Knocking sound at stern

FightinIrish

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2021 23 SSRCX with Yamaha 150 VMax. Running great all summer, but randomly started making a "knocking" sound at the port stern. Almost as if I took a rock or ring and randomly tapped it against the pontoon or something. Only occurred at high speeds. Didn't necessarily sound like it was coming from the engine, I don't think...Engine still running great, no issues.

I looked back and the wire to my Garmin transducer seemed a bit loose. When I pulled on it like a guitar string, it snapped back against the pontoon and made a very similar sound to what I was hearing. I zip tied it tighter and it seemed to make the sound about 80% less.

Has anyone else run into this? I'm fairly confident it is that wire but I'm not 100% sure. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks
 
2021 23 SSRCX with Yamaha 150 VMax. Running great all summer, but randomly started making a "knocking" sound at the port stern. Almost as if I took a rock or ring and randomly tapped it against the pontoon or something. Only occurred at high speeds. Didn't necessarily sound like it was coming from the engine, I don't think...Engine still running great, no issues.

I looked back and the wire to my Garmin transducer seemed a bit loose. When I pulled on it like a guitar string, it snapped back against the pontoon and made a very similar sound to what I was hearing. I zip tied it tighter and it seemed to make the sound about 80% less.

Has anyone else run into this? I'm fairly confident it is that wire but I'm not 100% sure. Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks
Is there still "play" in the wire?!? If there is tighten it up so it can't hit against whatever it's hitting! You can eliminate the noise altogether! More zip ties or take?!?
 
Don’t mean to be insulting by asking the obvious, but is the transducer still attached or is it dangling back there at the end of the wire?
 
Thanks for the replies. Yes, the transducer is definitely still attached. Upon further investigation, I found the culprit. It was not the wire. There is a piece of metal underneath on the forward facing front edge of the motor pod/fuel pod (not sure what else to call it) where all 3 small welds cracked, and at high speeds the piece of metal was just flapping against the back with the water spray. On the port side, all 3 welds cracked. I looked at the starboard side and 2 of the 3 welds have cracked...I've attached pictures. I zip-tied the piece of metal on the port side and no more noise!

Now I just need these fixed...assuming this is under warranty? (2021 boat) I think I'll just have the dealer do it when I bring it in for the winter in a few weeks. Hopefully an easy fix, and I assume all dealers can weld? Also, just generally a bit concerned on the quality of these welds, especially as they broke on both sides...

bad welds location.jpgbad welds starboard side.jpgbad welds.jpgbroken metal piece underneath with zip tie.jpgbroken metal underneath boat.jpg
 
Thanks for the replies. Yes, the transducer is definitely still attached. Upon further investigation, I found the culprit. It was not the wire. There is a piece of metal underneath on the forward facing front edge of the motor pod/fuel pod (not sure what else to call it) where all 3 small welds cracked, and at high speeds the piece of metal was just flapping against the back with the water spray. On the port side, all 3 welds cracked. I looked at the starboard side and 2 of the 3 welds have cracked...I've attached pictures. I zip-tied the piece of metal on the port side and no more noise!

Now I just need these fixed...assuming this is under warranty? (2021 boat) I think I'll just have the dealer do it when I bring it in for the winter in a few weeks. Hopefully an easy fix, and I assume all dealers can weld? Also, just generally a bit concerned on the quality of these welds, especially as they broke on both sides...

View attachment 33371View attachment 33372View attachment 33373View attachment 33374View attachment 33375
A good aluminum Tig welder would fix that easily!!!
 
I would presume these will be very straight forward warranty claims, as well as a very quick and easy welding repair. I cannot speak for other people’s dealership, but ours has no “in house” aluminum welder. They have a person locally they recommend, and if warranty work, handle boat transportation to and from that person. I could see this being similar at other dealerships depending on their size and location.
 
The local dealer near me has someone they use. I had a piece added to the front of each side so the water was not hitting the flat surface that came loose on yours.
 

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My dealer has a welder they call in as needed .
 
The local dealer near me has someone they use. I had a piece added to the front of each side so the water was not hitting the flat surface that came loose on yours.
Adding a water deflector plate to channel the water around the flat plate is a really smart idea. At speed the water channeled between the tubes has risen all the way up to the under-deck. High velocity water hitting the flat plate acts like a sea anchor. What goes on below deck of a typical pontoon boat at speed is pretty ugly. This is even more true of a tritoon. But then tritoons accommodate bigger motors to offset the ugly drag. Pontoon boats are great. Just don’t look down!
 
The local dealer near me has someone they use. I had a piece added to the front of each side so the water was not hitting the flat surface that came loose on yours.
The photo accompanying your reply got my attention. Tell me more (maybe with another post). How did you get the shot and how is your boat configured to get the hydrodynamic lift displayed in the photo?
 
The local dealer near me has someone they use. I had a piece added to the front of each side so the water was not hitting the flat surface that came loose on yours.
Wow, great idea! Was this a warranty addition, or did you have to pay extra for that? I'm assuming my repair will be under warranty but that an additional deflector plate would not. But that is an awesome idea, thanks for sharing. To me the flat plate, as DVW said, would create lots of unnecessary drag.
 
I too really like that deflector plate idea. Seems very common sensical.
 
The local dealer near me has someone they use. I had a piece added to the front of each side so the water was not hitting the flat surface that came loose on yours.
I just took another look at your photo of your drag reduction plate. Good ideas get me excited. In that excited state I wanted to believe that the photo was taken while the boat was flying across the water. Now I see the boat is not flying. Still a great idea.
 
The boat is sitting on the trailer for the photo. That is a piece of plastic in the background.

I paid the welder that the dealer uses to add the piece. I made a template with cardboard and tape so the welder knew what I wanted.
 
Do you mind me asking what something like that would cost? And was it primarily for efficiency/to reduce drag (and if so, do you notice a difference?) or to protect that plate that broke on mine from breaking?
 
To reduce drag and possible noise of water hitting the flat plate. It has been a few years, but I think it was $100 - $150.
 
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