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Break In?


eubanks

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Ok, as some of you may know we picked up our new 2005 LSV a few weeks ago. We decided to take one off the lot (for multiple reasons) and it already had 3 hours on it from lake tests and such.

Now our dealer said they followed the break in instructions during that time. They also told us that the boat was ready to ride behind and use ballast. I'm now discovering that most people referring to the indmar manual are not using ballast or riding until after 10 hours.

Now I'm starting to freak. We've never had very many people out on the boat yet, so I'm sure 1,200 lbs of ballast can't be that hard on the boat because it's not like they tell you that you can't have 8 people on the boat during the break in period. So I guess I'm mostly worried about the varying of speeds and such. We haven't run it wide open much, but definitely have done it a couple of times.

So now I'm looking for some news...good or bad. Do you think the engine is all good or have we possibly done some long term damage? I just don't understand why our dealer would tell us to "do whatever" after 3 hours if this is not the typical protocol. Am I being silly in getting worried over this? ;)

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For the vast majority of engines the break in period is just a precaution. It allows oil rings to seat, bearings to get fully lubed, and any tight pts to buff down without any problems. Most 99 percent of engines are good to go right off the floor. Unless your name is Stewart. Tongue.gif Break in rules are a good safety net for the engine company's liability. To answer your question, your engine will be just fine or at least within lottery odds of being so. Good luck and enjoy.

Joe

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I would not worry about it. Those engines are bullet proof. The manufacturer will always err on the side of caution. The boys at Waterski America see hundreds and hundreds of boats come through there and have probably "seen it all". They are trustworthy.

As far as the break in, they recommend that you vary the speed and not go one speed. The indmar engine is one of the most reliable around (see J.D. Powers) so you should have no problem.

You ride on Hubbard? I may have seen you out there. Vapor blue 23 XTi.

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Thanks guys for the feedback. I feel better already...which is what I was hoping to get out of this post! Biggrin.gif

I totally trust WSA and always appreciate their input and customer service. I guess it just made me wonder why so many others were operating by a different set of rules concerning the break-in period.

Shifters - We haven't taken the new ride to Hubbard. We keep the ride at Lavon and will mostly ride there. I do ride at Hubbard on a friend's red & white Pro Air so I'll have to look for you.

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For the vast majority of engines the break in period is just a precaution.  It allows oil rings to seat, bearings to get fully lubed, and any tight pts to buff down without any problems.  Most 99 percent of engines are good to go right off the floor.  Unless your name is Stewart. Tongue.gif Break in rules are a good safety net for the engine company's liability.  To answer your question, your engine will be just fine or at least within lottery odds of being so. Good luck and enjoy.

Joe

Hey now. That Hammerhead 380 thought the meaning of break-in was break! And we broke 3 of them. :) The last one was carefully broken in by a factory representative, who even had the valves adjusted at 5 hours. You'll also notice, the Hammerhead 380 has been replaced with the HH383 Yahoo.gif Completely isolated situation. They had a bad run of heads, etc. and I got all of them. Mad.gif

That said, while I was waiting for the final outcome Biggrin.gif ......... I was given a new 05 VLX to use. I asked _______ to see if I needed to do a break it in, and was told not to worry about it.

About dealers and there demo boats. Every one of us has gotten a demo ride. It included high speed ops, weighting and possibly a pull. I'll bet you my next BU none of those boats were broken in. :)

If anyone ever asks............. you broke it in according to the owners manual. ROFL.gif

Edited for grammar. :Doh:

Edited by stewart
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Also, the manual doesn't say do not use ballasts, all it refers to is varying the throttle and keeping the rpms under certain levels. I wouldn't worry at all.

Joe

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If anyone ever asks............. you broke it according to the owners manual. ROFL.gif

AMEN to that!... just go a bit cautious (refrain from the drawn out WOT runs ;)) for the first 10hrs or so...

The break in process is some conservatism based primarily on what they had to do with old technology.

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Hey now. That Hammerhead 380 thought the meaning of break-in was break!  And we broke 3 of them. :)  The last one was carefully broken in by a factory representative, who even had the valves adjusted at 5 hours.  You'll alos notice, the Hammerhead 380 has been replaced with the HH383  Yahoo.gif Completely isolated situation.  They had a bad run of heads, etc. and I got all of them. Mad.gif 

Beg to differ with Stewart but he did not get them all. Had one myself so far ... hoping the replacement goes much better. Could tell from the sound of the values from day one that it was going to be a problem. Unlike Stewart, we got almost 50 hrs out of it before it blew.

