255 fsh disappointment

[BrandonG]

As a fyi, did you know one of our members here hydrolocked his engine beaching his boat that way? Going at a good clip and letting the boat coast with the engines off. The boat should not be going more than 5mph with the engines off or risk pushing water up the exhaust and into the engine.

I'm not even sure how that would happen unless you were trying to go in reverse to beach the boat for easy access from the swim platform. There is no water pressure on the exhaust when you're going forward.

 

[TommyMcK]

On my 222xd and 255xd, what I get out of the discharge tubes at idle is variable and in my opinion not very informative. If you aren’t overheating, the odds are overwhelming that you don’t have an issue. I’d chalk the whole thing up to you got something stuck that threw a bcu error and now it’s cleared. I’d avoid power reverses from a sand bar in the future, but I really think you’re all good

 

[Neutron]

On my 222xd and 255xd, what I get out of the discharge tubes at idle is variable and in my opinion not very informative. If you aren’t overheating, the odds are overwhelming that you don’t have an issue. I’d chalk the whole thing up to you got something stuck that threw a bcu error and now it’s cleared. I’d avoid power reverses from a sand bar in the future, but I really think you’re all good

Not true. You can have great flow through the engine which presents an overheat if restricted. If your coolant flow through the oil cooler is restricted it will definitely have a negative effect on engine longevity but not throw an overheat code. Also if your coolant flow through the intercooler is restricted it will effect performance without causing and overheat condition or code.
If there is poor flow through just one of the 6 flow indicators then that warrants a further inspection.

 

[255fishguy]

I will say even underway at 10mph all the outlets are producing a stream except the rear most port side outlet. It has water coming out of it but it isn't as strong as the rest I'd say about a 3rd of the power as the other 5.

 

[Neutron]

I will say even underway at 10mph all the outlets are producing a stream except the rear most port side outlet. It has water coming out of it but it isn't as strong as the rest I'd say about a 3rd of the power as the other 5.

With that much increase of rpms all should be strong

 

[TommyMcK]

Not true. You can have great flow through the engine which presents an overheat if restricted. If your coolant flow through the oil cooler is restricted it will definitely have a negative effect on engine longevity but not throw an overheat code. Also if your coolant flow through the intercooler is restricted it will effect performance without causing and overheat condition or code.
If there is poor flow through just one of the 6 flow indicators then that warrants a further inspection.

I dunno. Based on my observations over 23 years of running these boats, I’m skeptical of going down a rabbit hole of using volume out of a piss hole to justify a witch hunt. The guy had a bcu error. I very much doubt that this is something larger.

 

[anmut]

Just adding my thoughts here as we go to sandbars 100% of the time when we're out on the water. One of the reason to buy a Yamaha is the beautiful transom layout, even on the FSH model. Try this next time you're out:

Pull into the sandbar like normal but shut the engines off when you get to 3' of water. Let the boat slowly drift in to the shallows, bow forward. Jump off the back and push the transom around and back to face the sandbar. Use sand anchors and Airhead bungees to tie up the two transom cleats in a couple of feet of water (just leave enough water between the hull and sandbar to account for any waves that might rock the boat.

Boom - now not only is your boat 100% more accessible to what's going on at the sandbar, but your bow will break incoming waves better. If you find your bow moving around too much due to traffic, you can tie it off or cast an anchor to help keep it steady.

When you're ready to leave, you simply push off from the transom area and hop back on the boat. By the time you get to the helm to start the engines, you're already in deeper water.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I'm not even sure how that would happen unless you were trying to go in reverse to beach the boat for easy access from the swim platform. There is no water pressure on the exhaust when you're going forward.

You had better read your manual… why do you think people put in tow valves?

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

I dunno. Based on my observations over 23 years of running these boats, I’m skeptical of going down a rabbit hole of using volume out of a piss hole to justify a witch hunt. The guy had a bcu error. I very much doubt that this is something larger.

He had a bcu error after backing off of a sandbar, twice in very short order, he stirred up a bunch of sand and that got pumped into the jets causing the gates to get locked up. Which means the cooling systems got a bunch of sand in them. Its not a witch hunt to look at all the outlets and observe that one of them is now flowing at 1/3 the rate of all the others, and, considering the situation it is logical to assume there is reduced flow due to sand clogging the associated device. When @255fishguy reports back as to which device the low flow is coming from then we will know what he does, that X device has reduced flow and he will need to take steps to clear that device so that it functions normally so that it can reject the generated heat. Hopefully it will be the CAC as it can be removed easily and cleaned out, other devices will have to be back flushed with water and hopefully they can be cleared.

