Breakin new 300

[Chech789]

Hello, getting a new 300 ap hung and should have it any day. Was wondering if anyone has any suggestion on how to break it in right? Should I baby it or run is hard? I was gonna take a few days off work and try to break it in in one shot. I do alot of trolling and fishing and want to get it out of the way. Think this will be ok? Thanks for the input!

[Harper]

You'll get an owner's manual with the outboard. Follow those instructions to the letter. Generally speaking, you're going to baby it, i.e., no full throttle for the first few hours, then only short bursts of full throttle for awhile, and will need to vary the RPM, not keep it at a steady state for long periods of time. All this will allow the rings to seat and the other components wear-in properly. You'll be changing the oil after the first ten hours, then again at fifty hours.

I'm not listing the specifics, because I don't have them for the DF300. Mine's a DF150, for which I have the specifics. But if you want your outboard to give you trouble free service, you'll have to do your part and spend that first ten hours in particular doing nothing on your boat but paying attention to the break-in needs of the motor. You can concentrate on trolling and fishing later.

[Chech789]

Thanks. Yeah I was planning on following the manual to the tee. Did you break yours in all in a couple of days? I was planning on having the boat in the water for about 4 days and being able to break it in then. And yes, concentrate on fishing later. Just wondering if I should run it for 3 - 4 hours straight at variable speeds or let her cool down a bit in between. Also after break in, you think I need to worry about how to run it or just let her rip?

I'm coming from a evinrude 250 Fitch and always had to worry about carbon and making sure I ran it hard at the end of the day of trolling and always had to decarb every 80 hours or so when I replaced the plugs...

[bigdude2468]

4 stroke, much different, no oil in fuel. Just read the manual and it does not matter how long the break in takes, a day, a week a month.

[Harper]

The manual didn't mention any necessity for cool downs, and I'm no metallurgist, but I've read that the heating and cooling of an engine early in the break-in period is beneficial, in that it changes the molecular structure of the metals, strengthening them in the process. So it would seem that the first 3-4 hours would benefit from a few cool-downs, after which, you could probably run the last 6-7 hours in two sessions. I think you can easily get your break-in done over that four days. As big dude said, no need for some of the things you did on the two stroke, such as de-carb, although, I too like to run 'er hard for a few minutes on the way home if I've been trolling for hours. Even if it isn't needed to clear 'er out, it clears my head a bit