New to the Skeeter family - Yamaha SHO advice

I just purchased a 2014 FX 20. I knew the boat was going to be in good shape but wasn't aware that it was in mint condition. The owner thought the motor had around 20 hours but it ended up only having 4.4. The lack of hours has me concerned that the motor has not been properly broken in. Does anyone have any advice?

Take to dealer and they can show you a screen shot of how the engine was run (how much time and at what rpm). Read owners manual and follow break in schedule. If I remember right, I believe the first 2 hours should keep under 3000 rpm and then you can run it wide open but for no more that 5 min at a time and vary your rpm. I would run mine WOT for a while then drop it back to 4000 for a while then 4500 back to WOT drop back to 3700 or so. Keep varying it but running it wide open is good for too for a short time. Change the oil after 10 hour break in. Never have had anything wrong with mine. Congrats and enjoy.

For a 2014 to only have 4.4 hrs on it is suspect! Could be a new motor.

I had a 2014 SHO and never had a lick of trouble out of it. I would guess since it only has 4.4 hours, it's been properly broken in and that's about it, but that's only a guess. Agree on taking it to a mechanic for the computer print out on those hours. The very best advice I can give you (I've owned 3 SHOs) is warm in up IN GEAR for a couple minutes in warmer months and about 5 minutes when it's cold before getting on plane. Then drive it like you stole it. Those motors are built to run hard. If you do a lot of idling and graphing, be sure to blow it out on your way back to the ramp, conditions permitting.

Not on subject but your garage/man cave is awesome!

Fouz is correct. They are made to run not granny around.If you are one of those guys that plows around 40mph, you need to open it up sometime during the day.

You want to get that rpm check done for this reason; If for some crazy reason you have a warranty issue, Yamaha will have the dealer send a screen shot of the rpm schedule. If there is no time run at 2000-3000 timeframe they may not cover it because break-in wasn't done right. At the very least I would get the boat up on plane and put an hour or 2 on it under 3000 in case someone bought it and floored it.

I agree!

I had to look hard to see the Skeeter in there!

You may dump the fuel and start over fresh. Fuel these days go bad quick and can cause a lot of money in damages.

Not saying it was done at all. Most people don’t know that hour meters can be replaced at any time legally. Plugging into the motor is the only way to get true hours.

I would take it to a reputable Yamaha dealer and have them look it over real well and see how those 4.4 hours were put on the motor. Maybe run a few tests if it's already broken in. If it's not broken in, make sure you follow the dealers advice to a "T". It's very important to break the motor in properly. Otherwise, you'll make oil. Run it hard!

If the dealer tells you those 4.4 hours were put on there by being broken in then you should be good to go.

I'm on my second SHO and I will never own a different motor if I can help it. They're great motors!

Watch oil level I have 2018 and wants to make oil

If it's making oil then that means the motor isn't broken in properly.

I have got to agree that the shop is out of sight. I am very jealous.

must be drive thru to, surely he didn't push it in, and good idea on the tv.

If it’s truly got 4.5 hours and is 4 years old (doubtful at best didn’t know they come from the factory with an hour meter then you need to have the break in oil changed right away.

Then I’d have the hours on the ECM checked and see what rpm it was broke in at then follow break in from there

Drive it like you stole it is what I was told for breaking in my SHO. My question is where did you find that boat for sale?

I had been looking for 4-6 weeks and ended up finding it on Boat Trader from a guy in Livingston. I know the 4 hours is hard to believe and I wouldn’t believe it until I looked at the boat. It is in mint condition. In fact, the trolling motor has never been deployed, plastic still on electronics, no paint missing on the skeg and not the first scratch. I am very pleased with the finish of the Skeeter.

If you got a good deal on it, you might have found a diamond in the rough!

Don’t know much about Skeeter pricing but I got it for $46k. HDS Gen 2 12 and 9, 8 ft Blades, ventaltion system, oxygenators, alarm system, Jensen AM/FM/Bluetooth radio with Polk speakers, boat cover, motor cover, Hambys.

Looks like you took someone’s garage trophy off their hands

You gut a very fair price for that boat. I sold my 2014 FX 21 with 144 hours on it for a good bit more than that.

You haven't done a proper break-in and that's not an opinion, that's a fact. You have a SHO motor which is Super High Output. In the early hours of the motor, you have to follow the break-in steps provided by the dealer/manual. From there, you are going to want to run that boat WFO for long stretches, you want to run the hell out of it. You don't want to idle around graphing all day and then stick it on the trailer, you can graph, but you need to run it hard in addition to idle hours.

I ran mine 20 miles in one direction, turned around and ran it back another 20 miles. Motor temp should be above 140 for long stretches, RPM's above 5,000 the whole stretch, pushing upper 5's even better. If you run for 20 miles and graph all day and run it hard coming home, you will be fine. Once the rings are seated, you can do whatever you want and it's not going to make oil.

My 2014 blew around 200 hours.

TRUTH!

Wow! If the motor is fine or gets taken care of, you may have stumbled upon a hell of a deal!

Am I the only one that thinks this way?

If it was my motor, and I didn't know if it had been broken in properly, I'd pretend it was brand new, get the Owner's manual out and break it in per the manual.

The last thing I would do is follow any instructions some yahoo, including yours truly, posted on the internet.

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