First voyage - 19 AR195. Couple points for other new 19 owners plus some questions

[steve0617]

First day out with our new 19 AR195. After the aquatic nuisance inspection (mandatory in CO), pulled over and added the dock lines and fenders. Totally forgot to put in the cooler, food bags, towels, all of it. Left those in the truck. Remembered after the launch. Opppppss.

Launch went okay. Told wife to tell me to stop once the top of the fenders were submerged. She was looking to see if the stern of the boat was floating and didn't pay attention to the fenders. I basically backed my Tundra into the water up to the exhaust. Oppppsss #2. She apologized and I pulled it back up a bit. Pushed off the trailer fairly easily.

Parked the truck/trailer and dragged all the stuff down the hill to the boat. Got it and turned the key. Started (this is the very first time I've ever started it) it and it died. Started again. It died. Oh God... Dealer is 100 miles away and I'm drifting away from the dock. Oh God. Oh God.

Annnnnddddd, I forgot to clip in the lanyard. Oppppsss #3. Then it started fine.

Slowly backed away from the dock and started no wake mode out of the cove. Then the check engine light and the alarm came on. The new 19s have the screen so it popped up 'Shut off engine. Take to dealer.' (or something like that.) I was freaking out (and getting PISSED) at this point.

Shut it off and waited a few. Now I'm drifting and kinda in the way of the cove exit area. Blood pressure rising.

Restarted. Same alarm. Goto the manual. 'Return to shore. Take to dealer.' Fortunately, from the sale, I still had the cell number of my salesman. Called him directly and thank God he picked up. Said it's usually the clean out port (? - that can throw a check engine light?) hatch switch and that that would prevent it from starting. Told him it starts fine but throws the light and alarm. He was like 'hmmmm, that's weird.'

Grrrrrrrrr. Okay, for grins, I jumped on the swim platform and pulled the plug out. Since it's brand new, it's stiff as hell and is a PITA to remove. But I got it out and reseated it. Restarted the boat and the alarm was gone. Never occurred again. Didn't think the clean out plug had any sort of electronics associated with it that would throw a CEL.

Idled for the 5 mins then slowly and boringly ran at 13 mph for the 'under 5000 rpm for 90 min's' break in. That went fine too.

Went into the no wake zone area for a while to have lunch. Bashed myself in the head trying to set up the bimini top when one side wasn't fully clipped in (We have to remove and replace the bimini to fit the boat in our garage). Opppps #4.

Upon later upon leaving the no wake, I passed the set of buoys that I thought marked the end of the no wake. Accelerated back to the 4900rpms/13 mph or so. Another boater I passed a few hundred feet away strongly motioned me to slow down. I thought he was being a jerk. Nope. I was only halfway to the end of the no wake zone. Oppppps #5.

Sorry dude. My bad.

FINALLY got to the 90 minutes mark and I finally got to open it up. And all I got to was 40 mph and 6800rpm at full throttle. Granted, I'm at 5800' elevation and the bimini was up and my wife was sitting next to me rather than in the back corner, but I kinda figured I'd be a little more top end. Or at least a higher RPM.

?

Finished off the afternoon. Only almost hit the dock once (half opppps). Backed the trailer in and got the fenders mostly covered. Power loaded the boat up with my wife on the winch. Thought I had explained how far up the boat had to go. She misunderstood and had me stop about a foot short. So back on the power again. Got it closer to the bow stop. Not quite. She didn't crank up the winch slack so the boat actually slid backward on the trailer (we have a steep ramp). Power again and we got it. Kind of an oppps but maybe not.

And then it was up the hill to take it back to the nuisance check guys again.

WHEW. We didn't break anything, the boat ran well, We didn't forget the drain plugs or sink the thing. For the first time boating for me in 35 years, I think we did okay.

Now the low RPMs at full throttle has me a bit concerned since I thought the 195 didn't suffer from heat soak like the 192s did. Or maybe there is some sort of break in RPMs on the 19s. Or maybe it's something else. Too soon for me to assume problems.

But all in all, a good first day.

Thanks to all the posts here that helped me be prepared for our first time out.

