Towing jet boat behind house boat should you clamp-off water intake to protect engine ?

[markp]

Towing boat without power vacuum can suck water into engine , should you clamp off water intake line while towing jet boat behind house boat
SX195 on Lake Cumberland ?

 

[Dixie Highway]

I would just to be safe. A houseboat isn’t really cruising at 20 kts, but if you know you’re towing it why not? One less thing to worry about.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

One trick is to keep the controls in forward to open the reverse buckets and reduce the forces inside the pump as it is dragged by the houseboat, however better safe that sorry and in that frame of mind have a flag or other obvious reminder at the helm so you do not forget to OPEN the water intake valves when you use the boat. I always suggest hanging your keys on the shut off valve handle.

 

[markp]

thankyou for the info

 

[swatski]

One trick is to keep the controls in forward to open the reverse buckets and reduce the forces inside the pump as it is dragged by the houseboat, however better safe that sorry and in that frame of mind have a flag or other obvious reminder at the helm so you do not forget to OPEN the water intake valves when you use the boat. I always suggest hanging your keys on the shut off valve handle.

^^^^^ that!

--

 

[jsg73]

You’re on Cumberland now? For the next few days I would be more worried about ice
Seriously when we rented houseboats we barely hit 10 mph. I would think you would be safe with no clamps but we rarely towed the ski boat. We ran it ahead of the houseboat to pick our tie up spot.

 

[dzeppos]

2 years ago - I hope boated for 3 days at Lake Trinity. I had the boat tied along the houseboat with several fenders. Just kept the throttle to the forward position - houseboat never went faster than 6-7 mph - no issues whatsoever. Boat completely try.

 

[drewkaree]

For the amount of effort it requires (and the very minimal cost of hose clamps), I would question why anyone WOULDN'T clamp them off? Why would you want to find out that what you (or someone else) thought wasn't a high enough speed to cause issues somehow managed to cause issues?

You've also got the problem of not finding this out until you've started your trip and you may be having to cancel your trip and return to port, facing repairs you never envisioned. There will be many opinions on this, and mine is that I prefer the better safe than sorry theory. I can take being made fun of for my overly cautious methods, it's my stupidity at failing to put them into practice that causes me to tear my hair out.

 

[dzeppos]

I don't disagree on the consequences, but if the houseboat doesn't go above wake speed - you are fine. With that said, can someone tell me where to clamp (i think - but not sure -as I have them- but i have a 4 Star CA 242 2016 boat) - and still not sure which line. Some of posts from a few years ago showed it - but I still couldn't exactly tell as it wasn't a 4 star 2015+ newer boat. Seems like its all the way in back of the bilge - but a picture would be greatly appreciated!) Thanks all

 

[grywlfbg]

+1 for a how-to for this. I bought the pliers that were referenced in another thread but as I stick my head into the engine bay I'm not sure where I would clamp. I'm not planning to tow the boat, this is more for a dead engine scenario so I could clamp one engine off as I run back to the marina and not compound whatever problem caused the engine out in the first place

 

[drewkaree]

+1 for a how-to for this. I bought the pliers that were referenced in another thread but as I stick my head into the engine bay I'm not sure where I would clamp. I'm not planning to tow the boat, this is more for a dead engine scenario so I could clamp one engine off as I run back to the marina and not compound whatever problem caused the engine out in the first place

https://jetboaters.net/threads/how-to-add-a-shutoff-valve-to-your-boats-cooling-system.411/

That's the same type of boat you have, although not the same year. I know some of the pics are sketchy, but you should be able to suss out what you're looking for. You'll have to take a look in your engine compartment for the Y connector, which should be easy to find. Where he installs the shutoff valve, that's where you would clamp. There's not a lot more to it than that, I can show you mine, but I've got a different boat. The concept is exactly the same though, follow that Y fitting and clamp the hose on the non-working side. Here's a pic from someone else around here who shows perfectly where I would put my hose clamp pliers, and the second pic is from @bucks448 who has installed the Island Racing shutoff valve (smack dab in the middle of the pic, dull gray with a vertical piece of black material that is the shutoff handle itself)

 

[drewkaree]

Pics of my engine - 2019 AR210. First pic, you can just barely see the top of the fitting. The red hose seems to be a common denominator for everyone's engines, at least in all the published pics I could find around here. The red hose in the first pic connects at the top of the Y fitting. My pic was from my oil change, so I wasn't focusing on that fitting, but I've familiarized myself with my engine bay and I know that's the fitting.

The second and third pics show a wider angle from a top-down view that might help folks figure out where this thing is - notice the red hose on both sides. I circled where these hoses come out of the "firewall" (for lack of a better term). The hose that is inside the black corrugated covering connects to the other outlet of that Y fitting. On the back deck where my cleanout ports are, I have an oval hatch that I can remove that allows me to view the backside of that "firewall". I (and you) can trace the red hose and the black hose to where they lead to. One leads to the pissers, the other leads to the intake, and I cannot recall at this time which is which - if you were holding a gun to my head, I believe the red hose goes to the pissers, so those wouldn't be the ones to clamp off, but you should verify this personally and clamp off the appropriate hose. The above pic shows the Island Racing valve installed on the black hose, so I believe this is correct. If you feel more comfortable clamping off the hose by the cleanout area, go through your hatch opening, if possible. I find no issue going into my engine bay and clamping off the hose just after the point where the separate ends of the Y fitting come together - I won't have to worry about getting the wrong hose clamped off, and there is room, as evidenced in the pics above.

