breaking in new yamaha

[fishinfool]

i need to break in a new yamaha 4 stroke 75 hp this spring. the dealer told me to run it a hard a you can for 2hrs and that is all you need to do. also said not to do any trolling.
the book say a different story, i think it says to run at about half throtle for an hour and then i think for nine hrs to run at wide open but only for like 5 minutes. i don't know what to do go by the dealer or by the book?

[Biff]

Book.

[Crappie Kid]

Your dealer is wrong - follow the book to the letter.

Start using SeaFoam on your F75 (aka F80).

My F80 before SeaFoam - pretty OK, but throttle hesitating,cold blooded and occasional sputter below 1K rpm.

My F80 after SeaFoam - very happy, smooth, quick acceleration, no sputter.

I use it every tank now.

[DRH]

Book, Definitly the book!! Nothing can be more important other than maybe oil changes than Breakin. The book will explain this well. Really nothing to it. Most important thing it to change RPM. Don't run at any certain speed for a long period of time.

You will love that Yamaha. I presently own a 4-stroke Merc 50 have no complaints other than I want a bigger boat. I have been looking at the Yamaha in the 75 - 80 range for the last few years.

[boatman]

Go by the book. NO outboard, regardless of brand, hp, 2-stroke or 4-stroke should ever be broken in like your dealer suggests. My opinion

[T-Mac]

"hard as you can for 2 hours"..You got to be kidding!

Go by the book.

[LundBob]

The only motor that i've heard that you have to run hard is the 115's. Been discussed many many times on this board. To solve the "making oil" problem you have to run it hard for 2 or 3 hours to get the rings to properly seat. The story goes is that the 115 has very hard rings and the 2 or 3 hours heat gets the rings seated properly. But i would only do that AFTER i followed the book to the letter for the initial break in period.

[jobobranger]

Go by the book. I don't know if your motor has a computer on as my 200 hpdi does. They can look back and see how it has been run and it could void the warranty. Call Yamaha and ask them and have them e-mail it so you have it in writing. JJB

[motorman]

Here's the real answer guys. The dealer is right. Here is the proper break-in. Start the engine up let it warm up to operating temperature, and hammer on it. Fourstroke outboards have very hard rings in them they need to get seated or you will be making oil, and you will end up with glazed cylinder walls. P.S. I am a Yamaha certified master technition just so you know. As to why the book says otherwise, its all a liability reason.

[luredaddy]

If you go hard as the "Technician" said, it MAY not void your warranty! If you go by the owner's manual, IT WILL NOT void the warranty!!!!

[MDT]

Have the dealer put it in writing. If he won't do that, then following the book is your best option from a $$ aspect... right or wrong. I have twin Yamaha 115s and have been doing maintenance this winter in prep for spring. First time on the water I will be burning up some of my $1.43/gal gas to see if this "back room" break in process is for real or a myth. If the weather in the Pacific NW stays like it is, I should have the answer by mid March.
MDT

[Abuman]

Here is the "straight dope" right from the horse's mouth. According to what the Yamaha district service rep told dealers at their annual service seminar late last year, lundBob is correct, run the begeebers out of the 115 4 strokes to seat the rings. However, he did not mention any other motor, just the 115. So, I would follow the breakin procedure as specified in the owner's manual for the 75 hp.

[Orange Whip]

Not that I am a mechanic, but I did ask that question with some very smart mechanics and they themselves like to break motors in a little aggressivly. Something about building presure in the cylinders so the rings seat better.

My dealer on my new Honda said the same thing. All I know is that I am going to be the first one that drives my boat in the water.

Good luck!

[Hooked-UP]

Hi Guys: I think breaking in the motor per the book at least for the first hour would be a good idea. This will allow the gear train to wear in. After that, your choice. When I broke in my Honda I followed the book and it ran perfect. Best of luck.

[DAMNWALLEYE]

Just wondering why the need for seafoam and why it ran better.
Is it possible the grade of gasoline you ran was poor? Maybe
the carb had pre run gas evaporated in it and some carb gas ports were possible partially plugged and the seafoam cleaned them? I always wonder why things run better when additives are added to gas that already has tons of additives in it. Use the best grade of gas possible and additives are not nessary.

[Angler22]

My understanding is that you do need to seat thoes rings, and as hard as it sounds, put the hammer down right from the start. If you do not, you will be using the warranty for fuel mixing with the oil. I have a friend who followed the book to a T and is on his third Fourstroke under warranty!

[wol walleye]

Im glad I read this I just bought a new 115 4stroke yamaha.

[MDT]

Motorman,
I guess I should ask if it is ever too late to break in the rings on my Yamaha 115 4S? Plus, how do I get copy of the software used to do the testing? Is it windows based?
MDT

[smoker craft]

run it like you STOLE it... }>

[billybob]

who would steal a smokercraft. Just kidding

[REW]

I also agree with the dealer.
Start the engine, let it warm up and then pedal to the metal for the next two hours.

