Help - boat nearly sank, engines flooded

[fatboyroy]

change oil asap unless you want chocolate milk next time you cruise

 

[bthessel]

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.

ya, my boat was running fine. I got to the cove I was heading to and opened the ski locker and it was full of water. I had forgotten that day to put the internal plugs back in. Actually probably saved me from engine damage as it gave more space for the water to go.

 

[mark_m]

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.

Unscrew and pull up that cleanout hatch. I bet you have broken exhaust clamp.(s)

When I installed a secondary bilge pump, I discovered a few broken clamps down there in the bilge. Replace them all. Good luck, keep changing that oil then run it like you stole it to get the moisture out of there.

 

[FLJetBoater]

Any idea how much oil/water should be extracted? Just finished gallon #2 and still going

 

[Dave burke]

From the crankcase? That seems like a whole lot which means you had a lot of water mixed with the oil.

I assume you have the 1.8l engines right? Same as mine and I recall drain about 4-5 liters when I changed the oil.

What color is the oil? I’m guessing milky coffee color?

 

[FLJetBoater]

From the crankcase? That seems like a whole lot which means you had a lot of water mixed with the oil.

I assume you have the 1.8l engines right? Same as mine and I recall drain about 4-5 liters when I changed the oil.

What color is the oil? I’m guessing milky coffee color?

Yeah it’s nasty color, 2.5 gallons total. At first it was pure water then started into the chocolate milk stuff.

 

[Dave burke]

Yikes! That’s likely the reason why it was hard to turn over.

 

[VitaminSea]

Wow, sorry to hear. Glad you and your family made it back to safety.

Did you check the exhaust hoses under the clean out hatch? I was shocked to find my clamps completely rusted through when I was tuning it up during the off season.

Per other’s this is a common issue in salt water boats and can cause the boat to take on water.

Good luck with getting the engines to turn over.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Probably the hose clamps as mark m said all the clamps usually rust and fall off I use a second backup clamp just to be safe a heavy cable tie next to the original clamp. When putting the oil in to remove the water, get a big pan "a deep fry pot type and place the oil in the pan on the B B Q grill with a thermometer in the oil , heat to 200 degrees and carefully pour the hot oil in the engine after installing a new filter you can buy a few Fram tough guard 3600 filters at Walmart also get your oil there for this project. Once you add the hot oil start the engine and let it run on the hose. leave the filler cap off the engine so the moisture can evaporate out of it. let the engine cool off and remove the oil and the filter then repeat that trick and the water should be gone, Now before all that remove the plugs and crank out the cylinders, clean the plugs and reinstall them first. ALso inspect the air filter element if it is wet run without it during the process of cleaning the engine , the air filter will need to be replaced if it is wet.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Also probably not the case but this happened to me several times with NANO hulls breeching so you may want to carefully inspect the hull to be sure there isn't a hole in it and you can fill the hull with water and look for water leaking out get the water up to the center of the drive shafts this will also let you see if the intermediate bearings are leaking.

 

[buckbuck]

I wish I lived near by @FLJetBoater . I would donate my day helping you get it running. Judging by the character of people here, I am sure I am not alone.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Also in my area I carry the number for Eckerd college search and rescue 727 864 8256 they are volunteers and will come out and save your butt in a situation like the one you were in. I Have called on them a few times not only for myself but for other stranded boaters as well. I am not sure of their status during the Covid situation but I did not see anything on their web page to say they were not going out and helping boaters because of it. They are located in the canal across from the FREE boat ramp at Maximo park the rescue operation is part of Eckerd college .

 

[RobbieO]

After reading all these horror stories here on the forum, I'm definitely adding shutoff valves to my intake hoses. I'm going to try and come up with a way that lets me know they are open before I can start the engines. I know I can just look, but when you get to be my age, you can get CRS. I have it.
It would be great to be able to have the switches in the valve that act like the lanyard cutoff switch, which won't let you start the engines if you forgot to open the valves.

 

[Dave burke]

CRS? Constant reminder syndrome?

 

[FLJetBoater]

Yikes! That’s likely the reason why it was hard to turn over.

Still hard even with new oil. Think battery is toast have to charge it up or get a new one

 

[FLJetBoater]

Wow, sorry to hear. Glad you and your family made it back to safety.

Did you check the exhaust hoses under the clean out hatch? I was shocked to find my clamps completely rusted through when I was tuning it up during the off season.

Per other’s this is a common issue in salt water boats and can cause the boat to take on water.

Good luck with getting the engines to turn over.

I just had all the cooling and exhaust clamps replaced by the dealer about a month ago. But one could have come loose

 

[FLJetBoater]

I wish I lived near by @FLJetBoater . I would donate my day helping you get it running. Judging by the character of people here, I am sure I am not alone.

Thanks I appreciate it. Everyone here is great!

 

[Julian]

After reading all these horror stories here on the forum, I'm definitely adding shutoff valves to my intake hoses. I'm going to try and come up with a way that lets me know they are open before I can start the engines. I know I can just look, but when you get to be my age, you can get CRS. I have it.
It would be great to be able to have the switches in the valve that act like the lanyard cutoff switch, which won't let you start the engines if you forgot to open the valves.

17 years of Yamaha jet boating and never needed them. I DO have hose clamp pliers on the boat ($10 on Amazon for 3). I love doing mods....but this one just doesn't have the need from my perspective.

 

[WREKS]

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 Are/Were you able to inspect the plastic manifold as @bthessel has suggested? I know that will be difficult without running the engine, but when the time comes....

 

[FLJetBoater]

@FLJetBoater Are/Were you able to inspect the plastic manifold as @bthessel has suggested? I know that will be difficult without running the engine, but when the time comes....

Which part are you talking about exactly? Where it exits the hull or the engine?