For you guys with new 19s and are just starting out this season, if you get the CEL and it makes no sense, pull and reseat the clean out plug. Didn't see that this was a thing when I searched for it here but given the wrong info on the screen and the owners manual said was wrong, try that (and maybe a battery power cycle too) first.

 

[2kwik4u]

Honestly, this sounds like a great first day. Sure things didn't go butter smooth, but think of how much you learned. Also, think how much easier the next outing will be.

Congrats on the new boat, and welcome to the club!

 

[tabbibus]

oh man, I loved your report! My first day was smooth, my second day I spent 20 minutes trying to dock on my starboard side! My third time I thought I did everything right and then ended up drifting too close to some rocks because I had no thrust! Turns out I forgot to put in my clean out ports! So overall I think you had a great first time.

 

[ZippyBoater]

You did fantastic and it will get easier each time you launch. It was much better than my first launch of my boat only to find out my scupper valve was broken. My bilge pump got a work out.

 

[Dean P]

Congrats on the new boat and your first outing!

In my line of work the best way to learn and remember is to fail. If you had a perfect day you wouldn't have learned anything. In the nicest way, it sounds like you learned a lot. Never stop learning. All these learned lessons will make your time on the water more enjoyable and most importantly "Stress Free". Keep doing it, it gets way betterer...

Welcome to the club!

 

[Whisky]

Congrats! Very interesting on the clean out port.... I don't have anything helpful there.... maybe it has something to do with not having enough pressure to feed the cooling system when idling along with the port out?

I'm super glad to hear that even with a few hiccups though, that you had a great first trip, it's all up from here!

 

[Julian]

My only guess on the clean out port is that it wasn't twisted in all the way, and was allowing the pump to pull air in. This would potentially starve the engine of cooling water. That said, I've not heard of these engines having a cooling water sensor. In fact, another post recently referenced a dealer intentionally running a boat with no water to prove the overheat alarm was working.....this is strange. Also might have been the rear hatch sensor....which just happened to not be fully closed?

 

[haknslash]

Check your throttle stop to ensure you’re getting full throttle. I don’t know much about elevation impact on these engines but that seems low. Someone will chime in I'm sure that boats at or near your elevation and tell you what to expect.

I don’t think the clean out ports have electronics but possibly the hatch switch is new and sends a signal if the hatch isn’t locked? I don’t know that’s strange.

 

[steve0617]

Also might have been the rear hatch sensor....which just happened to not be fully closed?

That's what the sales guy thought but it was running fine. It just had the CEL and buzzer going. My wife at one point when we were idling in the first few minutes opened the hatch not knowing she wasn't supposed to, which then killed the engine. It started right up after closing it. So I don't think that was it.

 

[steve0617]

Check your throttle stop.

I did notice the first time I attempted a hole shot, the revs hit the upper 7000s (maybe 7600 or so?) before it hooked up and started accelerating/dropping the RPMs. I assume if the throttle stop was not correct I wouldn't have even seen those #s?

 

[Dave burke]

Your report was quite entertaining mainly because I’ve made most of these ooppss and I’ve been driving all kinds of different boats since I was a kid.

As others have said, if you don’t make mistakes, you don’t learn. Welcome to the club!

 

[swatski]

I did notice the first time I attempted a hole shot, the revs hit the upper 7000s (maybe 7600 or so?) before it hooked up and started accelerating/dropping the RPMs. I assume if the throttle stop was not correct I wouldn't have even seen those #s?

No, your overrev was due to cavitation - very normal especially in singles, on full throttle hole shot.

What @haknslash is referring to is the throttle cable adjustment - to make sure you pull all the way when those hit an APS module stop.

—

 

[swatski]

At 6,000 ft a single engine Yamie going 40mph is not bad. Albeit rpm below 7,000 is low.
Do you ever boat at lower altitude?

—

 

[steve0617]

No, your overrev was due to cavitation - very normal especially in singles, on full throttle hole shot.

What @haknslash is referring to is the throttle cable adjustment - to make sure you pull all the way when those hit an APS module stop.

—

OK, I was thinking if the throttle cable was shorted that it wouldn't have been able to hit the 7600rpms. I'll look at it shortly.

72* yesterday. 76* today. Blizzard warning tomorrow.

Colorado man...

 

[steve0617]

At 6,000 ft a single engine Yamie going 40mph is not bad. Albeit rpm below 7,000 is low.
Do you ever boat at lower altitude?

