[susanrah]

We bought a Yamaha 2006 FX HO last October with few hours, under extended warranty. Seemed to lean to one side so we took to dealer and he worked on steering cable. We took for ride in mid-October and at low speed we turned and the jet ski just fell on its side. Dealer forgot to install clamp and machine filled up with water.
Dealer fixed and we did not ride until recently. This spring we have taken a few rides, we are seniors, so not wild riding, and today, while at idle speed with two of us on it, while making a left turn, the jet ski just fell over and dumped us again. Little warmer this time. There was no water in the unit. I noticed when riding that the ski tended to want to lean to the left and did not feel all that stable.
Our son has a VX 110, which we ride all the time and have never felt unstable or unsteady.

Help! What is going on?

 

[JayDawg]

How does it do with 1 person on it or does it still lean in the water when nobody is on it? I mean this in the nicest way so don't take this wrong but a lot of times, when you have two adults on a jet ski, it will be more unstable because of the extra weight and both of you could be leaning more to the left without realizing it. Trust me, I get my wife on my Ultra 150 and she swears up and down that the thing is unstable and tips over too easy but she has never ridden before and does not understand the balance issue and does not understand that she needs to only compensate in small amounts because when she compensates a lot and on water, it makes the ski move to one way r the other and then she tries to compensate for that and eventually we both go in the water. There could be some reason that is causing your ski to lean to the left but in all honesty, unless there is more weight on the left side of the ski, it should not lean. With your sons ski, it may just have a different hull design and so thus it feels a little more stable.

Also, with a boat or a jet ski, realize too that the faster they go, the more stable they become especially with 2 people on them. You momentum is carrying you through the corner at the higher speeds where as at the lower speeds, you need to balance more.

 

[susanrah]

Help FX HO

Thanks, Jay Dawg. We have ridden our sons VX110 extensively for a couple of years. We are able to turn without being dumped in the lake. The FX HO is larger and heavier and rated for 3 people. i have ridden with friends before and we have always been able to turn. We were probably going 2 MPH yesterday! I have never seen one of these turn over unless someonewas really trying. I don;t even go fast. This purchase was grandma's folly but now I am afraid there is something terribly wrong. It was a week day. Very calm water.

 

[JayDawg]

Interesting. Do you think it is just you FX HO or all of them? Maybe see if the dealer will meet you some place on the water with another FX HO and see if it also does the same thing. There has to be a reason why yours is leaning because that does not sound normal to me.

 

[susanrah]

2009 fxho

We have ridden several of our friends before we got this. Never felt unsteady. I went with a friend last fall to get her ski out of the water. Due to our drought we had to go a long way to get to a ramp that was open. I had the map. we stopped many times looking at channel markers and then turning to go look for the next one. That was a ride with a lot of turning at slow speeds. That woman is older ( and heavier ) than i am. She is a more experienced rider because she had one in Florida on the intracoastal. Our lake while large is very calm.

 

[JayDawg]

I really have no clue then what it could be? If your ski is leaning to the left in the water, it has to be a weight issue. But the question is, what is causing there to be more wight to the left of just your ski? I'm wondering if the hull was ever damaged and repaired before you ever bought it and that was no disclosed to you? The stuff they use to patch the hulls is sometimes a lot more heavier that the original fiberglass and gel coat. Check your left side of the hull for any previous damage or repair work.

 

[susanrah]

Ho Fx 06

Hmmmm! We had a little ding repaired. We are calling that guy to see if he noticed any evidence of other repair. He's pretty sharp. It sure looks perfect. Just the scratch we had repaired and another small ding we didn;t.

 

[susanrah]

FX HO falls over

My husband went out riding today and noticed two things: first, the ski pulls to the right. He held the 'handlebars' perfectly straight and accelerated, the ski began to pull to the right. Second, when turning to the right during acceleration, and then easing off the throttle, the ski would lurch to the left (straighten up) and 'try to throw him off'.
Also, we spoke to the fiberglass shop owner and he saw no major repair work. Since we had the middle of the bottom re-glassed, it was striking the trailer, he had had a good luck at it. Saw no evidence of a repair.
Thanks.

 

[JayDawg]

My husband went out riding today and noticed two things: first, the ski pulls to the right. He held the 'handlebars' perfectly straight and accelerated, the ski began to pull to the right. Second, when turning to the right during acceleration, and then easing off the throttle, the ski would lurch to the left (straighten up) and 'try to throw him off'.
Also, we spoke to the fiberglass shop owner and he saw no major repair work. Since we had the middle of the bottom re-glassed, it was striking the trailer, he had had a good luck at it. Saw no evidence of a repair.
Thanks.

I'm thinking that, that could be caused by the torque of the engine but I could be wrong but it does sound like it. If you adjust the jet nozzle slightly to the left, hopefully that will solve the issue. I am still baffled though about why your ski leans to the left. That really has got me perplexed.

Next time you have it in the water, can you take a picture and post it when the thing is sitting still and when it is moving but in a straight line. I am curious how bad it is leaning.

 

[susanrah]

we took it to the dealer two weeks ago today. I don't think they looked at it until this week. When they finally put it in the water they agreed it tried to dump them. the fixed loose steering and replaced the stabilizers, which were perfect. they put it back in the water--same thing. today they were going to look at the stringers and something else. yamaha won't pay as engine runs well. Just falls over. Mechanic supposedly hurt today so they didn't so anything--tomorrow maybe. Then they are going to quit. We have a beautiful machine with low hours and perfectly running engine that isn't stable and no one knows why. The other day a man came into our cove on a large ski like ours. he came in at idle speed, two children with him. He may a complete sharp turn and went back out in his own wake trail. The ski did not lean or tip. That was what we did whne we fell in both times. i don't think our turns were nearly that tight. I know I did that hundreds of times on my son's VX110. Our coves were very tight during our drought hte last couple of years. We haven't been able to use it and I fear we have wasted all our money. We weould appreciate any ideas on what could be wrong or how to get Yamaha to take an interest. Could something have been forgotten on the assembly line. Are there weights or things inside the hull that could have been forgotten? It makes no sense. Help please!I will take those pictures if we ever get it back.

