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Yamaha 242 limited

My jet boat is cavitating real bad it is unuseable.

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Tom Denion

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7000 Rpm and the boat won't come up to speed that sounds like a lack of pressure in the pump. Are you clean out plugs difficult to seat and remove? they should easily slide in and pull out if you have to force them down or tug on them hard to get them out you may need to rebuild them. This sounds more logical now then most other option unless the impeller and wear rings were really rough but that would have been easily identified. I would try and get a pic of the plugs seated and unseated as well but by pictures that may still be tough for any of us to identify.
My clean out plugs are hard to remove and hard to get back in. I took them both out and cleaned them the went back in place but they were hard to get down.
 

haknslash

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My clean out plugs are hard to remove and hard to get back in. I took them both out and cleaned them the went back in place but they were hard to get down.
Sounds like time for a manhole repair kit. I would almost bet you aren't getting a seal and that's where all your pressure is going and would explain the lack of thrust. The plugs should literally drop in when aligned and with a firm push be seated. They should never be hard to install and if they are then you need a rebuild kit. It would be a cheap place to start.

Was the boat wet slipped by the previous owner?

When you get the boat back check the impeller for burn marks or dings and check the wear ring gap. If all checks out well then I would assume it's your plugs not sealing.
 
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swatski

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@Tom Denion I think that is simple: you have aftermarket impellers, probably Solas Concords that were pitched for best top speed or at least that was the intention.

I bet you that is it!

When you get to the boat, can you take pics of the impellers and post? You can stick your hand with a phone of a camera through the intake grates to take a snap. Or take one down through the cleanout ports, if you can open those.

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robert843

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If its the plugs the fix is quick and inexpensive below is a link to the part number its maybe a 15 minute job and whether that is the issue or not it is something you will want to do. You will need two of them one for each plug and do not perform the repair on the water as there are some springs that can come flying out and you do not want to loose them as they are not part of this kit. What @swatski mentioned crossed my mind as well but if you are running the boat at 7k rpms and its is not coming up on plane they would have to be way out of spec but it would explain the low rpm as you should be hitting around 7600 rpm. I would try the man hole repair kit first as it a repair you will want to make anyway but once you get pics I'm sure someone will be able to diagnose more.

http://www.partspak.com/productcart/pc/Yamaha-F0R-67609-09-00-Manhole-Cover-Repair-Set-F0R676090900-120470p387202.htm
 

swatski

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When I test drove in in Maryland it was able to get up to 50 MPH I was not driving it but the driver accelerated slowly
Shipped it to TX and removed and cleaned both of the plugs and put them back in, they are locked and in place properly, mechanic agrees the plugs are in properly.
It is run in fresh water now for the first 2 years it was run in salt water
When I come up on the throttle both engines both engines will go to 7K RPM but the boat goes no where.
The mechanic told me when he test drove it he was able to get it up to speed after a long time playing with both throttles.
I think you guys are being a bit harsh on the mechanic. After all he suggested the OP posts here to get advice, I thinks that's pretty smart. Unless they really do not know how to install and lock the cleanout plugs, which I think is unlikely, there is really only one scenario:

This is the case of aftermarket (and/or repitched) impellers.

Given all of the above, I am fairly certain I would look into that first. Fortunately, if that is the case, OEM impellers are pretty inexpensive.
@Tom Denion is there any way you could call the previous owner and ask what are the impellers in the boat?

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haknslash

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Regardless he now has plenty of info to get him starting in diagnosing the problem, which was the intent of the owner and mechanic so all is good. I'm still leaning plugs just from the fact he has a hard time removing and installing them plus previous owner was using the boat in salt water so who knows how rigorous he was with plug maintenance. I know from my own experience that even if it's just barely seated it will cause a huge loss in pressure and the boat will go nowhere. Heck I wasn't even able to get away from the dock lol.
 

tdonoughue

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I do agree with @swatski that we should not be too harsh on the mechanic. It may not be a jet boat mechanic. There are many folks well-qualified to work on the engine part of our boats, who have no clue about the jet system. May still be a wonderful mechanic. And he did point Tom this way, so he can't be all bad. In fact, I would much rather any professional who has to look something up or ask someone when he/she doesn't know to those who just give me an answer (that is wrong). Same with doctors, by the way...

