Sucked up rocks

[kinglenario]

Hey guys, I'm new to jet boats (2017 242 limited S E series) and am a dumbass for sucking up a bunch of rocks. We got pushed up against a beach sideways and had no way to get off but to drive off because the waves were slamming us up agains the beach. Lesson learned.

Anyway, my boat vibrates, is slow and sounds like crap now. It sounds especially bad when I turn and it seems to rev higher than normal (up to 8200 when it is usually 7949ish). I pulled the plugs and felt around the impellers but there were no rocks in there. I did feel that the rubber liners were pretty chewed up and I could pull little pieces of rubber off. I couldn't see the impellers because the boat was in the water.

I took the boat to my local marina (not a Yamaha dealer). They said they sea tested and didn't find anything wrong. There is definitely something wrong. I expected to need both new impellers and liners at least. What do I explain to the marina? Obviously I didn't take it to the right place but this is my only choice right now.

Thanks

 

[Gym]

Hey @kinglenario. Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear about your problem. The first thing you need to do is get the boat on your trailer so you can properly inspect it. Hopefully you still have some debris in the intake causing cavitation. You may have a twig, shell or small stone stuck in the intake or in the impeller.

Possibly you dinged up the impeller enough to require filing off the rough edges or even replacing the impeller. You may have also gouged out some calking on the intake grate which will cause cavitatiin. That's an easy fix also. Go for the easy stuff first. Let us know what you find.

 

[Scottintexas]

Glad you found us, Your local marina is telling you very loudly who they are, I suggest you listen,

I agree with Gym, get it up on the trailer and don't assume the worst, the worst rarely happens with jet boats (unless you let someone else try to fix it)

pulling the impeller shaft is easy and should take about 20 minutes, it will give you a clear look at the impellers and look up from the bottom into the grate to see how it looks

post up some pictures and we should be able to give you more guidance,

 

[justason]

What are the rubber liners you mention please ? are these on the cleanout plugs themselves or the tube the cleanout plugs slide into ? and I'm assuming the boat is still in the water ?

it sounds like either there is something still stuck between the impellers and the wear rings, or there is damage to the impellers . even a twig that you may not be able to touch will cause this. is it one engine or both, rev them separately to help you limit your search to one side or the other.

I would either pull the boat and get a good look at the impellers from both sides vs a feel from one side. or a good flashlight and get in there and look on both sides if your lake is clear enough.

If neither show anything definitive you could pull the pumps and get a clear view of impellers in hand and the wear ring clearly.

Side note: if you'd like to add your location or zip code to your avatar it may assist in locating help nearby or knowing a mechanica/dealer that soeone has had a positive experience with

 

[DBamaC]

Like everyone else says, don't panic, get it out and on the trailer and pull the pumps. There can be debrise trapped in the impeller that you can't see from either side.

 

[kinglenario]

Thanks guys. I'm not too panicked because I know it's an easy fix. I'm really annoyed at the marina. Boat is in Hartwell GA if anyone has any recommendations. The problem is that I couldn't haul the boat because my hitch isn't installed yet. These guys have had my boat for way too long. They did the first oil and filter change as well so now I'm wondering if they used some BS oil.

 

[kinglenario]

What are the rubber liners you mention please ? are these on the cleanout plugs themselves or the tube the cleanout plugs slide into ? and I'm assuming the boat is still in the water ?

it sounds like either there is something still stuck between the impellers and the wear rings, or there is damage to the impellers . even a twig that you may not be able to touch will cause this. is it one engine or both, rev them separately to help you limit your search to one side or the other.

I would either pull the boat and get a good look at the impellers from both sides vs a feel from one side. or a good flashlight and get in there and look on both sides if your lake is clear enough.

If neither show anything definitive you could pull the pumps and get a clear view of impellers in hand and the wear ring clearly.

Side note: if you'd like to add your location or zip code to your avatar it may assist in locating help nearby or knowing a mechanica/dealer that soeone has had a positive experience with

This must be the caulk I can feel in there. From the top you can't really see the impeller but you can feel down in there a little.

