04 225 HPDI fuel and oil consumption

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I would like to know what you guys think about a problem I seem to be having with my 04 225 HPDI. I have always thought that my motor went through an unusual amount of gas and oil, but because it has always ran great I just assumed that the comsumption was normal. That is untill this past weekend.

A friend of mine just bought a new boat, well new to him, it is the same boat as mine (2004 Skeeter zx225 w/ a HPDI 225). Since he just got the boat we thought that we would take his boat to our tournament this past weekend. We were going to make a long run of about 30 miles to our first stop so I told him to make sure both gas tanks were full and that the oil tank was also full. We ran that first 30 miles at WOT and then worked our way back to weigh-in running the boat hard between stops.

At the end of the day I discovered a couple of things about his boat that made me question the performance of mine. 1. His boat will run 74.8 GPS loaded with two big guys, all of our tackle, livewells full, and both gas tanks full which is about 4.5 MPH faster than mine which I will attribute to his being a full inch higher on the plate than mine (we are both running a 25p Yamaha prop). 2. The big difference came in his gas and oil consumption. At the end of the day he had used a little less than 3/4 of one tank (maybe 17 -18 gallons) of gas and very little oil at all. I know from expierence that I would have gone through atleast 35 - 40 gallons of fuel and probably around a half gallon of oil on this same trip. Like I said earlier, my motor has always run great with absolutly no problems up to this point. A friend suggested that the computer on these motors were set up to run really rich durring the "break in" and then change after the break in was over and that mine might be stuck in that mode. This motor was broken in BY THE BOOK. What do you guys think? I would think that I would have had other problems by now if the motor was in fact stuck in "break in".


Modified by Herbert at 9:44 AM 10/30/2006

Lets say you ran 60 miles total. A VZ 225 will burn about 22 gal per hr at wot. So if you ran wot the whole time, you should burn around 18 to 19 gallons. If your boat would burn 30 to 40 gallons something is way wrong. I do have to admit I have never seen a ZX 225 run as strong as your buddys loaded like that. Your speed sounds about right at 70 mph. If your buddy's boat is running 74+ I would think he must be turning right at the rev limiter with a 25. I would think at that speed he should be turning a 27. Maybe his eng is a VZ 300 in disquise.

I would get a Yamaha authorized dealer to run a diagnostics check on the engine before making any changes. Are you still in Warranty? If so, I would let them figure it out. As for the speed, I have several fishing buddies with the exact same set-up you are running (except for the prop) They are running 27's. They pretty much all run 72-74mph gps @ 5850-5950 rpm's when loaded for a team tournament. A diagnostics check should tell a good mechanic what's going on with your fuel consumption. I'm not sure about a 04' engine, but I do know that an 05' & 06' HPDI does NOT change fuel / oil ratio, or fuel consumption after break-in period. I feel pretty sure the 04' did not either (I specifically asked a Yamaha Certified mechanic if the computers made changes after break-in, and he is a very technical guy, I trusted him to be telling me right) ....Good Luck & please post again when you get it figured out....RB

My 06 250 HPDI did change the amount of oil that it burn after the 10 hour break in and gas mile is getting better after 40 hours also the motor seems to be a lot stronger. Gas mileage is about 4.5 mpg at 3000 rpm with a 27 pitch T-1 http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/popcorn.gif

Hey Warren. I had a very lengthy talk with one of the shop mechanics at Reeve's over in Shreveport (While he was performing the 10-hr. maintenance on my engine earlier this month). I guess he could have told me wrong, but I asked him if I should see any difference in the fuel, and/or oil consumption after the break-in period. He said that nothing would automatically adjust on the engine. He said the day I took it home it would be oiling at the pre-determined rate that it always would (without adjusting the linkage). He seemed to be a pretty sharp mechanic, and had been to all the schools to get certified on the HPDI engines. He said the only time it would oil above that setting was during the first couple of minutes when they initially cranked the engine at their shop on day-1. Pretty much everyone says their engine gets a little stronger once it gets some hours on it, I really have not noticed any difference yet (I'm at approx. 16hrs. on mine). It's real hard for me to get a good feel for mpg I don't make a lot of real long runs, and spend a good bit of time off-pad. I wish I knew more, I'm just going on what I was told from the mech. on the posted info. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif

Robert
I'm not sure witch mechanic is right but mind told me that after the first 2 hours it would use less oil. Not to saying he was right or your mechanic was right but mind used about 2 gal. of oil and 3/4 tank of gas the first 2 hours. But it could have been because I was told to keep it trim all the way down for the first 2 hrs. It uses very little oil and gas now compared to when we were breaking it in. You should start to see more power around 30 or 40 hrs on the HPDI at less that is when mind started to show up. Better hoe shot and higher top speed, it could have been also me just learning how to drive it. I went from a 18'3" boat with a Yamaha F150 four stroke to a 21' boat with a 250 HPDI. On the MPG we have a fuel flow gauge linked in our Lowrance NEMA 2000 system that gives us the MPG or GPH or what ever way you set it. Put your foot in it and it will drank the gas and that is with any motor four stroke or HPDI. But for sure I'm not saying I right. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif Good luck with your boat and motor.

Warren

The HPDI oil inj is strictly a mechanical pump. The computer cant change anything with the pump. Yes running trimmed under your foot is in the gas more so the pump linkage is opened more hence more oil and fuel usage. There is a small elec oil inj that injects a small amount of oil into the fuel inj vapor seperator. It puts a tiny bit of oil into the fuel just to lube the fuel injectors. It has nothing to do with lubing the eng, just like running premix in a dfi eng wouldnt lube anything.