100% of engine water removed

[CaliJetBoater75]

I attempted to launch my 2007 AR230 at Pyramid Lake in Los Angeles County yesterday. They have a very strict inspection procedure to insure there is no standing water anywhere in your boat to help stop the spread of quagga and zebra mussels. They won’t even let you in with damp life jackets. I knew this and made sure my boat was 100% in compliance, or so I thought. All equipment, bilge and compartments passed the inspection but when they had me fire up the engines some residual water came out. I was denied entry and they put my boat into a quarantine database. How can I get 100% of the water out of the engines? Is the only way to run them dry on the trailer for a significant length of time? Sounds damaging. Thanks

 

[swatski]

I attempted to launch my 2007 AR230 at Pyramid Lake in Los Angeles County yesterday. They have a very strict inspection procedure to insure there is no standing water anywhere in your boat to help stop the spread of quagga and zebra mussels. They won’t even let you in with damp life jackets. I knew this and made sure my boat was 100% in compliance, or so I thought. All equipment, bilge and compartments passed the inspection but when they had me fire up the engines some residual water came out. I was denied entry and they put my boat into a quarantine database. How can I get 100% of the water out of the engines? Is the only way to run them dry on the trailer for a significant length of time? Sounds damaging. Thanks

I think the only way is to lift the bow up as high as you can - putting a block or two under the trailer jack. Making sure the trailer wheels are chocked up sufficiently of course.
Here is mine - when I keep the boat in my driveway - the only way to make the deck/bilge drain.


Then maybe just blipping the throttles once or twice, no hose/water of course. Running the engine for a short time like 30sec is fine in Yamahas, there are no carbon rings to wear off, and the intermediate bearings should be greased.

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[swatski]

There will still be water in water boxes (in the exhaust). Nothing you can do about it, other than dismantle those to drain, which would be a lot of work, or let the boat sit in a warm, dry place for a while...LOL. But that water box water should not blow back out when you restart, I would think it was most likely water collected in the pumps that blew out when you had your inspection.

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[Ronnie]

We have the same inspection processes at some of the lakes and reservoirs i boat in. I get it but also think its ridiculius at the same time. My inspectors have been known to check anchor and fishing lines, if they are wet you fail. They have allowed me to put wet tubes back in my truck instead of failing me though.

I digress the only sure way to pass the inspection other than have a new / never in the water boat is to have the boat prepped by a local third party, have read that seceral members here to this to boat on lake tahoe. The process involves flushing your engines with very hot water and its not cheap so its not available everywhere.

What people in my area do is stop before the front gate to the lake/reservoir and go over everything again with a towel and / or shop vac as well as turn the engines on to blow water out of the exhaust. I have only taken my boat through this (i think it would be harder to prep my jet skis) y and have not been back in years because of all the hassle, and when i did pass i felt almost obligated to keep going to the same body of water instead of being subject to reinspection.

For those that dont know or in case things are different in scal, in normal if you fail in santa clara county, they keep the $20 inspection fee and let the other reservoirs in the county know that you failed so that you cannot simply drive and boat there the same day. That is the failure result is good for 48 hours. Also before you leave they put a paper band through you boat's bow eye and winch, if the connection isnt broken when you return you dont need to go through inspection again.

 

[CaliJetBoater75]

I think the only way is to lift the bow up as high as you can - putting a block or two under the trailer jack. Making sure the trailer wheels are chocked up sufficiently of course.
Here is mine - when I keep the boat in my driveway - the only way to make the deck/bilge drain.
View attachment 66329

Then maybe just blipping the throttles once or twice, no hose/water of course. Running the engine for a short time like 30sec is fine in Yamahas, there are no carbon rings to wear off, and the intermediate bearings should be greased.

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Thanks for the info. I did the gravity assist method but was a little scared to run the engines without hose water. I’ll try that next time

 

[CaliJetBoater75]

There will still be water in water boxes (in the exhaust). Nothing you can do about it, other than dismantle those to drain, which would be a lot of work, or let the boat sit in a warm, dry place for a while...LOL. But that water box water should not blow back out when you restart, I would think it was most likely water collected in the pumps that blew out when you had your inspection.

