Flooded Engine in Bad Storm - 2022 195S

[cmp75]

2022 195S

Out on the lake last night and a fast moving storm came through and dumped on us. I honestly thought we were going under for a while.

Waves kicked up like crazy and the bow of the boat took on a lot of water. Ended up flooding the engine compartment. There must have been 8-10" of standing water near the bow. We bailed and bailed and got the water out.

I got the engine to barely turn over, but not start. Had to call 911 and have the Park Ranger come haul us back to the dock.

I need advice on best course of action. Do I pump all oil (and likely water) out and change with fresh oil and see if it will turn over? Does the 1-yr warranty cover this if I that doesn't work.

 

[Cambo]

check the oil if It’s light tan and looks like water is in it change the oil. Pull the spark plugs and turn over the motor in case you ingested water it will blow out the spark plug holes. Most likely an electrical connection was wet not allowing the engine to start or to much back pressure in the exhaust from the added weight of the water . Warranty could cover an electrical issue if the motor was swamped then insurance would cover that. These boats are very robust and can take on a lot of water before the motor submerges. Look up sub move

 

[sunbyrned]

Check for a waterline in the engine compartment and take pics of it for insurance purposes, especially if it got high enough to get into the air intake.

 

[Babin Farms]

Did you have your bilge pump on? If so it might have drained the battery causing it to crank slowly.

 

[fatboyroy]

Do not wait, change oil right away

 

[Miitch]

agree with above. My engine took on water two years ago and this forum saved me from doing something stupid. Pull the spark plugs and turn the engine over. any water that made its way in the engine will shoot itself out.

Then waste no time changing your oil (i had to change mine 5 times before it stayed clean). when it looks clean, drive the absolute snot out of the boat to try and boil off any left over water.

If youre having electrical issues, leave your engine hatch open during a hot and sunny day. That helped me dry up some moisture. Also, check your starter motor. im not too familiar with Yamahas, but on my sea doo, the starter is at the lowest point of the engine bay. It shorted pretty quickly when my engine flooded and burnt out, causing me some electrical problems the following year. No gauges working, kept burning fuses, relay click but no start, relay buzzing etc. All fixed when the starter was replaced.

 

[cmp75]

agree with above. My engine took on water two years ago and this forum saved me from doing something stupid. Pull the spark plugs and turn the engine over. any water that made its way in the engine will shoot itself out.

Then waste no time changing your oil (i had to change mine 5 times before it stayed clean). when it looks clean, drive the absolute snot out of the boat to try and boil off any left over water.

If youre having electrical issues, leave your engine hatch open during a hot and sunny day. That helped me dry up some moisture. Also, check your starter motor. im not too familiar with Yamahas, but on my sea doo, the starter is at the lowest point of the engine bay. It shorted pretty quickly when my engine flooded and burnt out, causing me some electrical problems the following year. No gauges working, kept burning fuses, relay click but no start, relay buzzing etc. All fixed when the starter was replaced.

These comments are super helpful. I had the battery on a trickle charger and it looks good, but when I go to turn it over, I just hear a clicking sound in the back. Maybe a fuse is blown? (I'm not a mechanic at all)

The entire compartment was filled with water, so I'm pretty sure it went into the air intake. My plan is to pump all the oil/water out with my pump (just did the 10hr change last month) and change the oil, then see if it will turn over for me. If that doesn't work, I'll take it to a dealer to have them check over everything. I just don't want to "attempt" to fix it and cause more problems or void the 1-yr warranty.

 

[Weeb]

These comments are super helpful. I had the battery on a trickle charger and it looks good, but when I go to turn it over, I just hear a clicking sound in the back. Maybe a fuse is blown? (I'm not a mechanic at all)

The entire compartment was filled with water, so I'm pretty sure it went into the air intake. My plan is to pump all the oil/water out with my pump (just did the 10hr change last month) and change the oil, then see if it will turn over for me. If that doesn't work, I'll take it to a dealer to have them check over everything. I just don't want to "attempt" to fix it and cause more problems or void the 1-yr warranty.

