Lucky 13 ( L13 ) Anti-Cavitation Cone Install / 2016 AR240

imperialxrat · Apr 7, 2021

Thanks for holding my hand and helping out a newbie

. A big screwdriver popped it right off.

Jerlane · Apr 7, 2021

I’m trying to decide if I need to do this upgrade. I have a ‘14 AR190 and this will be our second season. Will it improve the hole shot enough to make a not so good water skier pop up more easily? My mission is to get my dad up skiing before it’s too late. He used to be a skier in his younger days, but hasn’t been in many years. He’s in his late 70’s and it’s sort of a bucket list thing for him to do one more time. We tried once last year and he couldn’t quite get up. He’s working on his strength. I’d be willing to invest some money if it might help it happen.

mrcleanr6 · Apr 7, 2021

I had a lucky13 on my fzs. I spent an entire season tuning it and making nozzle mods. I tried prob 50 different combinations. In the end, i got the best speed and performance from the stock nozzle. I didn't however have any cavitation issues. I did with the stock prop because yamaha impellers just suck for this. As soon as i did the first mod to my ski the stock prop would not hold the power anymore and would just cavitate like a sob. I put on a solas concord and now at about 450hp it still holds with zero cavitation. From all my high perf work on my ski i have learned the best thing you can do for the holeshot is an impeller not changing the cone.

imperialxrat · Apr 7, 2021

I will let you know what I think once I get it on the water. I didnt really have cavitation on acceleration (that I could tell), but the boat sure dragged in the turns. I was hoping to improve the hole shot. I also added the cobra fins to hopefully help with the low speed “s turns”, and the owner states they help get up on plane quicker.

imperialxrat · Apr 10, 2021

I was able to get the boat on the water today and was really pleased with the cobra fins and L13 cone. I felt like I had better acceleration, much better power while in a turn, and the low speed control was noticeably better. I did lose 2mph on the top speed, but I think it’s well worth it. Thanks a bunch for all the help.

swatski · Mar 31, 2022

Quick update, year 5 with the L13 cones:

Opened the bases up for maintenance after two seasons, including one season in wet slip.
Zero evidence of water intrusion.
The L13s are well made.

I replaced some of the grease and added some gear lub, put it all back together.
I intended to replace the o-rings but misplaced/couldn't find new ones I bought :eggonface:

, so for now I ended up just reusing the old ones; everything looked pretty good.

--

Cobra Jet Steering LLC · Mar 31, 2022

Once the gear lube is in with the grease the grease stays fluid and keeps the bearings in great shape now we need to get you to clean the pump housing , is that corrosion or plants growing on it.

swatski · Mar 31, 2022

Cobra Jet Steering LLC said:
Once the gear lube is in with the grease the grease stays fluid and keeps the bearings in great shape now we need to get you to clean the pump housing , is that corrosion or plants growing on it.

It's some tiny barnacles (it's in fresh water) and a bunch of this aluminum oxide iridescent whitish crap, but no obvious pitting when it's scrapped, yet.

I do plan to clean it up, figured will need to cover it then or it will get worse fast.

Cobra Jet Steering LLC · Mar 31, 2022

I was just messing with you

zipper · Mar 31, 2022

swatski said:
It's some tiny barnacles (it's in fresh water) and a bunch of this aluminum oxide iridescent whitish crap, but no obvious pitting when it's scrapped, yet.

I do plan to clean it up, figured will need to cover it then or it will get worse fast.

Nothing a bucket of Starbrite can’t handle.

Ribs77 · Monday at 2:13 PM

Bump... I've got my surf setup dialed pretty well, but I'm experiencing some major cavitation when loaded down and trying to get a bigger surfer up to speed. I have RideSteady and even on a pretty "gentle" auto-launch setting, it starts cavitating immediately with weight in the boat and a 220-lb person on the rope. I end up having to pull back and feather to get up to speed, and I'd really prefer not to have to do that. I've already inspected and sealed a few spots that may have not been fully sealed in the intake tunnel.

Was considering a Solas impeller change next off-season, but after reading a bunch of threads on the Lucky 13 cone it seems that it may be a better upgrade for me in terms of bang for the buck.

I don't care about top speeds above ~45 mph, but I do care greatly about eliminating cavitation and running the boat with as much ballast as I safely can.

I'm a bit intimidated by the install, though. I did the RideSteady install myself (including drilling a hole through the helm) and am decently handy, but would prefer not to pull the whole pump to do this. I don't like the idea of prying apart things that have been sealed

I saw that someone else was able to remove the stock cone by putting the throttle all the way forward. Does that seem likely doable? Will I have to pry things apart? Mine is a 2021 AR195 fwiw.

