Another oil cooler bolt sheared

[pagekl]

@kthrash, how much you torquing down them bolts? I used the bolts Yamaha supplied four years ago, before the redesign and haven't had a problem at all. I think the problem originally was that the bolts were over torqued right from Yamaha causing the problem we all had with them.

 

[kthrash]

barely hand tight.. just enough to compress the seal..

 

[pagekl]

barely hand tight.. just enough to compress the seal..

When you say compress, do you mean flatten or just get a good all around fit for the seal between the two plates? Depending on your strength, hand tight for you may be tight as hell for someone else. Unfortunately, there really aren't torque specs or at least from what I remember, about how much was to be used for the oil coolers. Like you, I hand tighten the bolts as well. Sucks that any of us even has to deal with this.

 

[kthrash]

I used a nutdriver to tighten not a ratchet, so hand tight.. a 4 year old could break it free.

 

[RadioWaves]

I just checked mine and of course it is the old style cooler. Boat only has 30 hours on it and I am trying to decide a course of action. I wonder if Yamaha figured this out in 2010 and maybe reprogrammed the robot for the correct torque while they redesigned the cooler. Might explain why very few 2011's with the old cooler have the issue.

I like the idea of making replacement of the bolts part of yearly routine maintenance but I'm worried about breaking it off trying to get it out. Wish I would have known about this during the winter.

 

[Ronnie]

A few thoughts on this:
1. The torque specs for the cooler bolts are published by Yamaha. I have seen them via another members reference.
2. I don't think that over torqued bolts was the root cause of the cooler failures. The tech who replaced mine stated he thought that the metals of the face and cooler were different or one was thinner than the other such that thermal cycling caused the face to expand and crack, warp or break the heads off the bolts.

When I purchased my boat used at 100 hours neither cooler leaked at 200 hours both coolers were leaking, the face on one was cracked the other was warped, no broken bolts.

 

[RadioWaves]

Well there goes my plan, I thought that all of the units that cracked or warped had the bolt shear off. I guess the good news is that if I do have a failure it won't be catastrophic and I can keep a close eye on it maybe make it through the summer then replace the coolers in the off season. Thanks for the input.

 

[kthrash]

Well there goes my plan, I thought that all of the units that cracked or warped had the bolt shear off. I guess the good news is that if I do have a failure it won't be catastrophic and I can keep a close eye on it maybe make it through the summer then replace the coolers in the off season. Thanks for the input.

I would replace them sooner rather than later.. the last time mine blew, it dumped half the oil in the engine in a matter of seconds all over the engine compartment.. it was then I said the hell with it and dropped the $$$ to buy the revised ones.. (2) engines at $12K each are not worth the risk in my opinion.

 

[Ronnie]

If your coolers aren't leaking the preventive maintenance can wait, indefinatley for some. If it's leaking order one or two up and install them yourself to save a chunk of change.

I got lucky since my oil coolers were replaced under warranty but I still waited until the end of the season to bring it to the dealer. Had to be careful to keep the enough oil in the coolers, clean up the bilge after a day out (the oil and after combo had the consistency of puréed diarrhea) and not turn the bilge pump on while in the water. If you get caught pumping oil into the water you may as well give the officer who tickets you your platinum card (and hope he takes it instead of you boat, not kidding). Just a few things to think about if you are in this situation, YAMAHA corp!!!

 

[zelone]

@Ronnie and @kthrash I am approaching 200 hours on my 2010 and i havent had any oil cooler issues, yet. I check them weekly, during the season. At any point can i assume i am either out of the build date range when this was a problem or is it a ticking time bomb?

 

[Ronnie]

@zelone , I don't think anyone with a 2010 240 series boat is out of the build range. There is a clear difference in the oil cooler covers/faces of the 2010 1.8 l engines. The newer coolers have an arrow cast/embossed in them that points to the side of the third bolt down. Additionally the third bolt down has a different head than the other bolts. I will try and find the thread with pics of this or will take pics of my new oil coolers for you to compare with yours but not until after work today.

Nothing scientific here but the only change I made after I got the boat was to use full synthetic oil whereas the original owner usd standard yamalube. When my coolers were replaced the dealer used yamalube and I have stayed with it since. Did the synthetic oil contribute to my Problem? Don't know for sure but I think so and recommend that if you have older coolers stick with non synthetic oil. My engines are at 330 hours now without any issues since the oil coolers were replaced.

 

[zelone]

Hmm, i got this boat in '15 with 30 hours on it, immediately switched to Royal Purple,and have put 150+ hours on it. I dont remember if the cooler covers had the arrows on them or not. My 2011 242 had the arrows so i think that boat was ok. I will take a closer look at these coolers this weekend.
Also, i asked the original owner if he ever had any oil leak problems,and he looked at me like i was nuts. From 2010 to 2015,he only put 30 hours on the boat.

 

[Bill D]

Both oil coolers on my early 2011 had to be replaced in January of 2012 by the original owner. He pulled the boat out of the water and oil came out of the drain plug. The boat had roughly 100 hours on it at the time.

 

[kthrash]

@Ronnie and @kthrash I am approaching 200 hours on my 2010 and i havent had any oil cooler issues, yet. I check them weekly, during the season. At any point can i assume i am either out of the build date range when this was a problem or is it a ticking time bomb?

I run my boat hard.. pulling tubes, wakeboarders, running WOT etc.. all summer.. if it was my boat after what I have experienced I would replace them before you have issues.. I know $1600 for 2 coolers is a lot of money but its cheaper than 2 $12K motors.

 

[kthrash]

they are relatively easy to replace if you are handy with tools.. (I have pulled mine 4 times now.. ) I would recommend ditching the compression hose clamps and putting on some regular screw clamps..

 

[pagekl]

@zelone , I don't think anyone with a 2010 240 series boat is out of the build range. There is a clear difference in the oil cooler covers/faces of the 2010 1.8 l engines. The newer coolers have an arrow cast/embossed in them that points to the side of the third bolt down. Additionally the third bolt down has a different head than the other bolts. I will try and find the thread with pics of this or will take pics of my new oil coolers for you to compare with yours but not until after work today.

Nothing scientific here but the only change I made after I got the boat was to use full synthetic oil whereas the original owner usd standard yamalube. When my coolers were replaced the dealer used yamalube and I have stayed with it since. Did the synthetic oil contribute to my Problem? Don't know for sure but I think so and recommend that if you have older coolers stick with non synthetic oil. My engines are at 330 hours now without any issues since the oil coolers were replaced.[/QUOTE

Yeah, my starboard side cooler bolt broke either my second or third year with the boat. If you didn't purchase the YES, you were out of luck like me.

 

[Bruce]

#Yamaha I know you fixed this in later years but perhaps you could issue something along the lines of a #TSB to your dealers?

 

[davel501]

#Yamaha I know you fixed this in later years but perhaps you could issue something along the lines of a #TSB to your dealers?

Between this issue and the warping towers that Yamaha will not stand behind either I think I am done with them.

 

[pagekl]

@davel501, what issues with the warping towers? This is the first I'm hearing of this. What year boats and has anyone else had an issue with this?

 

[davel501]

@davel501, what issues with the warping towers? This is the first I'm hearing of this. What year boats and has anyone else had an issue with this?

https://jetboaters.net/threads/wake-tower-cross-beam-bending-ballooning.5119/
https://jetboaters.net/threads/rounded-tower-cross-bar.6816/

There was a design flaw in the 2010 242 LS Towers that they corrected by drilling drain holes but never said anything. I'm on my own for a $6k+ tower now unless I can find someone willing to weld it. All the local aluminum shops have turned it down though.