So many have had problem with 4-stoke engines over the last couple of years, because they really don't get the engine heated up and get the rings seated. The end result is that you glaze the cylinders, and the rings, never do seat for the life of the engine.

If you start out slow, you end up with the glaze, that you can't break the glaze off the cylinders. The end result is that you end up with a motor that never gets broken in, uses oil, and always lets gas leak by the rings.

A great rig. Enjoy it and catch lots of fish with the rig.

Take care
REW

[walleyewillie]

So thats why my 9.9 yamaha 4stroke had gas in the oil, they tried to tell me to run full throttle 10 minutes for every hour of trolling time "no way jose" to keep this from happining did'nt work anyway.

[REW]

The problem isn't with the -- having to run for 10 minutes out of every hour at full throttle -- after the engine is broken in.

The problem is to take it out of the box, and run it at full throttle for two hours - when new.

This will seat the rings, so that you will be able to run it for extremely long periods of time, at what ever throttle setting that you want - with out leaking gas by the rings.

The problem with so many of these motors - particularly trolling motors is that they have never had enough high speed running to properly seat the rings. With the rings not seated; and the cylinders glazed - the problem will be with the engine, until the engine is torn down and the cylinders honed.

Take care
REW

[Brad]

Book. I've never heard of a break in procedure in which you run an engine hard for the first two hours. And if it were my motor, I'd do an oil change immediately after the break in.

[Dave in Mpls]

wol walleye

Run a search by selecting "Search" near the top of the page. Under Keywords, enter "115 making oil". Check the "And" for search logic, and check the box near the bottom to also search the archives. You should find plenty of posts on both Merc and Yamaha 115s "making oil" and "solutions".

Regards

[walleyewillie]

I just did what the dealer told me to do, go by the book.Two of my friends got the same motor with the same results as mine.But this has been a few years ago so could be a learning experience for everyone.I took the 9.9 back to dealer and got a 15hp 2 stroke.And yes they did change oil after break in but apprently the break in was the problem.

[Dave in Mpls]

I agree with the others who suggest running it hard for two hours. There has been much discussion on this board and others regarding the Yamaha and Merc 4 Strokes (115 in particular) "making oil". Many folks have/had problems with the F115 (and Merc 115, which uses a F115 powerhead) "making oil". That is, they would change the oil, fill it up to the FULL mark and, after running the motors for some time, the oil would be way above FULL and smell of gas. Obviously, gas was making it's way into the crankcase somehow. Yamaha and Merc suggested several possible causes to their techs, but nothing really seemed to cure the problem. Finally, it became evident that the motors were not getting broken in when the directions in the owners manual was followed. Gas which did not completely combust in the cylinders would blow by the rings, getting into the crankcase and mixing with (and diluting) the oil. This seemed to happen primarily during extended periods of trolling, when the motor was not operating at temp. Several cures were thrown at this by Yamaha and Merc, including running cooler thermostats, replacing fuel pumps, running different weight oils, changing exhaust gaskets etc. The cure seemed to come by running the motor HARD to break in the rings and cylinder walls.

Regards

[Stormsearch]

Went through the break-in last year on my F80 and somewhat followed the advice on the board. I believe the manual calls for 1/2 throttle for the first 30 minutes, 3/4 throttle for the next 30, and then only full throttle @ 5 min intervals as you stated until 10 hours. I followed the manual for the first hour (1/2 and 3/4 throttle), but for the next hour - yahooooooooo - full throttle or actually at full rpm's because I was slightly underpropped. Got home, changed the oil.

For the next 8 hours, I made sure that I didn't due a whole lot of trolling or stop/go. At the end of the 10 hour break-in period switched over to Amsoil. Put 154 hours on it last year, I didn't have the "making oil" problem that has been typically associated with F115's. I think the remainder of the 4 strokes do require a harder break-in period, but I believe limiting your trolling early on will help.

If you want to help your engine out further, use RingFree which I believe calls for 1 oz per 15 gallons of gas but I waited on using until after my initial break-in period. Then if your engine will sit longer than a couple of weeks, add Stabil or use SeaFoam instead of RingFree. These engines have a small gas passage and tend to gum up easier than others. Good luck.

[T-Mac]

Well...since this is not a popularity contest...

I disagree with the "wide open for 2 hours" theory and so does Yamaha Warranty & Technical support. I just got off the phone with them. They said "absolutely do not do that".

I tend to believe what they say, since it is they that I have to deal with if and when we have to fix a Yamaha outboard that we or some other Yamaha dealer sold.

The book says exactly what to do to break-in the engine and properly seat the rings.

IMHO

[Dave in Mpls]

T-Mac

Just curious about your take on the whole "making oil" problems many have experienced. Seems like the "run hard" approach has proven to be the only cure, at least that I'm aware of.

