Need help - Lots of water draining from plug on '17 212X

[GoVols01]

Hey guys,

It's been a while since I've posted about this issue, but I continue to experience a high amount of water draining from the plug on my 2017 212X when it's pulled from the water after a day on the water. The boat has been to the dealer 2 times now and they've (1) resealed the stern rub rail and (2) replaced the exhaust gaskets. Each time, they've filled the hull with water from a garden hose to look for leaks on the trailer and addressed accordingly. Additionally, they've run the boat in water a bit and then left it overnight in a slip to see how much water comes out. Each time I get the boat back they tell me a gallon or so is normal and there's nothing to worry about, but I think I'm getting way more than a gallon to drain from the plug.

When we're on the water, I leave the bilge on "Auto" and have observed it cycling water overboard at times when the boat is weighed down with 8 passengers. I haven't observed this issue while it's just my family of 4 aboard. The amount of water we get has no bearing on whether we're swimming or not. The water is not coming from the deck/passengers!

Next chance I get, I plan to video the hull draining into a 5 gallon bucket to measure how much is coming out and provide this video to the dealer/Yamaha as evidence. It was my plans this last weekend, but it rained on us like crazy Saturday.

This is my 3rd runabout and I've never experienced this issue before. My other 2 boats were I/Os and I'd hardly get more than 1/4 cup of water from either one, even when they were left in the water all weekend at our dock with our houseboat.

I told the mechanic I feel like it's leaking from the shaft seals, if he can't get it to leak during a static leak test. Mechanic said that's highly unlikely, but I fail to understand his reasoning.

How much water do you guys get from your hull when you pull the plug?

 

[sunbyrned]

I get absolutely nothing coming out of my plug. It's so dry, I sometimes wonder if something is wrong with it.

 

[Ancient canoe]

My first few outings I didn't get hardly anything. After my last outing I got several gallons at least, but the bilge never kicked on. I'm not sure how much room there is before it gets to the bilge pump? My last outing the water was by far the roughest I've had the boat out. I noticed routinely when hanging out on the swim deck the rub rail being under water. I knew from this place that was a common leak spot so I was expecting something to drain. Also previously I had put a lot of water in the hull from a hose to flush out as much the loose shavings as I could. I didn't have a steep ramp at my disposal then so some of it could have also been from that. I was worried about the leaks before purchasing because it being a common issue among posters. I would certainly be more anal about it if I wet slipped or was seeing my bilge pump kick on a standard outing, but seeing as I always pull my boat out after an outing I am comfortable with what I've had.

 

[Julian]

Have you looked into the bilge with your cell phone video and light turned on to visually see if you can see where water is coming in? Some have used baby powered to help see where the water is running.

 

[Weeb]

Did you check the anchor locker drain on the bow if you have one?

 

[Julian]

Would be good to look through this thread too:
https://jetboaters.net/threads/the-ultimate-leak-finding-thread-your-opinions-are-needed.6684/

 

[GoVols01]

Did you check the anchor locker drain on the bow if you have one?

I sealed my drain completely with caulking. It's bone dry inside the locker now.

 

[2kwik4u]

My 190 has been leaking like a sieve since I bought it. I've been systematically elminating problems as I figure them out.

The cleanout tray re-seal was the biggest help. Second just behind capping all the cupholders.

Newest projects is to redo the cleanout tray AGAIN, but this time remove the tray and seal all the connections AND screws. I'm also going to be putting drains from the swim platform cupholders into the cleanout tray area. Toddler like to sit on the platform and quite literally dump buckets of water on his lap. Then we have cupholders full of water, and that soaks our coozies when we use them as cupholders. I hope to document that process as I do it.

 

[Jameson Clark]

My 212x gets a ton of water every time I take it out as well. Bilge runs numerous times a day if out for a full day. Really frustrating after my last 2 I/O's were like yours and barely took on any water.

 

[J-RAD]

Mine leaks at least a couple of gallons every outing. I never have been able to isolate the problem.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/taking-a-leak-in-public.18654/post-320773

 

[GoVols01]

I sealed around my clean-out trays as well. Removed the whole thing and carefully placed a rubber gasket on the underside of it and then screwed it back down with larger diameter screws. Also put caulking on the screws! No difference. My fear is any 2nd-hand buyer of this boat will either be spooked by this issue or try to take legal action against me for selling him a leaking boat.

