My new boat is in the shop...Any guess to what the mechanic will tell me?

[mpbassett44]

This weekend I took the boat (2016 242 limited) to Lake Havasu. I bought the boat in September and I've only had it out 4 times.
Problem #1....Every time I pull the boat out of the water, I remove the drain plug, and water pours out for almost 1 minute. My older boat was always dry after removing the plug. How is so much water getting in? I always check the engine compartment out on the lake, and I only see a minimal amount of water. I turn on the bilge and nothing. Where is all this water hiding? I don't think it's leaking from the cooling system due to the water is cold.
Problem #2....After an hour on the lake, the check port engine light came on. It was a solid beep, plus the light. I called the mechanic, and he said it should be ok to drive the boat back to the dock on both engines, as long as it ran ok. No other lights came on, and everything sounded and ran normal. How worried should i be?

 

[swatski]

This weekend I took the boat (2016 242 limited) to Lake Havasu. I bought the boat in September and I've only had it out 4 times.
Problem #1....Every time I pull the boat out of the water, I remove the drain plug, and water pours out for almost 1 minute. My older boat was always dry after removing the plug. How is so much water getting in? I always check the engine compartment out on the lake, and I only see a minimal amount of water. I turn on the bilge and nothing. Where is all this water hiding? I don't think it's leaking from the cooling system due to the water is cold.
Problem #2....After an hour on the lake, the check port engine light came on. It was a solid beep, plus the light. I called the mechanic, and he said it should be ok to drive the boat back to the dock on both engines, as long as it ran ok. No other lights came on, and everything sounded and ran normal. How worried should i be?

Problem #1 is a known issue, usually some blow through the cleanout plugs channel/stacks which have loose clamps where they connect to the tray. There is a bunch of recent posts on where does water come in from, @MrMoose has posted in that extensively.
Problem #2 could be overheating? Can you read the error code from the Connext? @Mainah? I think if you press and hold the Sys button you will go into the screen with system checks and status. If it is overheat, usually not a big deal, could be something stuck in the pump causing cavitation and reduced water intake into the cooling system. Try to look through the jets if there is anything obstructing the flow, and the strainer on the side, inside the pump.

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[mpbassett44]

I hope it wasn't over heating. Isn't there a different alarm or warning that would go off? I had to run it another 20-30 minutes to get back to the docks. The boat ran and sounded normal after the check engine light came on.

 

[MrMoose]

@mpbassett44 you have a leak. I found that there's enough room for a couple gallons to sit below the bilge pump inlet. I also drained my bilge for about a minute and a half when I had leaks. The biggest ones that I had in terms of volume were from the drive shafts. Hard to see, but look into the access hatch between your clean-out plugs and you should see signs of water in spots above the lowest point of the bilge. My boat leaked from day one. I filled up the bilge with the boat on the trailer and nothing leaked out, so don't let that fool you like it did me.
Keep in mind that if your boat has been out in the rain, it can take a bit of time for all of the water to find its way to your bilge.
Did you happen to notice if both of your cooling pissers were working when the engine alarm sounded?

 

[swatski]

No other lights came on, and everything sounded and ran normal. How worried should i be?

I would NOT be worried. But it is annoying.
If it was an overheating event (usually inconsequential) the engine could go in a "limp mode" and won't rev up beyond 3,500 RPM or so for few minutes, then things go back to normal.
Do you know if your boat is CARB certified? If it is, one source of an error code could be the 02 sensor. Let us know when they pull a code.

Often times if you get something in the pump it will cause cavitation, vibration, noise etc., it could be a very small piece of wood stuck in between the impeller and the wear ring, of some other obstruction if there's algae or debris in the water. There is a trick called "reverse maneuver" that can save you from digging stuff out of the pumps sometimes, check the FAQ section of the forum.

