Overheating TR1 AR210

[xeppy]

Hello all,

Was out on the water yesterday and was having really weird issues. A little background on the boat.. it is a new to us 2018 AR210 with about 50 hours on it. It had it's 10 hour maintenance and then nothing since then unfortunately by the previous owner. I replaced oil (which was awful) and oil filters and planning to have a full look over by our local dealer later this season.

Took it out once for a day and had no issues, ran great. Took it out for our second time yesterday with the only change being that I installed cobra jets. (I don't think they are related in anyway).

After about 10-15 minutes at no wake speeds we had an engine alarm go off for starboard with the error YDIS code: 1 OBDS code: SPN 0. We turned the starboard engine off and putted back to a cove about 100 feet from the launch and just anchored so we could still enjoy the day. I noticed before turning the starboard engine off that only 1 side water indicator outlet was. Before putting back we tried letting it cooldown and then try again, the water indicator outlet for starboard would start with water coming out at about 50% of port then eventually taper off to nothing or a slow drip.

Fast forward 3 hours or so in our cove and anchored I turned both engines on for about 5 minutes at idle and was getting water out of both outlets but starboard still only coming out about 70-80% of port. Went on a short ride and put some RPMs through it up to about 25 mph and both indicators were pushing large streams. And everything running normal at speed. We think whatever issue has cleared itself out and that made some mud wasps got flushed out or so.

Start trolling down the river again for 30 minutes or so keeping an eye on the water outlets, both flowing.... Go to hand my son off to the wife and then check again... Only 1 indicator flowing (this is after a long no wake speed session again) and seconds later we get an engine overheat warning but this time on port... Turn it off and trot back to dock on one engine again, after letting it cool a while we turned it back on with no error and got it up to 25 or so again with water gushing out of both indicators and ran fine. Decided to stay in the cove next to dock the rest of the day just in case.

Long story short, engine overheat warnings both engines but at different times, water indicator not flowing for the overheat engine. Only happens after low speed trots (5mph or less). Once cooled can turn it back on and drive at high speed/RPM with absolutely no issue.

The only thing we can correlate it too is my fat ass (roughly 270) was on the side opposite of the overheating engine both times and my wife on the other side, perhaps enough weight to bring the jet water intake slightly above water but I highly doubt it. Did a visual inspection on the water intakes nothing over the white screens or anything visible.

We have an appointment Aug 10th at our local dealer to get it checked but we are at a loss otherwise. The most confusing part is it runs like a top at high RPMs and only has issues after long bouts of no wake speeds.

Appreciate any help as we are a little nervous to take it out with overheating issues before it gets to a dealer.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Since you were sitting on the opposite side of the overheating engine both times you have already solved your issue, kudos to you for being observant. If you can repeat this again by moving to each side and make the pilot circuit water stop flowing then for sure your location on the boat is what is doing it. Also, the fact you can cruise at speed without issue further confirms that that your issue is where you are sitting at low speed.

I think you should:
Pull the filter blocks off on the side of the jet pumps and inspect them for any build up of crud on the inside.
Did you ever check the clean out ports?
Did you try putting the boat on the hose? Do both engines run okay without over heating?

Again, if the boat will run on the hose without overheating, which is akin to no wake speed, then your issue is where you are sitting.

Take it out and test by just looking a the pilot circuit water output. What is probably happening is that the boat is listing and allowing some air to get into the pump, this will dramatically lower the pressure in the pump where the intake screen is. If you confirm that your position the on boat eliminates the opposite sides pilot circuit water flow than you have confirmed the issue without dropping an over heat alarm.

 

[tdonoughue]

Was the boat previously in fresh water or salt water (that you know)?

Full respect to @FSH 210 Sport (and agree with the steps he outlines), but I don't think your position on the boat will ultimately show you the issue. I am wondering if the prior owner ran it in salt and did not salt-away. If the oil was that bad, he may have really done nothing with it and left you with a bunch of salt buildup in the blocks.

But do the steps above--those are the quick check things. Then we will go from there...