 

[Ancient canoe]

I know the factory bilge pumps probably aren't in the lowest part of the bilge, but does anyone know how many gallons needs to get in before it reaches the pump?

 

[GoVols01]

Video: Mystery leak in 2017 212X

Recorded this video Saturday after I pulled the boat out from 1/2 day on the water. This time, I was finally able to measure the amount of water that came out of the hull - 5+ gallons! This crap CAN'T be normal.

I’m original owner. I’ve had this boat to my dealer 2 times to fix this issue with no resolution yet. So far, they identified leaks around the exhaust through-hull gaskets and leaks along the swim platform rub rails. Both were “fixed” yet I continue getting a large amount of water from the drain plug after day trips to the lake.

I put a rubber seal around the access panel by the clean out ports already, but it made no difference. I’m thinking it’s leaking from the shaft seals because dealer will leave it in water overnight and says there’s hardly any water the next morning. I told them it seems to occur while boat is underway, - shaft seals - but dealer says it’s impossible. I don’t understand why though.

Any ideas what else this could be? Boat is under warranty still. It’s at the dealer for the 3rd time now for this issue. If they can’t fix it this time, can I lemon law this thing? If I witnessed this from a used boat I was considering buying, I’d run! This is my concern going forward, as well as having to repair it outside of warranty terms.

 

[2kwik4u]

Video: Mystery leak in 2017 212X


Any ideas what else this could be? Boat is under warranty still. It’s at the dealer for the 3rd time now for this issue. If they can’t fix it this time, can I lemon law this thing? If I witnessed this from a used boat I was considering buying, I’d run! This is my concern going forward, as well as having to repair it outside of warranty terms.

Are your cupholders underwater when ballasted/surfing/etc? They leaked like a sieve on my '17 AR190. Remove them, put a plug on the bottom of them, and then reseal to the deck. I was floored by the amount of water that came in around the cupholders in a day. I just put some white silicone beaded around the mounting flange and re-screwed. Solved a good deal of my water intrusion issues.

Did a quick google search of what your rear swim platform looks like. I would look at resealing the radio mount, grab handles, and table leg mount while you're in the area. Yamaha's sealing strategy for their rear "wet" areas is to apparently just ignore it.

 

[Gym]

First of all @GoVols01. You are 100% correct about this water intrusion not being close to normal. Your dealers comment that a gallon a day is normal when sitting static at a slip is in insult to your intelligence.

Couple of questions:
1) Do you do watersports requiring ballast? If so is that the only time you get water?

2) Have you or dealer serviced the rear seal with grease? These have been known to distort and leak if over greased.

If there are no obvious signs of leaks I would have someone drive the boat while you stick your head in the engine compartment with hearing protection and a flashlight. I think it's highly likely, from your posts, that the shaft seal is leaking.

You can also do your own test by putting 6 to 7 gallons of water in the engine compartment, jack the trailer jack all the way up or park on a good incline. view the boat from the rear for leaks. If you find none, have someone start and run the engine for up to 30 seconds with no hose. Look for leaks coming from the jet pump area.

 

[GoVols01]

We don't try to surf behind it and I very rarely fill the ballast tanks. In fact, I filled them only once last season and once this season just to make sure they still work.

Rear cupholders and radio remote never go underwater. I don't 'drive it like I stole it', so rear steps are pretty much dry all the time, even when coming off plane.

Rear seals were greased by dealer, but I see no signs of excess grease in the area nor signs of water intrusion.

This boat is babied and sits in my garage, except when I have day trips to the lake. I'm dealing with this leak as well as a new electrical gremlin throwing error codes: GPS Comm Error; CAN4 Loss. This boat is smelling like a lemon to me.

