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[CDENsomnia]

Well we went to out local lake to meet some friends and we want through our normal paces which we have done with both yamahas we have had. Everything went fine until we were about half way to the cove.

The boat just didn't sound right and I was pulling the throttles back when I look back and see water just shooting everywhere on the swim deck. I immediatly knew we blew a plug. I stopped and started assessing what happened. Looks like the plug just popped out. It was still in the locked position. It hit the clean out tray door hard enough that it broke the latch.

I then opened the engine compartment and I had water up to just under the oil filters. The bilge was going full blast...so we started helping it by bailing with cups. About 30 minutes later most of the water was out. We anchored up with our friends and I found we had water all the way in to the ski locker too.

I checked the oil in the engines to make sure there was no milky look to it. Based on the dip stick they looked fine. I may still change the oil on one to see if any water got in. Needless to say in 6 years of having 2 yamahas I haven't had this issue. Sure wish yamaha would invest in fixing the design because I know for a fact the plug was seated. Part of my routine is seating them and then tugging real hard to make sure they are good. I also have the locks drilled through. I think I might start storing the mini footballs in again like I had on my other boat to prevent damage. Hopefully no harm no foul other than the 40 dollar latch I have to replace.

 

[MrWizard]

Happened to me last year. Luckily for both of us it was an inexpensive fix...
I've heard of people using the mini footballs but never thought about it again til you just mentioned it...

 

[Gym]

Well we went to out local lake to meet some friends and we want through our normal paces which we have done with both yamahas we have had. Everything went fine until we were about half way to the cove.

The boat just didn't sound right and I was pulling the throttles back when I look back and see water just shooting everywhere on the swim deck. I immediatly knew we blew a plug. I stopped and started assessing what happened. Looks like the plug just popped out. It was still in the locked position. It hit the clean out tray door hard enough that it broke the latch.

I then opened the engine compartment and I had water up to just under the oil filters. The bilge was going full blast...so we started helping it by bailing with cups. About 30 minutes later most of the water was out. We anchored up with our friends and I found we had water all the way in to the ski locker too.

I checked the oil in the engines to make sure there was no milky look to it. Based on the dip stick they looked fine. I may still change the oil on one to see if any water got in. Needless to say in 6 years of having 2 yamahas I haven't had this issue. Sure wish yamaha would invest in fixing the design because I know for a fact the plug was seated. Part of my routine is seating them and then tugging real hard to make sure they are good. I also have the locks drilled through. I think I might start storing the mini footballs in again like I had on my other boat to prevent damage. Hopefully no harm no foul other than the 40 dollar latch I have to replace.

Glad to hear you resolved the issue without much problem. I'm surprised you had a blowout while using the locks. I also have the locks and the footballs. The footballs get a lot of use on the beach but are always stored above the plugs.

 

[Jasonsbiz74]

Happy to hear that it wasn't that bad .. I use the EZ Locks and the nerf footballs. It is a great when we need to pull out debris or whatever but the design is also a bad design when a blow out happens. Just glad to hear it wasn't that bad.

 

[MattFX4]

How common is this? Does it affect certain years, or are all Yamaha's susceptible to this happening?

 

[jcyamaharider]

Sorry to hear. Plug lock devices are worth purchasing.

 

[0627Devildog]

How common is this? Does it affect certain years, or are all Yamaha's susceptible to this happening?

All yamahas with clean out plugs can be effected as the design hasn't change. . . . . . Though I have not seen anyone with a late model post about it, I think it is just a matter of time.

@CDENsomnia - You said you had the "Locks drilled through" are you talking about EZ-Locks from @Cobra Jet Steering LLC ?

 

[mark_m]

I had one blow out gently this weekend. I have the football there to break the shock. I noticed starboard engine was dead while underway. Shut it down took a look, reseated the plug and was back at it about 30 sec later.

I might need to drill and put the locks in.

If not for this site and what I've learned from it, it would have taken a lot longer to figure it out.

 

[Scottintexas]

@CDENsomnia also curious if you had Ez locks and how you think so much water got into the boat? did the cleanout tube dislodge also forcing water into the bilge?

