New Boat / Engine Break (shocked at go full throttle recommendation) ???

[ccs]

Spring is obviously a good ways away, but with our new boat on order thought Id check out the "official" break in advice from the Nautique 230 Owners Manual - as viewed online....

I was VERY shocked or surprised to see the recommended instruction for breaking in a new boat/engine. I always thought you WERE NOT supposed to take the new boat over say 2 or 3 thousand RPM's for several hours etc., allowing the new engine to break in slowly and gently...?? Have you all followed the factory recommended break in OR do you agree with it ?? Seems abusive to go full throttle a few minutes after a brand new boat / engine have hit the water for the first time ??? - Thanks - - (posted below straight from the owners manual)

Break In Procedure
Make sure all your passengers are properly seated before starting
the break in procedure. After the engine is thoroughly warmed up
and you have driven the boat into a large open area, advance the
throttle to wide open until the maximum rpms are reached. DO
NOT exceed 5,000 rpm. Reduce the throttle to 2,800-3,000 rpms
and cruise at or below this speed for 30 minutes. Reduce the speed
to idle, advance the throttle to wide open and operate at that speed
for one minute; reduce to the previous cruising speed for a few
minutes and repeat. Accelerating from idle speed to wide open
assists in seating the piston rings. This cycle can be repeated from
time to time during the first five hours of operation. DO NOT
operate engine at full throttle for longer than one to two minutes.

[NautiqueJeff]

I always follow that procedure with mine. Seems to work well! Gotta get things seated properly.

[ccs]

Well, if Jeff says its the way to go, then it is - - Thanks Jeff

[shag]

I have done this as well. It makes sense to me. You just don't want to exceed it or hold it there for a long time. I always let the motor idle for a minute or so before shutting down - but I do it all the time that way.

[ccs]

Since it says to go full throttle - but not exceed 5000 RPM's - I'm guessing that if it approached going over 5k RPM, you should back off enough from full throttle to not exceed 5k RPM ??

Although I dont think our 226 would even go to 5k RPM anyway...but maybe the 230 with a 409 will or could ??

Still, I guess the question is, if able to go over 5k RPM, and not at full throttle - don't exceed 5k regardless ?

[DanielC]

Good job on reading the owners manual, a lot of people do not.

Yes, run it WOT, and as soon as it hits 5000, back to idle, in gear. A little bit of part throttle cruising, always changing the rpm, back to idle, and WOT again.

WOT forces the piston rings hard against the cylinder walls, and they wear in together, and form a good seal. Closing the throttle immediately after, sucks more oil up into the cylinders, and the extra oil helps wash the wear particles off the cylinder walls, and pistons.

Get the oil changed at 25 hours or earlier.

Avoid running it with a heavy load as long as you can.

The WOT procedure when new is what I did with my 1997 Ski Nautique. It currently has 2377.7 hours on it, and it is still running strong.

[AirTool]

Ditto with DC on reading the manual.

This procedure is ancient. I first heard of it in 1982 or so when a school buddy's (very old) dad rebuilt the engine in their van. The other "break in" procedure was ridiculous and took hours/miles of ridiculous low speed ring seating. Hot rodders and industrial engine builders schemed this one up because there was no time for a lengthy procedure and this one actually works better.

What I've always wondered, though, is CC water test every boat. I suspect they do this break in procedure immediately on every boat. They probably do it several times. At least I hope so.

I'd still do it myself after delivery. It certainly won't hurt.

I also agree to change the break-in oil sooner than regular. I think the dealers offer a change at 25. I wouldn't go longer than that. For me, I'd change it at 10 or 15 just to ensure break in material and any residual residue from engine mfg and assembly, etc is caught in the filter and removed.

[swc5150]

Gary, the factory test pilot, already put your engine through WOT paces, so don't worry. We've always followed the book, and have had great luck with our engines.

[AirTool]

Gary, the factory test pilot, already put your engine through WOT paces, so don't worry. We've always followed the book, and have had great luck with our engines.

Excellent....just as I suspected. I wondered when I first read the manual why they wouldn't just say the engine was commissioned and broken in at the factory...no owner intervention required.

[DanielC]

If the engine was fully broken in when it left the factory, it would have about a hundred hours on it.

[TxJole]

Lot of factory's are going to the balls to the wall break-in. I just got the wife a Yamaha SHO jet ski and they said run it under 1000k for the first 15 minutes never at the same rpm. Then under 3000k for 15 minutes. Then under 9k for an hour. That was just to seat the wear ring on the supercharger.

[14adrnln]

We have just followed the CC recommended run in procedure for our new Sport 200 with the 409 and that says to run it up to 5400rpm. Reached it easily within that first 10 seconds. Admitedly it does feel a bit wrong at first but then the adrenalin kicks in and it's a blast and you look forward to the next WOT permitted run.
Enjoy!

[tdc_worm]

just gonna play a little devil's advocate here:

---do you think that boat builders and engine marinizers are willing to risk their reliability reputation on irresponsible consumers whom are a) unlikely to thoroughly read the break in protocol and b) unlikely to understand the protocol even if they did read it?

---does anyone here have any anecdotal or scientific data that ties engine failure or under performance to improper break in? how many failures have you seen, be it automotive, powersports, or otherwise?

given what i believe are the likely answers to the above questions, are we splitting hairs? i believe that to be the case....

[DanielC]

The most critical time in an engines life is the first time they are started, at the GM factory. The engine then goes to PCM, for converting to marine use, and probably is started again. I do not know. Most brand new Correct Craft boats had over an hour of run time when I did dealer prep on them, when I used to work for a local dealer, and we test drove them again, and we did go WOT with them. This was fun, with the occasional Python engine.

There is a manufacturing tolerance in every thing that is made. It does not matter if it is pots and pans, rocket engines, artificial hip and knee replacements, or internal combustion engines. Some engines are within acceptable tolerance, but very slightly too tight. Breaking in an engine allows the parts to "machine themselves" to tolerances that will last a very long time.
Piston rings have to be seated to the cylinder walls. There is no other way. The parts have to wear in together. That is what is happening in the break in process.

Engines built for different uses have different tolerances. If you build an engine for a race application, you build it "looser". But you know building it that way means you will have to rebuild it sooner, or "freshen it up". An extreme example, the engine in a top fuel funny car, or dragster, Ideally, the engine is worn out, and needs to have major components replaced after you just went through the timing lights at the end of the final race, and you won.

To make an engine last a long time, you build it "tight", and let it wear itself to the ideal tolerance and clearances. If you do that correctly, you can get many thousands of hours of use on an engine.


Are we splitting hairs here, yes we are. But if you just spent $30,000 on a boat like I did, in 1996, or you are spending $70,000 on a new 2011 or 2012 model, you would want to do absolutely every thing you can to make it last as long as it should, and run the most efficiently as it can during it's life.

[ccs]

Good posts and info from all - I'd rarely ever read an owners manual for anything - but as I think we are all "enthusiasts" here about our boats - I take extra special care to do all I can to properly break-in and care for these things. - especially when ordering one brand new and I get the luxury of being able to break in and care for it from day one - especially after spending the kind of money these machines cost.

DanielC - I know you were generalizing, but I sure wish a new 230 was able to be had for "only" $70K - as this 2012 SANTE 230 is the first factory ordered Nautique for us since being on the tournament promo team many years ago, I was truly shocked at first at the "all in" sticker price.

Oh well - - as they say, "this aint a cheap sport"