Timing Chain issues?

[veedubtek]

Been reading on the ski forums, apparently the 14/15 SVHO's are snapping timing chains pretty regularly. Happen to any 192's yet? I assume they are using the same engines.

 

[njmr2fan]

So after your post Ive been reading 1 horror story after another about timing chains breaking in skis and boats and all that keeps coming to mind is "Shoot! I Should've bought the YES when I had the chance earlier this month...Why didn't I find these threads last month..." Now Im worried. Is there any telltale sign this is going to happen? Hard starting once in a while? Noise? Anything? Is there something that can be proactively done so as not to grenade an engine? uhhh I gotta go to bed...my head hurts now.

related to these threads?
https://jetboaters.net/threads/ar190-shuts-down.6657/

http://yamahajetboaters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=64698&hilit=timing+chain&start=0

http://yamahajetboaters.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=368&t=62146

https://jetboaters.net/threads/engine-just-quit.3253/


Darn You VeeDub! Now Im worried about my engine.... Too much reading for one night probably...

 

[PaulyB]

I have heard of some of the 1.8s in the 242s breaking as well.... not just the 192s I believe....

 

[Big Shasta]

With as many Yamaha engine as there are running around in these boats, I'd say it's still a VERY rare thing to have happen. You can't live your life waiting for a catastrophe. Run it like you stole it and don't look back.

Probably a bad lot of chains that didn't get the heat treating just right.

 

[njmr2fan]

What's weird is they go from 2010 straight through a 2015 with 8.8 hours. It doesn't seem to be limited to any single production run like say a few months in 2013...

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

I had a 2010 supercharged 1800 , I ran 651 hours on it, sold it and it's still running the hp rating was only 210 not as high as the newer ones , I have 200 hours on a couple of 1800 non supercharged 2014 engines with no issues, so it was probably just a bad lot like was suggested I know in the first year of the 1800 engines the flywheels would unwind right off the crank shaft if you revved the engine out of the water.

 

[Addicted]

Sometimes the internet can be our worst enemy. Information is good, but remember that for every person with a broken timing chain, there are probably 1,000 without. Most people only post when there is a problem, so it can lead us to believe that an issue is much bigger than it really is. I have been running Yamahas religiously for 20 years (ski's, quads, dirt bikes, street bikes, boat). They are great machines, and the power plants are extremely reliable across the board. Enjoy your boat without worry. She will likely be very good to you.

 

[joel]

Been reading on the ski forums, apparently the 14/15 SVHO's are snapping timing chains pretty regularly. Happen to any 192's yet? I assume they are using the same engines.

i doubt that the failure rate on the yamaha svho engines with regard to timing chain is 14/15, however I can speak from personal experience that a lot of them are failing, and mine just failed at 53 hours 4 months ago. what is truly outrageous about this whole vast timing chain failure problem, is that yamaha definitely has known about this issue for some time. as the journalist Kevin of watercraft journal pointed out in a recent article, yamaha knows and they are quietly trying to fix the issue by working with owners and dealers. the word quiet means that they are trying to do this on the down low so that they can avoid ugly class action lawsuits and or expensive recalls. However, what is not being discussed is that it is a potential safety issue to have your engine suffer a catastrophic failure at high speeds, or while crossing in the path of a large ocean going ferry or container ship. I learned this when my chain snapped while travelling at 65mph and crossing a small boat wake. WE were pitched off the waverunner with a surprising amount of force and the impact with the water left us both injured. And while we were sitting there stranded in the ocean, the Seattle Ferry was heading right towards us. I am not sure if the ferry would have been able to stop in time as we were kind of close to Riches pass which has a couple of blind curves. More than that, we could have gotten a ten thousand dollar fine for causing the ferry to stop, from what I've been told. And as Murphy would have it......this breakdown happened right at the start of the riding season....now we are largely through summer and I'll be lucky to have my ski back in time to winterize.

The whole process of dealing with this ruined engine has been a nightmare....one that lasts for months and months. I truly wish Yamaha had sent me a letter when they first became aware of this glaring and common failure. I used to go out and ride my skii in storms out on the open ocean, and I also travel in remote areas. i shudder to think what would have happened in those instances if the chain had failed. Or what if i had been riding with a small child? if being pitched at 65 caused us to still be injured 4 months later....what would have happened to a frail child? Even when I spoke with Yamaha customer service on the phone, they tried to change the subject any time I tried to even broach the subject of their being a defective design issue that I should have been told about. My dealer tells me that my ski could have been reapaired long ago had Yamaha actually focused on getting me back into the water as opposed of honoring my warranty by spending as little as absolutely necessary.

