New boat engine breaking-in

[mmandley]

Well Shane Stillman is of a different frame of mind, and while my Mojo only has 5 hours on it, hour 3 and 4 was while we surfed it in Cali with 2K+ ballast LOL.

Its at 5 hours now so i dont know if i really need to finish the break in period or just run it like i plan to the rest of its life.

[DOCDRS]

First ...This is only my opinion and the way I break my engines in. Its basically as per the manual but adding the smooth short 2-3 second wot full rpm bursts with only a driver in the boat.


There is a lot of controversy on this subject. A couple that are most important are not to overload the engine, ie with a lot of people or ballast in the boat, or by performing hard accelerations.
Personally I feel that smooth acceleration to wot and letting it sit there for 2 - 3 seconds during the break in procedure (every so often, once per 5- 10mins or so) will help the rings seat better as the combustion gases will force the rings out to their maximum tolerance as well as give it a better break in over all. Also, after break in, do not go crazy with immediate long wot runs. Work your way up to them.

Again , there will be some who disagree, this is my opinion only, so take a pill if you do.

[beat taco]

First ...This is only my opinion and the way I break my engines in. Its basically as per the manual but adding the smooth short 2-3 second wot full rpm bursts with only a driver in the boat.


There is a lot of controversy on this subject. A couple that are most important are not to overload the engine, ie with a lot of people or ballast in the boat, or by performing hard accelerations.
Personally I feel that smooth acceleration to wot and letting it sit there for 2 - 3 seconds during the break in procedure (every so often, once per 5- 10mins or so) will help the rings seat better as the combustion gases will force the rings out to their maximum tolerance as well as give it a better break in over all. Also, after break in, do not go crazy with immediate long wot runs. Work your way up to them.

Again , there will be some who disagree, this is my opinion only, so take a pill if you do.

Completely agree. I like the method recommended by PCM better and we know all the engines come from GM. I understand most people will side with the engineers at indmar so no worries there. This topic does seem to come up and get debated heavily

[kaneboats]

I agree with working up to WOT, but if you are going to run WOT, you better do it during break in. I waited till close to the end of the break in time to do it but certainly did it. I also run WOT for a little bit every time I have her out.

[sandm]

funny that my kawi zx6r had a pretty rigorious break in period of 1000 miles and all kinds of rpm limits. 5k first 2-300, then 7k then 10k(redlines at 17,500), but when I watched a documentary of the bike being produced, that engine was started and run on a dyno up to redline and held there for a few to ensure proper hp/tq before leaving the factory. kind of goes against their own break-in theory. heard some say ride it like you plan from day 1 and let the rings land hard.

I followed the pcm manual almost to a tee for the first 6-8hrs then started surfing. it said to do occasional wot runs, avoid over 4krpm's when not wot and make sure to vary the engine rpm's as you are running. not too hard to do..

probably more important than the break in is the first initial oil change.

[Boatdrinks797]

I've thought and wondered the same thing about factory and dealer tests prior to delivery to the customer. I know my dealer does a water test and I can't imagine they just idle it around the lake during that first hour. I would think part of their lake test would be loading up the ballast and bringing it up to speed with a few of their guys in the boat to boot. How can they go against their own factory recommendations and then expect us to follow the guidelines for the duration of the break-in period?

[sandm]

they did this in the mb I tested last summer. 2hrs on the clock and he showed both wakeboard and surf wakes.. did not take it over 25mph tho empty or full.

[jmvotto]

Funny I had the same questions, these engines are milled so precise these days but I still followed the break in procedures..on my 12 xlv . Funny 2 months later got a new Chevy suburban, 2 miles on her and no break in period on the same engine ??? Drive it like you own it for 5 years...

[jntMobiusLSV]

Thanks for all the great info everybody. I'll check with the dealer again when I go pick up the boat in a few weeks. I downloaded the Möbius LSV manual and it recommended an 8 hour break-in with increasing RPM's gradually.