Took on water and was sinking

[Eric Ballard]

Last night I was on Lake Murray SC. The wind was up and so were the waves (about 3 to 4 with 5 ever once in a while).

We were camping and had too much crap in the boat. Too much weight was up front and I started taking water and then more and more water. Eventually the engine compartment flooded and the engine stalled. I quickly got towed to an island by a buddy but it was scary and lessons were lerned and are still being learned.

The boat is on the trailer now. I took out the spark plugs and I did not see water. The engine would not start though.

My question is, what should I look for as problems or to troubleshoot?

All electrics still work.

 

[2nazt]

Is the engine cranking at all? Did you check oil also for milky look? You may wanna do an oil change to start with also. You may wanna check all the fuses for engines and connectors for water intrusion.

Sorry for the misfortune, but you also learned a lot going forward. Glad you and your family are safe.

 

[haknslash]

Yea putting too much weight up front is not a good idea in rough water conditions. These boats don't plane with a lot of attitude so keeping the bow up is a big deal on these boats when it gets rough.

I would pull the spark plugs and fire over the motor to make sure no water is coming out of the plug holes/engine. Check the oil and make sure its not milky which would be water intrusion. Check electrical fuses and circuits for anything that may have shorted with the water coming up. Also check your air filter. Sorry for your misfortune

 

[swatski]

Last night I was on Lake Murray SC. The wind was up and so were the waves (about 3 to 4 with 5 ever once in a while).

We were camping and had too much crap in the boat. Too much weight was up front and I started taking water and then more and more water. Eventually the engine compartment flooded and the engine stalled. I quickly got towed to an island by a buddy but it was scary and lessons were lerned and are still being learned.

The boat is on the trailer now. I took out the spark plugs and I did not see water. The engine would not start though.

My question is, what should I look for as problems or to troubleshoot?

All electrics still work.

Sorry to hear that!!!
Trying to understand, was your scupper not working or obstructed? How did you get water into engine compartment?

There are specific procedures to hydrolocked engine rescue.

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[haknslash]

Kind of crazy this would cause such an issue unless you completely swamped your boat somehow. I mean even the people who do the crazy sub moves and fill their cabin do not have this issue. Was the bilge on and working? I agree with @swatski the scupper should have handled a lot of the water. Did you check to see if it leaks on the white scupper tube somewhere? I would grab the hose and put water in the cockpit to see how your scupper is performing. Did you have all of the drain plugs installed or pulled out when this happened?

 

[swatski]

Here is one thread that could be useful...

Wanted to point out that hydrolock isn't always "instant death" to all engines. I've seen many Jeeps and motorcycles (and a few Toyotas trying to follow Jeeps and motorcycles) die from water ingestion and all survive. We've drowned many a running Jeep and resurrected every one that someone didn't try to start... with the gearing on some Jeeps, you can break a driveshaft with the starter if you hold your tongue just right.

If you're at low speed or idle, it should just stall instantly... no coughing or sputtering, just "thunk" and it stops. That's not enough to break anything on most engines... Since ours are basically motorcycle engines without all the grams shaved off for weight savings, I think they can handle it if they had to. As long as you don't try to start it again, it should be fine. Honestly, I don't think our starters are strong enough to do any damage either. As other's have mentioned, if you do get water in an engine, pull all the plugs, remove the safety bungie thing, get everyone clear of the back of the boat (it sprays everywhere with plugs out) and turn it over for 10-15 seconds. That'll clear it all out. Reinstall plugs, run it real gently back to port and drain all the oil as soon as possible... it'll probably have water in it and that can cause massive damage if left in there for more than a few hours without it running. Usually, we'll buy a couple cases of the cheapest oil we can find, do two or three changes in a row with that plus some Seafoam, then do a final change putting in a good filter and real oil.

I'm not saying it's healthy and there's no way I'd want to demonstrate this with my engines, but an idle-speed hydrolock is usually just a mess and a lot of extra work. It's when you get water in there at a few thousand RPM that important metal bits go pop... you will definitely know if that happens. :S

 

[Bruce]

@Eric Ballard, does the engine crank?

You really need to get the engine running and perform several oil changes to limit corrosion inside the engine.

It is possible that fuse(s) have blown in the ECU causing the failure to start.

If I was in your situation and I could not get the engine to start I would be headed to a marine mechanic for help.

 

[Benny Sibbitt]

That what sucks with our bilge pumps, they don't have a float but cycle ever few mins to see if there is water there.
You might have caught 2 or 3 waves before the bilge even kicked on. I would check and ensure it's working.