 

[xeppy]

Thank you two. I pulled the water intake filter screen right after posting on port just to see if there was remotely anything and it looked clean as could be. I ran it on the hose for about 10 minutes a side and had a solid stream the entire time and no issues.

So we took it out back to the river and no issues today. Got it up to 39 WOT, no issues at low speeds and the water outlets flowed normal today at all speeds. Must have been a weird fluke of me being in captains chair, wife and kids in front port bow and it perhaps just kept pulling it enough out of the water that maybe it got a weird air lock. Don't have much explanation for the original starboard when the wife was driving because my fat ass was all over putting away lines and fenders but it ran great today.

Thanks for the help! I will update if it comes back and we will still probably get it checked around August 10th by our dealer. We are in Portland OR area and we bought it from a Vancouver family that sounded like they mostly did Willamette boating but it would not surprise me if he took it into salt water and didn't flush it well given the oil situation... So we will probably have it looked over anyways and get some cleats tightened.

If it turns out my weight is just pulling it up enough to cause an airlock at slow speeds then I'll just throw some steel shot in each rear seat compartment.

 

[drewkaree]

First, what do you have? Your thread says an AR210, but your profile says you have a 212. If it had its 10 hour service, then it's only 40 hours that the boat's been used. That's not really "used", IMO, for a 2018. You've changed the oil again, which would be reasonable after an additional 40 hours, so beyond that, spark plugs would really be the only other thing that I would be looking at replacing or doing to the boat, and you're not in bad shape whatsoever with what you said you've done, and what you believe has been done to the boat. Hard to picture "awful" oil after 40 hours, but you'll have a better gauge as to what it will look like after your personal 40 hours, and I think you'll look back on it a bit differently at that point. You're new to the boat, it's used, and you're a bit out of sorts with what happened. You've got this, we're here for you, and I think you'll really enjoy your experience with this boat. Just make sure to change whatever needs to be changed in your profile so we can give you some better targeted advice.

You are correct, your steering fins are not related to your problem in any way.

While it's possible that your position in the boat could contribute, I highly doubt this is the case. You said your wife was on the other side both times, so she would balance out your fatassery. It also wouldn't make sense for Yamaha to design a boat that required 2 people to be on the boat at all times, counterbalancing the other. My final bit of reasoning on this is that your boat is 1 year older than mine - IF you have an AR210 - and my wife and I can both be on the same side of the boat with nothing close to the issues you're having. While your human ballast may be contributing to the problem, my money is on the primary issue being something elsewhere.

While you're fixing your profile, add your location as well. It may help trigger some ideas in the future if you need more help, like @tdonoughue's thought about salt clogging your passages. I hadn't even thought of it, being in fresh water, as it's not something I'd even come across.

So @FSH 210 Sport mentioned several items. You said you checked the intake filter screen, with no issues. You did not relay whether or not you checked the cleanout ports. When you're on the water with an overheat alarm, the cleanout ports are the first thing to check. While you may not have seen/felt anything on the impeller shaft, keep going past that with your hands, until you feel the intake grates. There is a bar & grill I take my boat to, that's weedy enough that it will pack the intake grates to the point where it will not allow enough water through, and trip the overheat alarm just like you are describing. I have had others hit the cleanout plugs to pull the weeds for me, and come back empty-handed, only for me to go back there, knowing what I now know, and pull huge handfuls of weeds off the intake grates. To me, this sounds like what happened to you. After you shut down the engine, there was no longer any suction, and everything slowly fell off the intake grate. I could be 100% wrong, only you can verify if you checked both the impeller shaft AND the intake grate, for BOTH cleanout ports.

