Calibrating/Break-In of New Honda 150's?

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drjohn71a

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255 Tomcat
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Okay, you go down to your new boat with the new Honda 150's on it, with Honda digital guages - what next?

Past threads have mentioned they had not "calibrated the fuel flow guages" yet. Some have said (I think on22's) that they added 5 gallons of gas at a time and marked the guages (or tanks?) at each 5 gal increment.

Do you have to fill the tanks all the way to calibrate the fuel flow guages? ... or partially? Would it be a problem to put fuel in with a stabilizer for the new engines? Do you have to input somehow to the guages how much fuel you put in? What is "calibration"?

I would appreciate any info!
 
John , if you send me an e mail address Ill send you the rigging guide for the digital guages in PDF format . It will make some great boatside reading !
Marc
 
Thats what I did to calibrate my fuel useage.... I used a marker and as I filled the empty tanks I marked each 5 gallons....works just fine...I am sure there is some sort of hi-tech way....but a marker is fine with me.

Breaking in a new motor??? Ha! when I was a kid one of my jobs was working for the county... and they would send me every couple of months to pick up new county cars in San Francisco.... it was almost 200 miles from home... I would ride the bus there and drive home new cars...mostly plymouths....and I would break em in...as any kid would..petal to the metal.... after about 80 miles I could tell you if the car was going to be a fast one or a dog.... amazing how many fast ones I drove home.... never had any problems...and I probably did 200 cars while I was there.... I don't ever remember one of these cars dying a early death, or having motor problems.... I don't think I would ever do that with my own car....but it sure broke em in well....

Joel
SEA3PO
 
The Honda digital fuel flow gauges get their info directly from the injection computers, and don't need calibration like the paddle-wheel type senders.

As far as break-in, the dealer will have already exceeded the recommended RPM's, so don't worry about it.

Think of break-in as the last step in manufacturing. In the old days, it was used to seat-in the rings with the cylinder cross-hatching. But now, the manufacturing tolerances are so much tighter, and the internal finishes so much smoother, that you won't be able to overheat a new motor unless you really try hard.
But having said that, Honda still says to take it easy on a new motor for a while.
 
I prefer to have the initial start up when I am present on a new outboard.
I ran the motor at idle for about 15 minutes, with some variation of speed under no load (700 to 900 RPM). Then put in gear and slowly motored for another 15 minutes--up to about 1000 RPM. For the next two hours, I ran the motor up to 3000 RPM--not more than a few minutes on a plane. After 3 hours I took the engine up to WOT for a minute. During the first three hours, I tried to vary the speed every few minutes.

I am not sure if this is necessary for the new motors--but at least I know it was not run hard the first three hours.
 
Bob-

Your run-in procedure is virtually identical to the recommendation in my Yamaha Owners's Manual, despite whatever manufacturing tolerances might allow. Joe.
 
My dealer does not exceed the break in RPM's - very unwise to do so. Some motors require no break in (E-Tec) and some do.

If you go by the book you have done your share. These new motors are very expensive for me, and abuse isn't good.

Dusty
 
Thank you all so much for the expert input! That info will help quell the nerves at the outset... John
 
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