2004 Yamaha F225 exhaust problems

[PNW_Drifter]

I have one at 1200 hours, Been "inspected" and they say it's fine. I still wonder. The 3 yamaha shops I've called near Seattle, haven't done many over the years. If it was that big of deal, I would have thought they'd do more. My engine is from Canada so that supports the warm water theory. Seems cold water isn't as bad.


There is a simple test you can do to know if you have a hole. Pull the lower then attach a hose to the pickup tube. Water should only come out of the diamond shaped hole, no others. Here's a video:

Shops are booked 4 months out but if you want to inspect you can get a boroscrope off AMazon for $37

https://amzn.to/3M36jyz

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I have one at 1200 hours, Been "inspected" and they say it's fine. I still wonder. The 3 yamaha shops I've called near Seattle, haven't done many over the years. If it was that big of deal, I would have thought they'd do more. My engine is from Canada so that supports the warm water theory. Seems cold water isn't as bad.


There is a simple test you can do to know if you have a hole. Pull the lower then attach a hose to the pickup tube. Water should only come out of the diamond shaped hole, no others. Here's a video:

Shops are booked 4 months out but if you want to inspect you can get a boroscrope off AMazon for $37

https://amzn.to/3M36jyz

Did you try calling Jacobsen's in Edmonds? They're the only Grady White dealer and repair center in the PNW, unless you go up into Canada, eh. I had Jacobsen's winterize my boat and the tech said that they've done dozens and dozens and dozens of them over the last couple of years. When I was in there picking up my boat from it being winterized, the tech showed me another GW that had been there for around 4 months, it was waiting for parts to fix the dry exhaust corrosion issue on it as well.

 

[Fishtales]

Thank you all for your responses.
The kit cost me (in Massachusetts) $750, and I installed it myself with the help of years of mechanical experience and Utube videos, especially the boats.net series on the F225. Yamaha does not have the kits available. I had called about twenty dealers before I found one that was in a dust covered box that had been ordered about five years ago and the customer didn't follow through with the job. I was told the labor cost at a repair shop would have been expensive if anyone had time to do it.

I'd plan 3-4X the parts for labor unfortunately.

 

[Mark DV]

I have one at 1200 hours, Been "inspected" and they say it's fine. I still wonder. The 3 yamaha shops I've called near Seattle, haven't done many over the years. If it was that big of deal, I would have thought they'd do more. My engine is from Canada so that supports the warm water theory. Seems cold water isn't as bad.


There is a simple test you can do to know if you have a hole. Pull the lower then attach a hose to the pickup tube. Water should only come out of the diamond shaped hole, no others. Here's a video:

Shops are booked 4 months out but if you want to inspect you can get a boroscrope off AMazon for $37

https://amzn.to/3M36jyz

I am confused. So water is only supposed to flow through the 2 diamond shaped holes located below the main exhaust in middle. When engine is trimmed up?

 

[seasick]

The oil pan is the part that when corroded can cause catastrophic failure of the power head since water can get into the oil. I don't think that will show up in the test shown in the video. If I had to guess why some motors that had the exhaust kit installed failed in such a short time period, my guess would be that not all corroded components were replaced )e'g' oil pan) and/or other castings were too far gone and corrosion was more extensive and not limited to the exhaust housings.

 

[georgemjr]

Water is not supposed to be coming down the exhaust tube. It is a dry exhaust and a separate chamber from the cooling water. If water is in the center exhaust port, it can only get there because there is an issue.

 

[Fishtales]

Dropping the lower unit and scoping the motor will assist in determining if the coating is breached and if corrosion exists.

 

[THEOG]

I bought a 2004 Marlin last year with original Yam 225s. Had the dealer do a scope of the lower units before I bought it, they were both bad. Took 4 weeks to get exhausts in, I said I wanted to wait to close until the mechanic dropped the lower units and lifted the heads. Mechanic called me and said he could poke his finger through the metal on the underside of the heads...worst he has seen. I ended up repowering with 250s. I think Yam was providing the kits at cost (~1.8k) but not sure they still doing that.

 

[Mustang65fbk]

One of the many reasons why I always recommend getting a marine surveyor to inspect the boat and motor for you, that way you hopefully won't have any negative surprises.

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[Fishtales]

Agree on the surveyor. You only buy the farm once - best to do everything you can to understand what you are getting into.

 

[Stanley Cup]

There was a class action lawsuit over this, Yamaha won. In answer to your original question, you have 2 choices with that block. 1) you can have aluminum added on. That isn't easy and requires someone who knows what they are doing, as that aluminum is already contaminated (with oil, salt water, exhaust, etc) It would likely require a teardown of the block so the welder/machinist can work on the bare block. It requires preheating the metal before welding on new. Choice 2) use JB Weld marine. Add that on and then sand back to flat surface for mating. That stuff is super strong, there isn't any real pressure on it there, you just need a flat surface for the gasket to seal against, keeping the exhaust in the exhaust and the water in the water jacket. There are youtube videos on that. Before I would just replace a powerhead, i would JB Weld it and run it.
Great advice. I will try that over the winter. I’m burnt out this year. I hope one season won’t push it past the repairable level. Thanks

Agree on the surveyor. You only buy the farm once - best to do everything you can to understand what you are getting into.

will a surveyor pull off the lower unit or power head to inspect this issue?