 

[grywlfbg]

@drewkaree Thank you for taking the time to annotate and post those pics! I do have that oval opening in between my cleanouts. Now that I know what I'm looking for I should be able to trace from the cleanout area into the engine bay.

 

[Jgorm]

I wouldn't bother and i have ball valves installed.

 

[pmustico]

Pics of my engine - 2019 AR210. First pic, you can just barely see the top of the fitting. The red hose seems to be a common denominator for everyone's engines, at least in all the published pics I could find around here. The red hose in the first pic connects at the top of the Y fitting. My pic was from my oil change, so I wasn't focusing on that fitting, but I've familiarized myself with my engine bay and I know that's the fitting.

The second and third pics show a wider angle from a top-down view that might help folks figure out where this thing is - notice the red hose on both sides. I circled where these hoses come out of the "firewall" (for lack of a better term). The hose that is inside the black corrugated covering connects to the other outlet of that Y fitting. On the back deck where my cleanout ports are, I have an oval hatch that I can remove that allows me to view the backside of that "firewall". I (and you) can trace the red hose and the black hose to where they lead to. One leads to the pissers, the other leads to the intake, and I cannot recall at this time which is which - if you were holding a gun to my head, I believe the red hose goes to the pissers, so those wouldn't be the ones to clamp off, but you should verify this personally and clamp off the appropriate hose. The above pic shows the Island Racing valve installed on the black hose, so I believe this is correct. If you feel more comfortable clamping off the hose by the cleanout area, go through your hatch opening, if possible. I find no issue going into my engine bay and clamping off the hose just after the point where the separate ends of the Y fitting come together - I won't have to worry about getting the wrong hose clamped off, and there is room, as evidenced in the pics above.

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Thanks for the detail and pics.

 

[Gas Passer]

Pics of my engine - 2019 AR210. First pic, you can just barely see the top of the fitting. The red hose seems to be a common denominator for everyone's engines, at least in all the published pics I could find around here. The red hose in the first pic connects at the top of the Y fitting. My pic was from my oil change, so I wasn't focusing on that fitting, but I've familiarized myself with my engine bay and I know that's the fitting.

The second and third pics show a wider angle from a top-down view that might help folks figure out where this thing is - notice the red hose on both sides. I circled where these hoses come out of the "firewall" (for lack of a better term). The hose that is inside the black corrugated covering connects to the other outlet of that Y fitting. On the back deck where my cleanout ports are, I have an oval hatch that I can remove that allows me to view the backside of that "firewall". I (and you) can trace the red hose and the black hose to where they lead to. One leads to the pissers, the other leads to the intake, and I cannot recall at this time which is which - if you were holding a gun to my head, I believe the red hose goes to the pissers, so those wouldn't be the ones to clamp off, but you should verify this personally and clamp off the appropriate hose. The above pic shows the Island Racing valve installed on the black hose, so I believe this is correct. If you feel more comfortable clamping off the hose by the cleanout area, go through your hatch opening, if possible. I find no issue going into my engine bay and clamping off the hose just after the point where the separate ends of the Y fitting come together - I won't have to worry about getting the wrong hose clamped off, and there is room, as evidenced in the pics above.

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Drew, thanks for the pics and details. This post is definitely the best one I've seen so far. Question: I believe I heard you say the clamp goes in the engine compartment. What is the reason to open the hatch between the cleanout ports? Is it for easier access to the Y fitting? Thanks again.

 

[drewkaree]

Drew, thanks for the pics and details. This post is definitely the best one I've seen so far. Question: I believe I heard you say the clamp goes in the engine compartment. What is the reason to open the hatch between the cleanout ports? Is it for easier access to the Y fitting? Thanks again.

I haven't even done the ball valve thing yet, but I have 2 Gear Wrench hose clamping pliers that go on board until I can get it done.

On my boat (and I believe it's the same as on yours), I can easily reach the hose that needs to be clamped off within the engine compartment.

If I remove the oval hatch between the two clean-out plugs, it allows me to see the hoses, but I cannot easily reach them to clamp off in that area, due to my lack of reach, I can't see it being easy to get to while out on the water. I'm only pointing out that hatch so that someone can trace the hose from the intake, and so you can see where it enters the engine compartment.

If someone has long arms and can reach the hoses through the oval hatch between the cleanout plugs, it would be the "cleanest" place to install ball valves, but might be more difficult to install them there. Use the info to figure out what and where to install, and proceed from there.

There's a good chance that I'll be doing this while I am doing the spark plug/oil change after burning through the winter gas I've still got in the tank. If so, I'll try to lay it out along with some photos.

 

[watdog]

I installed my valves in the engine compartment, but it's a stretch to reach them.

 

[NeoBrew]

I picked up a set of those white clamps for my 2019 FSH 210. They were so cheap I figured why not have some on hand? I took a few minutes today to figure out how to do this. I chose not to actually clamp them on. I'm concerned that my hose doesn't appear to have any soft rubber portions to clamp down on. The hose is either hard plastic junctions or the ribbed plastic hose that you see in many of these pictures. I don't get the feeling that that ribbed hose is going to hold up very well to being pinched and crushed without cracking.

 

[drewkaree]

It's not the ribbed hose. The correct hose is a smooth hose. It may show in your owners manual where it is, or there are a few threads here that show it.

You're looking for a Y-fitting in the engine compartment, and the majority of people seem to have a red hose leading into the Y-fitting. Your boat may be different, but it hasn't seemed like Yamaha has changed these items over at least a 6 year time period. That's off the top of my head, and it may be a longer time frame than that. It has been verified in threads here that it's at least 2018-2020, that I can recall