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[mpbassett44]

We've had a lot of rain lately, but i have the mooring cover, plus the shipping cover on the boat with the anti pooling poles. Can water still get in the boat from the rain? I'll talk to the mechanic ASAP about checking for the leak...The water was flowing from both cooling pissers. Everything seemed to be running normal. Hopefully it's something easy to fix!

 

[swatski]

@mpbassett44 Also, there is a help line available here on the forum for emergencies only, when you are stuck on the water. I think the word "help" preceded by the "@" sign will flag several experienced members to help. @Bruce Am I correct?

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[Bruce]

Exactly right @swatski!

 

[swatski]

Can water still get in the boat from the rain?

The short answer is yes.
I find it helpful to prop the trailer jack up on a cinder block or something and leave the drain plug out, helps drain everything out.
Like @MrMoose said, there are multiple possible water entries, and those can be tricky to identify. The bilge pump does not kick in until there is a lot of water in the compartment, which will first collect between the layers of the pseudo-double hull in the engine compartment.

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[mpbassett44]

@swatski I'll keep ya posted... I live in Cali, so i think it is CARB Certified. I'm betting it's the sensor.

 

[Bruce]

A good way to test for a leak is to use a water hose to fill the bilge with water while the boat is on the trailer then look for where the water starts coming out. This works even better if you can do so with the back of the boat down hill to fill the back of the bilge before the engine compartment.

 

[haknslash]

Also see if you have a gap in your anchor locker drain. There is a discussion in the 21' forum about the gap. @OUT ON THE REEF documented it in a nice video. You could fill your anchor locker with water to see if you have a gap letting water run to the bilge.

 

[Mainah]

I have gotten the check port engine light to come on just from tuning the timing on my push button start. I would not be too worried about that one if it clears after a bit of operation. Do check oil level and water coming out of the pissers. The warning code does appear as a byte code on the connext display. I do not however have a decode for what appears. Given a list of codes with their alphanumeric values linked to meaning anyone can use an online hex converter to translate the connext codes.

 

[mpbassett44]

Thanks for all the replies!! This forum is so helpful!

 

[Matt Phillips]

I'm not sure about the 24 footers, but on the 23 foot hull, at anything less than on plane, the anchor locker will fill up with water as it backs-up the drain hole. As soon as the boat comes up on Plane, it'll drain and it will also drain once the boat is stopped. My locker will fill up with 6" or so of water.

That being said, it doesn't leak any farther back into the boat, so it hasn't been a big issue for me to fix, as it seems to be by design. Maybe the connection on your drain is loose?

 

[luckie_529]

Mine is hit and miss. I have had it bone dry and wet the next. I question the the plug o ring

 

[mpbassett44]

I got the boat back from the mechanic.. Easy fix! Turns out the check engine light was just an o2 sensor. My bigger problem was the leak! The dealer was absolutely NO HELP! They said they would have to do a "on water test". To me, it sounded like they just didn't want to help me out. I told them to just reset the code, and I'll deal with the leak myself....I did manage to do a couple mods!

 

[Ronnie]

Two weeks in the shop isn't too bad. If the on water test was at no cost I probably would have authorized it especially now while the warranty is still in effect and I am unlikely to go boating because of the weather. Nice mods.

 

[Ilmmct]

I had an overheat situation last summer and paid out-of-pocket for the on-water test (cost not covered by YES). I called YES after the boat was fixed and they gave me a $200 credit (in lieu of the on-water test costs) to use at www.shopyamaha.com

 

[mpbassett44]

@Ronnie to make a long story short, I live and I bought the boat in Los Angeles (Bert's Mega Mall), but I usually boat in Havasu, so I store it out there. Since the boat was already in Havasu, I thought I would give the Havasu dealership a try. When I told them about my problems, It seemed like it would be a hassle for them, and they couldn't guarantee Yamaha would pick up the cost for the water test. Plus they wanted $600 for a 10 hour service. Bad customer service and very expensive! I'm out!!! I feel I'll have a better experience with the dealership I bought the boat from. I have a 4 year warrantee, so i'll definitely take care of the problem.