Starter Relay from sucking up rocks on 2018 Yamaha 242 Limited S E

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

So I just read this and the first thing that came to mind was that the starter was actually locked up or jammed into the flywheel, due to the fact that the engine was locked when you tried to restart it . The solenoid is just a relay switch to carry the required amperage to the starter motor.

 

[Sbrown]

It is the current flowing through you that kills or harms you. 20 amps at 12 volts is far more dangerous than 1 amp at 240 volts. For arguments sake lets say you cut only the positive wire going to a starter, grab onto each bare end with each hand and then tell someone to crank it. Your next of kin would be getting called. Current is drawn through a circuit. Don’t become part of a cicuit that current is getting drawn through. AC is a bit different but the current thing stays the same. If you touch a live bus bar on a household electrical panel with only one hand while wearing sneakers you will get a good shock. If you take off the sneakers and do the same thing on concrete hopefully there is someone right there to flying tackle you to the ground. As for fire if something that is melting or sparking comes into contact with something flammable you get the picture.

Everything I am saying is of course worse case and rare. Please be careful when working with and around electricity.

Sorry, but I disagree. 1 amp at 240v is WAY more dangerous than even 700 amps at 12 volts. The reason is simple, 12 volts is not enough electrical pressure to push the amperage through your body. When you touch both terminals of a 12v battery, you create a complete circuit through your body and if 12v was enough to shock you, this would be the time. There's a full 500-700 amps available, but 12 volts won't get it done. 240 volts, however, is plenty and it's true that it only takes 1/4 of an amp to stop your heart so 1 amp at 240v is plenty to kill you. Your body is effectively a big resistor. If you cut the starter wire and hold both ends and tell someone to hit the starter, absolutely nothing is going to happen. You wont get shocked, the starter wont turn, nothing. The 240v 1 amp is far more likely to kill you. Just for reference, a static electric shock is about 10,000 v, but is only a micro amp so not enough amperage to do much to you.

The starter relay in this case does not carry the full amperage draw of the starter; it's used as a control device by the Ecu to activate the starter solenoid which simultaneously engages the starter bendix and supplies full battery amperage to the starter motor itself, causing it to turn and thereby turn the engine over. The starter solenoid is controlled by the relay; which is in turn controlled by a low side control signal from the Ecu.

 

[Jaylex]

@Lion were you out in Havasu? Site 6?

 

[Lion]

Me being a Lineman and working with high voltages everyday, I will chime in here.
Although a 12 volt battery has enough amps to kill you, it doesn’t have enough voltage to push those amps through the body. It’s not conductive enough.
I will also say that while any amount of current over 0.01 is capable of producing painful to severe shock, currents between 0.1 to 0.2 amps are can be deadly.
It only takes 1 - 4.3 volts to cause ventricular fibrillation.
Always respect electricity. 120 volts has killed more people than higher voltages.

 

[Lion]

@Lion were you out in Havasu? Site 6?

Hey Jaylex,

This happened in the beginning of Sept.
We were actually at Windsor. Getting ready to exit the river.
I haven’t been back since. Only to take the boat back to storage after it
was repaired.
Hope all is well with you and your fiancé. Say hello to her for us.

 

[Lion]

So I just read this and the first thing that came to mind was that the starter was actually locked up or jammed into the flywheel, due to the fact that the engine was locked when you tried to restart it . The solenoid is just a relay switch to carry the required amperage to the starter motor.

