I did the end of the year oil change on my 2016 Yamaha 250 SHO this afternoon. I put 72 hrs on the engine since the last oil change. I took the time and measured 8qts of oil that I drained out. Oil capacity for my engine is 7.1qts. Obviously my engine is making some oil. Engine made 1qt in 72hrs engine run time. Motor has a total of 93.3hrs on it, and was "broken in" by the book.
Should I be concerned?
Do I have a motor problem?
I have 4 years of full warranty left on the motor.
First issue is "broken in" by the book. I have had 2 of these and the break in procedure needs to be revised as it does not allow for the rings to properly seat.
Did the removed oil smell like gas had mixed with it? As you are in upstate NY, I would think you have it put up for the year, so before you take it out again, check the oil with the engine level, run it a few times and check it again. If you didn't change the oil the previous time, it is possible it was overfilled. You have warranty remaining, don't sweat it.
2016 BassCat Puma/250 SHO
Oil had the smell like there was gas in it, not a lot but I could tell. Oil looked a little thin as well. I did the last oil change so it was not over filled..... Just changed the oil today and filled it with 6.7 liters of 4m. I'll keep an eye on it and see what happens. I generally fish Lake Ontario and 1000 islands so I do a lot of idling, maybe that contributes to making oil??? Even though it's usually to rough up there to run wide open, I have managed to make several runs to the islands in the lake 13-23miles @ WOT and 5900-6050 RPMS I find it hard to believe that the rings still have not seated after almost 100hrs on the engine. I could be wrong, I'm not a marine engine mechanic.
The manual says 6.7 litres (7.08 quarts) with a filter change. I found with mine that 6 litres puts the level a little over half way between the holes on the dipstick, which I think is good, especially since some oil remains in cavities in the block unless you trim it up and down a couple time when draining. Also, I ran mine much harder than recommended after the first 3 hours and it never "made oil" after that (80 hours on it now)...and I also have to idle a lot because of where I live.
After the oill change and adding 6.7 liters of 4m I'm half way on the dipstick..........So much for my idling theory. I'm just wondering if there is even a solution to not making oil???
Re: Making oil....like I mentioned above, I broke mine in "harder" than manual says after reading lots of other owners suggestions. After first 3 hours by-the-book it made about a liter of oil in this time. I drained that off and then ran it wide open about 10-15 minutes/miles at a time, followed by about a 20 minute cool off period, then repeated this for three hours steady. I checked the oil and it had not gone up at all and hasn't made any since. Although I do idle a lot, I do give it a good wide open run whenever possible and also run about 4000rpm quite a bit. I think if you found a spot where you could run it hard for a couple hours you would get the rings seated.
Originally Posted by McQuaig
Thanks for the info. I'll give that 3 hour deal a try. I also run in the 4000-4500 rpm most of the time. Unfortunately, as far as boating is concerned, I think were done here until spring. You running a "D" boat?
I have a 2018 200SHO on a Skeeter ZX...and ya, I'm looking at a couple inches of ice already on the river here. Anyway, good luck with it
When you change the oil make sure after it stops draining to tilt the engine up and turn the engine back and forth. Then lower the engine back down. You’ll get another half qt out of it. When you refill add 6.25 -6.5 qts. Recheck the level. Then after you start the engine and shut it down recheck oil level again. Should be half way up the dip stick.
Mine is still making oil and it's still less than two years old with over 200 hours on it.
2021 Skeeter ZX225
2021 Yamaha SHO 225 VF225LA
The rings are just hard to "set". Everyone says to run it hard for long periods. Most of my fishing is Lake Chickamauga (Chattanooga). It is a heavily used lake and it's difficult to run 5800+ RPM for even 15 minutes at a time. There's just way too much traffic for that.
Mine made oil too. I borrowed a small prop that I could spin to the rev limiter and not go very fast. I ran it for an hour and a half at 6000-61000 straight, up and down the lake. It quit making oil after that.
This is what I also suggest. Then trim it until it is just under the limiter but wide open. To the OP have you or do you have a way to monitor engine temp? If it is not getting hot enough to burn the fuel vapor off that could be the oil increase. But that little bit in 70 hours is not much. I would just monitor it but not stress over it. CJ
2002 X19 200HP OX66 HO Vmax,HPDI lower, it lives, thanks Hydro Tec.
The first 250 SHO I had I broke it in by the book and it made oil. The second 250 SHO I had I followed the Mercury four stoke outboard break in procedure and BINGO! I never made oil! I idle a ton and using the Mercury four stroke break in procedure I haven't had too worry at all....food for thought
I will share something that really ticked me off about all this... At the BASS AOY at Lake Chatuge back in 2018, I spent the week at our condo and was on the water every day riding and watching. The off day for the pros meet and great I went to the small expo that BASS had assembled. Yamaha had a booth there and I had on my Yamaha Cap so one of the Yamaha guys struck up a conversation as I walked by. He asked what I had and how I liked it. I told him I was on my 2nd SHO and Yamaha needed to re write the break in procedure due to the rings not being able to set properly. He informed me that was not and problem now and never had been a problem that I obviously was doing something incorrect in the break in and operation of my outboard. We had a couple of minutes of a heated discussion before I walked away, knowing I would say something I would regret if I continued.
2016 BassCat Puma / 250 SHO
This is a great point about not building enough heat in the engine. I have the engine data cable hooked up to my Lowrance so I do watch my engine temp. I always let my engine warm up to 118-120 before going on plan. Depending on how far of a run I make, I would say I run in the 135-150deg range. I'm not sure what the normal operating temp is for this motor. I'll probably get a size smaller pitch prop and run it hard this spring. Like I said before, I have 4 years warranty left so no worries just yet.
As a side note, I had a 2013 250SHO.........Ran like a champ, and never made a drop of oil........both the 2013 & 2016 were broken in the same way.
I ran mine like the book then trimmed it all the way down and put it to the floor and ran for a hour hasn’t had a oil problem since
I have over 200 hours on my engine and can still make oil under the right condition. I believe that condition is engine lugging. Examples of times it is easy to make your engine lug is (1) rough water if you are riding up a steep wave or (2) on launch with heavy load such as full fuel, 2 people, full live wells and launching at full throttle. Ways to avoid lugging for example (1) would be prop change from 3 to 4 blade or change pitch when running rough water and for example (2) on initial launch use light to medium throttle until boat speed has increased, then go to full throttle.
The objective is to avoid full throttle and low rpm.
Lugging is a severe operating condition for an engine which offers the opportunity for dilution of oil with fuel. Based on observations running my engine, I believe lugging is the cause of the making oil issue.
I doubt the guys at those shows are engineers so they may not know. At a similar expo I asked a Yamaha rep what the engine design specification was for target life in hours of operation. He looked at me as though I was from Mars and finally said "well, just like a car". I said ok, so about 5000 hours? (a typical target life design spec for an automobile engine). He would not commit to that and clearly had not a clue. I'm still curious what the target life is for a Yamaha or Merc or any other marine outboard, so if there is anyone in the know ...
The Yamaha design engineers are all in Japan. Yamaha USA is just a distribution company set up by Yamaha Japan to distribute motors within the USA.
It is a tendency of the male species to not be able to say "I don't know". Rather they may just spout off bullshit to make themselves feel better.
If any of the outboard motor makers have established a projected design life they are keeping it top secret. As well they should. It can only come back to be used against them.
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