—

I don't expect to boat outside of CO and the 5600' or so I'm at now if going to be about where I'll be. At least this summer.

I wasn't so concerned about the MPH as we have a 40 mph limit on the reservoirs here. It was the 6800rpms where it topped out.

But it was the very first day out ever on a brand new boat with the top out and my wife next to me instead of the back. It was a bit windy too so I'll want to see what happens RPM wise over the several outings before I start digging into it, other than checking the cable.

 

[Matt Phillips]

Sounds like a nice first day...everyone learned a few things about what to do/not do and nothing was really hurt. That's the key. Here's couple of thoughts:
1). that's interesting on the clean out port...I never heard of that before.
2). When I'm prepping the boat in the ramp parking lot, I get everything ready...bimini up, fenders out (both sides if I don't know which side I'll be on, and when I first get ready to hop in the boat, I check the drain plug, get up on the transom and BEFORE going inside the boat, I check put in the plugs, then as I migrate forward, I put in the engine compartment plugs, and work my way up to the helm and put in the keys. I do NOTHING else, but those things before I start.
3.). Your RPM sounds about to me. up at Lake Tahoe (6225 feet), I only get about 6500rpm out of my 1.8s. When I'm down at 1000 feet, they will turn normally. Just beware that the lower rpm = lower power. it is what it is.
4). now go put some more hours on it and enjoy! I can't wait to get mine out of storage in another month.

 

[JMDyamota]

Congrats on the new boat and great report! You are off to a great start. We just picked up a 2019 SX195 this past September. Sounds like your first day went a bit smoother than mine!

Thanks for the information on the CEL issue. I have never had that happen, but am happy to have some ideas on how to address it if it does. I, too, have forgotten to clip in the lanyard. When that happens at a busy launch ramp, the lesson sticks with you. I have also thought I was dead when anchored out at a remote part of the lake. Checked the lanyard, checked the clean out plug, checked the hatch, checked battery connections, etc. - everything checked out. I was just about ready to pull out my jump starter (while in the beginning stages of prayer and freaking out) when I checked the throttle and discovered it was not quite in neutral. Nudged the throttle back into neutral then turned the key and it fired right up. That lesson has stuck with me as well.

There is a launch and retrieve checklist in the reference thread stickied above. Check it out. I keep a slightly modified version of the checklist on my phone and frequently reference it.

 

[mwalker4]

I had the CEL on my first voyage too. Turned the engine off and on twice. Called the dealer, started it again while on phone and it cleared. In telecommunications we call that Fixed While Testing.

 

[Waylander]

Yep, that sounds like a great first day boating. My first time going out to the island and anchoring up my stern was 6 feet from the shore and I my brand new Gamin Echomap 9sv was reading a depth of like 15 feet. I looked at my wife and said " dang, stupid depth finder don't work" jumped off the boat in front of a crowded beach full of experienced boaters and went under....yep it was 14 to 15 feet. Guy walked up and said"i love watching people do that". Hasn't happened to me since but I have seen at least 3 others do it.

As far as the CEL goes I experienced the same thing multiple times. Took to the dealer and the final diagnosis was I as was trying to crank without the safety clip attached. The constant turning over of the motor but no true starting draws the batteries down fast. The boat does absolutely have a voltage sensor that throws the CEL when the batteries voltage is low. I have noticed that if I try to start it a couple of times with out the clip it 100% of the time throws the CEL. The reset is done by cranking and shutting off the motor a certain amount of times like a minute. Your start ups and shut downs could be what reset the CEL not the plug. Cycle springs here in St. Pete told me that as long as there is no performance issue with the boat then the CEL is usually caused by something simple.(like low battery voltage.) Hope this helps.

 

[W3bexec]

FINALLY got to the 90 minutes mark and I finally got to open it up. And all I got to was 40 mph and 6800rpm at full throttle. Granted, I'm at 5800' elevation and the bimini was up and my wife was sitting next to me rather than in the back corner, but I kinda figured I'd be a little more top end. Or at least a higher RPM.

I'm in Colorado too and boat at about 5700'. Did you swap out the impeller for a high altitude impeller? Dealer should know this, mine did it for free. It helped some.