 

[kinglenario]

Glad you found us, Your local marina is telling you very loudly who they are, I suggest you listen,

Yeah, no kidding. Clowns man. So frustrating

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

You will really need to get a trailer and load the boat so you can get under the intake grates and look up in the pump as well as from the back of the boat in the nozzle for trash I hope your problem is not serious, small things even some fishing line will make the boat feel like it is going to blowup. I have lost count of the odd things I have sucked up in a pump. If you have a trailer and a friend with a tow vehicle to get the trailer to the water you need a good flashlight to see up in by the impeller

 

[kinglenario]

You will really need to get a trailer and load the boat so you can get under the intake grates and look up in the pump as well as from the back of the boat in the nozzle for trash I hope your problem is not serious, small things even some fishing line will make the boat feel like it is going to blowup. I have lost count of the odd things I have sucked up in a pump. If you have a trailer and a friend with a tow vehicle to get the trailer to the water you need a good flashlight to see up in by the impeller

Cool, thanks for your input. Yes I have a trailer but the hitch for my SUV is backordered. I wanted to do it myself but I just didn't have time or the vehicle.

If you suck up rocks, what is a serious problem? It's really never much more serious than replacing impellers is it?

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

If you suck up rocks and destroy the impellers and pump liner yes that would be a big problem however You need to see what happened not guess You could have some plastic or a flip flop in there so hopefully it is not as bad as you think , even a small shell stuck between the impellers will cause all sorts of problems until you get it out so if the impeller edges look ok and the liner looks ok you may just have a small part of shell or stick in the impeller. Your people probably looked in the pump did not see any damage and had no idea that things get wedged between the impeller blades that you can't always see unless you pull the pump.

 

[kinglenario]

If you suck up rocks and destroy the impellers and pump liner yes that would be a big problem however You need to see what happened not guess You could have some plastic or a flip flop in there so hopefully it is not as bad as you think , even a small shell stuck between the impellers will cause all sorts of problems until you get it out so if the impeller edges look ok and the liner looks ok you may just have a small part of shell or stick in the impeller. Your people probably looked in the pump did not see any damage and had no idea that things get wedged between the impeller blades that you can't always see unless you pull the pump.

Ok, thanks. Even then it doesn't seem like too big of a problem. I read the instructions on changing out an impeller and it looks really easy if you have some decent skills and a bench vise.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

hopefully you won't need to do that, removing the impeller from the drive shaft is not easy

 

[tdonoughue]

I have sucked up some awful stuff. Rocks, sand, dirt... Not proud of it; don't try to do it. But it happens. Even with everything I have sucked up I don't have any issues like that. So, just backing up what everyone has said. You very, very likely have something stuck in there still. It would be a real trick to mess up your impeller that badly from one beaching incident (which, btw, I did last time I was out, too...).

 

[swatski]

hopefully you won't need to do that, removing the impeller from the drive shaft is not easy

Yep. Just ask @Rickey498...

--

 

[Beachbummer]

hopefully you won't need to do that, removing the impeller from the drive shaft is not easy

It's true that it is not easy, as in a piece of cake, but worst case, is not that bad either. A couple of "use once" tools, a good vise and some leverage, and BAM.. It's off.

Rebuilding the pump without a press...that I could not do.

Here's mine coming off

 

[Rickey498]

It only took beaching my boat one time to mess up the impeller enough that it needed to be replaced, and what should have been a 20 to 40 minute job last 4 1/2 hours. I broke my vice and had to anchor a heavy duty vice to the concrete and still couldn’t get that sucker off. I finally had my buddy press it out of the housing and split it in half with a grinder. I was able to salvage the drive shaft, and get it all pressed back together, tonight I will be putting it back together. From this point on though I will always have an impeller and drive shaft on hand just in case.

 

[Rickey498]

I could immediately tell something was wrong because of the vibration. One of the fins was bent back.

 

[Beachbummer]

Sorry to hear. Penetrating oil while the pump is standing for a few minutes and the large vise helped me out. This was the second impeller, when I got the first one loose I feel forward and crashed against the wall pretty good, but I wasn't filming that one.

 

[Papa]

Kinglenario, I have used Park Marine for a job I couldn't do alone. They were very helpful and they sell Yamahas. They are in Kennesaw. That's not to far from you.
Papa