If you missed last week’s The Watercraft Journal IRL podcast with FuelTech’s CEO Anderson Dick, you are literally costing yourself the most exciting education on top tier performance. Over the course of 110 minutes, Dick walked WCJ’s Editor-in-Chief Kevin Shaw and Greenhulk Garage’s Greg Gaddis through several engineering failures of the current 1,812cc and 2024 1.9L engine offerings from Yamaha Motor Corp., and how the global innovator has addressed them.
During testing, FuelTech’s chief discovered serious fluctuations in the SVHO’s oil pressure. It turns out that the Yamaha engines suffer from severe oil cavitation specially under hard deceleration, starving sensitive areas of the engine of vital lubrication (including the supercharger, shaft, clutches and valvetrain). This oil starvation was traced back to the pan’s oil pump suction tube not having proper oil supply.
Above: Compare the massive 10 quart volume of the FuelTech pan (left) compared to the constrictive 5 quart factory Yamaha oil pan (right). The factory pan blocks off the oil pickup tube’s “cage” with a solid plate and thick barriers. The FuelTech pan allows for far, far superior oil collection with a deeper pickup catch and directional “trap doors” than keep the cage perpetually full of oil.
The factory oil pan and “pickup” tube is exceptionally restrictive, allowing the pump to draw up pockets of air in extreme conditions (hard lateral g’s). FuelTech worked closely with Jose Luis from BK Built (y’know, the fastest jet ski holding the world record at 142mph) to develop this billet oil pan design that fixes the oil cavitation. CNC machined from a single slab of billet aluminum, FuelTech’s Billet Oil Pan fits all 1.8L and 1.9L Yamaha PWC engines.
FuelTech more than doubled oil capacity to 10 quarts allowing increased oil life; added (4) “trap door” directional flaps that permit oil to flow naturally to keep the cage filled at all times.
FuelTech also radically redesigned the suction tube by increasing the tube’s volume and added a 90-degree pickup that pulls oil lower than the stock unit.
Oh yeah, and Fuel Tech included a proper drain plug that allows a suction hose to be attached to fully drain the pan.
And since it’s a solid piece of billet aluminum the design provides structural reinforcement for the engine block, which if you’re pushing some serious horsepower will keep the stress from cracking the factory block.
Here’s the point: FuelTech’s Billet Oil Pan ($1,699) absolutely resolves the several oiling issues with the Yamaha 1.8L and 1.9L. That kind of ingenuity ain’t cheap; big boy horsepower requires big boy payola.