 

[Mustang65fbk]

There was a class action lawsuit over this, Yamaha won. In answer to your original question, you have 2 choices with that block. 1) you can have aluminum added on. That isn't easy and requires someone who knows what they are doing, as that aluminum is already contaminated (with oil, salt water, exhaust, etc) It would likely require a teardown of the block so the welder/machinist can work on the bare block. It requires preheating the metal before welding on new. Choice 2) use JB Weld marine. Add that on and then sand back to flat surface for mating. That stuff is super strong, there isn't any real pressure on it there, you just need a flat surface for the gasket to seal against, keeping the exhaust in the exhaust and the water in the water jacket. There are youtube videos on that. Before I would just replace a powerhead, i would JB Weld it and run it.
Great advice. I will try that over the winter. I’m burnt out this year. I hope one season won’t push it past the repairable level. Thanks

will a surveyor pull off the lower unit or power head to inspect this issue?

Depends on the surveyor. Some will do engine checks, compression or leak down tests and even pull the lower unit while others simply just check the basics of the motor. If you're seriously considering buying a boat, I'd call around and see who does what, even if you have to pay the surveyor a bit more money it's better than having to pay a surveyor and then have a Yamaha tech come out as well.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

Did you try calling Jacobsen's in Edmonds? They're the only Grady White dealer and repair center in the PNW, unless you go up into Canada, eh. I had Jacobsen's winterize my boat and the tech said that they've done dozens and dozens and dozens of them over the last couple of years. When I was in there picking up my boat from it being winterized, the tech showed me another GW that had been there for around 4 months, it was waiting for parts to fix the dry exhaust corrosion issue on it as well.

No I didn't, I figure since the Yamaha is the issue I don't need to pay extra at the Grady White dealer LOL. (not actually sure of labor rate). I called 3 Yamaha service centers, Lighthouse, Salmon somthing in Tacoma, and Auburn Sports and Marine (they do great work).

What I asked was "how many have you seen that have rotted through". They've all done them out of an abundance of caution but not as many as I thought have had failures around here. Just anidotal of course.

 

[PNW_Drifter]

I bought a 2004 Marlin last year with original Yam 225s. Had the dealer do a scope of the lower units before I bought it, they were both bad. Took 4 weeks to get exhausts in, I said I wanted to wait to close until the mechanic dropped the lower units and lifted the heads. Mechanic called me and said he could poke his finger through the metal on the underside of the heads...worst he has seen. I ended up repowering with 250s. I think Yam was providing the kits at cost (~1.8k) but not sure they still doing that.

Smart to check!

Did you get a discount? Where are you located BTW ( or where has boat spent most of it's life?)

 

[Mustang65fbk]

No I didn't, I figure since the Yamaha is the issue I don't need to pay extra at the Grady White dealer LOL. (not actually sure of labor rate). I called 3 Yamaha service centers, Lighthouse, Salmon somthing in Tacoma, and Auburn Sports and Marine (they do great work).

What I asked was "how many have you seen that have rotted through". They've all done them out of an abundance of caution but not as many as I thought have had failures around here. Just anidotal of course.

I'm guessing King Salmon Marine in Tacoma? They always advertise Arima's and a bunch of other items on Craigslist. Jacobsen's quoted me at $2k total to do the dry exhaust corrosion fix if my motor needed it done, which thankfully it didn't/doesn't. That included the price for the parts kit as well as the cost of labor, tax, etc... which was actually the cheapest "quote" I got when calling around to a few other different marine repair shops. I can't imagine the Yamaha shops would be much cheaper than Jacobsen's at the $2k figure as I've heard the whole thing isn't just a quick 2-3 hour repair job and actually takes quite awhile to do.

 

[Pat Hurley]

FWIW … I have owned five 3.3L Yamaha F250 outboards. One is stamped manufactured year 10/2006 it is on a 2008 Jones Bros I bought new and still own. Two more were on a pilothouse boat I purchased new (2007)and logged over 2200 hours on and sold to a guy who now has the meter approaching 3k hours. That boats exhaust still looks very good last report. I currently have a 2007 Marlin with same model year F250’s with current meter at 570 hrs. Had lowers dropped and inspected last fall by a very reputable Yamaha master tech and they were both excellent. Just had water pump done on Jones and inspected exhaust, it was good too…. Just lucky ?? Or beyond the suspected bad years ? (I’m not sure). I’ve heard of a few instances but not as frequently on motors 06’ and up.
Additionally my friend who owns a 2007 31Cape Horn with over 3800 hours and climbing has not experienced the dreaded rot either. Granted it’s not Florida temperature here in Maryland but we operate in warm water and haven’t experienced this issue yet. Fingers crossed

 

[Mustang65fbk]

I've read and heard from a few others online that the issue "seems to be" more with the F225's as opposed to the F250's or other models, and it "seems to be" more prevalent in the earlier years like 2002 and 2003. Whether that's true or not, I'm not positive? Seems like those are the ones that more commonly have the issue, or maybe their owners are just the ones more vocal about having them?

 

[grady33]

I have twin 06 F250s with 1,450 hours on both and well maintained. Scoped both a few weeks ago and the clean one is the starboard while the one showing corrosion is port. Both engines are stamped 03/2006. Having no issues and oil is clean. Will probably change out the exhaust sometime this Summer. Dealer said it would be $3-4k per engine. Heard the job only takes 2 days taking your time. Pulling the power head isn’t that diffficult.

 

[Pat Hurley]

Grady 33, off topic question :
How about the recent weather this past week ?? Are we going to get a break for the sea bass opener ?

 

[grady33]

Grady 33, off topic question :
How about the recent weather this past week ?? Are we going to get a break for the sea bass opene

Grady 33, off topic question :
How about the recent weather this past week ?? Are we going to get a break for the sea bass opener ?

I sure hope so. Some buddies are looking to hit the canyon tomorrow for some tuna if weather holds. That was one heck of a nor’easter!