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Yeah I agree it was water in the pumps. I’ll blow those out a little longer next time. Thanks

 

[CaliJetBoater75]

We have the same inspection processes at some of the lakes and reservoirs i boat in. I get it but also think its ridiculius at the same time. My inspectors have been known to check anchor and fishing lines, if they are wet you fail. They have allowed me to put wet tubes back in my truck instead of failing me though.

I digress the only sure way to pass the inspection other than have a new / never in the water boat is to have the boat prepped by a local third party, have read that seceral members here to this to boat on lake tahoe. The process involves flushing your engines with very hot water and its not cheap so its not available everywhere.

What people in my area do is stop before the front gate to the lake/reservoir and go over everything again with a towel and / or shop vac as well as turn the engines on to blow water out of the exhaust. I have only taken my boat through this (i think it would be harder to prep my jet skis) y and have not been back in years because of all the hassle, and when i did pass i felt almost obligated to keep going to the same body of water instead of being subject to reinspection.

For those that dont know or in case things are different in scal, in normal if you fail in santa clara county, they keep the $20 inspection fee and let the other reservoirs in the county know that you failed so that you cannot simply drive and boat there the same day. That is the failure result is good for 48 hours. Also before you leave they put a paper band through you boat's bow eye and winch, if the connection isnt broken when you return you dont need to go through inspection again.

Thanks for the info. I’ll definitely try that next time. In LA County there is no fee. They just put you in a database that bans your boat from any nearby lakes for 8 days. I think I have it figured out for next time. Thanks for the info

 

[Julian]

I would think that you might be able to insert a small shop vac tube into the exhaust ports to suck more water out.....I've never tried this, and not looked at the angles of the hoses inside to determine if this is feasible or not. The alternative would be to open up the clean out hatch and disconnect the water boxes and vacuum dry directly...but that would be a major hassle.

Majorly raising the bow, and repeatedly (over a few hours) reving the engines to 4-5k would get a lot out...but I doubt it would get it all.

 

[biglar155]

Man I dunno how you'd do that. I've taken my waterboxes off the boat for the scupper change-out. Just for giggles I tried to dump all the water out into a bucket. I had to roll/turn/shake it around a lot because of the baffles inside. There was at least a quart of water in there (after sitting for 6 months) and I could still hear some sloshing around. I would think that at least a little bit of it is liable to spit out on startup - and if they are THAT fussy... yikes.

 

[Ronnie]

A lot of the time it will depend on how much of a stickler the inspector is. What i have done is turn the engines on before entering the park , wipe down any moisture at the exhaust and do so again until there is no moisture. If water shoots out of the exhaust on start up you fail automatically where i boat. They dont make me rev the engine during testing so that helps but i do rev the engine when im doing my fonal inspection before entering the park. The rationale being that if non water is present on the exhaust after reving the engines there shouldnt be any when i simply turn the engines on for the test. Also sometimes they dont have me turn the engines on at all, they just feel the exhaust.

 

[Jgorm]

You guys are over thinking this. Rev to 4k for 5 second, then some wot punches up to 9k (mr1) 4-5 times when you pull it out of the water. Do it again when you get home. Do it once more before you leave for the lake as a check. If you see water, let it chill for 10m and test again.

 

[Zonie]

We have similar a similar inspection program in upstate NY at Lake George. Every launch, public or private requires a thorough boat inspection at one of 7 State-run inspection stations. I've never heard of things like wet life vests failing an inspection. The State is not there to keep you from boating, just to maintain the integrity of the lake. If the boat or trailer fails inspection, they put you to the side and set up an inflatable tub around it while they pressure wash whatever caused it to fail. The waste water gets pumped into storage tanks and they let you launch. It's also free.

I keep my boat clean and dry and always go to the same inspection station so they usually recognize me. However, all Jet Boats and Skis are required to start the engines. I have an '05 230SX HO, pretty much the same setup you have. My procedure is to blow them out when I pull the boat out and again when I get home as there is always more water in the boxes after the ride home. Then, as suggested, jack it up as high as I can and blow them out again before I leave the next time. That seems to do the trick.