If you think it's possible that you had/have mud daubers in your intake lines, that's an easy thing to check for, although it'll be a bit time-consuming and possibly require some contortions on your part. Look around here for info on where your intake lines are in the boat (Look for the Y-valve), and feel along those hoses to see if it feels like there's anything in them. Once you lay eyes on the hoses, you may wish to pull them out and check them outside of the boat just in case there are any creepy-crawlies in there, and flush them off the boat so that you're not running all that debris through your engine, possibly causing bigger problems. Not sure if the clamps are different in your boat, if I recall, a pair of pliers is all you would need to remove the clamps and pull the hose. If you, personally, replaced the oil, then you're already starting to realize how nice these boats are to work on. Like I said, there may be some contortions required, but you may want to check this yourself for peace of mind.

Welcome!

 

[HangOutdoors]

Thank you two. I pulled the water intake filter screen right after posting on port just to see if there was remotely anything and it looked clean as could be. I ran it on the hose for about 10 minutes a side and had a solid stream the entire time and no issues.

So we took it out back to the river and no issues today. Got it up to 39 WOT, no issues at low speeds and the water outlets flowed normal today at all speeds. Must have been a weird fluke of me being in captains chair, wife and kids in front port bow and it perhaps just kept pulling it enough out of the water that maybe it got a weird air lock. Don't have much explanation for the original starboard when the wife was driving because my fat ass was all over putting away lines and fenders but it ran great today.

Thanks for the help! I will update if it comes back and we will still probably get it checked around August 10th by our dealer. We are in Portland OR area and we bought it from a Vancouver family that sounded like they mostly did Willamette boating but it would not surprise me if he took it into salt water and didn't flush it well given the oil situation... So we will probably have it looked over anyways and get some cleats tightened.

If it turns out my weight is just pulling it up enough to cause an airlock at slow speeds then I'll just throw some steel shot in each rear seat compartment.

Something was on the intake grate or somewhere in the water cooling system. It has nothing to do with where you were sitting. You could put alot of poeple on one side and it won't lift the pump/water intake out of the water. I am loaded up all the time with people sitting in the front and never have an issue.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Glad to see that you and the fam had a great day on the water with no issues !

I had not considered possible salt buildup in the engine as @tdonoughue mentioned…how does / do the pump components and anodes look? Any corrosion to speak of?

You will want to pull the clean out plugs and put some silicone spray on them to keep them operating smoothly, and as @drewkaree mentions, anytime there is a pilot circuit flow / overheat problem the first thing you check is your clean outs. Theres a vid done by Jet Boat Pilot showing how in knee deep water the jet pumps are sucking up sand off the bottom, they are powerful vacuums and will suck up anything that comes their way…

I believe oil change #2 is supposed to happen at 50 hours, being that the oil was nasty which probably has more to do with oxidation than carbon loading, I’d keep an eye on it and see how quickly it gets dirty. Your next change will be at 100 hours I think, then 100 hour intervals after that. Depending on how dirty it gets and how quickly which would be the new oils detergents cleaning up the engines if there was stuff in there to get cleaned up another change might be in order, but my guess this would not be the case with the low hours on the engines. Be sure not to overfill the oil level, that can lead to oil fouling of your air cleaners and decreased engine performance.

There is a ton of info on this site, use the search engine and you will be amazed at the plethora of experience here on these boats. They are relatively easy to work on and simple in their operation.

Again, stoked to hear that you had a successful outing with no issues!

 

[xeppy]

Thanks a ton for all the help everyone. @drewkaree I updated my profile now. I had made this when I was doing research before purchasing and had that as a place holder.

When we got the warning I did check the cleanout ports but not the actual impeller and grate itself (oops) I just checked that they were seated correctly because I called my local dealer in the water and they said sometimes you can lose a vacuum if they arent. The errors came after putting for about 15-30 minutes in probably 100 feet of river channel so no big weed patches or anything and it's hard to believe we did the same thing twice on different sides ?‍ but of course always possible. I found a random picture with the anode in it and I believe it looks pretty mint so I am hoping and guessing the previous owners were not big salt water users. I went WOT for a bit yesterday in hopes that if there were any crawlies or bugs in the system that it would give them a nice water slide out. Got to 39 with almost a full tank of gas and choppy water so if it would of overheated I am guessing it would've done it there again.

Next time around I will definitely check down in there and feel around the impeller rod and the water intake now that I have a better sense of geography down there.

