Help! Low Voltage Light followed by Power Loss and Surge on 2014 Yamaha 242 Ltd S

[JetBoatJacket2000]

I am in need of some guidance and help as I have only been a Jet Boat owner a year. We have 3 families coming in to visit us this week and I am having major issues with my 242. Shop is 1.5 hours away and backed up three weeks.
Here is the context:

1. Two weeks ago I didn't realize water was coming into the bilge. I ran it for skiing for about an hour and it became progressively slower. At full throttle I was only going 12mph.
2. I brought it in to my lift and check it out to find about 30 gallons of water in the bilge.
3. I immediately drained it through my main drain as well as the bilge pump and let it sit.
4. Next day took it out and pulled tubes for 2-3 hours. Seemed fine.
5. Later that day my spotter was not doing his job and I ran over a thick ski rope. I shut it off immediately, but it was in there pretty good.
6. I pulled the plugs, and was able to unravel the rope though it cut it.
7. It ran fine after that and we even trolled around and fished from the boat at idle speed that evening.
8. The next down I go to take it out as we are 200 yds from the dock and it immediately shuts down. I am pretty sure it even shut off the boat power. We were dead in the lake and I could not restart the engines. I did not have my jump box charged (bad of me) so I got a ride and came back and towed it in with my jet ski.
9. Ever since then I was getting a low voltage light and the engine sounded good, but it just wouldn't fully turn over and crank.
10. I took the batteries out (2 of them by Marine Power with 1000 cca) I have taken a pic and verified wiring is correct.
11. I put the batteries on trickle chargers for a week.
12. I came back, put them in the boat same issue.
13. Took the batteries to AutoZone...both are reading 12.6V. Says they are good.
14. Took to another mechanic...he puts a load on it and says they are each reading 12.5V with 1000cca
15. I put them back in the boat and prime the handle a bit. Eventually the boat starts with my battery indicator.
16. I leave running for 45 minutes on idle and then run through a series of off and on with no issues starting now.
17. Just to be sure I bought two new batteries, to eliminate this as an issue.
18. I pull out from the dock after starting easily. Water is coming from both pee holes on the side. All seems fine until I get about 200 yds away again and up to about 5000 rpm. At 5000rpm I seem to have a governor kick in and it stays at 5000 rpm, but throttles me down. I have greatly reduced power. I leave the throttle as is and the bottle almost surges some starts going fast and then slows down and goes up again. I just dock it.
19. So now my issue. We have 3 families coming to visit this next weekend. It would take me 4 hours to get it out of the water and to a dealer.

Anything you'd try?

Here is my thinking. Bilge pump could've worn my other batteries down deep with the water sitting in there overnight 2 weeks ago. I truly may not have been able to recover the charge?
Could this be an obstruction from the ski rope that I didn't feel in the clean out area? Could it have become further lodged when driving it? Would that cause the boat to shutdown if it lodged further? Does that explain the power loss right now?
Could this be fuel? I have used regular fuel with ethanol during the Summer when I go through a tank every weekend, but use ethanol free and Marine Stabil anytime it is sitting for a month or more. Is there a fuel filter I need to try and clean out?
I'd much rather try and fix this myself if I

 

[tdonoughue]

Hi! Sorry to hear about the trouble. A few follow up questions/ideas:
1) Did you ever figure out what filled the bilge with water in the first place?
2) The next day when you pulled the tubes--get any water in it? Did you check, or did it just not slow down on you?
3) Have you replaced the plugs? Sounds a bit odd, but these engines can be very finicky when it comes to plugs. Can cause some rather strange behavior at times.
4) I doubt it is related to sucking up a rope. I have heard of ropes cracking the fiberglass in the impeller area, but your problem doesn't seem to be water coming in any longer, but rather this odd surging, right?
5) Is the surging in one engine or both?
6) Does it do the surging on hose?
7) Any water in the oil? Check the oil to see it is oil-color and not whitish or milky or foamy.


Then we can go from there.

 

[JetBoatJacket2000]

Thanks for the quick reply.
1) Yes, sorry, important detail. Rubber boot on right water cooling line had slid back from cast pipe. I unclamped it, pulled the boot back on and reclamped it in both spots. Tested and no further water. My bilge has been virtually dry, except a little water from the ski locker from time to time the last two weeks.
2) After I had the power loss and realized there was water spraying, I fixed it per above and have zero water in it since then.
3) The spark plugs or clean out plugs? The spark plugs were new when I purchased one year ago. I have not replaced either in the year I have owned it.
4) Yes, above 5000 rpms it starts surging, but ultimately really slows down like a governor is on it.
5) Good question...I can say for sure. But the entire boat slows.
6) I haven't pulled it to just run it off a hose. How long can it run out of water on a hose to each engine?
7) I will have to go check the oil. I know the water never came that high...do you think the water could've gotten in the oil when I had all of the water in the bilge?

 

[tdonoughue]

Ok, good. So we can scratch the ongoing leak issue.

3) The spark plugs. These boats can be finicky as to spark plugs. It is nearly always one of the first things we recommend replacing when there are engine issues... Relatively cheap thing to try, and probably something you should replace every 1-2 years anyway, so you are due. I would replace those and see if it helps.
4) Ok, good. Still don't think that is related to the rope.
5) Ok. You have tachs for each, so next time it does that, take a glance at those to see whether a) the RPMs drop at all (as opposed to the boat slowing, but the RPM stays constant) and b) on which engine(s). That will be important diagnostic info.
6) Not long... Like 15 or 30 seconds (depending on how hot the engines are already). When you are running out of water, it is running without any cooling to the engines...
7) It is possible. Also possible that some mechanical failure (crack in block, etc.) would cause the issue. Either way, certainly something that can be easily ruled out with a simple oil check. Also check the air filter while you are at it. Look for any debris on the filter and whether it is wet with water or oil.

 

[sunbyrned]

I would suggest pulling the pumps just to make sure you got all of the rope out. It’s an easy process and I can post a video on how to do it if you like. I had something stuck in the impeller before and cleaned out the mess on the river. Went on my way and the boat speed didn’t match the rpm’s and the rpm’s would eventually reduce. Got home and pulled the pumps. Didn’t find any debris oddly enough, but it fixed the problem.

 

[JetBoatJacket2000]

Ok thank you all!

1. Added 8 new spark plugs
2. Air Filters are dry
3. Pulled the jet pump on the side that was affected. Found some old silicone, but no rope.
4. Oil is clear and clean
5. RPMs drop when engine looses power on right side only. Left side stays strong.

Here's to hoping it works this weekend!

 

[tdonoughue]

Excellent. The fact that it is on one side only rules out fuel issues and battery issues...

 

[WREKS]

Make sure your cleanout plugs are properly set before use!

 

[David Martin]

Make sure your cleanout plugs are properly set before use!

That happened to me as a new owner.........set plugs idled out (no problems) as I got on plane something just did not feel right port engine was running high on rpm's.....both clean out holes full of water and the tray was totally wet. The Plug never blew out but it did have a serious leak past the gaske,t I re installed the port side plug because that was the caveating side. All was back to normal.

Gaskets were clean and lubed never was sure how plug held with out a complete blow out but allowed lots of water to bypass and cavate an prop.

It was defiantly a user error on my part, has never happen since I now pay a lot more attention setting plugs