Do you warm up your boat.

[Sixball]

Do you have a set procedure after starting your boat? I always idle and bring the boat up to operating temp before going up to speed or pulling a skier.

[JeffS]

Totally absolutely yes. And my car too. And my lawn tractor. I can't imagine it would be good for an engine to work under load before the oil warms up. I putter in the boat, and in the car I still drive gently while warming up, but I don't load the engine. It'll be interesting to hear if that's much different than most on this board?

[DUKENO1]

Do you have a set procedure after starting your boat? I always idle and bring the boat up to operating temp before going up to speed or pulling a skier.

Same thing here....let her idle out of the no wake zone while we are putting stuff away. Usually by then the temp is 160 and it is time to roll!

[The Voodoo Cowboy]

Do you have a set procedure after starting your boat? I always idle and bring the boat up to operating temp before going up to speed or pulling a skier.

I dont have a set proceedure but by the time i back the boat into the water and go park the trailor my wife has idled over to the courtesy dock and sat long enough for it to be at operating temperature.

[68Slalom]

Do you have a set procedure after starting your boat? I always idle and bring the boat up to operating temp before going up to speed or pulling a skier.

Same thing here....let her idle out of the no wake zone while we are putting stuff away. Usually by then the temp is 160 and it is time to roll!

Same here, they don't run that hot to begin with but taking off at 120F wouldn't be a big deal unless your at WOT right away. It's just not recommended until the engine components are hot enough to expand and contract.

[electricjohn]

A bit, but not up to operating temperature. Besides, it take more than 15 minutes to bring your oil up to operating temps. Cold oil does indeed lubricate, but the key thing is oil MUST flow to lubricate. The warmer the oil, the better the flow, the better the lubrication.

[dhcomp]

Do you have a set procedure after starting your boat? I always idle and bring the boat up to operating temp before going up to speed or pulling a skier.

I don't run it hard or pull a skiier right after it starts. But remember, going slow (above 5mph) puts a ton of load on the motor.

If the motor is cold, go easy on the throttle, but get the boat up and let it plane (plain?) quickly, then let back on the throttle.

The boat is under most load when not on a plane.

So rule should be, when cold in the morn, or hasn't run for a while, give it a few min to start to warm up before you run it hard to put a load on it.

Doesn't take these boats long to warm up.

[JohnDoe]

I try my best, but sometimes just give it about a minute and then I'm jumping in. Never had any trouble and I've logged plenty of hours.

[dhcomp]

I try my best, but sometimes just give it about a minute and then I'm jumping in. Never had any trouble and I've logged plenty of hours.

It warms up pretty fast. Also, as long as you aren't flooring it or loading the hell out of it with extra ballast, you should be fine. Just go easy on it when its cold.

[jgouveia3]

well the boss is usually first in the water off the lift (she always seems to get the flattest water ), and since the boat barely knows she is back there, its only been warmed for a couple of minutes...

Edited July 16, 2009 by jgouveia3

[Steve16r]

first things first BLOWER

[Todd34]

We have a no wake zone to go through from the ramp so it warms up before we hit open water.

Todd

[Arctic Slalom]

i ALWAYS let the boat warm up before bringing it to plane....i guess it's just in my farming background.

i never get out of bed and run wind-sprints.....neither should my boat.

my wife seems to have no problem backing her car out of the driveway and FLOORING IT within 30 seconds.....it almost makes me cry (even in a MN winter).

...funny thing is her car has 198K miles and no problems (it will likely blow up in the next two days).

[Sandbagger]

If you have a modern engine, unless you are in extreme cold temps (which I doubt anyone boating is) it is not necessary to warm it up, maybe give it enough time to get the oil flowing, say 30 seconds. Engine manufacturers were mandated in the US to build engines that did not require warm up to reduce emissions. This is all well documented.

I would not go full throttle and run at high rpm's until warmed up but normal driving during warm up should not be a problem. And like was already stated warm up is to get the fluids at normal operating temps for better flow and efficiency. I would say that most boaters are operating during moderate air temperatures where warming up the fluids is not all that crucial anyway.

But, by the time I park the truck/trailer and get picked up at the dock the boat is usually at normal operating temp anyway.

[Ndawg12]

By the time.....my wife pulls the trailer out, parks it, checks her makeup, grabs all the crap she forgot to put in the boat while waiting, checks her makeup, grabs the kid, stops and goes to the bathroom, checks her makeup, runs back close enough to lock the truck, gets on the boat, and we idle out 300 yards past the no-wake zone ..... we're at operating temp, no big deal.

[skier92]

By the time.....my wife pulls the trailer out, parks it, checks her makeup, grabs all the crap she forgot to put in the boat while waiting, checks her makeup, grabs the kid, stops and goes to the bathroom, checks her makeup, runs back close enough to lock the truck, gets on the boat, and we idle out 300 yards past the no-wake zone ..... we're at operating temp, no big deal.

Carefull there Nemire, before you need to find a new co-pilot!

[CrazyTegger]

By the time.....my wife pulls the trailer out, parks it, checks her makeup, grabs all the crap she forgot to put in the boat while waiting, checks her makeup, grabs the kid, stops and goes to the bathroom, checks her makeup, runs back close enough to lock the truck, gets on the boat, and we idle out 300 yards past the no-wake zone ..... we're at operating temp, no big deal.

Carefull there Nemire, before you need to find a new co-pilot!

Bust out the blow up doll dude...

[MalibuNation]

I like to cruise around my small lake and check out how many fisherman are out there ... by that time the temp is 160, then I go around the lake one time fast ... I call it shooting one over the deck ... letting them skiing is about to start - of course I don't get close to anyone.

[spinxt]

IIRC, our boats have to be warmed up before running them hard. I think there is a parameter built in to the ECM that will not allow the boat to run at too high of an RPM if the water temp is not at a certain point. Correct me if i'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure this is the case.

[Ndawg12]

By the time.....my wife pulls the trailer out, parks it, checks her makeup, grabs all the crap she forgot to put in the boat while waiting, checks her makeup, grabs the kid, stops and goes to the bathroom, checks her makeup, runs back close enough to lock the truck, gets on the boat, and we idle out 300 yards past the no-wake zone ..... we're at operating temp, no big deal.

Carefull there Nemire, before you need to find a new co-pilot!

Bust out the blow up doll dude...

Will this one work? She looks impressed by my....wakeboard skills!

Edited July 17, 2009 by nemire12

[CrazyTegger]

Will this one work? She looks impressed by my....wakeboard skills!

Whatever strokes your goat.

This blow up doll is a referance to what my neighbors did for years while they had no one to spot. 'Bob' as they called him was their spotter for years, complete with wig and seatbelt.

Edited July 17, 2009 by CrazyTegger