@Tom Denion , keep us updated. A few photos of those impellers and plugs should put this to rest. But I bet that either way you still need to rebuild the plugs. They indeed should drop right into place without force.
 

robert843

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While I agree with @swatski and @tdonoughue the mechanic is in all likelihood not a jet boat mechanic if he is at a marina and agree he pointed the OP in the correct direction to reach out here. I would still judge him on his sincerity to actually fix my boat as it seems he has no desire to really work on it or the mechanic would have reached out on here himself instead of telling the owner to do so and let the mechanic know what he finds out. I could never imagine what would happen if one of my customers came to me with an issue and I looked at them and said go online ask this place for help and once you get the resolution I will fix it. I would imagine I would not have that customer for to long as they look for me to come up with the solution no matter how I do it which is the same way I would feel if I took my boat or jet ski to the shop to have them fix what ever the issue is.
 

swatski

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That feeling of not hooking up and engine revving is typically a symptom of too much room between the impeller and the ring. This can actually happen when the impeller is repitched for higher speed without (expensive and time consuming) welding to restore the OD (outside diameter). In other words, just bending the blades on the trailing edge (without adding material) - you end up running a smaller diameter impeller which will slip/cavitate under hard acceleration, but once on plane it takes off and hauls a$$ to high speeds, motor spins the high RPM -- sacrificing the low end holeshot for the faster top speed the top end. Amazingly (to me), some jet skiers are not worried about hole shot but the top end. I have experienced a similar situation once or twice when testing various impeller type/pitch combinations in my 190 (I went through 20+ combinations, plus various cones).

Assuming those are the symptoms (below), one way to figure it all out is to try to reproduce it. There may or may not be anything that a mechanic can find that's obviously defective. For example, I don't think the boat would do 50mph with pumps sucking air through the plugs (if those were set wrong, deteriorated, not sealing etc.) while symmetrical nature of the problem rules out most common causes of excessive cavitation. On the other hand, repitched impellers especially aftermarkets with shorter blades (less contact area for higher speed etc) would do just that:
it was able to get up to 50 MPH I was not driving it but the driver accelerated slowly
When I come up on the throttle both engines both engines will go to 7K RPM but the boat goes no where
The mechanic told me when he test drove it he was able to get it up to speed after a long time playing with both throttles
--
 

Tom Denion

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Hi everyone, first and foremost I would like to thank each and everyone for your input and suggestions. I just got back from the marina service center, like I mentioned impellers and wear rings look OK. Both of my plugs were hard to get out and they were hard to get in, but the marina mechanic checked them and they were OK. I instructed the service center to put the boat back together and put it back in my slip at the marina. When the boat gets back in the water I will take a run and post the audio of what is happening. I am in canyon lake texas now, however, I will be leaving texas and going back to Maryland for a couple of months, when I get back to canyon lake (late may early june) I will pull the boat out of the water and make the necessary repairs. I know for sure that I need a kit to repair the plugs. Do you think if I fill both of the plug holes with water when I am on my test run and see if the water gets sucked out by a leak in the plugs? One final question where is the best place to get OEM parts, and the tool that you put in the vice to lock the shaft for impeller removal. Thanks again for everyone's input.
 

Tom Denion

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I forgot to mention in my earlier post, I am OK with replacing impellers, wear ring, input grate, seal plugs, presumably this would cover all suggestions, Do the nozzles ever go bad, (they are downstream of my problem)? If they do go bad what are the symptoms of a bad nozzle?
 

swatski

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I forgot to mention in my earlier post, I am OK with replacing impellers, wear ring, input grate, seal plugs, presumably this would cover all suggestions, Do the nozzles ever go bad, (they are downstream of my problem)? If they do go bad what are the symptoms of a bad nozzle?
I never heard of nozzles going bad, so most likely not an issue.
There are many OEM parts providers, my favorite is this (best prices and good experience with them):
http://shop.powersportsparts4less.com/fiche_select1.asp?cat=Boats&mfg=Yamaha
The impeller shaft holding tool part number is WR014H, can be sourced from many places, I think I got mine from Impros, an impeller service. Here is a generic link:
https://www.amazon.com/Solas-Impeller-Shaft-Holder-WR014H/dp/B0068BZPB4
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-Driveshaft-Holding-Tool-WR014H-for-Impeller-Installation-Removal-/261398209759


Good luck and keep us posted!

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Scottintexas

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Do you have a lift at your slip ?

always pull the cleanout plugs when you are done for the day, even if you leave it in the water,

take some pictures for us,

I don't think filling the holes with water is going to tell you anything. many of us get water on top of our cleanout plugs without taking water over the back without any performance issues.

