Marinette Boat Forum

Is it good or bad on the engines to occasionally run them wide open. My 360's are in good shape with about 900 hours. I've been told to take it easy on them and also that it's good to blow them out every once in a while. Which is right?

I would appreciate your thoughts or advice.
Louky.

I do it every now and then for very short (less than 1 minute) durations just to make sure everything is solid. I believe the manual states to cruise at 75% of rated rpm but I think a good kick in the butt a couple times a year for a few seconds does not hurt.

The engines in our boats were originally designed to go in cars and trucks neither of which run at full bore for extended periods. That said, it's fun to fly! I don't do it for long either though. At high speed my gulps gas and the landmarks come up pretty quick. And on our part of the big O, we are always looking out for logs.

More important than running at WOT every so often is warm up and frequency of operation. I don't leave the slip or anchor until temp is at least 140 and make sure the motor runs as often as practical.

As for motor condition at 900 hrs, a good compression and leak down test will tell you a lot about the condition. Leak down on ours showed intake valve leaks so the heads will come off this winter for a rebuild.

Thanks all for the input. I get plenty of warm up time before I get out of the marina, and I go out about three times a week. Running WOT isn't something that plan on doing often, but I've been doing it occasionally when getting up on plane, then backing it down. Since I've heard both, I mainly wanted to make sure I wasn't doing any harm.

Thanks again
Louky