Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I finally got past my 10 hour break in period and opened up the boat WOT yesterday. I hit 27mph with four large men and 3 coolers. I hit 32 mph with just my daughter and myself and one cooler. Seems slow compared to my runabout that I traded in, but think it will be plenty fast for what we need these days. More than enough to pull kids on tubes and get where I need to go. Picture is from the dock at my lake lot. Hope we have good weather next weekend. Plan to spend the whole weekend out there camping and boating.

Speed sounds reasonable with a 115. Looks like a keeper!

JNorris79 wrote:I finally got past my 10 hour break in period and opened up the boat WOT yesterday. I hit 27mph with four large men and 3 coolers. I hit 32 mph with just my daughter and myself and one cooler. Seems slow compared to my runabout that I traded in, but think it will be plenty fast for what we need these days. More than enough to pull kids on tubes and get where I need to go. Picture is from the dock at my lake lot. Hope we have good weather next weekend. Plan to spend the whole weekend out there camping and boating.

Is that what your owners manual says to do? My Merc and many others I have read say after the first hour or two, run the boat wide open in spurts, not too long though. This gives the best break in for the motor. Maybe yours is different though, but I went to youtube and the experts are saying basically the same thing my owners manual says.

Sounds pretty good for a 23' with a 115 on the back! Those new 2.1L Mercs are very strong 115's, I wouldn't be surprised to see a 130/135hp version of that engine soon as it has a touch more displacement than the Suzuki 115/140 combo.

I was told by the dealership the most important thing for first 10 hours was to vary the throttle and not keep at same RPM for more than a couple minutes. I probably could have opened her up a little sooner, I was just being careful.

RancherLee, I'm very happy with the motor. So quiet too. That's what I can't get over.

Since you have tritoons and lifting strakes, were you getting the nosecones out of the water when you threw the throttle to it? Sometimes you've got to trim the motor up pretty high to get top performance--but with no ventilation.

I was out this morning cruising about 3500 rpms with the water breaking at the back of the nosecones. I showered down on the throttle, wind got under my deck, and I could feel the front end lift at least a foot. When you get over 30 mph is when the ride gets more exciting. I still remain very positive on my Yamaha F150's performance and the fact that it's going on 4 years and never seen any shop.

Tomorrow, it's oil change, lower unit grease, power wash, vacuum and polish the outside toons.

I cruise at 12. Your flying.

I'd check the owner's manual on the break in assuming it's a 4 stroke Mercury. I just got done with mine and the process was Throttle no higher than 4500 rpm and vary within that range, then wide open approximately 1 minute every 10 minutes for the first 2 hours. After that it's no more than 5 minutes WOT for the next 8 hours.

mpilot wrote:I'd check the owner's manual on the break in assuming it's a 4 stroke Mercury. I just got done with mine and the process was Throttle no higher than 4500 rpm and vary within that range, then wide open approximately 1 minute every 10 minutes for the first 2 hours. After that it's no more than 5 minutes WOT for the next 8 hours.

Yes. The consequences of not doing this is your motor could start "making oil". The rings do not get seated properly and fuel can get into the oil. I have heard performance people say this break in will also give you the best performance out of your engine. I guess if the oil level is not going up then it is probably ok. Many people baby their motors and nothing bad happens, but it could. I remember getting my first Harley, all the motor guys said to break it in like you stole it.

Ok, Well I just hit 10 hrs so if she didn't get broke in right then damage is done at this point. I think I did alright. I didn't put around at 2500 rpm for the first 10. Sound like I could have been a little harder on her, but I did open her up a little before 10hr. Guess the point of my post is now that I'm at 10hr I'm not going to worry about it and let her eat. Hoping to pull the kids tubing for the first time this weekend.

The deal is that 4 stroke outboards run very cool, and the piston rings sometimes don't get hot enough to properly seat themselves. This is especially true on the Yamaha SHO motors so often seen on bassboats--and a few tritoons.

Dealers say you should start your engine cold and warm it up before heading out. And follow the factory break in procedure exactly. If the rings don't seat properly, unburned gasoline will get by them and end up in the crankcase/sump. If you look at the dipstick, the oil level will then show much higher than normal.

Yamaha's fix is to change the oil and fill the crankcase up to halfway between the full mark and the low mark on the dipstick. Then, warm the engine up and run the tee total piss out of the engine. On a bassboat, that can be a pretty scary few hours--at 80 mph or so (depending on the hull.) They usually will quit "making oil" at that point.

I've not heard the complaints on Mercury's 150 FourStroke motor like I've heard on SHO's. I would be watching the dipstick on every outing prior to going out, however.

JNorris79 wrote:Ok, Well I just hit 10 hrs so if she didn't get broke in right then damage is done at this point. I think I did alright. I didn't put around at 2500 rpm for the first 10. Sound like I could have been a little harder on her, but I did open her up a little before 10hr. Guess the point of my post is now that I'm at 10hr I'm not going to worry about it and let her eat. Hoping to pull the kids tubing for the first time this weekend.

You will probably be fine, if your oil level is not going up, then I wouldn't worry.

I did the a similar break-in to my 150 Verado. Followed the owners manual, but mainly did what the guys in the (now defunct) Verado forum advised which was to run WOT at proper intervals.

Scott1 wrote:

mpilot wrote:I'd check the owner's manual on the break in assuming it's a 4 stroke Mercury. I just got done with mine and the process was Throttle no higher than 4500 rpm and vary within that range, then wide open approximately 1 minute every 10 minutes for the first 2 hours. After that it's no more than 5 minutes WOT for the next 8 hours.

Yes. The consequences of not doing this is your motor could start "making oil". The rings do not get seated properly and fuel can get into the oil. I have heard performance people say this break in will also give you the best performance out of your engine. I guess if the oil level is not going up then it is probably ok. Many people baby their motors and nothing bad happens, but it could. I remember getting my first Harley, all the motor guys said to break it in like you stole it.

There is an owners manual that spells out proper break-in. Follow the owners manual and do as it says. The manufacturer can review the stored history data that shows if you followed break-in procedures. They could very well deny a warranty claim based on improper break-in.

The salesman's job is to get a boat sold. Many of these guy have hardly been in a boat. Some mechanics feel that the way they learned to break-in a motor years ago still applies. For me I would follow the manufacturers break-in procedure as they know what works for that engine and they are the one footing the warranty repairs.

justfishing wrote:There is an owners manual that spells out proper break-in. Follow the owners manual and do as it says. The manufacturer can review the stored history data that shows if you followed break-in procedures. They could very well deny a warranty claim based on improper break-in.

The salesman's job is to get a boat sold. Many of these guy have hardly been in a boat. Some mechanics feel that the way they learned to break-in a motor years ago still applies. For me I would follow the manufacturers break-in procedure as they know what works for that engine and they are the one footing the warranty repairs.

Don't trust what salesmen say in all cases. They just want their commission.

And have you ever seen a mechanic go to the lake with a boat, start it up cold and immediately go full throttle? I have.

Best to do what the manufacturer says to break'em in. And don't be hesitant after a few hours to run'em hard. That first couple of hours might be a little boring, however.