Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Well after my motor blew up on me and tossing around the idea of a new motor,I ended up doing a complete overhaul! Good news is three weeks later "yesterday" I got it back, took it out for a test ride and everything ran great!!!!! Other than staying under 2500 rpm for the first hour of break in, still got 9 hours to go.....can't wait till it warms up so we can have some fun!!!

that is good news!
but 10 hrs at only 2500 torture.

good to there are still lakes that arnt frozen yet. we had to bust ice yesturday just to get to a fishin spot.

BassFrequency wrote:that is good news!
we had to bust ice yesturday just to get to a fishin spot.

Ha. That's where I got you beat, BassF.
I didn't have to bust any ice to get to a spot yesterday. Just drove the truck there

tuned wrote:

BassFrequency wrote:that is good news!
we had to bust ice yesturday just to get to a fishin spot.

Ha. That's where I got you beat, BassF.
I didn't have to bust any ice to get to a spot yesterday. Just drove the truck there

hmm... i wonder what affect subwoofers could have on the ice at the right frequency

BassFrequency wrote:
hmm... i wonder what affect subwoofers could have on the ice at the right frequency

The stuff is definitely elastic. Drive a heavy truck at the wrong speed and you can set up a 'wave' in the ice. Drop ya right thru!

Now mount those kickers directly to the ice sheet? The worlds biggest sound-board.
I got a ten inch auger we could make some ports with too.
I doubt the Park Rangers would approve heh

Ya I know it's torture, but the last 9 hrs I can run 3500rpms. I'm not going to complain cuz I'm blessed just to have a good running boat. Hopefully I won't have anymore setbacks like this!

Take it easy. If you break it in right you will have plenty of time to go fast. I still think motors last a lot longer 800-1000 RPM below WOT with a minimal reduction in speed and a significant increase in MPG.

GregF wrote:I still think motors last a lot longer 800-1000 RPM below WOT with a minimal reduction in speed and a significant increase in MPG.

yup. or more iron and less stress--like an i/o..........

You really don't want to be running an I/O WOT if you want it to last.

GregF wrote:You really don't want to be running an I/O WOT if you want it to last.

I beg to differ. Mine are always run at WOT, 11 seasons on the Starcraft and 5 on the PC. The 3.0 liter is designed to run at 4400 RPM. Both run fantastic.

All the go fast guys run their boats at WOT all the time, never seen any of them have issues either.

How many hours is that?

Starcraft, about 1500 hours going into 11 seasons. It's original 3.0 liter lasted 20 years, used it's entire life in the Delaware Bay which is as salty as the Atlantic and the Chesapeake which is brackish. When I bought the boat the original owner improperly winterized the motor (didn't use fogging oil and the rings were locked to the cylinders). I sold the old motor and it was rebuilt and put back into service. A buddy of mine has a 1972 Starcraft Chieftain with it's original 3.0. Thousands of hours and all he did to it was replace the manifold (supposed to be replaced every 4-5 seasons) and the water pump. Still runs fantastic. Also used on the Chesapeake all it's life. Here it is off of Annapolis 3 years ago. Not exactly fresh water there either.



There's a ton of people on my site (originally was a Starcraft restoration site) most are I/Os, all are still running. None have lived an easy life.


PC about 300 going into it's 6th. Then again these 2 are meticulously maintained. If you neglect routine maintenance nothing will last very long.

Around here, EVERYTHING that is used offshore commercially are either inboard or I/Os. I've never been on a charter vessel with an outboard yet unless it was exclusively used in the bay.

That is really pretty low hours but it is your motor. Do what you want to do. I suppose you get better mileage WOT than 4000 too.

I was under the impression that the best compromise between power and fuel economy is to cruise at 75% of WOT. My owners manual says that max rpm is 5500 so I try to stay at just above 4000 rpm when cruising which is about 75% of WOT. The manual says that max hp output occurs at 5000 rpm, but I don't notice a big speed diference between 4000 and 5000 rpm. Maybe on larger motors it makes a bigger difference, but mine just gets louder.

That is my experience too Ron. Bear in mind drag through the water is a log scale. Those last few MPH come at a great increase in horsepower fuel consumption and wear.
When you see boats rated they always give you a maximum speed and a "cruise" speed.
I know the commercial guys here who put thousands of hours a year on their motors agree with us.

BMR, this is what people do to I/Os here.