 

[bronze_10]

Eric... not sure if u use a mechanic but I use watercraft concepts... Steve is the owner... he has done all of my stuff scince 2012... and he comes to your house.. !

 

[2nazt]

That what sucks with our bilge pumps, they don't have a float but cycle ever few mins to see if there is water there.
You might have caught 2 or 3 waves before the bilge even kicked on. I would check and ensure it's working.

When I had mine if we took any waves I would also turn it off and back on, that does restart the cycle and performs a check. Granted it is hard to remember when you are in the midst of all that is going on.

 

[Scottintexas]

did you see water over the engines or just in the engine compartment, unless the water was high enough to go to the air filter I would think a fuse probably blew, if the water was at the air filters then you need to think it has water through out,
keep us posted and use the @ help feature to alert everyone,

 

[swatski]

That what sucks with our bilge pumps, they don't have a float but cycle ever few mins to see if there is water there.
You might have caught 2 or 3 waves before the bilge even kicked on. I would check and ensure it's working.

The OEM bilge pump system sucks a$$, I agree, and it is baffling how they designed it. But that is NOT the problem here, I believe.
The bilge pump would not be able to keep up with the amount of water causing the boat to swamp and engine compartment to fill. And there should be NO water intrusion from the deck into the engine compartment, unless you opened the engine hatch. The deck is self-bailing. So, something else happened here, either the drain plug or scupper or some other through hull fixture fail.

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[4x15mph]

Bummer and not sure how this would happen. Was your battery dead? Do you mean 3, 4 and 5 foot waves???? If that's the case, I get it

 

[MrMoose]

@Eric Ballard, I'm really sorry about what happened to you. Not a happy experience at all, but at least nobody was injured or drowned. I can't give you any guidance because I have no experience with the 19 foot model. Your buddy may have saved your life.

 

[seadude]

Scary situation - did the boat get completely swamped?
The 19's are the only boats required to have positive flotation, did that come into play?
I've had my various jetboats in the ocean on plenty of days where I knew if I dropped the bow I'd likely be swamped in just a few waves, and I guess sunk since they didn't have flotation. Not too smart on my part I know.

 

[Julian]

Scary situation - did the boat get completely swamped?
The 19's are the only boats required to have positive flotation, did that come into play?
I've had my various jetboats in the ocean on plenty of days where I knew if I dropped the bow I'd likely be swamped in just a few waves, and I guess sunk since they didn't have flotation. Not too smart on my part I know.

Every Yamaha I've owned has had floatation blocks inside it (although I must admit I've looked for them inside my 242X). I THINK it is a USCG requirement for boat manufacturers that boats under 26' must float for 24 hours after swamping.....but I read that on a forum at some point and have never been able to find anything online official to corraborate that.

 

[haknslash]

I don't think any of these Yamaha boats sink in a swamped situation. Just look at any sub move video. There's even one video out there of a fish swimming in the cabin after a sub move! Only way I could see it happen is if the boat was left swamped for a long time.

I think this is @buckbuck's video but I could be wrong. Just look at the amount of water! @Eric Ballard when you took a wave or two over the bow was it at least this amount of water or more?

 

[Eric Ballard]

Is the engine cranking at all? Did you check oil also for milky look? You may wanna do an oil change to start with also. You may wanna check all the fuses for engines and connectors for water intrusion.

Sorry for the misfortune, but you also learned a lot going forward. Glad you and your family are safe.

Right now the engine just clicks when you try to turn it over. I have not checked the fuses but I'm doing that this morning. I'm also going to be doing an oil change as well and we'll check the oil for milking it.

 

[Eric Ballard]

Sorry to hear that!!!
Trying to understand, was your scupper not working or obstructed? How did you get water into engine compartment?

There are specific procedures to hydrolocked engine rescue.

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So now that I'm more than a few hours away from

@Eric Ballard, does the engine crank?

You really need to get the engine running and perform several oil changes to limit corrosion inside the engine.

It is possible that fuse(s) have blown in the ECU causing the failure to start.

If I was in your situation and I could not get the engine to start I would be headed to a marine mechanic for help.

Yes I'll probably very most likely be taking this to a mechanic. I just want to try some basic stuff first oil changes air filter check fuses exedra I'm definitely not a mechanic and won't be trying anything crazy on my own period

Thanks everybody for the responses and opinions and information I'll definitely keep you updated.

 

[Eric Ballard]

To get to the fuse in the engine compartment do I have to unscrew all the bolts around the box that is labeled fuse?