 

[sunbyrned]

This is a wild card, but I'm curious if the screws on the seal where your impeller shaft goes into your bearing casing (I hope I'm describing this correctly.) are siliconed. Here's a pic of mine. This is not inside the engine compartment but rather the view after you take the pump off from the back of the boat. There are three screws. You'll see one screw at the top without silicone. I had to reseal it. The other two are covered up with silicone. If your's aren't siliconed, could that be a place where water could get in? I'm not sure but perhaps something to consider.

 

[2kwik4u]

We don't try to surf behind it and I very rarely fill the ballast tanks. In fact, I filled them only once last season and once this season just to make sure they still work.

Rear cupholders and radio remote never go underwater. I don't 'drive it like I stole it', so rear steps are pretty much dry all the time, even when coming off plane.

Rear seals were greased by dealer, but I see no signs of excess grease in the area nor signs of water intrusion.

This boat is babied and sits in my garage, except when I have day trips to the lake. I'm dealing with this leak as well as a new electrical gremlin throwing error codes: GPS Comm Error; CAN4 Loss. This boat is smelling like a lemon to me.

Good info. Rear cupholders and platform area are probably not the culprit then. I don't drive mine like I stole it either, but have a 16mo old little boy that likes to dump 2gal buckets of water on himself while sitting on the upper step at anchor. It's very cute, but will seriously test your rear sealing capabilities!

Wonder if the infrequent use of the ballast has something blocked open, or dry rotted loose/free in there? I know VERY little of that system, however have heard that some of the pumps are supposed to function as valves, and if mounted improperly can let water seep in/past them. Perhaps there is something with that system that isn't working/sealing properly?

 

[MidnightRider]

Hey guys,

It's been a while since I've posted about this issue, but I continue to experience a high amount of water draining from the plug on my 2017 212X when it's pulled from the water after a day on the water. The boat has been to the dealer 2 times now and they've (1) resealed the stern rub rail and (2) replaced the exhaust gaskets. Each time, they've filled the hull with water from a garden hose to look for leaks on the trailer and addressed accordingly. Additionally, they've run the boat in water a bit and then left it overnight in a slip to see how much water comes out. Each time I get the boat back they tell me a gallon or so is normal and there's nothing to worry about, but I think I'm getting way more than a gallon to drain from the plug.

When we're on the water, I leave the bilge on "Auto" and have observed it cycling water overboard at times when the boat is weighed down with 8 passengers. I haven't observed this issue while it's just my family of 4 aboard. The amount of water we get has no bearing on whether we're swimming or not. The water is not coming from the deck/passengers!

Next chance I get, I plan to video the hull draining into a 5 gallon bucket to measure how much is coming out and provide this video to the dealer/Yamaha as evidence. It was my plans this last weekend, but it rained on us like crazy Saturday.

This is my 3rd runabout and I've never experienced this issue before. My other 2 boats were I/Os and I'd hardly get more than 1/4 cup of water from either one, even when they were left in the water all weekend at our dock with our houseboat.

I told the mechanic I feel like it's leaking from the shaft seals, if he can't get it to leak during a static leak test. Mechanic said that's highly unlikely, but I fail to understand his reasoning.

How much water do you guys get from your hull when you pull the plug?

I have the same boat as you so I'll just throw this out there as a possibility cause it was what was causing my water in the bilge issue.
What was happening was when I stopped the wall of water hitting the back of the boat was force water up the clean out tray drain. This filled the clean out tray with water which normally is no big deal as it just fills the clean out holes and the the rest drains back out. The issue was the sealing around the the clean out tray panel (the one with all the screws around it). It was a piss poor sealing job. I uninstalled that panel, scraped all the inadequate old silicone off and re-sealed it. I also put some silicone around the clean out tubes before I re-installed the panel. No more excessive water in the bilge.

 

[tdonoughue]

Seems like that much water would be from more than a little silicone missing from one screw in a fitting... But worth a look, I suppose. I agree with @Gym that the drive shaft seals are suspect at this point. If I am reading correctly, it leaks when running but probably not as much when not.

Yamaha's seem to be very hit or miss on this point. We have had people who have had to hunt and seal multiple leaks and others (like me) for whom it is basically bone dry right from the factory.

On the rear tray thingy: I removed the silicone and replaced it with a thin weatherstripping. I remove it too often to always mess with the silicone. No regrets.