Who has had Yamaha Damage from frozen water??

[KEYZBUM]

Looking for 1st hand stories about damage to Yamaha's from frozen water..

As the temp drops and the winterization post start-up, I would like to find some info/instances of people even seeing damage from frozen water from winterization on yamahas ..

Ok ..,,Yes I live in super south florida but I would go to ny every thanksgiving and winterize some neighbors and familys jetskis..

I had 1 guy (before I started doing it for him) not winterize his 2 skis -1 yami - 1 seadoo ,, And the yami had no issues , but the seadoo had a lower black waterbox freeze and crack apart...

From what I can see with the yamaha is there is no place for water to get caught without room to expand...

So this Not a how to winterize thread,,, Just Search-There is a bunch..

I am just looking for people who have seen (not heard of) yamaha damage from freezing water...

[K447]

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From what I can see with the yamaha is there is no place for water to get caught without room to expand...

...

For the modern Yamaha 4-stroke 1.8 liter engine models about the only place I might imagine liquid water might be trapped is inside the waterbox.

I don't know how 'full' it is even possible to get the water level inside a stock Yamaha waterbox, but if somehow it was 'filled' then it could conceivably crack when the water freezes and expands.

The Yamaha engine is self-draining * and while a few of the smaller water hoses do have some droop and may trap small amounts of water, apparently the water freezing inside the small hoses does not bother the hose.

* Self-draining when the engine is level or bow high.

[KEYZBUM]

For the modern Yamaha 4-stroke 1.8 liter engine models about the only place I might imagine liquid water might be trapped is inside the waterbox.

I don’t know how ‘full’ it is even possible to get the water level inside a stock Yamaha waterbox, but if somehow it was ‘filled’ then it could conceivably crack when the water freezes and expands.

The Yamaha engine is self-draining * and while a few of the smaller water hoses do have some droop and may trap small amounts of water, apparently the water freezing inside the small hoses does not bother the hose.

* Self-draining when the engine is level or bow high.

The only way for you to get that much water in the waterbox would be run hose and NOT run ski..

The shape of the waterbox and the height of the outlet pipe (being lower than the waterbox inlet ie: exh manifold) would make it impossible to leave enough water in the waterbox to freeze and cause damage.... ...
Well lets see if anybody has had real freezing problems with yami..

[SAB]

I followed the procedure K447 recommend (see the winterization thread), and no problems!!! I wonder what my local dealer does for $300+ for winterizing my ski other then Stabil. I moved to Yamaha from Doo because of low maintenance (like winterization), in addition to out of the box performance. I can't comment on modern 4-cycle Doo winterization, but my old 2-cycle Doo required a tank/funnel above the ski and hose pinchers.

[WaterDR]

It gets -35F here. I don’t use AF. Never had a problem.

[steve45]

I think this thread is intended for Waverunners only. However, if you have a Yamaha jet boat, you better run some antifreeze in the cockpit drain.

Water collects in the drain hose and freezes, causing the hose to split. This can result in giving you that 'sinking feeling', if you know what I mean. The hose runs under the floorboard and cannot be replaced. About the only known way to fix it is to run a smaller hose through the original one and gluing the old and new hoses together on each end to seal it.

[hkg3k]

I winterized both my skis this weekend and for the 1st time my VXR will reside in a non-temp controlled detached garage at my lake house. Our Jan/Feb can get pretty cold...in the teens.

My routine before shutting the ski down for the last time is to blip the throttle a couple times -and- run pressurized air thru the flush circuit to run all the water out of the system. Still...I'm a little concerned and am considering picking up a small low-wattage humidity rod to lay in the engine bay for the coldest part of the winter. Am I being too paranoid?

[K447]

- Am I being too paranoid?

Yes, probably.

If you blipped the throttle firmly, and for enough cycles that the exhaust exit was no longer puking liquid water, then there is no excess water in the waterbox.

I just did this today with my two GP1800 SVHO. Turn the steering hard left (so the air blast from the jet pump would not hit me in the face) Then someone blipped the throttle firmly while I watched the actual exhaust hull exit, which is inside the pump tunnel along the right side wall. I stand back a few feet. As soon as the exhaust blips are ejecting mostly mist and not burps of liquid water, the waterbox is basically empty.

I prefer to do this with a warmed up engine, but I will admit to sometimes just letting it idle for 15 seconds or so and then blipping it.

Tilt the front of the trailer up as high as you can get it, then mop out any water from the bilge. Let the hull interior air dry.

Stand the seats on end so they can drain.

Between the bow high attitude and the self-draining feature of the stock Yamaha 4-stroke water cooling system, there is no significant amount of water hiding anywhere that has not already drained out.

Pressurized air is not going to push any water anywhere inside the cooling system. There is a large opening from the cooling system to outside air at the jet pump, at the X/Y flush hose connection. And inside the hull the water system flows to several different routes. Pressurized air flow would just waft around and drift out whichever openings provided the easiest flow.

This will be the fifth winter storing our GP1800 SVHO in unheated indoor storage. And before that, many years of winter storage with the previous skis we had.

The battery is really the only thing that cares much about freezing temperatures. Lots of prior threads and lists regarding best practices for battery care during the off season.

[K447]

We do get rather cold winters here.

Photo below was taken when the air temp was -25C (-13F). We loaded the skis for a trip south that day.



No issues at all, the machines ran just fine after we got to a place where the water was not frozen.

[hkg3k]

Pressurized air is not going to push any water anywhere inside the cooling system.

When I hit it with the air...I do get a nice long water string out of the pisser.

[K447]

When I hit it with the air...I do get a nice long water string out of the pisser.

Interesting.

What year is your VXR?

Is that water that was residing in a sagging droop of hose between the hull side exit and the engine?

Was the hull sitting with the bow high or bow low?

[hkg3k]

Interesting.

What year is your VXR? 2013

Is that water that was residing in a sagging droop of hose between the hull side exit and the engine? No Idea...never really thought about tracing it.

Was the hull sitting with the bow high or bow low? Level

[K447]

What year is your VXR? 2013

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I am not so familiar with the VXR model prior to the current generation which began in 2015.

Your 2013 has essentially the same 1.8 liter HO engine as the current VXR.

Not sure whether the version of the oil cooler or engine manifold used back then drained water any differently.
Your 6BH-13470-20 does look similar to my 6BH-13470-30

The Yamaha Owner's Manual for 2013 VXR does not mention draining water at all.
I have not looked at the service manual for that year.

https://cdn2.yamaha-motor.eu/prod/owner-manuals/Waverunners/F2M-F8199-72-E0.pdf

[hkg3k]

The Yamaha Owner’s Manual for 2013 VXR does not mention draining water at all.
I have not looked at the service manual for that year.

I bought the ski new in 2013...I have several manuals to include the owners, service, technical updates, parts catalog, etc.

As far as the instruction for draining the water from the engine...see pg 72, #9 on the left column of the owners manual.

[K447]

- pg 72, #9 on the left column of the owners manual.

Discharge the remaining water out of the cooling water passages by alternately squeezing and releasing the throttle lever quickly for 10 to 15 seconds.

Well, blipping the throttle is a widely known method for clearing the exhaust system of water.

I suppose that could also, somehow, assist with clearing the cooling water system?