DBamaC
Jetboaters Captain
- Messages
- 636
- Reaction score
- 587
- Points
- 217
- Location
- Hoover, Al
- Boat Make
- Yamaha
- Year
- 2014
- Boat Model
- AR192
- Boat Length
- 19
Let me take you back to last September.
A group from Jetboaters.net/Alabama Jetboaters Facebook Page met at Lake Martin (Alabama) for a weekend of boating and families. It was a great weekend with a total of 7 (I think) families coming in at various times and some pretty wild times on the boat ramp at the house we rented. It was a fun time that left everyone talking about how "we needed to do it again next year."
As far as the boats, as expected, all of the boats ran pretty much flawlessly and it was very uneventful. The only "hmmmm" moment I can remember with my boat was when leaving out from Chuck's Marina having a boat cut right in front of me causing me to slam it in reverse for a very minor "submarine" maneuver (if I owned a stern drive I would have probably hit the guy).
So we ended the weekend running the boats for the drone (did I ever see that footage?) and a few miles flat out to the boat ramp. We pulled all the boats out, helped a guy rescue his dog (don't leave your dog in the truck with it running while on the ramp...he might step on the switch and lock the door) and made the drive back home.
It had been a long weekend and I was looking forward to a little relaxing. We backed the boat into the driveway and unhitched, pulled off the cover and started the process of unloading. I opened up the ski locker and when I pilled out the cooler....I saw it. Oily water.
Instant financial fear. My mind (of course) went directly to the worst possible situation. Did I somehow crack the block racing back to the ramp? How was it running? Wait...I idled around the dock for 15 minutes waiting to get out...she was running great. I didn't get any warnings. I was into the aft-port storage looking for tools when we were trying to rescue the dog...no weird odors.
OK...probably not a disaster, but what the hell?
I had a mess on my hands so I decided to just get started getting everything out and the boat cleaned up. My gosh it was an unholy mess, but i kept reminding myself how little oil it takes to look like a huge amount once mixed with water.
Once everything was out I started draining the bilge and cleaning the engine compartment while my wife and kids cleaning the interior where things dripped while being removed. I checked the oil and still had oil above the low level on the dipstick...there's my answer as to why I didn't see a warning light. Still...what was going on?
I was tired, light was fading and I just didn't have time to get into it. While cleaning I had noticed that the oil seemed to be mainly on the starboard side of the engine although there was some on the starboard side. We had done a lot of carving when we were playing around with the drone (damn...I cannot remember seeing any of that footage) so maybe it was only a port side issue. I knew that there was an oil cooler on the port side where the oil filter screws on so that was where my mind was going, but for the night I just closed the engine hatch and put back on the cover. I also came to the conclusion that my boating season was over.
LIFE (you know, the not fun part of your life) look over for the next several months. and before I knew it, it was nearly Christmas. I had a dry day and a little time so I finally pulled the cover and climbed aboard to see if I could diagnose the problem. Happily, I found that there were only a few drops of oil present under the engine and they were right where I had surmised they would probably be. Yep, right there under the oil cooler/oil filter. It made sense. I knew there had been some issues in the past with sheered off bolts on oil coolers on the non-supercharged engines. The SC engines probably had the same issue but due to the comparatively small number of engines used you just didn't hear much about them.
LIFE was still going on for me so I decided I would just take the boat to the dealer and let him fix it. The wife asked for an estimate (accountant) and I told her to budget $700. The dealer nearest to me is Fredricks Outdoors just outside my hometown of Decatur, Alabama. I didn't know much about them (opened after I had moved away), but I feared the worst given stories about boat dealers in general. I hauled it up a few days after Christmas and told them to call me when they had a diagnosis and to take their time since I didn't need her until spring.
Well, they called me the week before last and told me they had her ready. I hesitantly asked what the damage was. "$149" the voice replied. "What? What the heck did you do?" I asked.
He then told me that they went all over the engine looking for a leak with mirrors while it ran. The only leak they could find was a pin-hole leak in the gasket for the oil filter. They replaced the filter and it stopped. They cleaned it up a bit. $149, please.
Confusion. I open that engine compartment every time I go on the water. Over the '17 boating season, I checked the oil probably 10 times and never added a drop. I'd never seen any liquid...water or oil...in the engine compartment the whole season. Could it had really been just a pin-hole in the oil filter gasket? Heck...I started wondering if @blacksapphirez, @Bill D or @haknslash had pulled a prank on me.
At that point, I told the guy it would another week before I could get up to pick her up so just go ahead and finish off the PM by changing out the oil and spark plugs and lubricating the pump bearing. Heck, when you are planning for $700 and you hear $150 you get generous and I'm still a bit busy.
I picked her up on Saturday. The total bill was $208. Is this too good to be true? I hope not, but at this point, I've got $492 of available boat-budgeted money so it looks like a new head unit and another amp are needing to be bought!
I've heard a few bad things about Fredricks. I need to get on the water and see if they have accurately diagnosed my issue, but if they have...I certainly can't complain about what they charged me.
...but I'm still really confused about how that leak started. If anyone needs to confess, I'm listening.
