Oops, bad engine flush!

[Zarrella]

Mel....nice analogy where I come from in South Florida, we would have gone outside found someone to shoot and dragged them back into the house!

 

[sdynak]

I think you should sell it to me for a buck .. Really we have all done it and as everyone mentioned it takes much longer if it even could happen in a situation like this.. I would not want to "test" it for a long time though. Companies would not build something that sensitive.. it would be a nightmare with everyone lined up looking for motors.

Not to hijack the thread but good to see everyone over here.. My 232 Limited is sold but I hope I can still be accepted here.. Getting a 2014 Sunstream 240WB with a 200 Yamaha OB if it counts .. Sneak peak of the boat at the dealer arrived last weekend. Waiting for prep.

 

[Julian]

@sdynak We'll let you hang out with us! You have a Yamaha outboard....close enough! LOL

 

[JustinJAW]

I've done this before....no worries! I'm not even sure a garden hose has the pressure necessary to backfill the exhaust! That would be an interesting test for someone to perform! My bet is not a chance in hell it could!

I went water skiing one day, and had a friend drive my boat. So I'm back there and he keeps taking off, and I can't get up. I ask him...are you throttling up BOTH engines dude? He says "Yup!" So I'm scratching my head, getting exhausted and say I'll try one more time (slalom). And this time I watch carefully and see only one jet wash.....

I say "DUDE...you are only throttling up ONE ENGINE!!!"
He says "no way...I'm pushing both throttles up!!!!"
I say "did you start BOTH ENGINES?"
"uh.....whoops....." (he was used to single engine boats)

Suffice to say, we tried like 4-5 times to get me up on one engine and the non-running engine never got any water into it. Imagine the water pressure that was coming from that as compared to a hose.

Not to say it couldn't happen.....but my bet is on a normal pressure hose....no way.

FYI: just got a jet boat and was not flushing correctly ran water with engine off for 5+ mins. Saw this thread and could not sleep. Checked everything and no water. I think you are right about a normal hose not having enough pressure.

 

[smthng]

Wanted to point out that hydrolock isn't always "instant death" to all engines. I've seen many Jeeps and motorcycles (and a few Toyotas trying to follow Jeeps and motorcycles) die from water ingestion and all survive. We've drowned many a running Jeep and resurrected every one that someone didn't try to start... with the gearing on some Jeeps, you can break a driveshaft with the starter if you hold your tongue just right.

If you're at low speed or idle, it should just stall instantly... no coughing or sputtering, just "thunk" and it stops. That's not enough to break anything on most engines... Since ours are basically motorcycle engines without all the grams shaved off for weight savings, I think they can handle it if they had to. As long as you don't try to start it again, it should be fine. Honestly, I don't think our starters are strong enough to do any damage either. As other's have mentioned, if you do get water in an engine, pull all the plugs, remove the safety bungie thing, get everyone clear of the back of the boat (it sprays everywhere with plugs out) and turn it over for 10-15 seconds. That'll clear it all out. Reinstall plugs, run it real gently back to port and drain all the oil as soon as possible... it'll probably have water in it and that can cause massive damage if left in there for more than a few hours without it running. Usually, we'll buy a couple cases of the cheapest oil we can find, do two or three changes in a row with that plus some Seafoam, then do a final change putting in a good filter and real oil.

I'm not saying it's healthy and there's no way I'd want to demonstrate this with my engines, but an idle-speed hydrolock is usually just a mess and a lot of extra work. It's when you get water in there at a few thousand RPM that important metal bits go pop... you will definitely know if that happens. :S

 

[Stevenpigsooie]

Did this today for 3-4 seconds while changing the oil. Not a good feeling. Everything seems okay. I’m blaming it on the corona.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

It takes a while for the water boxes to fill and then back feed to the engine so forgetaboutit.

 

[buckbuck]

Yep, you're fine @Stevenpigsooie

 

[Beachbummer]

in a past boat I tried to start a 2 cycle engine (Rotax 717) that was hydrolocked. Once I realized what was going on I cleaned out the water, and ran the engine a good while. It was of no consequence. We know you were NOT hydro locked if everything worked fine, but it's also not an immediate granade/death sentence in most cases when you start with the engine off.

Good news: Don't sweat it, you are just fine.

 

[rkgdmd]

I've always wondered how long you had to shut the water if your engine died or cut out unexpectedly. This place is the death of so many jet boat "urban legends". You should have seen how excited and emphatic my dealer was when telling me how to flush the engines. He made it seem that leaving the water on even 2 or 3 seconds after the engine quit would lead to catastrophic and complete failure of the engine. Lol.

That brings up another question I always wondered about. How many stories have you heard where the motor hydrolocked from running on one engine or being towed faster than idle speed? After having lost my intake water filter assembly, it seems so unlikely that moving the boat through the water could possibly generate enough pressure to flood the engine. The hole for the water faces aft and is recessed into the jet nozzle so that it's not directly in the stream of water flowing past it. As a matter of fact, it seems like there would be a negative pressure created by the flow of water away from the intake opening.

Has there been a change in the water intake position over the years and the recommendation not to run on one engine quickly a "holdover"?

 

[adrianp89]

I've always wondered how long you had to shut the water if your engine died or cut out unexpectedly. This place is the death of so many jet boat "urban legends". You should have seen how excited and emphatic my dealer was when telling me how to flush the engines. He made it seem that leaving the water on even 2 or 3 seconds after the engine quit would lead to catastrophic and complete failure of the engine. Lol.

That brings up another question I always wondered about. How many stories have you heard where the motor hydrolocked from running on one engine or being towed faster than idle speed? After having lost my intake water filter assembly, it seems so unlikely that moving the boat through the water could possibly generate enough pressure to flood the engine. The hole for the water faces aft and is recessed into the jet nozzle so that it's not directly in the stream of water flowing past it. As a matter of fact, it seems like there would be a negative pressure created by the flow of water away from the intake opening.

Has there been a change in the water intake position over the years and the recommendation not to run on one engine quickly a "holdover"?

You think they would just install a valve that only opens when the engine is running, letting water in. Otherwise when the engine is off, the valve would remain shut.

 

[Zonie]

That's a great MOD I'm surprised no one has tried that. You could install a couple of automotive electric water heater valves. Probably easier just to remember to turn the hose on and off though.

 

[robert cabrerea]

You are fine dont do it again. Or no more jet boat for you young man! Lol jk

 

[wwallacep]

I'd like to add that there is a sensor on the top of the intake manifold, remove the screw and remove the sensor. Put your oil pump extractor in there and suck out all of that water. Do not try to actually start the motor on a TR-1 until you do this. after that and all of the water is out of the cylinders, dry off all the plugs and it should crank up. Run it (with the water on) for about 7 minutes then check the oil, if its milky change oil and filter again.

and remember engine on water on, water off engine off. I learned the hard way. RTFM.