Thanks in advance!

jcyamaharider · Monday at 4:30 PM

Ribs77 said:
Bump... I've got my surf setup dialed pretty well, but I'm experiencing some major cavitation when loaded down and trying to get a bigger surfer up to speed. I have RideSteady and even on a pretty "gentle" auto-launch setting, it starts cavitating immediately with weight in the boat and a 220-lb person on the rope. I end up having to pull back and feather to get up to speed, and I'd really prefer not to have to do that. I've already inspected and sealed a few spots that may have not been fully sealed in the intake tunnel.

Was considering a Solas impeller change next off-season, but after reading a bunch of threads on the Lucky 13 cone it seems that it may be a better upgrade for me in terms of bang for the buck.

I don't care about top speeds above ~45 mph, but I do care greatly about eliminating cavitation and running the boat with as much ballast as I safely can.

I'm a bit intimidated by the install, though. I did the RideSteady install myself (including drilling a hole through the helm) and am decently handy, but would prefer not to pull the whole pump to do this. I don't like the idea of prying apart things that have been sealed

I saw that someone else was able to remove the stock cone by putting the throttle all the way forward. Does that seem likely doable? Will I have to pry things apart? Mine is a 2021 AR195 fwiw.

Thanks in advance!

Have you looked at the backside of your impeller to look for cavitation burns? My impellers were wore out after 2 years. I would just buy factory impellers again. On my 230 I seen good gains with the Solas but with this boat the 19ft impellera were a huge improvement.

Ribs77 · Monday at 4:45 PM

jcyamaharider said:
Have you looked at the backside of your impeller to look for cavitation burns? My impellers were wore out after 2 years. I would just buy factory impellers again. On my 230 I seen good gains with the Solas but with this boat the 19ft impellera were a huge improvement.

The last time I looked (probably 20 hours of use ago) they looked fine. I sealed up the areas circled in red here.

Edit: Also, I try not to power through the cavitation when it happens and back off the throttle instead.

F.M. · Monday at 4:52 PM

Ribs77 said:
Bump... I've got my surf setup dialed pretty well, but I'm experiencing some major cavitation when loaded down and trying to get a bigger surfer up to speed. I have RideSteady and even on a pretty "gentle" auto-launch setting, it starts cavitating immediately with weight in the boat and a 220-lb person on the rope. I end up having to pull back and feather to get up to speed, and I'd really prefer not to have to do that. I've already inspected and sealed a few spots that may have not been fully sealed in the intake tunnel.

Was considering a Solas impeller change next off-season, but after reading a bunch of threads on the Lucky 13 cone it seems that it may be a better upgrade for me in terms of bang for the buck.

I don't care about top speeds above ~45 mph, but I do care greatly about eliminating cavitation and running the boat with as much ballast as I safely can.

I'm a bit intimidated by the install, though. I did the RideSteady install myself (including drilling a hole through the helm) and am decently handy, but would prefer not to pull the whole pump to do this. I don't like the idea of prying apart things that have been sealed

I saw that someone else was able to remove the stock cone by putting the throttle all the way forward. Does that seem likely doable? Will I have to pry things apart? Mine is a 2021 AR195 fwiw.

Thanks in advance!

I was able to install L13 cones on two Yamahas, 242X & 255XD, without pulling the pumps. Had to get my daughter to reach into the nozzles with her much small hands to pull off the stock cones and install/line up the L13s. So it’s doable. Only thing you’ll need is a set of long reach hex sockets to make removing and tightening bolts easier, but it’s doable without them.

tdonoughue · Monday at 6:55 PM

Still, I would just pull the pumps. Make sure you are undoing the right 4 bolts--the aft most ones, not the ones attaching the jet to the transom. The jet unit basically comes apart, with part of the metal still attached to the boat and part (with the impeller) in your hand. Removing from the transom is ugly (I couldn't even get those bolts to move--though I didn't go to powertools). Removing just the jet is easy peasy. Did mine next to the dock and took me 20 min to pull, extract a golf ball, and reassemble. Should be detailed instructions above in FAQ. I do believe FM. Just don't believe removing the jet is a big deal.

F.M. · Monday at 8:14 PM

tdonoughue said:
Still, I would just pull the pumps. Make sure you are undoing the right 4 bolts--the aft most ones, not the ones attaching the jet to the transom. The jet unit basically comes apart, with part of the metal still attached to the boat and part (with the impeller) in your hand. Removing from the transom is ugly (I couldn't even get those bolts to move--though I didn't go to powertools). Removing just the jet is easy peasy. Did mine next to the dock and took me 20 min to pull, extract a golf ball, and reassemble. Should be detailed instructions above in FAQ. I do believe FM. Just don't believe removing the jet is a big deal.

I agree that the pump isn’t hard to pull at all. If you want to pull them you can, or you can do it without pulling them.

Lucky 13 ( L13 ) Anti-Cavitation Cone Install / 2016 AR240

imperialxrat

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