Since you don't really know the history of the boat I'm really leaning towards maybe you have the wrong impellers, but they should have markings on them to determine that first, it's easy to pull the shaft and impellers so you don't have to actually remove the impeller until you determine it's a problem as some members have reported them to be quite difficult to remove from the shaft

you can check the clearance gap for the impeller/wear ring so that should be easily determined,

other than that maybe you have air intrusion from a loose seal on the grate but people (and me) have reported that as a loud or physical shaking of the boat while cavitating.

I wouldn't replace anything other than rebuilding the plugs (if you even need to do that) until you diagnose it some more.
 

Tom Denion

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I never heard of nozzles going bad, so most likely not an issue.
There are many OEM parts providers, my favorite is this (best prices and good experience with them):
http://shop.powersportsparts4less.com/fiche_select1.asp?cat=Boats&mfg=Yamaha
The impeller shaft holding tool part number is WR014H, can be sourced from many places, I think I got mine from Impros, an impeller service. Here is a generic link:
https://www.amazon.com/Solas-Impeller-Shaft-Holder-WR014H/dp/B0068BZPB4
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-Driveshaft-Holding-Tool-WR014H-for-Impeller-Installation-Removal-/261398209759


Good luck and keep us posted!

--

Thank you very much.
 

Tom Denion

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N
Do you have a lift at your slip ?

always pull the cleanout plugs when you are done for the day, even if you leave it in the water,

take some pictures for us,

I don't think filling the holes with water is going to tell you anything. many of us get water on top of our cleanout plugs without taking water over the back without any performance issues.

Since you don't really know the history of the boat I'm really leaning towards maybe you have the wrong impellers, but they should have markings on them to determine that first, it's easy to pull the shaft and impellers so you don't have to actually remove the impeller until you determine it's a problem as some members have reported them to be quite difficult to remove from the shaft

you can check the clearance gap for the impeller/wear ring so that should be easily determined,

other than that maybe you have air intrusion from a loose seal on the grate but people (and me) have reported that as a loud or physical shaking of the boat while cavitating.

I wouldn't replace anything other than rebuilding the plugs (if you even need to do that) until you diagnose it some more.

thanks
 

ToddW850

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Subscribing to this thread so I can see the pics and video. Good luck!
 

Tom Denion

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Hello everyone, the marina is supposed to put my boat back in the water tomorrow morning. I was just reading my repair manual and I may have come across the source of my problem, please let me know what you think. I don't have access to my boat right now, however, I was reading that you need to apply a bead of silicone to the underside of the clean out tray. As I remember when I was messing with my clean out plugs, I noticed that the tray is missing a lot of screws, at the time I was messing with the clean out plugs I did no recognize if the tray is not sealed it will cause a leak. Furthermore since both of the engines are acting the same this unsealed tray could be causing a problem with both engines. Does this sound like it could be the problem?
 

Neutron

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Hello everyone, the marina is supposed to put my boat back in the water tomorrow morning. I was just reading my repair manual and I may have come across the source of my problem, please let me know what you think. I don't have access to my boat right now, however, I was reading that you need to apply a bead of silicone to the underside of the clean out tray. As I remember when I was messing with my clean out plugs, I noticed that the tray is missing a lot of screws, at the time I was messing with the clean out plugs I did no recognize if the tray is not sealed it will cause a leak. Furthermore since both of the engines are acting the same this unsealed tray could be causing a problem with both engines. Does this sound like it could be the problem?
Unlikely since the plugs are the sealing point... your problem is from the plugs down
 

haknslash

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Yea as he said the tray doesn't serve any purpose for keeping pressure of the cleanout plugs. What the manual is saying is that if that tray isn't sealed (they come poorly "sealed" new from the factory :D) then water that makes it on top of the tray, like when you come off plane quickly and water rushes over the swim platform, then water would make its way down into the bilge. On some boats you can literally see a gap on the tray or slide a card between it. Most people would remove the tray and lay down some good sealant then reinstall the tray to ensure its properly sealed just to keep water from having a chance to enter the bilge there.

The plugs seal by locking in the dogs in the groove above the jet tunnel or whatever you call it. If your plugs are hard to get in/out then they have more than likely swelled from the previous owner not taking them out after use or leaving the boat docked in the water like from a wet slip. A swollen plug would be difficult to install and probably isn't going to get a good seal.
 
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