 

[JayDawg]

Did you buy the Yamaha from a private party or from the dealership? If from the dealership, if they can't fix the problem, they need to get you something else and exchange it. I would also contact Yamaha yourselves and let them know about everything. I have found in my dealings with them, they are good to deal with and will try and make things right with you.

 

[susanrah]

we bought it from a sea doo dealer oddly enough. They have had a large and successful boat business near our home for over 30 years. they recently closed that store and consolidated with their other store on the lake. They are always one of the big exhibitors at the Atlanta boat show and we thought a trusted business. We checked with Yamaha before we bought it, gave them the vin# and they told us it was fully under warranty until 2011. Then we took it to the Yamaha dealer up the road for an inspection before we bought it. they declared it perfect except he thought it might be a good idea to have a big scratdch on the bottom repaired. Which we did. the fiberglass man figured out the scratch was from the trailer not being correctly adjusted. He saw nothing of concern. he did not repair it until spring. It had already fallen over once. he is good. Does all the Sea doos for the yamaha dealer onh the lake. So disappointing.

 

[GCwaverunner]

Check the ride plate isn't hanging lower than the pump shoe. Don't check from the rear, get under and have a look. Also, check it is symetrical. Is the foot well filling up with water adding to the problem? Do you have much weight in the rear storage bucket?

 

[susanrah]

Update

We will ask them to check those things. There is nothing in the storage compartment and minimum water. Since was still cool the times we got to ride it, I made sure of that. Below is what we learned when we went by the dealer yesterday.

They looked at the hull, It is balanced and correct weight, not been wrecked and repaired. The guy,the beforementioned fiberglass repairman who was at the dealership yesterday,that looked at the hull noticed that the nozzle was pointing more up that it should have been. They are going to see about aiming it down as it should be. Could this make it tip over? It ran fine and would go quite fast. The mystery continues and we have no jetski for the 4th.
Onr thing I noticed and don't know if I mentioned. When we were cruising along, in addition to it wanting to go to the right which was easily corrected but noticeable, somestimes it sould feel as it something held it for a minute and then let go . The engine didn't seem to hesitate it just felt like something grabbed , held on a second or so and let go. That sound odd but that is what we experienced.

 

[GCwaverunner]

Geez, this is a weird one. It can't be a weight distribution problem because they are not nearly top heavy enough to go rolling over unless it had a roof. I am thinking the pump shoe must be angled down too much or the pump unit is not symetrical with the hull in whatever way. There is a mounting plate which all pump unit parts bolt to. Maybe you could check that. However, you would think the drive shafts wouldn't line up if that was the case.

 

[GCwaverunner]

I thought about this one last night. When yamahas are put together and the top deck attachhed to the hull, on each side there are floatation devices installed between them. You cant see them, and you would have to cut a hole in the inside bottom/side of the hull to see. Im thinking that if this was not installed from factory (a very rare if any thing to happen), it could have some effect on the low speed balance. However, if that is the case it would have done the same thing since factory.??????

 

[susanrah]

I don't know about engines or much about how cars and boats run. So many of the things suggested didn't make sense to me. My husband understands some of the possibilities better. Your suggestion makes perfect sense to me. I have even asked if there was supposed to be something inside the hull. I was thinking of something visible.( a non mechanical person thinking about what makes somethiung float!) The original owner never had a warranty issue. They sold or traded it. It has been suggested that the same thing happened to them perhaps they didn't like it. We are afraid to let others ride it.
Question. Would it still float well. I can stand on one side to get on. How much it tips compared to another I don;t know as I haven't been on another one since we got it.

Thank you so much GCWaverunner(and everyone else) for thinking about this for us. I am convinced there is an answer.

Dealer just said he adjusted the nozzle and they are going to run in the morning. He said that last evening as well. Then if it's no better he's going to call Yamaha and tell them he has no idea. The long term warranty the first owner bought is only for the engine and a few other things but if it came from the factory wrong, surely they would help us.

 

[GCwaverunner]

The floatation would only be effected from low speed when the hull is deep on the water and put under even more pressure when turning. It would also exaderate the problem if there was floatation installed on the other side. Very weird if it is true but yamaha would help you if this is the case. To me, now ive thought about it, this explanation makes perfect sense. Im not sure its a fixable problem either, maybe there is some sort of spray in floatation but i don't know of any. I dont think the nozzle will make much difference.

 

[susanrah]

Update

Thank you for everyones patience. Yesterday ( and the day before and I think the day before that) the dealer said they were going to test drive after adjusting nozzle. Today they talked to Yamaha( it we my understanding they did this 2 weeks ago). The Yamaha tech said to disassemble pump and check that out. We begin again with no improvement yet.


Thoughts?

i guess when they exhaust ideas we get to take to Yamaha.

 

[GCwaverunner]

Did you ask them to check that cavity by cutting it open and checking for the floatation. Seems you will just keep going around in circles if they don't open their minds to all possibilities. I think they had already established it wasn't in the pump, and if it was it would have to be a pretty large imperfection that would be very obvious to cause this problem.