Third Engine Replacement

[EdAR230]

I'll preface this by saying I'm a first time boat buyer and not mechanically inclined. So please forgive me in advance.

I purchased a used Yamaha AR230 (2007) last season. It had one replaced engine with a SBT motor when I bought it. It ran fine a few times eventually noticed vibration. I brought it in to my mechanic (he was the long time mechanic of the guy I bought the boat from). The motor (port side) was still under warranty. Sent it back to SBT. They replaced it. Said it had a manufacturer defect. Something to do with the cylinder block. Replacement installed. Took it out once, noticed oil leakage in engine compartment. Shut it down, called a tow. Engine blew. Total failure. Mechanic said SBT would replace but told him to check fuel injector, computer and for any water getting into the engine compartment. He checked all and all ok. He found a damaged flywheel. He replaced it. He said the flywheel probably wasn't the cause however - just damaged from replacing the motor so many times he guesses. He water tested it and said all he could find was a corroded clamp on the exhaust. He replaced it. But doesn't think that's the cause either. I'm picking the boat up today.

But I'm worried. This is the third SBT motor. I'm afraid to take it out worried it will blow again as I never got a solid answer to why this same port side SBT motor keeps blowing. I'd love some advice on what questions I should be asking my mechanic. And should I be concerned that he hasn't found a reason why these SBT motors keep blowing?

 

[Scottintexas]

Glad to have you on board, I'm sorry we had to meet like this,

Where are you located?

Does your mechanic have Yamaha jetski/boat experience or is he just a guy who works on everything that comes in the door?

I would also be very concerned that you don't know the reason for the failures. We actually just had a few members give good reviews of multiple SBT engines they've installed,

Where was the most recent engine leaking oil from that caused it to blow? Most of us have corroded clamps on the exhaust and that should /// edited to add - NOT ///cause you to lose an engine,

 

[Neutron]

What was the cause of failure on the original engine?
Start there and verify that cant happen again.
You need to eliminate anything that has been reinstalled from before the first failure as a problem like injection, oil lubrication, cooling etc...

 

[EdAR230]

Scott,

I’m located in Northwest Florida. Mechanic seems to be a popular jet mechanic. A lot of folks take their jet boats and skis to him. Today he said they water tested it and he thinks there’s water getting in from somewhere. Now he wants to keep it another week to find the leaks. And in my area, there’s no other mechanics that work on jets. I’ve called every marina in the area. I wish I would have known no one really works on these boats before I bought one. :/

 

[4x15mph]

Sorry to hear this. You want to stop putting new engines in until you find the problem but it sounds like it is ready to go at this point. Water getting in from somewhere? You should see that in the oil pretty easily. You definitely need to find a good mechanic and I would be checking the engine bay while under way very frequently.... steam, water in the oil, temperature of the engine, spark plugs, ....

@Cobra Jet Steering LLC , can you help with a reputable Florida mechanic? I know there has to be many

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

I'm in Tampa bay area , not north west FL The boat uses a m r 1 engine like a lot of p w c's so it should be easy to discover the issue but if it is under the warranty it should go back to S B T .

 

[Livewire]

Most of us have corroded clamps on the exhaust and that should cause you to lose an engine,

Was this supposed to say should NOT?

 

[Scottintexas]

Was this supposed to say should NOT?

Yes, I am editing it, thanks,

 

[EdAR230]

Hmn. Thanks everyone. I’ll update when I pick it up. Definitely need to find a mechanic. I found one in Alabama. Gulf Shores Motorsports. It might be worth the drive.

 

[boudin]

How did your mechanic 'check' the injectors? They should be cleaned and spray tested on a proper fuel injector testing machine. I use injectorrx.com here in Houston. They will provide a written before/after report.

-Greg

 

[EdAR230]

Greg,

Not sure. But this is great info for me to ask him about - thank you very much for this. Question for you guys. When they installed this SBT engine it blew on the first time I took it out after being installed. I ran it slowly as I did all my research on breaking in a new motor. Oil everywhere after it blew. But my brother in law said he noticed some oil in the bottom of the engine compartment before we left dock. He just didn’t say anything. (Thanks bud).

A damaged flywheel and/or water getting into the engine compartment wouldn’t blow this motor in a matter of a half hour right? My gut is telling me maybe the install wasn’t done properly or just a bad SBT motor? What do you think?

