Newby questions for my 2016 SX190

[Eric Ballard]

This is my first post - and my first boat . I have a 2016 SX190. I have purchased and will be putting Thrust Vectors on my boat tonight. I added a Lowrance Hook 4. I'm scowering the forum for other mods (mostly I like bolt on); I'm not ready to drill holes yet. All suggestions and comments are welcome please!

I have some questions I need help with please.

1. The bilge switch - do I run in the water with it on or off? After I've stopped I run the bilge before getting going again and there is ALWAYS a bunch of water pumped out. Is this normal or should I look for an issue? The Yamaha manual says to leave the bilge on when in the water, but I thought the bilge was automatic.

2. What is the drain in the picture that is next to the green arrow? This is below the water line when the boat is loaded or people are jumping around the back of the boat. I know the blue arrow points to the scupper valve and the red arrows point to the hull drains.

 

[mraz72]

to answer your first question, whenever your boat is in the water, leave the bilge ON. Yamaha uses a polling system, meaning the bilge checks every minute (or whatever the time interval is) to see if there is water. I wet slip my boat and the bilge is essentially ALWAYS on, I've never had a battery issue.

The other question I'll let someone else chime in, as I am not sure....

 

[ToddW850]

Congrats on your new boat and welcome to the Forum @Eric Ballard !

As far as the bilge, yes, you should always leave it on while on the water. Leave the power switch on, and the bilge will take care of the rest if there is water in there.

As far as the green arrow, I'm not 100% (I have a different model boat) but I believe it could be the drain for your clean out hatch.

EDIT: Oh, and to address the water in the bilge. You say "a bunch" of water is pumped out. No, that's not normal. You will get water in the bilge during normal activities (stopping from plane, people loading on the boat from the water etc...). I get water too, but never been enough to kick the bilge pump on. So you might have a loose fitting or drain plug. Make sure all is tight. Next time, check to see if the water is warm, or cold. If warm, you might have a loose exhaust clamp.

 

[swatski]

This is my first post - and my first boat . I have a 2016 SX190. I have purchased and will be putting Thrust Vectors on my boat tonight. I added a Lowrance Hook 4. I'm scowering the forum for other mods (mostly I like bolt on); I'm not ready to drill holes yet. All suggestions and comments are welcome please!

I have some questions I need help with please.

1. The bilge switch - do I run in the water with it on or off? After I've stopped I run the bilge before getting going again and there is ALWAYS a bunch of water pumped out. Is this normal or should I look for an issue? The Yamaha manual says to leave the bilge on when in the water, but I thought the bilge was automatic.

2. What is the drain in the picture that is next to the green arrow? This is below the water line when the boat is loaded or people are jumping around the back of the boat. I know the blue arrow points to the scupper valve and the red arrows point to the hull drains.

Green is a drain from the wet locker in swim platform.
I found that you will get a lot less water in the bilge if you tighten the clamp around the rubber pipe fitting of your cleanout port, where it meets the plastic flange of the wet storage bottom, inside the swim platform. A little tricky to get to, need to get to it through the right hand side access hatch/opening, but it reduces the amount of water that seeps into the bilge.

 

[RiverRat]

Also, make sure your drain plugs are in straight, they're not too hard to get in a little crooked. That will cause the o ring to not seal properly, allowing a slow stream of water in. I had that happen once or twice, and the bilge pump was easily able to handle the amount of water coming in.

 

[ruztew]

I leave my bilge on from the time I start backing down the ramp until I'm done done cleaning the boat and it's in the garage. My bilge never spits water out unless I am really scrubbing the deck clean with lots of water ... Never have seen the bilge actually do anything while on the water. (2015 sx190)

 

[SCSX190]

This is my first post - and my first boat . I have a 2016 SX190. I have purchased and will be putting Thrust Vectors on my boat tonight. I added a Lowrance Hook 4. I'm scowering the forum for other mods (mostly I like bolt on); I'm not ready to drill holes yet. All suggestions and comments are welcome please!

I have some questions I need help with please.

1. The bilge switch - do I run in the water with it on or off? After I've stopped I run the bilge before getting going again and there is ALWAYS a bunch of water pumped out. Is this normal or should I look for an issue? The Yamaha manual says to leave the bilge on when in the water, but I thought the bilge was automatic.

2. What is the drain in the picture that is next to the green arrow? This is below the water line when the boat is loaded or people are jumping around the back of the boat. I know the blue arrow points to the scupper valve and the red arrows point to the hull drains.

