Break in period, thoughts and oppinions?

[DRAGON88]

Hey guys, I was wondering what you guys think about the break in period, Some say to not even warm the boat up the first time and just immediately into the cruising part o' the break in period.(Or ever in that matter) His reasoning behind this is that motors are "tighter" when they are cold (true, a new motor makes this even more true, since the clearances of various parts have not had the chance to properly mesh/wear to each other.) so in order to decrease wear it's best to warm up the boat as quick as possible. I, however, have always let the old boat warm up to its normal coolant temp of 160* before riding behind it or driving it anything above idle gear. I know its always good to warm the oil up before going WOT or running the motor hard.

The other interesting think I've heard lately (well this is kind of random) but some people (S4 car guys) say to run the car easy for the first thousand or so miles (I think it was something like that) and then drive it how you are going to drive it. Meaning romp the crap out of the motor, or drive it like a granny. The theory behind this is: it would allow the rings to seat properly according to your driving style.

After the engine is thoroughly warmed up, and
the boat is underway, open the throttle to wide
open throttle until maximum RPM is reached. DO
NOT EXCEED MAXIMUM RPM. (RPM should
cease climbing after 10 to 20 seconds).

Reduce the throttle to 2800 - 3000 RPM, and
cruise at or below this speed for 1/2 hour.
Reduce the speed to idle. Go to wide open
throttle until maximum RPM is reached and
operate for approximately 1 minute. Reduce
throttle to 2800-3000 RPM and operate for a few
minutes. (Bringing the engine speed from idle to
wide open throttle will load the engine and assist
in seating the piston rings). This cycle should be
repeated from time to time during the first 5 hours
of operation, but wide open throttle should not be
sustained for more than 1 minute.

However other manufactures seem to avoid WOT for the first 5 or so hours. So, what do I do? I know that breaking in the motor isn't really all that important, so long as you are not "breaking it in" at the dock, you'll probably be fine. I know it's not a science, and that a lot of it is over cautious (read initial 10 hrs of break in before running stock ballast exc.) so as to keep early engine replacement to a minimum.

Malibu seems to recommend to wait until the first 10 hrs are up to run ballast. This seems about right, but what about pulling a wakeboarder? 5 hrs? I understand that the idea is to keep the stress down on the motor so that the piston rings and other various internals can shave down and co exist happily for the rest of the motors life.

The motor I will have will be the Excalibur, but I doubt its any different from the ZR6 break in wise. It's going to happen quick though. (I will probably have 10 hrs on her in 2 days, so I can go riding. :mrgreen: )

Thoughts? Opinions? I'm going to be following PCM's break in procedure, but I was wondering if anyone else had anything to add to that. It seemed to differ from what I read in the CC owners manual.

Cheers,
Richard (24 more days till delivery(5-22-05))

PS: Is it bad that I've already read the owners manual? :shock:

[Jesse1]

RE: Break in period, thoughts and oppinions?

The owner's manual method of break-in probably would be the best. It also sounds like fun! This is the way I've always broken in my Nautiques. You want to alternately load and unload the engine and don't run it at one speed for very long. Full throttle starts force the piston rings against the cylinder walls and help to seat the rings. Slowing down and running at a lower RPM allows the engine to cool down. Allow the engine to idle and cool for a few minutes before shutting down. Don't let the engine idle for long periods of time.

It's a great time to just get out and enjoy a new boat and have an excuse to run the dickens out of it! :grin:

[DRAGON88]

RE: Break in period, thoughts and oppinions?

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 1-2 minutes.

I guess the Correct Craft recommendation is pretty close to the PCM recommendation. Just thought I'd throw that in here should someone be searching for this info in the future.