstall it. It there is no flow out the open thermostat housing install flush valves.

 

[WREKS]

Do you keep battery on a trickle charger?

 

[3 green tornados]

No i did not keep the battery on a trickle charger. The issue was caused by the way the dealership was showing the boat to prospective buyers is what the Yamaha certified master mechanic told me.

I use the boat often enough and check the battery voltage prior to going out under a small load (which drops voltage as its discharging) just to make sure things are good.

The boat has supposedly never been in salt water, and i only boat in fresh water (so far) and flush after each trip. Is mineral build up an issue in and around the thermostat?

 

[WREKS]

@3 green tornados You purchased it with 35 hours. How many have you put on?

 

[3 green tornados]

At the time of failure, 10 minutes. Since i have resolved the issue, almost 40. My wife and sister let my Brother-in-law, dad and i go out without kids or them to start dialing in the wave. Here it is getting close! Good Days!