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Here is a story that some of you may be able to relate to. It’s an interesting story and it could possibly be the only instance in the history of Yamaha that these exact events unfolded.
My father-in-law and his wife went to the Grand Casino Coushatta in Kinder, LA to celebrate the New Year. It was 1997 and 1998 loomed large. My father-in-law had luck on his side this night. On a quarter slot machine he won a jackpot. He didn’t realize how big of a jackpot it was until Casino employees began showing up to congratulate him.
He was feeling ill and had just got to the casino. In fact, he had fever and flu like symptoms. He told his wife that “as soon as I loose these quarters I’m going to the room to lay down because I feel terrible.” Anyway, while in the process of trying to loose his quarters, he won a 1998 Skeeter Bass Boat (50th Year Anniversary Model) w/ Yamaha V Max 150, a Jeep Grand Cherokee and $2500.00 in cash. What a way to loose quarters.
We went down to the Casino two weeks later to pick up the boat from Red River Marine in Alexandria, LA and the Jeep. The Jeep came from Kinder, LA as I recall. The boat was trailered home, covered and put in our metal building. And, there it sat.
You see, my father-in-law is a cattle rancher and could care less about fishing or boating.
As his son-in-law and an avid fisherman, I tried to buy the boat from him over the next several years. Each year I was told the same thing. “Naw, I don’t want to sell it.” I think he liked the fact that he was up on the Casino. At any rate, he sure didn’t need the money from selling the boat and was content with it covered up and sitting there in his metal building.
Now, flash forward to 2005. I was getting ready to go-test drive a used Champion bass boat on my home lake (Lake Somerville near Brenham, Texas). My wife just happened to be on the phone with her mother and told her what I was getting ready to go do. As I was walking out to get into my car I hear: “Mike, STOP…….Dad is going to sell you his boat.” Well, this has been a long time coming. After I thought about everything, I called the seller of the Champion and told him I had a better deal.
The Skeeter Boat, Yamaha Motor and the EZ Loader trailer had never been titled so I ended up spending the next several months chasing down titles and a myriad of TPWD forms. I didn’t know a Govt. Agency could come up with so many forms.
After this process was taken care of, and, after I had insured the boat, I was ready to take it to my local Skeeter / Yamaha dealership and have it prepped. You see, the boat had never been prepped. It had never had gas or oil put in it or anything like that.
Now, to the part you Skeeter mechanics will enjoy.
After a long conversation with the service manager, it was determined that we should replace the impeller, water pump, fuel pump, change lower unit oil, etc., to make sure that I wouldn’t have any problems. I thought this was a great idea. The mechanic was also going to roll the cylinders over by hand to make sure no insect debris had got into the pistons. He also checked the exhaust and found a lot of dirt dobber nests. He removed those and then cranked the engine.
Well, the mechanic got the engine cranked and soon began getting to old overheating buzzer. He next changed out the thermostats and that still didn’t solve the problem.
Finally, he looked at the water jackets and guess what? They were completely packed with dirt dobber nests. Not just a few. They were completely packed and water couldn’t get through. This only occurred on the port head. The other side was working fine.
I had no idea that a little insect could get all the way up into the water jackets. But, they did.
So, for you guys that store your Yamaha engines for prolonged periods of time, I recommend putting some masking tape over any hole that a dirt dobber could possibly get into.
I think I may make a mold of the exhaust ports on my engine and fabricate a rubber plug to put in there. I wish Yamaha would make something like this and sell it as an accessory for us guys in the south that have to contend with dirt dobbers.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone down the road.
Lumberjack93
My father-in-law and his wife went to the Grand Casino Coushatta in Kinder, LA to celebrate the New Year. It was 1997 and 1998 loomed large. My father-in-law had luck on his side this night. On a quarter slot machine he won a jackpot. He didn’t realize how big of a jackpot it was until Casino employees began showing up to congratulate him.
He was feeling ill and had just got to the casino. In fact, he had fever and flu like symptoms. He told his wife that “as soon as I loose these quarters I’m going to the room to lay down because I feel terrible.” Anyway, while in the process of trying to loose his quarters, he won a 1998 Skeeter Bass Boat (50th Year Anniversary Model) w/ Yamaha V Max 150, a Jeep Grand Cherokee and $2500.00 in cash. What a way to loose quarters.
We went down to the Casino two weeks later to pick up the boat from Red River Marine in Alexandria, LA and the Jeep. The Jeep came from Kinder, LA as I recall. The boat was trailered home, covered and put in our metal building. And, there it sat.
You see, my father-in-law is a cattle rancher and could care less about fishing or boating.
As his son-in-law and an avid fisherman, I tried to buy the boat from him over the next several years. Each year I was told the same thing. “Naw, I don’t want to sell it.” I think he liked the fact that he was up on the Casino. At any rate, he sure didn’t need the money from selling the boat and was content with it covered up and sitting there in his metal building.
Now, flash forward to 2005. I was getting ready to go-test drive a used Champion bass boat on my home lake (Lake Somerville near Brenham, Texas). My wife just happened to be on the phone with her mother and told her what I was getting ready to go do. As I was walking out to get into my car I hear: “Mike, STOP…….Dad is going to sell you his boat.” Well, this has been a long time coming. After I thought about everything, I called the seller of the Champion and told him I had a better deal.
The Skeeter Boat, Yamaha Motor and the EZ Loader trailer had never been titled so I ended up spending the next several months chasing down titles and a myriad of TPWD forms. I didn’t know a Govt. Agency could come up with so many forms.
After this process was taken care of, and, after I had insured the boat, I was ready to take it to my local Skeeter / Yamaha dealership and have it prepped. You see, the boat had never been prepped. It had never had gas or oil put in it or anything like that.
Now, to the part you Skeeter mechanics will enjoy.
After a long conversation with the service manager, it was determined that we should replace the impeller, water pump, fuel pump, change lower unit oil, etc., to make sure that I wouldn’t have any problems. I thought this was a great idea. The mechanic was also going to roll the cylinders over by hand to make sure no insect debris had got into the pistons. He also checked the exhaust and found a lot of dirt dobber nests. He removed those and then cranked the engine.
Well, the mechanic got the engine cranked and soon began getting to old overheating buzzer. He next changed out the thermostats and that still didn’t solve the problem.
Finally, he looked at the water jackets and guess what? They were completely packed with dirt dobber nests. Not just a few. They were completely packed and water couldn’t get through. This only occurred on the port head. The other side was working fine.
I had no idea that a little insect could get all the way up into the water jackets. But, they did.
So, for you guys that store your Yamaha engines for prolonged periods of time, I recommend putting some masking tape over any hole that a dirt dobber could possibly get into.
I think I may make a mold of the exhaust ports on my engine and fabricate a rubber plug to put in there. I wish Yamaha would make something like this and sell it as an accessory for us guys in the south that have to contend with dirt dobbers.
Anyway, I hope this helps someone down the road.
Lumberjack93
!!!
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