Help - boat nearly sank, engines flooded

[FLJetBoater]

Out for the farewell voyage on our 2014 after picking up a 2015 on Thursday.

Driving along yesterday in Tampa Bay and all of a sudden boat feels sluggish. Within 1 minute port engine cuts off. Run back check engine compartment and it’s almost entirely full. Bilge pump is on but doing nothing. Shut stbd engine off. Water still coming in...long story short we ended up at Macdill AFB. Boat took on about a foot of water in the cabin. BoatUS had to pump it out before they could tow back.
pro tip....if you have water in your boat for any reason it is considered salvage and BoatUS does NOT cover it. Pumping is $125/ft. So nice bill that hopefully insurance will cover.

Get back to dock, pull boat onto trailer and up the ramp a bit. A little bit of water came from the port exhaust (the boat was heavily listed to the port so could have got in there) but then nothing else at all. Pulled the drain plug and let it drain for a good half hour. The cause is still unknown there didn’t appear to be anything obvious.

This morning...pulled lanyard, pulled spark plugs. Turned engines and blasted a whole ton of water out, more towards rear. Blasted until no water came out but if I look down the tubes I can still see water there. Any suggestions how to get the rest out if it’s not being blasted out by cranking the engine?
Also when cranking the check engine light came on. Suppose this could be normal because there’s no spark or it’s not starting?

I have a feeling this boat is headed for the dealer.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Sorry can't help you much. But personally, in case this interests you, I installed a very inexpensive water detector that mimics a smoke alarms. I placed the sensor right above the bilge water line. If water somehow gets above that point, it would sound off I know I have a problem. I test it every spring and put new batteries in it just like a smoke alarm.

Some install a second bilge pump, but the alarm is still nice to have. I want to know early if I have an issue.

 

[HangOutdoors]

So, when BoatUs pumped it out, it stopped taking on water? Could it of been maybe one of your cooling engine hoses ruptured or is off.

Also installing one of these.

Amazon.com : Rule 33ALA Marine High Water Bilge Alarm (Mercury Free, 12-Volt), White : Boating Bilge Pumps : Sports & Outdoors

 

[Ronnie]

Did you eliminate the usual suspects like the drain plug, loose or improperly installed clean out plugs, water getting in through the anchor locker drain, detached or leaking cooling water lines and / or a cracked scupper?

I would run the engines on hoses to check for leaks in the cooling system. If I didn’t find any I would fill the bilge with water from a garden hose to see if any leaks out. Unless the engines aren’t turning over, I would not be bringing it to the dealer or a shop. Some would sell the boat ASAP as is, not me though, I’m a big believer in Karma and would feel terrible if the next owner or someone on the boat I sold got injured or drowned because I sold a leaking boat.

good luck finding and fixing the cause of your leak and please keep us posted as this evolves.

 

[FLJetBoater]

Sorry can't help you much. But personally, in case this interests you, I installed a very inexpensive water detector that mimics a smoke alarms. I placed the sensor right above the bilge water line. If water somehow gets above that point, it would sound off I know I have a problem. I test it every spring and put new batteries in it just like a smoke alarm.

Some install a second bilge pump, but the alarm is still nice to have. I want to know early if I have an issue.

Yes I will definitely be doing that first in the new boat....ugh.

 

[Dave burke]

Sorry to hear this, must have been pretty scary.

In terms of the water, I have no ideas other than a ruptured hose.

Regarding getting the water out of the engines, I’ve never had this happen with my Yamaha but I have a sea doo speedster where the engine flooded once. I tried what you tried for hours and it kept kicking out water. Finally took it to the dealer and he said you have to take off the intake manifold as well since water accumulates there. Once he did that, it started right up. Changed the oil and was good to go. May or may not be the same for the Yamahas.

Good luck.

 

[FLJetBoater]

So, when BoatUs pumped it out, it stopped taking on water? Could it of been maybe one of your cooling engine hoses ruptured or is off.

Also installing one of these.

Amazon.com : Rule 33ALA Marine High Water Bilge Alarm (Mercury Free, 12-Volt), White : Boating Bilge Pumps : Sports & Outdoors

They didn’t pump it out entirely. Just enough to get it to float enough they could get it to the ramp. And yea, will be doing that first thing in the new boat!

 

[FLJetBoater]

Did you eliminate the usual suspects like the drain plug, loose or improperly installed clean out plugs, water getting in through the anchor locker drain, detached or leaking cooling water lines and / or a cracked scupper?

I would run the engines on hoses to check for leaks in the cooling system. If I didn’t find any I would fill the bilge with water from a garden hose to see if any leaks out. Unless the engines aren’t turning over, I would not be bringing it to the dealer or a shop. Some would sell the boat ASAP as is, not me though, I’m a big believer in Karma and would feel terrible if the next owner or someone on the boat I sold got injured or drowned because I sold a leaking boat.

good luck finding and fixing the cause of your leak and please keep us posted as this evolves.