My wife and I both thought it would be a pretty big design flaw for 1 husky man to throw off the whole boat (I mean what if I was driving solo...) But it was the only variable we could attribute it too. We are hoping after yesterday whatever was going on has worked itself out as I searched the codes and a lot of people never figured it out and just kind of waited it out and resolved itself.

The oil was probably "usable"when I took out the old stuff and though it only had 40 hours, it had not been changed since October of 2018. So maybe oxidation? Anyways it made me feel much better to get a fresh filter and oil in there and I will definitely be doing yearly changes regardless of hours. Next up on my to-do list is spark plugs.

I am just glad we got the 210, and was half the reason I sold my anxious wife on it. It was nice to know we could limp back on the other engine when having an issue. She would have already sold the boat if it was a single engine and we had that issue. ?

 

[Dixemon]

Not sure if this was mentioned. Pull your thermostats, check for debris. Leave them off and run the motors on the hose for 3-4 minutes to allow any sediment to purge. Reinstall, then take it out for a spin and see if you still get over-temps.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Thanks a ton for all the help everyone. @drewkaree I updated my profile now. I had made this when I was doing research before purchasing and had that as a place holder.

When we got the warning I did check the cleanout ports but not the actual impeller and grate itself (oops) I just checked that they were seated correctly because I called my local dealer in the water and they said sometimes you can lose a vacuum if they arent. The errors came after putting for about 15-30 minutes in probably 100 feet of river channel so no big weed patches or anything and it's hard to believe we did the same thing twice on different sides ?‍ but of course always possible. I found a random picture with the anode in it and I believe it looks pretty mint so I am hoping and guessing the previous owners were not big salt water users. I went WOT for a bit yesterday in hopes that if there were any crawlies or bugs in the system that it would give them a nice water slide out. Got to 39 with almost a full tank of gas and choppy water so if it would of overheated I am guessing it would've done it there again. View attachment 184170

Next time around I will definitely check down in there and feel around the impeller rod and the water intake now that I have a better sense of geography down there.

My wife and I both thought it would be a pretty big design flaw for 1 husky man to throw off the whole boat (I mean what if I was driving solo...) But it was the only variable we could attribute it too. We are hoping after yesterday whatever was going on has worked itself out as I searched the codes and a lot of people never figured it out and just kind of waited it out and resolved itself.

The oil was probably "usable"when I took out the old stuff and though it only had 40 hours, it had not been changed since October of 2018. So maybe oxidation? Anyways it made me feel much better to get a fresh filter and oil in there and I will definitely be doing yearly changes regardless of hours. Next up on my to-do list is spark plugs.

I am just glad we got the 210, and was half the reason I sold my anxious wife on it. It was nice to know we could limp back on the other engine when having an issue. She would have already sold the boat if it was a single engine and we had that issue. ?

View attachment 184175

looks super clean!!!!!

 

[drewkaree]

When we got the warning I did check the cleanout ports but not the actual impeller and grate itself (oops) I just checked that they were seated correctly because I called my local dealer in the water and they said sometimes you can lose a vacuum if they arent. The errors came after putting for about 15-30 minutes in probably 100 feet of river channel so no big weed patches or anything and it's hard to believe we did the same thing twice on different sides ?‍ but of course always possible.

Floaters, a bag, some odd thing, anything that will cover your intake grate and limit your flow will cause this. It also doesn't take long. Here's the creek. By the time I make the turn out to the lake (or possibly on the way in) is enough distance to crap everything up. You can't hear the banjo's, but don't stop moving forward!




Here's an easy test, next time out, take a different path, or have the wife throw on some polarized glasses, head up front, and look over the starboard side if you can find the same area. If she sees some possibilities, it might happen again, and you just learned to be careful around that area. If it doesn't happen again, you picked up something on the intakes, and you'll know the next time it happens to reach WAAAAAY down in there to clean off the intakes. One final possibility that's been reported on the forums if it's NOT weedy is running some sea life through the area.