The click you hear is probably the starter relay. Turn the key on and try to jump it with a screw driver.

 

[fatboyroy]

get rid of the bad oil first, you keep trying to start it you will ruin your boat. btw warranty is out of the question now, its a flooded engine its an insurance thing.

 

[Miitch]

The click you hear is probably the starter relay. Turn the key on and try to jump it with a screw driver.

I would change your oil ASAP. electrical problems wont get worse, but water in the engine block will rust fast.

the screw driver trick works also. put your key in the boat so its ready to start then short the leads of the starter relay (with two screw drivers that have a heavy rubber handle for shock protection). If your engine turns over, you probably just have a blown fuse somewhere between your start button and your starter relay.

If you do this and the engine doesnt crank over (like what happened to me), your starter motor is blown. $100 fix usually, if you install it yourself.

 

[FLJetBoater]

Did your hose from the inside deck to the scupper valve come loose? I’ve taken waves over the bow in no wake zones when it got rough and couldn’t accelerate to keep the bow up. I hit the throttle a bit just to nose up slightly and what I thought was a ton of water disappeared out the back through the scupper hose in a heartbeat. Water that comes over the bow shouldn’t be ending up in the engine compartment.

 

[FLJetBoater]

I would change your oil ASAP. electrical problems wont get worse, but water in the engine block will rust fast.

the screw driver trick works also. put your key in the boat so its ready to start then short the leads of the starter relay (with two screw drivers that have a heavy rubber handle for shock protection). If your engine turns over, you probably just have a blown fuse somewhere between your start button and your starter relay.

If you do this and the engine doesnt crank over (like what happened to me), your starter motor is blown. $100 fix usually, if you install it yourself.

Starter motors are $450+ But definitely can be DIY if you have any sort of mechanical aptitude.

 

[Sidarousmg]

check to see if any water was ingested by removing the spark plugs and blowing compressed air in the cylinders. if water is visibly coming out, keeping blowing air until all water is out then spray some oil/lubricant/WD40 in the cylinders to prevent corrosion. until you can get the motor running again.

 

[Miitch]

Starter motors are $450+ But definitely can be DIY if you have any sort of mechanical aptitude.

OUCH! i stand corrected. Dont know much about Yamaha parts. My sea doo starter was $100 taxes in.. and that's in maple syrup dollars ?? ! probably about $75-$80 freedom coins

 

[scokill]

Put a real charger on the battery, not a trickle charger.

 

[cmp75]

You're right... I was using a real charger, not a trickle. I just said the wrong thing. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[cmp75]

OUCH! i stand corrected. Dont know much about Yamaha parts. My sea doo starter was $100 taxes in.. and that's in maple syrup dollars ?? ! probably about $75-$80 freedom coins

Looks like a new start is around US$100 as well. I'll probably need to get one of those as well. I haven't tried the "screwdriver jump" technique yet.

 

[johhnyboat]

add another bilge pump in the ACTUAL bilge. This should be standard in a Yamaha. By the time water reaches the engine compartment you are already in bad shape. I added one last year and it comes on a good amount. the engine compartment never comes on and if it did, I would be very worried as it sits so high.

 

[the MfM]

It sounds like you should call your dealer and see if they can help you out today.

You need to get the engine running on clean oil ASAP.

 

[cmp75]

Dealer can't help today, as they are 2 hours away and booked up.

So far I have done the following:

1. Removed spark plugs and push out water
2. drained the original oil
3. replaced the oil
4. tried to run it and turns over a few times, then I hear sloshing
5. removed plugs again and spit out more water, then replaced plugs and repeat (done this 6x now)

Sounds like there's getting less water coming in. I think the problem was that enough water entered through the air filter and I just have to keep doing the process until the engine eventually sucks it all through and spits it out the spark plug holes.

Anyone else have a better strategy?