 

[CDENsomnia]

Sorry to hear. Plug lock devices are worth purchasing.

In this case the locks didn't do their job...

 

[CDENsomnia]

All yamahas with clean out plugs can be effected as the design hasn't change. . . . . . Though I have not seen anyone with a late model post about it, I think it is just a matter of time.

@CDENsomnia - You said you had the "Locks drilled through" are you talking about EZ-Locks from @Cobra Jet Steering LLC ?

That's correct. I need to pull the plugs out and inspect because I seated the plug as normal and tugged on it. Then I put the lock on and when it blew out it was still locked.

 

[Zeus2013]

I added pool noodles from the plug to the access hatch. Hope I never need to know if it works to protect the hatch.

 

[jcyamaharider]

In this case the locks didn't do their job...

Oh really, I thought you were plug lock less. Guess I didn't read well enough. That sucks!!

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

You said you put the EZlock on after you installed the plug?

I'm curious since I have been making these for many, many years with thousands in use.
The EZ lock was designed to be placed on the clean out plug prior to it being installed in the hole, once the clean out plug is in place you push down on the T handle to align the holes and watch the lock close. This was one of the things that make it EZ to operate, no need to fumble around placing a lock on a clean out plug down inside the tube.
I also supply people with the correct drill bit for the holes "9/64ths" , I do this to avoid people drilling the holes larger because if you drill the holes larger you compromise the effectiveness of the lock.
Larger would give the locking dogs room to retract and possibly allow the plug to come out.
A while back I read that some people were enlarging the holes to make it easier for them to install the locks " AFTER" installing the clean out plugs.
I explained at that time how the locks go on first and not to enlarge the holes.
If by chance you have holes in the clean out plug larger than 9/64th I would suggest you drill new ones on the opposite side.
I also had people installing EZ locks in holes that were drilled for the pin fix, I make an adapted EZ lock for that but the regular ones won't work due to the excessive size of the hole required for the pin fix.
So aside from this I have no idea how a plug can come out with a EZ lock on it other than a defective lock ring in the tube where it seats.

 

[CDENsomnia]

@Cobra Jet Steering LLC I hear you! I was very surprised since we haven't had any issues since getting the boat and adding the locks. I did use your supplied bit and certainly didn't reuse any holes.

I cannot explain what happened. I have looked everything over and don't see any issues with the plug latch or ez lock. The only thing I can think of is somehow it was seated enough to lock but not latch. We went a good distance before it blew out so if it wasn't seated I would have expected it to blow on throttle up. I am going to keep a close eye on it all over the holiday weekend.

Also, I hope you didn't think I was calling you out on your product. I am just as surprised as anyone. I'm still a little concerned this happened and could have ruined my motors if they got water in the air filters. I sure wish yamaha would come up with a better design that was bullet proof.

 

[2nazt]

Could the locks not have been set 100%? Or the dogs wearing down, need replaced(not sure if that even is an issue) just thinking out loud. I know I always look to make sure the metal is touching and sometimes need to push on the lock one side or another to get 100%. Either way glad no real damage was done and you weren't made to call it an early day.

 

[Scottintexas]

I'm more curious about how the water got in enough to fill your engine bay,

did you cleanout tubes look in tacked? are they clamped tight? I'm wondering if your plug sideways enough to put pressure on the tube + plus the force of the water allowed it into your bilge?

 

[billyb]

I hope to install my high water alarm and fume detector this weekend...first time I have been able to go to the lake since April.

 

[tdonoughue]

I am not surprised by the water in the engine compartment at all. When I, er, um, 'blew out a plug' (my pet name for forgetting to put them in), I had a similar result in the engine compartment. I think that the tubes from the cleanout plugs to the deck are more 'water resistant' than sealed or waterproof. If you get real water, it is going through them and/or around the tray and into your bilge.

 

[MattFX4]

Can someone speak to proper maintenance and storage of the plugs? I just picked up my boat from storage, and when I got home I decided to look under the hatch at the plugs. The tubes were full of water above the plugs. I pulled the plugs out and all the water drained out the pumps. I will put them back in later today before heading out on water.