 

[joel]

OH.....I forgot to mention that this was never a run of factory defective chains, this was poor engineering plain and simple. That is why they are rebuilding my engine using the updated 2016 design....which would not have been necessary had the 2014 and 2015 design not been defective.

 

[joel]

Sometimes the internet can be our worst enemy. Information is good, but remember that for every person with a broken timing chain, there are probably 1,000 without. Most people only post when there is a problem, so it can lead us to believe that an issue is much bigger than it really is. I have been running Yamahas religiously for 20 years (ski's, quads, dirt bikes, street bikes, boat). They are great machines, and the power plants are extremely reliable across the board. Enjoy your boat without worry. She will likely be very good to you.

Jet boat lover: You have a point......maybe if you wear a hat no one will notice! Just kidding. However, your assesment of the situation is ridiculously optimistic.......its not one in a thousand that are failing. I know people that own 3 svho poweed skiis with all three of them failing. I saw someone on Green Hulk asked for a survey of how many hours people have on their svho engines and very few had engines that lasted past 50-100 hrs. The vast majority failed before 50. Of course you would be correct to say that an angry owner is more likely to bother with the survey than a happy owner......but gosh....there sure are a huge shortage of happy svho owners. i've studied this problem extensively since i was actually seriously injured. I would put the rate of failures in svho engine timing chains at one in four at the most...probably one in three. I've walked up to several service guys at various waverunner dealers and their reaction is very telling when i ask what they know about the timing chain.

 

[MrMoose]

@joel thanks for bringing this up again. It is important to hold people/companies accountable.

 

[joel]

@joel thanks for bringing this up again. It is important to hold people/companies accountable.

I appreciate the support. I have gotten one email saying that I'm just venting because I'm pissed off. Nothing could be further from the truth. I simply see that this is an issue that needs to be highlighted as Yamaha at this very moment is still selling old stock 2014 and 2015 svho waverunners to unsuspecting customers. To continue doing so at this late date is absolutely inexcusable. Imagine if a car company went around knowingly selling a car with brakes that could go out at any second?

 

[haknslash]

There is a member on the other forum who has a 2015 242 S with a broken timing chain at 27 hours, and I doubt he's the only one, so it's not just the SHO motors that are susceptible to failure. Pretty much any engine can have failures. With as many boats and waverunners out there running these engines, it would be at the top of every search engine if this was truly some doomsday widespread ordeal. Let's not freak out just yet and understand that only the true enthusiasts who care about social media are on forums and other social outlets seeking for solutions to problems. They are the minority in the big picture. The majority of owners out there are not on forums and more than likely do not have any issues with their boats or waverunners. There's no sense worrying yourself on if something will ever happen.

 

[joel]

There is a member on the other forum who has a 2015 242 S with a broken timing chain at 27 hours, and I doubt he's the only one, so it's not just the SHO motors that are susceptible to failure. Pretty much any engine can have failures. With as many boats and waverunners out there running these engines, it would be at the top of every search engine if this was truly some doomsday widespread ordeal. Let's not freak out just yet and understand that only the true enthusiasts who care about social media are on forums and other social outlets seeking for solutions to problems. They are the minority in the big picture. The majority of owners out there are not on forums and more than likely do not have any issues with their boats or waverunners. There's no sense worrying yourself on if something will ever happen.

HI Jetboat addict. I agree the numbers of failures are being exagerated due to the factors you mention. However, the failure rate of the svho engine is much, much higher than that of the other high performance engines that are also throwing chains. The supercharged engines from Yamaha's other boats are also prone to breaking chains due to being high performance. That is normal. However the 2014 and 2015 svho failures are at a much higher rate as the design was simply inadequate for the power. from 2013 to 2014 the power increased from around 210hp to nearly 280. the chain couldn't handle this increase...hence the new 2016 complete redesign. As an engineer I know what is involved in a major redesign and no company would undertake this unless there was a major issue.

 

[Harshhobgoblin]

The timing chain just went on my 1.8 na. Only 27 hours and driven fairly lightly. Just bought the boat and don't think I'll ever fully trust it again... not to mention, there goes my season.

 

[VLADIMIR RUSSIA]

Hello from Russia, from my two friends problems with timing chain, running the 1st 40 hours of an open circuit in 2014. the other in 2011 running 21 hours broken timing chain. Yamaha vxs\2011,vxs 2014.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

https://jetboaters.net/threads/have-you-had-a-1-8-timing-chain-failure-was-it-in-warranty-and-how-has-yamaha-handled-it.10799/page-7#post-193260