Heads up on 300XS..

[fishnfireman]

Pulled the cowl off for maintenance and found most of the glue from the piece of insulation in the picture had liquefied and ran onto the air-box. From the looks of it at some point the glue re-hardened and appears to have stuck the now loosened insulation to the plastic in one small spot. There's also some hardened glue on the throttle plate. Can only hope none got through and sucked into the motor..
I believe this occurred while the boat was parked outside at home -- We had several days in July that saw temps up to 104 and last week was the first time to run the boat since those hot days. Did not notice the glue until after fishing for 3 days.

[Tim Powell]

Its always a good idea to remove the top piece of insulation on a 300xs.

Good find, hope all is well!

[River Rocket]

Is the purpose of the insulation for noise only? I have seen this on other opti's.

[fishnfireman]

I did not notice any loss of performance during the fishing trip.. BUT-- I was alone with a lot less weight than normal --No livewell water and at a much lower elevation than I normally run.. Never did just (air) the boat out as I was pre-fishing for an upcoming championship and was doing a lot of looking and mostly short runs..One thing I did notice was my prop had a buildup of carbon on the blades from the vent holes and it normally does not do that.
For now I have just pulled that piece of insulation.

[Strokerdean]

I have cut the insulation out from around the intake opening so it can't suck down over the hole.

[John Jackson]

Will removing the insulation void warranty?

[fishnfireman]

Will removing the insulation void warranty?

I don't know but it might save a motor if that glue gets down the plenum and sucked into the reeds when it is in liquid form.
After looking at the piece I removed -- I believe the glue that liquefied then re-hardened came from in between the insulation pieces (it is sandwiched)

[Tim Powell]

Will removing the insulation void warranty?

I've never heard of it voiding the warranty and I don't see how it could as it's not a modification to the rotating assembly.

[Strokerdean]

The Merc Tech I go to actually cut it out of the 07 300xs I had. It had come loose and we were looking for a gremlin. It wasn't the gremlin but there was a black ring around the insulation. Merc eventually replaced the power head as a sleeve had turned.

Will removing the insulation void warranty?