Ok Jetboaters.net experts...ever heard of a pin-hole in an oil filter gasket presenting after 30 hours (approximate hours since the last oil change) of boating?
A group from Jetboaters.net/Alabama Jetboaters Facebook Page met at Lake Martin (Alabama) for a weekend of boating and families. It was a great weekend with a total of 7 (I think) families coming in at various times and some pretty wild times on the boat ramp at the house we rented. It was a fun time that left everyone talking about how "we needed to do it again next year."
As far as the boats, as expected, all of the boats ran pretty much flawlessly and it was very uneventful. The only "hmmmm" moment I can remember with my boat was when leaving out from Chuck's Marina having a boat cut right in front of me causing me to slam it in reverse for a very minor "submarine" maneuver (if I owned a stern drive I would have probably hit the guy).
So we ended the weekend running the boats for the drone (did I ever see that footage?) and a few miles flat out to the boat ramp. We pulled all the boats out, helped a guy rescue his dog (don't leave your dog in the truck with it running while on the ramp...he might step on the switch and lock the door) and made the drive back home.
It had been a long weekend and I was looking forward to a little relaxing. We backed the boat into the driveway and unhitched, pulled off the cover and started the process of unloading. I opened up the ski locker and when I pilled out the cooler....I saw it. Oily water.
Instant financial fear. My mind (of course) went directly to the worst possible situation. Did I somehow crack the block racing back to the ramp? How was it running? Wait...I idled around the dock for 15 minutes waiting to get out...she was running great. I didn't get any warnings. I was into the aft-port storage looking for tools when we were trying to rescue the dog...no weird odors.
OK...probably not a disaster, but what the hell?
I had a mess on my hands so I decided to just get started getting everything out and the boat cleaned up. My gosh it was an unholy mess, but i kept reminding myself how little oil it takes to look like a huge amount once mixed with water.
Once everything was out I started draining the bilge and cleaning the engine compartment while my wife and kids cleaning the interior where things dripped while being removed. I checked the oil and still had oil above the low level on the dipstick...there's my answer as to why I didn't see a warning light. Still...what was going on?
I was tired, light was fading and I just didn't have time to get into it. While cleaning I had noticed that the oil seemed to be mainly on the starboard side of the engine although there was some on the starboard side. We had done a lot of carving when we were playing around with the drone (damn...I cannot remember seeing any of that footage) so maybe it was only a port side issue. I knew that there was an oil cooler on the port side where the oil filter screws on so that was where my mind was going, but for the night I just closed the engine hatch and put back on the cover. I also came to the conclusion that my boating season was over.
LIFE (you know, the not fun part of your life) look over for the next several months. and before I knew it, it was nearly Christmas. I had a dry day and a little time so I finally pulled the cover and climbed aboard to see if I could diagnose the problem. Happily, I found that there were only a few drops of oil present under the engine and they were right where I had surmised they would probably be. Yep, right there under the oil cooler/oil filter. It made sense. I knew there had been some issues in the past with sheered off bolts on oil coolers on the non-supercharged engines. The SC engines probably had the same issue but due to the comparatively small number of engines used you just didn't hear much about them.
LIFE was still going on for me so I decided I would just take the boat to the dealer and let him fix it. The wife asked for an estimate (accountant) and I told her to budget $700. The dealer nearest to me is Fredricks Outdoors just outside my hometown of Decatur, Alabama. I didn't know much about them (opened after I had moved away), but I feared the worst given stories about boat dealers in general. I hauled it up a few days after Christmas and told them to call me when they had a diagnosis and to take their time since I didn't need her until spring.
Well, they called me the week before last and told me they had her ready. I hesitantly asked what the damage was. "$149" the voice replied. "What? What the heck did you do?" I asked.
He then told me that they went all over the engine looking for a leak with mirrors while it ran. The only leak they could find was a pin-hole leak in the gasket for the oil filter. They replaced the filter and it stopped. They cleaned it up a bit. $149, please.
Confusion. I open that engine compartment every time I go on the water. Over the '17 boating season, I checked the oil probably 10 times and never added a drop. I'd never seen any liquid...water or oil...in the engine compartment the whole season. Could it had really been just a pin-hole in the oil filter gasket? Heck...I started wondering if @blacksapphirez, @Bill D or @haknslash had pulled a prank on me.
At that point, I told the guy it would another week before I could get up to pick her up so just go ahead and finish off the PM by changing out the oil and spark plugs and lubricating the pump bearing. Heck, when you are planning for $700 and you hear $150 you get generous and I'm still a bit busy.
I picked her up on Saturday. The total bill was $208. Is this too good to be true? I hope not, but at this point, I've got $492 of available boat-budgeted money so it looks like a new head unit and another amp are needing to be bought!
I've heard a few bad things about Fredricks. I need to get on the water and see if they have accurately diagnosed my issue, but if they have...I certainly can't complain about what they charged me.
...but I'm still really confused about how that leak started. If anyone needs to confess, I'm listening.
Ok Jetboaters.net experts...ever heard of a pin-hole in an oil filter gasket presenting after 30 hours (approximate hours since the last oil change) of boating?
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