Port engine has vibration over 3k rpms

[Konrad 124]

Hi everyone,

My family just boat a 2007 Yamaha SX230 couple months back. Previous owners had yearly maintenance done on the boat. We went to the lake a couple times already but the most recent time we had a problem with the port side engine.

The boat was running fine in the morning, no problems. As the day went by, we stopped at a sand bar and hung out for about 45 minutes. The ground was more like very soft muddy sand type material. As you would stand, your feet would sink in the sand up to your ankle. There was some branches and rocks as the bottom as well.

As we started to leave, the port engine started to have some major vibration around the 3k-4k rpms range. The starboard side engine had no issues, running normal. But the port side was having this problem.

Upon doing some research, could there be some kind of debris stuck in the jet pump assembly?

Let me know if you guys have any ideas of what could be the problem.

 

[Acard7]

More than likely you sucked something up into the pump. The vibration is a normal symptom to cavitation from something being stuck in the pump. You can pull the clean out plugs to check the impellers by feeling around and trying to dislodge whatever is in there. I have a small pocket knife I always take back with me if I need a little leverage. If you can’t get it dislodged you’d have to pull the boat out look/reach through the intake grates or pull the affected pump to get it out!

 

[Konrad 124]

More than likely you sucked something up into the pump. The vibration is a normal symptom to cavitation from something being stuck in the pump. You can pull the clean out plugs to check the impellers by feeling around and trying to dislodge whatever is in there. I have a small pocket knife I always take back with me if I need a little leverage. If you can’t get it dislodged you’d have to pull the boat out look/reach through the intake grates or pull the affected pump to get it out!

I have checked the clean out plugs for any kind of debris. I wasn’t able to find anything but I will check more in depth since the boat is now out of the water.

I also didn’t see anything in the intake grates after first inspection but will look into this again.

 

[itsdgm]

I have checked the clean out plugs for any kind of debris. I wasn’t able to find anything but I will check more in depth since the boat is now out of the water.

I also didn’t see anything in the intake grates after first inspection but will look into this again.

Something as tiny as a piece of fishing line wrapped around the shaft can cause this. If the engines are running, these pumps are always sucking, like a vacuum cleaner. So running them in very shallow water can easily suck up debris. Hope you figure it out soon.

 

[Konrad 124]

Into further inspection, the following photos were taken and it looks like a piece of wood was stuck on the impeller. Was able to get it out so now just have to test it to see if the issue was fixed.

 

[David Martin]

Might want to repair the missing fiberglass chunks that some debris caused.....just to the left of the wood chunk.