 

[scokill]

Greg,

Not sure. But this is great info for me to ask him about - thank you very much for this. Question for you guys. When they installed this SBT engine it blew on the first time I took it out after being installed. I ran it slowly as I did all my research on breaking in a new motor. Oil everywhere after it blew. But my brother in law said he noticed some oil in the bottom of the engine compartment before we left dock. He just didn’t say anything. (Thanks bud).

A damaged flywheel and/or water getting into the engine compartment wouldn’t blow this motor in a matter of a half hour right? My gut is telling me maybe the install wasn’t done properly or just a bad SBT motor? What do you think?

Water in the engine compartment wouldn't in and of itself blow the motor in the way you describe. Could be a symptom though...perhaps cracked block. Engine installation should be straight forward and it would seem there would be other noticeable issues. My instinct would tell me it's a bad motor rebuild and could be a variety of root causes.

 

[Bruce]

Are you paying for the labor to replace the engines or is SBT? Seems like the costs would be encouraging them to fix it correctly!

The reason that there are not a lot of Yamaha boat mechanics outside of dealers is that the boats have few problems and most maintenance is DIY. The propulsion is almost identical to Yamaha skis so a ski mechanic is a good choice.

 

[ToddW850]

Hmn. Thanks everyone. I’ll update when I pick it up. Definitely need to find a mechanic. I found one in Alabama. Gulf Shores Motorsports. It might be worth the drive.

@EdAR230 I'm in Destin and use a reliable mechanic here. A LOT of the waverunner rentals use him for maintenance, along with some jetboaters. If you're interested, he is Chris Poole at Liquid Fix. He's at the corner of Mountain Drive and Pelican Drive 850-685-3751.

 

[EdAR230]

@EdAR230 I'm in Destin and use a reliable mechanic here. A LOT of the waverunner rentals use him for maintenance, along with some jetboaters. If you're interested, he is Chris Poole at Liquid Fix. He's at the corner of Mountain Drive and Pelican Drive 850-685-3751.

Todd. Thank you so much for this! Destin is about 2 hours from me. But might be worth the drive for sure!

 

[EdAR230]

Are you paying for the labor to replace the engines or is SBT? Seems like the costs would be encouraging them to fix it correctly!

The reason that there are not a lot of Yamaha boat mechanics outside of dealers is that the boats have few problems and most maintenance is DIY. The propulsion is almost identical to Yamaha skis so a ski mechanic is a good choice.

I don't know if this makes me feel worse because when I try to teach myself about the motors, it seems like a conversation with a NASA engineer. I'm totally clueless. But I've heard that from everyone and I surfed this forum for weeks before I decided to buy this particular type of boat. In my case, I've been out 3 times since I've gotten the boat. Two of those times, I had to bring it into the shop afterward and now I'm on my third engine replacement. So it just feels like these boats are terrible. But I know that's not the case. Perhaps it really was just two bad motors from SBT.

Fortunately SBT has been very kind and replaced both motors no questions asked. Although this time around, they did tell my mechanic to check the fuel injector, computer and a few other things. He found a damaged flywheel only. He seems to be a well like, well reviewed mechanic. His shop is always full of boats and other jet skis. And my gut is telling me he knows what he's doing. But, we'll see. Its been in the shop now four weeks and its now eating into my second season. Fingers crossed.

 

[Bruce]

@EdAR230, typically these boats are incredibly reliable, especially the MR-1 engines.

I am sorry that you have had a bad experience.

If you have a bad experience with this SBT engine I suggest transplanting a factory MR-1 from a donor Waverunner.

 

[EdAR230]

Update. Got the boat back. Went to test. Bad battery. Tested at auto parts store and replaced. Motors start but no accessories will come on, blower, radio, interior lights etc.

They did replace my battery switch so perhaps something wrong there? Ugh, very frustrating. Every time I get the boat back there’s something else wrong.

 

[bronze_10]

Make sure all the ground wires are connected. . There are multiple that need to be connected and one is easliy missed.

 

[Andy S]

Update. Got the boat back. Went to test. Bad battery. Tested at auto parts store and replaced. Motors start but no accessories will come on, blower, radio, interior lights etc.

They did replace my battery switch so perhaps something wrong there? Ugh, very frustrating. Every time I get the boat back there’s something else wrong.

I would find your accessory fuse holder, typically mounted on the wall near the battery, and follow the wire to the battery. My bet is it got attached to the negative post on the battery. This happens a lot since the red wire is in and completely covered by a black protective sleeve which folks take it as a ground wire.