Regards

[MDT]

T-Mac,
Will "run hard" and a concentration of Ring-Free do a ring re-seat for a couple of two-year-old Yamaha 115s with the Making Oil problem or is it too late?
Thanks,
MDT

[FJH1]

Dave, my gut feeling tells me to break it in per the book. Once done with that, then run the crap out of it at WOT for two hours. Just my opinion.

Best Regards,

FJH

[FishTour]

Why not go by the book for the 10 hour break-in period, change the oil/filter/lower unit lube, then go out and run the snot out of it for the next 3+ hours? Won’t void the warranty, and while not getting the engine too hot early in the process, should get it hot enough when it can handle it. This is what I did last fall with a new F25 (this motor is not used for trolling), and will be exactly what I do with the F115 that’s going on a new hull as we speak, unless of course the 2003 owners manual has different break-in directions. I have a hard time believing that an organization with as much engine experience as Yamaha would want their customers to do anything other than “go by the book”.

I am not a mechanic or engineer, just someone with a little common sense. I have to really stretch my credulity to believe 8 hours of variable speed running is enough time to do permanent “anything” (unless of course there is no oil in the engine) to damage/glaze/seat/unseat/foul/snap/shear a Yamaha outboard built with on spec. parts (meaning not defective) and running an appropriate prop in unobstructed water.

I think we really need soft water and fast!

[Dave in Mpls]

Yeah, I'm pickin' up what you're puttin' down!

It's a catch-22 for the 115s, at least. The rings and cylinders won't seat if broken in by the book, and they are glazed afterwards so running hard after break-in is too late!

Regards

[fishinfool]

i am glad to hear all the advice, i am not sure what to do exactly, T-mac could you give me the number for yahmaha support

[T-Mac]

Dave, we only had a few F-115's that did this and no F-80's (now F-75) nor F-100's (now F-90). They were early issue F-115s. (early production models had no altitude compensator on them, like they do now). Plus, we had a couple that had a fuel pumps leaking fuel into the crankcase. The pre-compensator models burned too rich at our elevation. That will put fuel into the crankcase, of course.

Sorry, we just did not have this oil problem except on the "pre-altitude compensator" F-115's. Once we got them breathing right, (replace e.c.u. with new style e.c.u.) they performed great.

Don't over-prop and don't baby them once broken in.

[T-Mac]

Hi "fishinfool",
The folks we deal with are strictly for dealers, but Yamaha customer technical relations # is: 1-800-962-7926

[Dave in Mpls]

Thanks, T-Mac!

Regards

[mel]

RUN it hard, the rings aren't seating on some 115's and the new
recommendation is run it hard

[motorman]

Rew and Dave,

You guys are absolutely right. I've personally been to Merc, Yamaha, and Suzuki's technical update seminars and 4-stroke classes for 03,they ALL said that you need to break these engines in hard right out of the box,as soon as they are warmed up to proper temp. How do you other guys think that the dealerships prop and laketest your boats before delivery, they run the S--T out of them, you think you can find out what the engine,boat package runs for RPM's at 1/4 throttle, think again. Not saying that dealerships abuse your boats but they do run them wide open.T-Mac you must have talked to Wayne,next time ask for someone from Atlanta they will tell you what the real deal is.

[T-Mac]

All I can tell you is, I was faxed the most current recommended break-in proceedure for all Yamaha 4 stroke models, from Kennesaw, Ga. (not Wayne at Cudahy) today.

Sorry, I don't know what else to say? :(

Who was the Yamaha RTA at your update?

Thanks in advance.

[motorman]

T'Mac,
RTA's don't do update seminars, the regianal servise managers do it was Robert that was here.

[Tim]

I have a new 90hp on the way.its hard to believe there is two sides
to this.I DONT KNOW WHO TO BELIEVE, dont want to screwup new motor.
sounds like i wont get a answer from yamaha either or at least the same answer.what to do?

[Splitshot]

Run her till she blows up and spits her guts then get an optimax!!:+

[Splitshot]

Chad: Check out the post in the General Discussion about Red Wing!! I think we need to get some numbers on the boat and give it a whirl!! Whats your email address?? I won't send u anything bad I promise I actually don't do that to people as some do. See ya later
Al

jake@wccta.net

[T-Mac]

Forgive me, please.

"Regional Service Representative"

I apologize for my sloppy terminology. These guys answer to many titles - "Regional Tech Advisor", "Regional Tech.Rep", "Regional Service Rep.", etc. :) But, you know who I mean.

We do have a different Regional Tech. Rep. than you. That is what I was trying to find out.

It's cool... I am just trying to find out why some Techs, like you, are being told one thing and others are told something else?

So far, we haven't had anybody at Yamaha tell us to run them wide open for 2 hours right away when new.

Nothing personal, man.

Thanks for your information.

[guest]

I wouldn't worry about that, they are really good about backing there motors and don't have many melt downs

[Dropshot]

With so many variances in opinion, I think I'd just buy a 115 Ficht and forget about it. No smoke, defined break in instructions, just as good on fuel, and will run like banshee. I love yammys but somebody better get a grip on this break in and makin oil thing.