Hey Jeff,
So from what I was told, he said that there is a little black relay before the solenoid.
That it’s there for the protection of the motors. Each side has its own relay.
So when I asked if they can show me where it’s at Incase it was to happen again,
They said they couldn’t show me. For me to just bring it back in.
I told them that I could fix it myself and save them the time and trouble but they were not willing to show me what it looked like or where it’s located.
My boat is in Storage so next time I get to it, I will follow Neutron’s suggestion and trace the starter wire from the starter to the relay.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Interesting you can look on the parts list to see where it is located, https://www.yamahasportsplaza.com/oemparts/a/yam/59b6ab4c87a8661154940557/electrical-1
21
Starter Relay Assy (2768102-A)

1B7-81940-00-00

$57.91

 

[Mainah]

@Lion and @Sbrown are of course correct when it comes to how electricity kills. Yes someone can touch both terminals of a 12v battery and not feel a thing as dry skin has a high resistance and no current is being drawn. You can even put yourself in the middle of most 12 volt dc circuits and feel very little to nothing. What I was attempting to convey is that a high current inductive load changes things greatly if you are the biggest value resistor in that circuit and the power source has enough potentionial energy. All of this follows ohms law.

As @Lion put it, respect electricity.

 

[Jaylex]

Hey Jaylex,

This happened in the beginning of Sept.
We were actually at Windsor. Getting ready to exit the river.
I haven’t been back since. Only to take the boat back to storage after it
was repaired.
Hope all is well with you and your fiancé. Say hello to her for us.

Ahhh, ok, some of those launch areas can get shallow around this time of the year.

Not sure about Havasu (havent been since July) but Lake Mohave upriver near Laughlin where ive been going out more was down at least 5 ft last time I went out a few weeks ago for some sort of fish hatching they do every year for some endangered species of fish they have hatcheries.

Anyways I think this time of the year is always a lil more shallow.

Glad you got it all sorted out. Assume you went to the local dealer out there..HPS?

I'll tell Sandy (wife now)...please do the same to your family.

 

[Lion]

Interesting you can look on the parts list to see where it is located, https://www.yamahasportsplaza.com/oemparts/a/yam/59b6ab4c87a8661154940557/electrical-1
21
Starter Relay Assy (2768102-A)

1B7-81940-00-00

$57.91

Hey Jeff,

Yes now that I know what it is that needed to be replaced, I can go to the parts list.
I was actually wondering why they wouldn’t just show me when I asked being that I was there at the dealers shop.
Before taking it to the shop, I actually checked to see if any fuses had blown but they were all good. That’s when I decided to take it in.

 

[Lion]

Ahhh, ok, some of those launch areas can get shallow around this time of the year.

Not sure about Havasu (havent been since July) but Lake Mohave upriver near Laughlin where ive been going out more was down at least 5 ft last time I went out a few weeks ago for some sort of fish hatching they do every year for some endangered species of fish they have hatcheries.

Anyways I think this time of the year is always a lil more shallow.

Glad you got it all sorted out. Assume you went to the local dealer out there..HPS?

I'll tell Sandy (wife now)...please do the same to your family.

Congratulations to the both of you!
Will see you out there next season!

 

[Lion]

Interesting you can look on the parts list to see where it is located, https://www.yamahasportsplaza.com/oemparts/a/yam/59b6ab4c87a8661154940557/electrical-1
21
Starter Relay Assy (2768102-A)

1B7-81940-00-00

$57.91

By the way, I’m sure that if I was able to install the cobra jets system and the later add the mega fangs, that I would be handy enough to install a relay switch....lol

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

As for the relay being bad it makes me wonder if that was the real issue, I know if a reverse bucket has a rock stuck in it and it resists moving on a e series boat the bucket will stay put until someone finds the issue. it is designed to do that so I would think if the computer felt that the engine was locked up maybe this is a similar safety feature. In any case it's a good thing to know one way or the other so if you are out again and something gets sucked in the pump you will know how to deal with it immediately.

 

[Missygoob]

Yeah that’s pretty poor- that diagnoses should have taken all of 15 min. Is the starter getting power? Nope. Is the relay getting power? Yep. Diagnosed. Crazy.
Also, thought I’d address this statement

Maybe you are already aware but that statement prompts me to mention in case you are not so you are aware for future incidences of pump sucking up stuff- these boats do not have a neutral, the only way to stop the impeller from turning is to turn the engine off.