Drain plug was fine and still in. No leaks. Anchor locker drain also has a plug in it. And there’s no way THAT much water came from there anyway.
The engines are not turning over, there is still some water visible in the cylinders that’s not being blasted out. I need to figure out how to get it out.

 

[FLJetBoater]

So, when BoatUs pumped it out, it stopped taking on water? Could it of been maybe one of your cooling engine hoses ruptured or is off.

Also installing one of these.

Amazon.com : Rule 33ALA Marine High Water Bilge Alarm (Mercury Free, 12-Volt), White : Boating Bilge Pumps : Sports & Outdoors

I tried looking for the cooling hoses but didn’t see anything obvious. If I could get the engines running again something like that would be obvious to see at least.

 

[Dave burke]

One other thought - did you recently have something wrap around one of the shafts? I had this happen to mine a couple of years ago and it was bad enough to crack the seal at the hull. This caused a lot of water to leak in. Caught it before there was engine problems fortunately. I did what @Ronnie suggested a ran water into the bilge. You could see it pouring out from the seal.

 

[Julian]

If nothing was leaking on the ramp, then it sounds like a cooling line leak. Engines not turning over sounds like the cleanout hatch cutout is triggering. Perhaps pull that and blow water out of the connections?

Most people I've read who deal with this just pull the spark plugs and crank it till it stops ejecting water. Then change the oil and start her up. You want to do this ASAP!!!!

 

[FLJetBoater]

One other thought - did you recently have something wrap around one of the shafts? I had this happen to mine a couple of years ago and it was bad enough to crack the seal at the hull. This caused a lot of water to leak in. Caught it before there was engine problems fortunately. I did what @Ronnie suggested a ran water into the bilge. You could see it pouring out from the seal.

Not recently....but yes in the past. Maybe got progressively worse? Not sure. But when we pulled the boat the only place I could see water coming from with any sort of force was the drain plug.

 

[FLJetBoater]

If nothing was leaking on the ramp, then it sounds like a cooling line leak. Engines not turning over sounds like the cleanout hatch cutout is triggering. Perhaps pull that and blow water out of the connections?
We
Most people I've read who deal with this just pull the spark plugs and crank it till it stops ejecting water. Then change the oil and start her up. You want to do this ASAP!!!!

The engine will turn over and I blasted a lot of water. But when I put new plugs on and tried to start it it cranked very slow like it having difficulty. I haven’t changed oil yet would that affect it cranking?

 

[Ronnie]

I didn’t realized the engines weren’t starting. My old Waverunner with an mr1 1,052 cc motor capsized and flood last summer. It took some effort to get the engines started again but here is what I did. Not the same engine but the process should be the same.

Remove all the spark plugs and crank the engines to blow as much water out of the cylinders as you can. Blow some fogging in oil and out of each cylinder. Install some clean and dry plugs and crank away until the engine starts. Don’t forget to have the battery fully charged or to have a spare on standby. Also check the oil for water intrusion and if you find any do oil changes until all the water is gone. Again good luck.

 

[Julian]

The engine will turn over and I blasted a lot of water. But when I put new plugs on and tried to start it it cranked very slow like it having difficulty. I haven’t changed oil yet would that affect it cranking?

Yes.....you must remove the oil (and water) in the crankcase too.

And most people end up doing 2-4 oil changes before they get clean oil.

 

[FLJetBoater]

Yes.....you must remove the oil (and water) in the crankcase too.

And most people end up doing 2-4 oil changes before they get clean oil.

Ok I will do that then try again.

 

[Julian]

Ok I will do that then try again.

Go out and get cheap oil.....run that first....then change it and put more cheap oil in, change that....then move up to your normal oil choice.

 

[Dave burke]

Not recently....but yes in the past. Maybe got progressively worse? Not sure. But when we pulled the boat the only place I could see water coming from with any sort of force was the drain plug.

It could have gotten progressively worse but my guess, that’s unlikely. And like @Julian says, if there was still water in the boat when you pulled it out, you should have seen it coming out near the intake grilles. You could do the garden hose test to be sure.

But if i were you, I’d be focusing on the the engines first. They’re more urgent. its important to change the oil quickly. Start with cheap oil as others have suggested because you’ll have to do this several times in all likelihood.

 

[bthessel]

I had a similar thing once, the plastic manifold on the port engine where the water comes out of the engine was cracked and it pumped the engine compartment about half full of water before I noticed (also found out my bulge pump had went bad that day) thankfully I had my ballast bag pump and used that to pump out the water before limping back to the ramp.

 

[FLJetBoater]

I had a similar thing once, the plastic manifold on the port engine where the water comes out of the engine was cracked and it pumped the engine compartment about half full of water before I noticed (also found out my bulge pump had went bad that day) thankfully I had my ballast bag pump and used that to pump out the water before limping back to the ramp.

This is kind of what I’m thinking. Something after the engine, either cooling water exit line or exhaust. I never got an overheating warning so unlikely it was cooling lines before the engine. I think it would overheat before swamping the engine compartment with water.