new sho 175

[lonewolf1212]

Ok so i am picking up my new x18 xpress with a 175 sho on it. so the first thing i do is get on BBC to see what people think. my last motor was a f100 and it was pretty good one. so i get in here and i am getting a little nervous. seems like there are some issues with making oil, and various other stuff. i do understand that all out boards have there issues at some time, and that most people are getting on here to resolve issues. so i am sure that there has to be a lot of people that love these motors as much as there are people who have problems.

[Midnight Rider]

I have the SHO 175 on my BassCat Sabre FTD and love the engine. The oil making issue is because they are not being broken in properly. The lower unit gear ratio is different than the 150. The 175 is 1.86:1. From what I have been told by my dealer, the 175 does NOT do well with some hull designs, but on the Sabre it's a match made in heaven. It makes plenty of power. Skeeter (owned by Yamaha) will not put the 175 on their boat that is rated for a 175...it just won't perform.

On my Sabre, which is still in the break in mode, I have a 8" manual jackplate and am playing a bit with the motor height. I'm running a 24" SHO T2 prop and seeing about 5800 rpm at 68mph with a full tank of fuel (33 gallons), full load of tackle, and full live wells. But just me alone. That's with temps in the upper 80's, low 90's here in Alabama, with high humidity. Add another person and it will likely be a 65-68 mph boat depending on air temps and humidity. I have not learned to drive it fully yet, so I think it will end up being a 70 mph rig with one person...maybe 1-2 mph faster. The Sabre starts chine walking at about 63 or so, and I can stay on top of it up to 68 before I lose it and have to trim back down. In cool weather, it'll be faster. I can put mine at 4200 rpm and cruise at 45+ mph, then just a touch more and it jumps up to 4600 and 55 mph...like it goes into a higher gear, almost and the entire boat lifts. Very good fuel economy. You need to run 89 Octane and use the Yamaha Ring Free in EVERY FILL UP.

[Midnight Rider]

I looked to see if there was a performance bulletin on it, but there's not. Their X19 with the 200 SHO runs about 71.

Looking at the Xpress website, I'm not seeing any version of their 18 foot boat rated for a 175. 150 is max. Are you sure you're getting the 175? If the hull isn't rated for it, you'll play hell getting insurance, and will not be allowed to fish some tournaments. Maybe I'm missing something...

[BassCatBrad]

I have a 175sho on my Skeeter TZx190. I love it. The hole shot is a tad slow in the summer with a full tournament load. But other then that I have zero complaints. Make sure you break it in properly. I use 89 octane gas, ringfree plus and gas shock in every tank.

[woppercatcher]

Not trying to be a downer but at a BASS tournament I was talking to a Yamaha rep about the SHO 150 and 175 since I currently have an HPDI 175 and thinking about the SHO 175. He told me that the 175 has an issue and the 150 is the better choice. The gearing is not right on the 175 so you don't get as good performance as the 150. I had also heard this from my dealer as well but didn't believe them. The rep didn't have any info on when it would be fixed and I was surprised he was telling me this, of course he said he would deny it if I repeated it .

[lonewolf1212]

Not trying to be a downer but at a BASS tournament I was talking to a Yamaha rep about the SHO 150 and 175 since I currently have an HPDI 175 and thinking about the SHO 175. He told me that the 175 has an issue and the 150 is the better choice. The gearing is not right on the 175 so you don't get as good performance as the 150. I had also heard this from my dealer as well but didn't believe them. The rep didn't have any info on when it would be fixed and I was surprised he was telling me this, of course he said he would deny it if I repeated it .

thanks a lot for the info. just trying to figure out at this point what motor doesnt have problems of some sort.

[Hchamberlin1]

Break it in properly by the book, change the oil and filters and run it. The SHO is a very strong motor an very reliable when maintained

[hoos202]

I hope you all don't mind me jumping in on this thread but I have interest in the SHO 175. I live in Indiana and currently have a '95 Champ 202 with an '02 Merc 225X. We have a lot of idle water (10mph) on the lakes here in Indiana and other than the Ohio River there just are not a lot places to take advantage of a fast boat and stretch them out. Thinking about an 18' to 18.5' boat but want to have it rigged with the max rated hp 4 stroke engine. The SHO 175 seems to fit that bill. I have been around a lot of SHO 250s but few of the 4 cylinder engines. Can some of you with experience with the 4 cylinder SHOs provide some feedback on how these engines perform at a hard idle (7 to 10 mph) in a fiberglass bass boat? Thank you!

[printman71]

The official Yamaha break in procedure is not aggressive enough. I am on my second 250 SHO and both made oil until the rings were seated. If I get another, I will do the first hour as noted, but after that run it more aggressively. Until the engine gets hot, which it can't do if you follow the break in procedure, the rings won't seat. Drive it hard ish after the first hour.

[Bamaman]

The 175 SHO is a member of the F150-F200 4 cylinder family, and it's not the same motor as the bigger SHO motors that have known to make oil.

Just break your motor in following instructions and it'll be just fine. My F150 is now 5 years old, and it's been flawless.