 

[BrandonG]

You had better read your manual… why do you think people put in tow valves?

Thats interesting, I can see how that could happen now. Never been an issue for me from getting the boat on the beach or from being towed (knocks on wood) but I will be more careful in the future!

 

[TommyMcK]

He had a bcu error after backing off of a sandbar, twice in very short order, he stirred up a bunch of sand and that got pumped into the jets causing the gates to get locked up. Which means the cooling systems got a bunch of sand in them. Its not a witch hunt to look at all the outlets and observe that one of them is now flowing at 1/3 the rate of all the others, and, considering the situation it is logical to assume there is reduced flow due to sand clogging the associated device. When @255fishguy reports back as to which device the low flow is coming from then we will know what he does, that X device has reduced flow and he will need to take steps to clear that device so that it functions normally so that it can reject the generated heat. Hopefully it will be the CAC as it can be removed easily and cleaned out, other devices will have to be back flushed with water and hopefully they can be cleared.

I’m not saying that I know for sure he doesn’t have some blockage…. But there isn’t anything that was said from the OP (that I saw) that indicates that sand was the cause of the bcu error. Easily could have been a stick or whatever. I get different flow from different holes under different loads and all I’m saying is that I’d be surprised if he actually has a problem. Hopefully he’ll report back and we’ll all know for sure.

 

[255fishguy]

Free cookie to 1st person who finds why my "aft-most" pilot outlet is weak straight from the factory....

 

[255fishguy]

Idk if that will throw a bcu code? Still a mystery. 1 good and 1 bad trip under my belt. Need more goods! Appreciate all the pro tips and experience sharing. Helpful! Thank you!

 

[anmut]

Free cookie to 1st person who finds why my "aft-most" pilot outlet is weak straight from the factory....View attachment 235837

LOL wow, how did that get past Yamaha QC?!

 

[TommyMcK]

Wow... So you were actually lucky you had the BCU issue. Otherwise, you may not have noticed the weak stream.

Time will tell if you continue to have BCU issues. If it really was something binding up the buckets, you're likely out of the woods now that it has cleared. Some BCU errors have nothing to do with that though.

 

[255fishguy]

Good to know. Thx again @all

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

Free cookie to 1st person who finds why my "aft-most" pilot outlet is weak straight from the factory....View attachment 235837

From post #37 on page 2

So go into your boat and find the tubes that connect to the pilot water outlets and trace them back to their origin. Examine all of the hoses that go to and from the pilot water outlets for kinks.

When do I get my cookie?

 

[Ed255fsh]

You, a self admitted “first experience with jet boats” owner, came here looking for help for your problem, you received help from this site in the form of documented evidence from owners of boats that have similar drives as your boat does and these other owners have had similar issues, as well as a video from JBP illustrating what happens at a standstill in 3’ of water, not to mention that you reverse thrusted your way off of the sand bar, TWICE IN VERY SHORT ORDER in 3.6’ of water, which is like squirting two fire hoses underwater down and forward which acts like a dredge churning up the bottom. @gthorson gave an eloquent description of what has happened to him on a few occasions with his X drive boat, the cause of his problems-backing off a sandbar which packed the gates with debris, his solution-hanging off the swim deck to jiggle the buckets to release the debris, and his preventative measures-don’t power off of a sandbar. Your response was that Yamaha should have left more slop in the mechanism? And as I mentioned you’re flooding the engines cooling passages with sand filled water. This isn’t limited to jet powered boats by the way, my dealer has told me about having to tear down outboard engines who’s cooling passages are packed with sand from people backing off of sandbars.

Yet you still think this is not the cause and would rather blame it on a non existent design flaw instead of your actions. Fascinating… sounds like cognitive dissonance.

You really should take the advice given here to heart so that you have an enjoyable experience with a very fine boat going forward. Hopefully you will have a great day on the water today without any issues and can chalk this up to experience.

experience /ĭk-spîr′ē-əns/ Verb, Definition; Experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.

I had a bravo 3 sterndrive, water tube packed with sand/shells caused over heat. So it does happen to other types....