Also at Lake George, they will put a band on the bow stop/bow cleat so if you return to the Lake, you can bypass inspection. http://www.lgboatinspections.com/

 

[CaliJetBoater75]

Thanks for all the input. I’ve got some good tips to try now (after my 8 day ban is over lol).

 

[itsdgm]

I feel your pain @CaliJetBoater75. I failed the same inspection at Castaic lake last year. Everything was dry as a bone, the lady asked me to fire up the engine and then she continued the inspection for what seemed like 25 minutes. She checked everything!!! Then we both got out of the boat and she said I failed because "water came out of that thingy" as she pointed To the exhaust. Since she had continued the inspection for 25 minutes before pointing it out, there wasn't even a drop left on the pavement. She never even asked me to fire the second engine and to be honest, since she didn't even know what an exhaust looks like, I don't think she ever noticed that the boat has twin engines. I had flushed the engines within a few months, but I hadn't even had the boat on a lake for almost a year. Needless to say, I was pretty pissed (both at myself for not firing the engines before pulling in, and at how much of a BIT*H the lady who did the inspection). I had 10 people waiting to boat, she claims water came out, but there's nothing on the ground. I had towed the boat about 3 hours round trip and didn't get to use it and come to find out after asking, those lakes are already contaminated.

IF I ever go back, I'll be outside the gate firing up the engines several times to ensure that no water blows out before I drive in. Just the drive alone will slosh water to the exhaust where it will blow out on the first attempt, so better safe than sorry.

 

[Ronnie]

Sounds like NY has the best mussel inspection program currently in place. Ncal / santa clara county is the exact opposite, if you fail its on you the boater to figure out how to pass the next time around and they make you wait a few days before you can pay the fee and try again. Based on the OPs wet vest check comment id bet scals processes are a lot like ncals. I have heard/read that lake tahoe is strict but more like ny in that you can fail but can have someone make your boat compliant and be on the water the same day. I also read it's not free the service fee is or was around $100. by the way some bodies of water in ca have an honor system like inspection process where you get an informational form that you sign and put on your dash stating that you have not boated in infested waters recently so you are ok to boat there subject to a big fine if you are caught lying about it. At other locations they bring out a dog to sniff the boat and trailer, if it barks you fail of not enjoy the day on the water. I liked this the best, free and fast.

Ironically i bought my first yamaha jet boat from a resident of santa clara county who said part of the reason he sold it is because of the inspections put in place recently (2008/9). I thought that will never be me. Yet here i am years later refusing to go to those reservoirs because of the inspections.

For me failure is not an option, if i fail i cant boat there or anywhere near there all weekend, effectively killing boating at all that day for my crew and i because it would take at least 2 hours to get to the nearest alternative boating location on top of the 1 it took to get to the first location plus up to 30 mins to prep the boat for the inspection and another 30 mins waiting for the inspection and the inspection itself. So now i just dont boat there anymore. Life is to short for me to be thoroughly drying off my boat just so I can get it wet again or risk losing a great day on the water with my friends and family over a technicality like wet lines.

 

[Eric Ballard]

I get it these muscles species are horrible and invasive, but this level of strictness you guys are talking about is insanity!

This is just another reason I don't live in places like CA and NY...

What if it rains on the way to the lake? do you just turn around and go home?

 

[dan144k]

Multiple engine starts is the best way to blow out all the water.

I think you displace more water out of exhaust by starting, rather then revving after starting.

Also if you are near the boat all week, start it twice every night, by the next weekend I would guess it to be dry.

Removing the water box is a ton of difficult work.

Never been thru these inspections personally.

 

[YamahaForMe]

out of curiosity, what do you do about your ballast tanks? No way to get them bone dry.
Steve

 

[swatski]

out of curiosity, what do you do about your ballast tanks? No way to get them bone dry.
Steve

These are just ballast bags with quick disconnects.
I have an aftermarket system, but somewhat similar, probably takes about 5min to dismount and remove.
After those are out can be completely drained, I actually store mine indoor.

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[Ronnie]

I dont have any but they found a wet tube on my boat once and since it wasnt tagged they had me put it in my truck instead take it to the water. Maybe they will treat ballast bags the same way.