/Steve

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I wouldn't worry too much about the break in, heck when malibu tests the boats they definitly don't stick to the break in procedure (and I doubt your dealer did, but who knows), and btw 3 hours is ALOT for a new boat, they come from the factory with no more than 0.5.

chris

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You must have the same dealer as me eubank :blush: Don't worry, I know you saw me at the lake on Sunday, already running hard. m3, PSD and a multitude of new ski rigs, and duck boats, break is not that important. You can also be guaranteed that WSA will never lead you astray when it comes to service, look at how long the service dept has been there and they keep their people year round. :)

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The engine with all its moving parts comes right from GM, then stuff is attached to it (raw water pump, etc). Most of us give little thought to car engine break-in (the common major theme as you stated is vary the speed).

The old MBO had a great thread which included PCM's break-in instuctions. After reading those instructions you would not "baby" a new engine.

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I wait till it has 5 hours so that you can rev to 4000 rpm and then fill standard ballast and "RIDE THAT WAVE"! By then you have followed a reasonable variable of rpms and things should be seated pretty good. I wouldn't overload (ha!) it till after 10 hour inspection. Then drive it like you stole it! Monsoons are pretty much bullet proof per the mechanic.

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When I went for a test ride at the dealership the boat we tested had 1.5 hrs and the salesman was not babying it at all.

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As someone who has built engines, please use a break in period. I won't go into all the specific reasons as that is a long discussion. The high level overview is that you want to make sure everything seats, seals and stabilizes without a high degree of stress.

The 2 worst things you can do is full throttle acceleration or any acceleration when the engine oil is not warm.

Bottom line: 7 - 10 hours of slower motoring according to Indmar's suggestions is a good investment. If you are dead set on going hog wild before 10 hours, change the oil after a few hours but before you stress the engine too much. Cheap insurance IMO.

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What Justin said:

Boat doesn't 'know' if there's ballast, Wedge, etc. It only knows RPM. Read the 'stress' of your engine by looking at the RPM.

post-9-1114724936_thumb.jpg

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The engine with all its moving parts comes right from GM, then stuff is attached to it (raw water pump, etc). Most of us give little thought to car engine break-in (the common major theme as you stated is vary the speed).

The old MBO had a great thread which included PCM's break-in instuctions. After reading those instructions you would not "baby" a new engine.

I read the same thread and I would agree. There was also a link to a site that actually had alot of real data and testing.

I wouldn't say go run it wot but I wouldn't worry at all about what you have done so far.

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Also,  the manual doesn't say do not use ballasts, all it refers to is varying the throttle and keeping the rpms under certain levels.

Boat doesn't 'know' if there's ballast, Wedge, etc.  It only knows RPM.  Read the 'stress' of your engine by looking at the RPM.

What about the part where it says not to carry or tow a heavy load during this period? FWIW

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Don't worry, I have broken in all my boats the same way...like a 2 hour cruise with varying rpm. Some boarding with ballast, then after 5 hours the wedge, but no extra weight and lots of people till after 20 hours.

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With almost 200 hrs on it, I still have not instantly floored it.........no reason too, goes fast enough out of the hole with the torque it has,,,,,,,,,,except with 10 people and an "Additional" 1,200 fat sac, it's a little slower; but not a big deal.........takes 12 seconds to plain instead of 4 seconds.

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Vary the speed a lot for the first 10 hours, but don't be afraid to drop the hammer or do some 10-30 second WOT pulls. Hopefully they haven't babied it too much in its first 3 hours. You have to give it a good hard break-in to really get the most out of your engine.

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As someone who has built engines, please use a break in period. I won't go into all the specific reasons as that is a long discussion.  The high level overview is that you want to make sure everything seats, seals and stabilizes without a high degree of stress.

The 2 worst things you can do is full throttle acceleration or any acceleration when the engine oil is not warm.

Bottom line: 7 - 10 hours of slower motoring according to Indmar's suggestions is a good investment. If you are dead set on going hog wild before 10 hours, change the oil after a few hours but before you stress the engine too much. Cheap insurance IMO.

Have you witnessed a wet test at the factory?

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