Oil color??

[74Nitro]

Or don't do a "hard break-in" and follow Yamaha's recommendations.

Matt, the guy who does "the Workshop" Youtube channel is an engineer and knows his stuff.
He's done other videos on hard break-ins if you want to look into the subject.
At the end of the day, who do you trust, the manufacturer who warranties their products and has a reputation to uphold or some dude on the internet who doesn't have any skin in the game if something goes south down the line?

Ski-Doo cares enough that they force you to follow their break-in procedures (on newer fuel-injected models) by programming the ECU to do a soft break-in by limiting the engine RPM until it's broken in.

Nonsense. Mike is right about this. I worked as a mechanic at a Yamaha dealer way back when Yamaha first came out with the four strokes. I remember the ones that broke them in exactly as Yamaha stated, which was nice and easy. They were the ones that ended up burning a LOT of oil. The ones that ignored that procedure and broke them in hard(heavy load cycles off and on) had far less issues with oil consumption.
Manufacturers aren't always right.

 

[WinterWolf]

Broke-in all my new high performance sleds like I stole em...never one problem. In fact they all ran like champs and zero issues..both two strokes and four strokes.

Babying it like the manual says is a recipe for a slower, lower performing sled imo. But some folks can’t bring themselves to push a new sled.

 

[SPM]

I owned a automotive race engine shop for 25 years. I would get the engines up to temp (water AND oil) as quickly as possible on the dyno and it was game on! I found breaking in this way made more power and less blowby like others have mentioned. As for the color of your oil, I would be willing to bet it's moisture from starting it a few times and not getting much oil temp. I would see the oil in our dry sump tank do this until oil temp got over 212 degrees then clear right up. As always, keep an eye on coolant level also. I am new to 4 stroke sleds this year also, I'm not going to run it much until I can get out and ride it. Then...warm up and alot of short to medium hard pulls.

 

[Fast]

Lots of full throttle bursts to seat the rings after the engine has been warmed up and at operating temp. I actually break a snowmobile engine in harder than I'd actually ride it normally. Screw the belt, or put an old on on, break the rings in hard!

Read this: http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

Thanks Mike,learn something new every day,I always followed the manual and broke them in easy

 

[Surestick]

Break it in however you want. I'll use the way all the VERY BEST engine builders in the world tell you how to do it, and that's not easy or by the Yamaha manual. I'll trust The hard break-in. I've seen first hand the added power it makes and the condition of the engines from easy to hard break-in. The manual might tell you one thing, but Yamaha R&D, Engineers and testing personal will tell you something completely different. I've ridden with them and know many of them first hand. Heavy throttle loads rings and seals them better and makes for less blowby and better cylinder leakdown numbers, which simply makes MORE power and adds longevity to the engine. No added wear or ill effects to an engine with hard break-in. Theres no way a MFGR company is going to tell you to go flog on it hard. Can you imagine the lawsuits if/when people get hurt from riding over their heads if a MFGR told you "break it in hard"?

Also, You have it wrong about Ski-Doo. Ski-Doo does not limit the RPM. They just inject more fuel, oil and run a bit of reduced timing for guys that hold them and never let off.

These engines come off the assembly line and get run WFO to help with ring seating FYI. To help a little bit for the guys who baby them by breaking in by the manual. It's proven that if they are run too easy the rings will never seat and form a decent seal.

I was wrong about the RPM limit (could of sworn I read that in some BRP literature) but as for the rest... I can only say we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[Ndoggct]

Thx for replies guys
Happy thanksgiving

 

[TheMogulMogul]

From what I’ve read about aircraft piston break-in, the hard break in has some truth to it, but I would suggest there might be such a thing as too hard. I figure balance but on the harder side is the way to go, it’s all a matter of degree. I personally am not going to pull WOT lake runs for zero mile break in, more like hard corner to corner. Regardless I am convinced that babying the engine is a huge mistake, and just like Mike said, I am avoiding running the thing at all until I can get to a big field or trail and get some heavy throttle work in.

 

[TheMogulMogul]

Complete tear down, measure, 1000 mile break in both extremes, and re-measure. Great video.