WREKS
Jetboaters Lieutenant
- Messages
- 1,166
- Reaction score
- 473
- Points
- 167
- Location
- Port Saint Lucie, Florida
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2007
- Boat Model
- SX
- Boat Length
- 23
After pulling cylinder heads on both engines and cleaning out the bio-fouled mess in the cylinder water jackets and the oil coolers, we made a test run this last Tuesday from the boat ramp on the C24 canal to Sewall's Point. It is about a ten mile run. Ran most of it at 7K with no overheating. I have to digress.
We would have gone farther but the boat started acting strange, bogging down and all at once it made a hard digging turn to starboard. Looking down at my wife in the passenger seat I thought it might roll but it came to rest heavy on the port side. I was stunned. Could not process what had happened. After a few moments my wife asked me, "Aren't you supposed to shut the engines down in shallow water?" I had missed the channel markers and climbed up a sand bar going about 30mph.
Luckily, the event took place a low tide, so upon making arrangements to be tugged off the sand hill, they were put on standby until more water was under the hull. At first the boat would not budge, but as the tide came in it started to move. Once it became level and more buoyant we called back for the tow. When we got pulled off, the engines started right up and, not missing any markers, we made the ten mile return run at 7K with no overheating. We ended up having a rather pleasant afternoon. After all, a sandbar is a pleasant place to spend some time.
Back to the point: Though running aground, the boat has never run better. No overheats. I attributed that to keeping the internals of the cooling system dry. Once the engines are flushed. There is still residual water in the cooling system. One might be able to blow some water out of the exhaust pipes, by revving the engines, but to prevent bio-fouling the cooling systems must dry out. I have started running the engines, periodically, in No-Wake mode, about 2200rpm, for 60 flashes, about 73 seconds, without any cooling water. That does not dry out the oil cooler, but definitely dries out the cooling water jackets in the cylinder head. As of yet, I have had no overheat warnings issued using this method.
I was concerned that I might have ingested some sand when I ran aground, but I have used this drying out process twice since the grounding event, and no overheats have occurred.
We would have gone farther but the boat started acting strange, bogging down and all at once it made a hard digging turn to starboard. Looking down at my wife in the passenger seat I thought it might roll but it came to rest heavy on the port side. I was stunned. Could not process what had happened. After a few moments my wife asked me, "Aren't you supposed to shut the engines down in shallow water?" I had missed the channel markers and climbed up a sand bar going about 30mph.
Luckily, the event took place a low tide, so upon making arrangements to be tugged off the sand hill, they were put on standby until more water was under the hull. At first the boat would not budge, but as the tide came in it started to move. Once it became level and more buoyant we called back for the tow. When we got pulled off, the engines started right up and, not missing any markers, we made the ten mile return run at 7K with no overheating. We ended up having a rather pleasant afternoon. After all, a sandbar is a pleasant place to spend some time.
Back to the point: Though running aground, the boat has never run better. No overheats. I attributed that to keeping the internals of the cooling system dry. Once the engines are flushed. There is still residual water in the cooling system. One might be able to blow some water out of the exhaust pipes, by revving the engines, but to prevent bio-fouling the cooling systems must dry out. I have started running the engines, periodically, in No-Wake mode, about 2200rpm, for 60 flashes, about 73 seconds, without any cooling water. That does not dry out the oil cooler, but definitely dries out the cooling water jackets in the cylinder head. As of yet, I have had no overheat warnings issued using this method.
I was concerned that I might have ingested some sand when I ran aground, but I have used this drying out process twice since the grounding event, and no overheats have occurred.
