Almost sunk my boat... Happy to be here :-)

[230twinpump]

Hi all, new to the forum. I purchased a 2007 AR230 last year. I was out with my family 2 days ago and starboard engine started to act up, felt like the jet had sucked up something, brought star board engine to idle and ran on port engine back to the boat launch. The star board engine and then the port engine started coughed and sputtered and died. It was then that i noticed the bilge pump outlet was spewing a steady stream of water, as i went to open the engine compartment. I found the compartment filled with water, just bellow the air filters. It took the bilge about 40 mins to drain the engine compartment. Found it strange that the bilge was draining (water level was going down) after the engines shut down? Flagged down a fellow boater who towed us back to the launch. Got home checked the oil and both motors had milk shacks in them, currently trying to flush the engine oil, after removing the spark plugs and spooling the engines to remove the water in the cylinders. Flushed the engines 4 times with fresh oil with a cup of diesel in 5 liter oil containers (x3) and still no joy... thinking of removing the oil sumps and cleaning them, before continuing flushing the oil. The engines do start (after removing water from cyls) minus any strange noises. Could really uses your thoughts on how i should proceed?

 

[tdonoughue]

Start it and run it like crazy. You need to warm up the engines to drive off as much water as possible. Like for an hour of running. Then continue your oil changes.

[USERGROUP=3]@Administrative[/USERGROUP] , this could probably use its own thread if you can manage it. Thanks.

 

[Beachbummer]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Bilge Float and Alarm buys you time before the water is so high. In this case it may not have helped much, other than make you aware of the issue a little earlier, but you never know when it can help. I find holes under the water line concerning, and our boats have many. I have 2x1200GPH pumps in addition to the OEM pump. This is the maximum I'm comfortable with as a compromise between power draw and bilge power, but that's just me. I spent less than $200 on everything. I highly recommend more pump power and a float with alarm for our boats. Glad you made it back OK!!!!

 

[Bruce]

@Asim Ghani, typically those that recovered engines after swamping did so by changing the oil repeatedly until the water was out. It sounds like you are on the way to accomplishing that.

 

[swatski]

Sounds like your cleanout plug(s) were not set properly causing a (partial?) blowout and flooding the bilge/engine bay.

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[Ilmmct]

@Asim Ghani of lesser importance now than saving the engines, but important while your wrenching on your boat ... replace your scupper valve. My 2008 jetboat needed the scupper replaced after only 4 years of reasonably low use. On my boat, which was subject to saltwater use, the scupper had cracked and the sealant had failed.

You seem to know your way around engines “oil sumps” for example, is something I should probably google but I’m afraid It will result in seeing pictures of the Kardashians or something worse. So focus on the priority engine recovery task, but shortly during/after the water intrusion:

-cleanout plug seating
-scupper valve fitting
-was your engine bay checked before the last float ... don’t ask me how I learned the importance of this, but starting with high water in this area will ruin a boating event
-is the clean out tray area as watertight as you can make it
-if your boat is left uncovered and the main drain plug not removed ... bilge on and battery tendered ... another don’t ask me how I know this.

Good luck

 

[zipper]

Hi all, new to the forum. I purchased a 2007 AR230 last year...I found the compartment filled with water, just bellow the air filters. It took the bilge about 40 mins to drain the engine compartment. Found it strange that the bilge was draining (water level was going down) after the engines shut down?

How long were you running engines before you had the problem? You may have a disconnected/broken cooling hose in the engine compartment on the starboard engine. There is a drain plug on the back side of the oil cooler. https://jetboaters.net/threads/oil-change-on-mr-1-how-to-perform-a-complete-drain.3805/ .

It could be a cooling hose or the exhaust cooling jacket.

 

[swatski]

THAT^^^
Duh! This is the first thing to check, actually. leaking/disconnected cooling.

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[ToddW850]

I may have missed this in the earlier posts, but do you have the plastic scupper on the back? Or a newer stainless steel? This has been an issue with the older boats if it hasn't been swapped out.