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Breaking In A New Boat


TTU207

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Ordered a new boat last week. After much research between SAN230, X35, X25, Wakesetter 23lsv, and the 22 mxz I decided to go with the new MXZ. Just was a sweet a** boat. will post pics when it comes in. Supposed to be arrive in late April early may. The question though is what do I need to do to break in the engine.

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thanks very excited about it. currently have a 2001 VLX that i love but it was time to get a new one. had the boat for 11 years and never had one problem with. late april cant get here soon enough.

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Your owner's manual should have a break in routine.

Yes it does but...does your dealer follow this when you are out test driving. I have a feeling this is not followed very often...

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the dealer told me that once the boat comes in he takes it out to make sure everything is running good. hopefully he will let me tag along didnt really ask him if i could but im sure he wont mind. ive just heard different ways of breaking in a boat and was just wondering what everyone thought.

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If you read the Malibu/Indmar procedure for breaking in the motor, you will be keeping RPM's under 3K for a certain amount of time, then 4K, etc. I can tell you at the factory that they do not follow this procedure when they test the boats. They basically run it up to WOT to ensure that the motor is making proper power and can operate through it's RPM range.

There is quite a bit of data published that suggests running the engine really hard when new does a better job of seating in rings and other mating surfaces than following the procedures in the manuals. Personally I believe that the only reason those break in procedures are written is to reduce liability form someone getting hurt running their new boat at the edge in an effort to break it in.

People that I know in the engineering world that build and design engines say run them hard, so that's what I do and it has worked well for me so far. Just keep the oil clean!!

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http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Basically- Go out and run it hard, but no sustained WOT runs. Lots of starts and stops. You're trying to put pressure on the rings to seat them before the cross-hatching is worn off the cylinder walls.... Also no constant throttle position for the first few hours, so its' probably best not to tow during that period, unless your rider likes huge speed variations!

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On a dealer demo on a new VLX, they recommended gently cycling RPM below 3k, then 4k for the first hour, and then driving it like normal. That is exactly what I would do. It allows everything to heat cycle properly and gives you a chance to make sure everything is running correctly. It's not so long however to prevent proper ring seating.

On an engine the only thing really "breaking-in" is the rings. Bearings don't break-in. Rings require higher cylinder pressure to seat properly, so running the engine hard early on will help the rings seat better and decrease oil consumption later on. Rings that don't seat properly, typically from improper cylinder wall honing or incompatible materials, will cause you to burn oil.

The transmission/drivetrain however does have gear surfaces that can benefit from a gentle break-in. Basically if the gears were rough cut and have not had time to properly wear in, putting a very heavy load on them (such as lots of ballast) can cause fractures. I have seen this many times on rear differentials that saw high torque at very low miles. Cruising around town for 50 miles first, allowing the gears to wear in and soften any high/sharp spots eliminated those type of failures.

So a gentle break-in could help the drivetrain, but I've never heard of a new one breaking on a V-drive (someone correct me if I'm wrong). So a long drawn out break-in is probably not worth the risk of improperly seated rings and future oil consumption.

My recommendation, take it easy for the first hour to make sure everything is hooked up properly. In that first hour don’t idle for too long, and vary the RPM’s to make sure everything heat cycles. Then just drive it like normal, occasionally hitting higher RPM’s to ensure the rings seat properly. Just my 2 cents, enjoy your new MXZ!

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I could also post the warning about voiding the warranty if you like.

So technically Malibu voids the break in procedure when testing boats. Interesting. :whistle:

I wonder if the ECU records those max RPM events by hour?

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It's my understanding that the long blocks are the same between the marinizers. Like as in ilmor, indmar and pcm, for instance, all use the same basic small block chevy 5.7 motors, and what's different between them are what's on the outside (ECM, tune, belt driven accessories, intake and exhaust).

Well... the pcm manual says you are supposed to run at WOT a couple of times as part of the break in process (but not for more than 60 seconds, and they don't say what happens when you are 62 seconds in to your WOT run).

weird.

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It's my understanding that the long blocks are the same between the marinizers. Like as in ilmor, indmar and pcm, for instance, all use the same basic small block chevy 5.7 motors, and what's different between them are what's on the outside (ECM, tune, belt driven accessories, intake and exhaust).

Well... the pcm manual says you are supposed to run at WOT a couple of times as part of the break in process (but not for more than 60 seconds, and they don't say what happens when you are 62 seconds in to your WOT run).

weird.

That is pretty weird.

I would be really shocked if there is any difference between them except for perhaps Ilmor. I believe that the ECM is the same, with just different levels of tune.

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That is pretty weird.

I would be really shocked if there is any difference between them except for perhaps Ilmor. I believe that the ECM is the same, with just different levels of tune.

yep, weird.

pcmbreakin.jpg

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My dealer just told me to make sure to do the early oil changes, 10 and 20 and keep receipts if there needed to be a warranty issue.

You need to run WOT(not for long) a couple times to help seat the rings. With the tolerances now days it doesn't take as much. The last few boats I have done with the 320 hp have given great performance going forward.

Talk to an engine builder if you are concern.

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