Hi, I just purchased a 2019 Yamaha Limited, should I be concerned about jet boats sucking up stuff? What's best practice to prevent this? obviously careful in shallow water, but let's say you are beached, then do you push out before starting engines? I am new to boating, and really new to jet boats. Should this deter me from purchasing a jet boat? I have 10 days to decide. thx

 

[swatski]

Hi, I just purchased a 2019 Limited, should I be concerned about jet boats sucking up stuff? What's best practice to prevent this? obviously careful in shallow water, but let's say you are beached, then do you push out before starting engines? I am new to boating, and really new to jet boats. Should this deter me from purchasing a jet boat? I have 10 days to decide. thx

Jet propulsion beats traditional in so many aspects, but there are limitations of course.
Absolutely push out before starting the engines, sucking up gravel/rocks can ruin impellers quickly.

Oh - and CONGRATULATIONS and WELCOME to the community!!!

--

 

[swatski]

should I be concerned about jet boats sucking up stuff?

When doing water sports (with a jet boat) running over and sucking a rope can ruin your day...

Keep in mind those boats have NO TRUE NEUTRAL, the shafts/impellers are ALWAYS spinning as long as the engine is on. The only way to stop the impeller spinning is to stop the engine.

--

 

[Lion]

Hi, I just purchased a 2019 Limited, should I be concerned about jet boats sucking up stuff? What's best practice to prevent this? obviously careful in shallow water, but let's say you are beached, then do you push out before starting engines? I am new to boating, and really new to jet boats. Should this deter me from purchasing a jet boat? I have 10 days to decide. thx[/QUOTE

No don't let this deter you.
These jet boats are awesome. You and your family will be making so many great memories out on the water.
Yes, I always push the boat out before starting the engines as swatski stated.
Yes when driving you will suck up some weeds and grass if you are out on the river/lake, but for the most part, they go straight thru.
Rope and rocks are a different story. Rocks can be avoided when careful.
I made the mistake of allowing the boat to drift into real shallow water as I waited for my wife to bring the trailer to the dock.
Funny thing is the alarm was beeping and I just ignored it as I kept any eye out for my wife only to the in hear the clanking of the rocks.

 

[Lion]

Hi, I just purchased a 2019 Limited, should I be concerned about jet boats sucking up stuff? What's best practice to prevent this? obviously careful in shallow water, but let's say you are beached, then do you push out before starting engines? I am new to boating, and really new to jet boats. Should this deter me from purchasing a jet boat? I have 10 days to decide. thx

By the way, welcome to this awesome community.
As you probably already can tell, there is a great
Bunch of people here! Everyone is always ready to help with any concerns, questions you might have and it's also a great place to make new friends that have jet boats!

 

[MidnightRider]

Hi, I just purchased a 2019 Limited, should I be concerned about jet boats sucking up stuff? What's best practice to prevent this? obviously careful in shallow water, but let's say you are beached, then do you push out before starting engines? I am new to boating, and really new to jet boats. Should this deter me from purchasing a jet boat? I have 10 days to decide. thx

Last year was my first year in a Jet after over 30 years in prop boats. I have no regrets, absolutely love the extra safety of no props - after a bit of time getting used to the difference in control I also love how much more maneuverable the twin jets are (even more so with the fin and lateral thruster add-ons). So no, don't have any reservations, but understand it will likely take some time to feel like you can comfortably control the boat.

They will definitely suck up things faster than you can think of what to do, so prevention is the main word. We always have someone that is in charge of the rope management all the time and even with that I'm constantly visually and verbally confirming the job they are doing. So far we only had one close call with my prior instruction to all the kids on how to shut the motors down quickly saving our butts (8 yr old was able to shut the engines down in a matter of seconds of me calling her to do so).

So welcome and have fun!!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Be careful backing the boat in shallow water, the reverse thrust can easily kick up trash from the bottom and then you suck it in the pump . Avoid driving into any weeds if possible, and learn the reverse move if you do get weeds in the pump plus remember too much trash in the pumps can cause the engines to overheat and if the boat goes into limp mode that does NOT mean it is safe to continue driving it means find what is wrong A S A P