Break-in time

[stewart]

Great information here! Since this thread has been idle for a while, I was wondering for those of you that opted for the "drive it like you stole it" method, did anyone have any problems and/or success stories? My ONLY concern is that mine will be the 1 in a 100 that has some kind of problem and the Indmar guys tell me to take a hike because I didn't break in the Hammerhead according to their recommendations. I get the boat tomorrow, and I'm leaning towards moto man's break-in guidelines. Thanks in advance!

Actually, the Hammerhead 383 doesn't have a break-in period. Check your owners manual or maybe Slider or Wakegirl will chime in.

[Rson]

I have been on countless brand new boats(6+)......like Auto said.....the drive off the showroom floor was break-in enough.

[WakeGirl]

Great information here! Since this thread has been idle for a while, I was wondering for those of you that opted for the "drive it like you stole it" method, did anyone have any problems and/or success stories? My ONLY concern is that mine will be the 1 in a 100 that has some kind of problem and the Indmar guys tell me to take a hike because I didn't break in the Hammerhead according to their recommendations. I get the boat tomorrow, and I'm leaning towards moto man's break-in guidelines. Thanks in advance!

Actually, the Hammerhead 383 doesn't have a break-in period. Check your owners manual or maybe Slider or Wakegirl will chime in.

Sorry, I actually got to go to the lake today!!!

Yup, no break in required on the Hammerhead. Drive it the way you would normally drive it, even with ballast. The other service release that came out was to use 40w oil instead of Indmar's 15-40w that they traditionally recommend.

I got to go to the lake today!!!

[bigmacholdthefries]

I ran my Hammy hard from the first day out ,pulls like a train, bounces of the rev limiter and consumes no oil . My dealer tells me to thrash the ar$e of it .

[MoonDawg]

I missed the moto-man link the first time around. That site was great!

Breaking in an engine...it's the difference between "zing-zing-zing" and "bwaaaaaaaaaAAAAAA"

I am definitely one in the "bwaaaaaaaaaAAAAAA" camp.

[tmcb]

We took it easy the first 3 hours then used it like we do today. Haven't had any problems.

[88Skier]

"10 Break In" is really initial break in. I think it takes quite a bit more than 10 hours to fully break an engine in. My boat was put under load quite a bit in the 1st 2 hours, brought up to but, never run at WOT, then with the Indmar instructions after that and never at any one RPM for more than a minute until 10 hours. It runs strong. 5100 rpm with a 13x12 in a 310 carby.

Everyone thinks their boat runs strong because they broke it in right. Is there anyone out there that thinks they got a dog because they babied it too much?

[Sunset_Bob]

If a Engine is built properly, with the proper clearances, most engine builders will tell you to run the engine under load and temperature just as the engine will be ran normally. You do not have to QUOTE "baby then thing", you sure don't want to run it under a no load situation.

Basically all you are doing the first 10 hours are establishing wear patterns and seating the rings to the cylinder walls. Once again if the proper cylinder honing technics were used this will happen rather quickly and should be done under normal load and rpms.

Do not use synthetic oil for the first 25-50 hours of the new engines life to allow the engine rings to break in.

We tell our customers to drive them like they would everyday. Don't think any different for a boat. We overhaul larger Diesel engines, and reconmend the customer put them under a load as soon as possible for break in.

Most farm tractor dealers will opt to hook a farm tractor up to whats refered too as a tail twister, pto Dyno, and run the engine for up toward 10 hours under medium to heavy load at normal opt temp.

Basically, my point is, if the sucker is built properly, it isn't going to fail no matter how you drive it. If it does fail, the builder screwed up or it was a mechanical part failure of some sort. Parts do break occasionally, but human error is more prevalent.

I have had one engine fail in 30 years. It was from a reconditioned connecting rod bolt failure. I can point the finger at myself for not replacing the connecting rod bolts, but most engine builders reuse rod bolts just as I do. It's a gamble a engine builder takes with reconditioned parts.

Edited February 9, 2006 by Sunset_Bob

[VinRLX]

Everyone thinks their boat runs strong because they broke it in right. Is there anyone out there that thinks they got a dog because they babied it too much?

Matt will tell you stronger motors come from more aggresive break ins.

I consider my Monsoon to run quite strong, though perhaps not "hot." I did follow the guidelines but also did not baby it. FWIW