Have any of you guys blown a power head on a 2015 or newer 250 SHO?
Have any of you guys blown a power head on a 2015 or newer 250 SHO?
Me, 9 days ago. Sudden and catastrophic, however Yamaha is taking care of it. See the link below.
http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=830684
I go between a lot of sites trying to research this engine. Besides Marshfly the only other verified blown head was during testing of the VF250XA model. It was determined that the cylinder wasn't honed properly which caused a piston ring/piston to jam in the cylinder.Originally Posted by GEEBASS2000
They are shipping me a new long block right now. I have zero qualms with running this thing for another 1000 hours or more. In fact, it might end up flashed to 300hp sooner rather than later. The Yamaha 4.2 liters are great motors. Don't let the freak possibility of an engine issue steer you away from it.
I really wish I could flash my XA. Different ECM and Hydra tech hasn't messed with it yet. the other guys supposedly have but I haven't seen any numbers. Good luck!!!
If you make it to 1000 hours without anymore major issues please do come back and tell us about it...The most I've heard of on a SHO has been around 400 hours or so (original powerhead)...I asked on BBC a while back if anyone had put 1000 hours or more on an original SHO powerhead...Got crickets...
I had my SHO flashed...I think it's money well spent. I liked the results.
For those of you getting mods and ECM's flashed on your outboards... Do y'all fish tournaments? Most larger tournaments have a max HP rating, and flashing it makes the motor a 300, whether or not the sticker on your outboard says 250. General question (this isn't towards anyone specifically)... are there people out there violating those rules?
I'm sure there are people violating those rules...No doubt...
I wonder if someone would flunk a polygraph if they knew there was a 250 HP restriction and they were running a flashed 300...
There is zero difference in a SHO powerhead and a normal 4.2 250 or 300. Your flashed SHO is exactly the same as an offshore 300 under the cowling if you are only revving to the stock RPM limit. That's why the flash exists. They are simply loading the 300 program into the SHO computer.
There are literally thousands of 4.2s running multiple thousands of hours in the salt world with zero problems. You bass guys just don't run the engines enough in a day to rack up serious hours. Small lakes plus lots of TM time equals low hours. That's why you haven't seen major hours ON THIS SITE. Go to TheHullTruth.com and ask how many guys have over 1000 hours on a 4.2 with no engine work. Boats running offshore don't stop the engines from leaving the dock to pulling back up. Over a few 12 hour or overnight trips that adds up quickly. I have friends that have put 400 hours on 4.2s in a year.
FWIW I put 40 hours on my boat in the last two months prior to the failure. That won't stop afterwards so if I still have it in two years, I'll report back after my 400+ hours. It's nothing for me to put 4-5 hours on my boat in a day if I'm scouting for a redfish tournament.
Last edited by Marshfly; 08-02-2017 at 07:50 PM.
Before I get into this, I don't fish tournaments with rules like that and my boat is rated for 350hp so I can flash to my heart's content. Those rules are dumb. There are 16,000 pound 38ft offshore center consoles that run 1050, 1200hp that will run in the 80s fishing tournaments where the winnings could buy the entire boat field of the Classic. If the boat is rated for it, it should be legal.
I fish 4-5 days a week from May through Nov and I have to work really hard to put 50 hours a year on my SHO. There's only a few places where I can make a WOT run that's over 30 minutes and my SHO sits idle from Dec - Apr. I'll probably be dead before my SHO sees 1000 hours.....
2013 Ranger Z520c, 2013 Yamaha 250 SHO
2018 Ranger RT198p, 2013 Mercury 150 Optimax
I wasn't referring to the F250 motors...I just got back from south Florida and they were everywhere. I'm sure those guys wouldn't run them if they weren't reliable motors. I was referring to the SHO motors in bass boat applications. Seems to me for no more than us "bass guys" run the SHO motors that there sure have been quite a few issues.
Lack of use and short Start/Stop cycles may play into the issues you see. Engines like to be fully warmed up and run. Five to ten minutes of use after a 3 hour cool down on the TM is hell on an engine. Make that all you do and you'll have issues. 20 hours a year on an outboard is a recipe for serious internal corrosion from lack of use. We don't fish lakes where I live. We are making multiple runs a day and easily put a couple of hours minimum on the engine in a day. It seems that a lot of the guys on this site fish lakes where you have a 5-10 minute run between spots. That doesn't give the engine time to warm up completely and dry out the condensation. It's not surprising that we see more issues with engines that live that kind of life. Taking an hour long 50mph ride every few trips would go a long way to fixing things.
I put an average of 5 hrs of run time per trip on the Chesapeake on my SHO strapped to the back of my Tidewater 230 LXF. Just over 80 hrs on it since purchase. Having a baby/toddler isn't conducive to fishing and I have a buddy who also owns a boat so we split trips. I thought I saw one guy on here that got over 1000 hrs on his SHO.
Lots of guys running the SHO on the back of Flats boats, Bay boats and CC's since the XA model came out in 2015. Marshfly's failure is an anomaly. First SHO failure that I've found since the correction on the LA and 1st owner one for the XA reported.
I just went to look and mine is actually a very late LA. It was manufactured in 3/14 but hung in mid 2015. Sorry for the mixup.
If you fish IFA they have a rule about modifying HP. Probably never enforced though
2007 Sterling 22xs-Yamaha 250-Dual 10 foot blades-Ipilot-Bobs Jack plate-HDS 8 (SOLD)
2016 Sterling 220XS: (SOLD)
2008 SCB Topcat 250 XS (SOLD)
Current:
2014 SCB Stingray Sport Merc 300XS
2018 ES Custom Revolution 25 Merc 400R
No they don't.
Here is the exact rule. It doesn't say that you can't modify the motor. It DOES say that you can't alter the engine decals or HP Plate and must stay within the limits of the coast guard plate and you can't lie about what's under the hood. The Yellowfin is limited to 350 by the manufacturer and doesn't come with a Coast Guard Plate/sticker. As long as you put the actual HP on the entry form, you're good according to the rules.
"8. HORSEPOWER REGULATIONS: Maximum horsepower for all outboards used in tournamentcompetition will not exceed the horsepower limitations as set by the U.S. Coast Guard horsepowerrating plate attached to the boat by the manufacturer. By registering to participate in an event, eachcontestant agrees to submit his or her boat and/or motor to an inspection by an inspector designatedby the IFA. Falsifying information on entry forms or altering the horsepower numbers on the motoror rating plate will be cause for disqualification from the tournament and may result in future ineligibility to enter Inshore Fishing Association tournaments. "
http://www.ifatours.com/wp-content/u...fish-rules.pdf
I was under the impression "altering the horsepower numbers on the motor" meant actual power output not just stickers. I was just about to flash my sho until I read that a while back.
I think its more for insurance as IFA doesn't seem to care about that stuff. They are usually flexible with stuff, I just didn't want to get caught in a grey area.
2007 Sterling 22xs-Yamaha 250-Dual 10 foot blades-Ipilot-Bobs Jack plate-HDS 8 (SOLD)
2016 Sterling 220XS: (SOLD)
2008 SCB Topcat 250 XS (SOLD)
Current:
2014 SCB Stingray Sport Merc 300XS
2018 ES Custom Revolution 25 Merc 400R
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