New Tohatsu break in

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Jake11

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Hello again! So I gave up on merc 9.8 project and went and bought a brand new Tohatsu 9.8 4 stroke (my very first 4 stroke outboard). I know there are 1000 different opinions on the break in subject and that's not what I'm looking for. I plan to follow the manual to the letter. Too much money to skimp on this in my opinion. My question is can I do any of the break in in a test tank? My manual doesn't specify. I was hoping to do at least the idle and maybe an hour of the "less than half throttle in my 100 gallon tank while enjoying a cold adult beverage and advancing my farmers tan. Is this OK or does it have to be on a boat? Also during the less than half and less than 3/4 stages should I be varying the throttle or just lock it in just under 1/2 or 3/4 and cruise for the 2 to 3 hours? Thanks in advance for the input gents.

Here's of shot of her
 
Jake, I can think of only two issues. The water temperature in your tank. I think that would be nominal. The other is the carb drawing in exhaust gas. Set up a good fan and blow the exhaust away from the motor. You want fresh, clean air going in.

But nothing beats real life conditions. As in, 'out on the water'.
 
From what I've read on other forums, the motor needs to be under a "load" such as pushing the boat thru water, etc., during the break in process.
 
Thanks guys. Decided to just do it all on the water. So far I love it. I'm just finishing up the less than half throttle phase. At half it pushes my 14k 12mph according to GPS. Not bad
 
Make sure you go headway speed, then throttle up to push her up on plane, then set easy cruising speed no higher than max for where you are in the break-in period. CHANGE the RPMs every 15-minutes, do NOT sit at one RPM.

Most w/ 4-stokes "baby them" and never break the rings in right, then the motor weeps into the crank and they complain the engine 'makes oil' ...

Pushing and powering her up onto plane is what you want to do. Not gentle, but not overly aggressive either ...
 
Jake11 said:
Thanks guys. Decided to just do it all on the water. So far I love it. I'm just finishing up the less than half throttle phase. At half it pushes my 14k 12mph according to GPS. Not bad
Probably a very, very good decision.
And...you get to enjoy the ride!
 
Small side note to all who read this..... When hauling your boat with one of these motors attached for long distance on bumpy back roads be sure to check that the kill switch pin is correctly positioned before starting. It will save you an hour of pulling, yelling, tinkering and cursing the gods of the outboards.
 
Well did my first full power run this morning.... Got around 21 mph according to my speedometer app. Honestly faster than I need.... On this little sea nymph 14 k. I think it'll be about perfect for me my gear and a friend though.
 
about 4 hrs into the breakin of my 20hp tohatsu on a 14 ft arkansas traveler first time solo the boat planes at 1/4 throttle and is scary fast at 1/2 still cant believe a 10 hr break in period
 
Yea its kind of nuts but after the first two hours its not bad for me. The lakes I fish are so small I would rarely be at WOT for more than a minute anyway. This little 9.8 planes my 14k about half throttle I'm pretty impressed.
 

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