There should not be any water coming from the bilge pump. My SX190 is in a covered wet slip and dry as a bone. I check the engine compartment be before and after each use and there is never a drop of water. The open loop cooling is sometimes mistaken for a bilge port.

 

[Scottintexas]

@Eric Ballard glad to have you on board, SCSX190 brings up a good point, be sure it's not the cooling or pressure pee holes you see, the bilge hole is twice as big,

be sure to check out the FAQ for lots of great tips

 

[Harshhobgoblin]

I also just purchased my first jet boat (2013 sx190 - 50hrs) and wanted to add a few questions. I'm coming from an I/O so still getting used to the new setup. First off, this thing hauls! I can see why sound dampening is a popular topic, its quite loud at WOT (droning). Also, I have to say low speed steering was actually better than my I/O and felt very natural.

Should the pee holes always be peeing while in the water, and should the stream be warm?

While cruising in a straight line I felt like I had no control. It wags from side to side causing me to constantly correct to stay straight. Maybe i'm just used to the I/O rudder - does anyone have any suggestions or mods that may help?

When I got home, I flushed the motor with water from the hose. I had the engine hatch open and the noticed their was a slight skip during idle (once every 5 seconds or so). Is this normal?

 

[Eric Ballard]

Thanks for all the quick and very helpful responses. I'll be on the lake tomorrow and will be checking everything mentioned.

Side note - I did my first mods tonight (bolt-ons only - no drilling - yet)! I'll post them in the mods section.

 

[jawsf16]

@Harshhobgoblin
Pee holes emit warm water, lake water used to cool the engine so it warms up. Mine do nothing at idle, slight flow at forward no wake, full stream at 1/2 throttles or so

It's a big jet ski that needs thrust to steer. Search Thrust Vectors and Cobra Fins. Both are steering aides made by guys on this site. I have had both and you can't go wrong either way.

The engines sound rougher out of the water. I don't think you have an issue.

Congrats on the new boat!

 

[jawsf16]

@Eric Ballard
Congrats and welcome. We love mod pics so post them up!!

 

[Eric Ballard]

OK so I am still looking into my bilge running more than I think it should. I think I am onto something; please tell me if I am right or wrong.

I took the screws out and removed the wet storage hatch cover to get a better look and it came off REALLY easily. some screws were not in tight around the clamp around the rubber pipe fitting of the cleanout port.

Should there be a silicone (or other material) seal for this hatch? It looks like the dealer removed it when they installed the fish finder and maybe just did not tighten it real good.

Last question - it seems to me the fish finder is installed too close to the jet output. Does this look like a crappy install job?

 

[SCSX190]

So you are seeing water buildup in the engine compartment when the boat is in the water? If yes, then something is leaking.

 

[Gonrcng]

OK so I am still looking into my bilge running more than I think it should. I think I am onto something; please tell me if I am right or wrong.

I took the screws out and removed the wet storage hatch cover to get a better look and it came off REALLY easily. some screws were not in tight around the clamp around the rubber pipe fitting of the cleanout port.

Should there be a silicone (or other material) seal for this hatch? It looks like the dealer removed it when they installed the fish finder and maybe just did not tighten it real good.

Last question - it seems to me the fish finder is installed too close to the jet output. Does this look like a crappy install job?

That panel not being sealed and the clean out tube clamps not being tight is where your water is coming from.

 

[Eric Ballard]

Bilge pump UPDATE

I took the boat to the lake today to see where the water is coming from. It turns out when the fish finder was installed by the dealer they did not seal the transducer wire through the hull properly and it was leaking pretty good. The dealer also did not tighten the cleanout drain pipe clamp on the wet storage hatch. The dealer also did not re seal the wet drain hatch cover.


Pictures and a video;

https://goo.gl/photos/8UrhNYX2HjWWyjU78


I gotta talk to the dealer tomorrow.

 

[ToddW850]

Wow. Good job locating it @Eric Ballard

 

[SCSX190]

I figured the water was coming from below the water line due to the amount of water getting pumped out via the bilge pump. Nice catch.

 

[Eric Ballard]

another newby question

What is the process for getting my engine hours? I think I have read about needing a Yamaha diagnostics cable.... thanks guys!

 

[haknslash]

another newby question

What is the process for getting my engine hours? I think I have read about needing a Yamaha diagnostics cable.... thanks guys!

No need for a cable to check hours. Simply go to your gauges and scroll until you see "more info" or whatever it's called to show more options. Press M and T buttons. You'll see the engine hours is one of advanced readings. It's in your manual