Finally got my '00 SLX

[John Sharp]

Well, i finally picked her up today for $5500. Got the wavepak and a few free things. But the one thing I didn't get was an owner's manual. Somewhere along the way it got misplaced. but he gave me one out of a 2002 Virage.

I can't seem to find anything about break in so I was wondering what you all would recommend. All the manual I have says is to keep it under 3.4 throttle during break in, but it doesnt specify how long the break-in perios is.

John

[Skexies]

this site has an excelent technical article on break in, I believe it is in the technical section.

[sl]

John, I patiently broke my SLX in just as SBT says. It seems to have worked great since the boat runs like a charm. Don't worry about not having fun. Even at 90% throttle, the boat will be a lot of fun! Just do not run much load on it (ie. do not do a lot of donoughts and stuff--just keep the boat on plane where there is little resistance from the water). The owners manual says something like warm it up for 5 minutes and run it up to 3/4 throttle. Just remember to vary your speed and not to hold at full throttle.

[sl]

John, I forgot to mention that the SLX does not like to idle slow (or run at low rpms) and will foul plugs this way. This is the only problem with the breakin since this occurred and made it hard to start after letting it cool down. Make sure your battery is well charged when breaking it in.

Scott

[John Sharp]

Well just got back from the lake, and what can I say except WOW! I love it. I am up to the 90% step in the break in as SBT suggests. But I was doing one run and it vut out and flashed HOT on the MFD. What is this about? I had just got back on it after a 30 minute break.

John

[SeaLion]

Sorry to break the bad news but it sounds like it seized. The "hot" on the MFD further proves that the shut down was a seizure. Minor seizures will enable you to restart and run but the engine will never be the same.

[SeaLion]

What octane fuel did you use? 87 is fine as long as the fuel at your pump is not oxygenated. If it si, you need 89 octane fuel per Polaris' owners manual. It is hard to seize a newer Polaris because they have no high speed adjuster on the carbs and are really fat from the factory. I wonder if you got some debris in the cooling line and it over heated and seized because of that?

[Bryan Glynn]

Have you beached it, or run it in water less than 3 feet deep or ever had it touch bottom?

[sl]

John, I am sorry to hear that. Hopefully it is OK. Have it checked out (compression, etc). I have heard that these motors are very reliable.

SL

[sl]

John, tell the dealer you did not go over 3/4 throttle. That is the way it is described in the owners manual when it comes to break in. Also, did the dealer put extra oil in the first tank?

SL

[John Sharp]

Funny you should mention the extra oil. I wasn't sure so I called before I took it out and asked. He said, "hold on, I'll go sheck" Not 5 seconds later he comes back and says that they did add the extra oil. So who really knows.

[John Sharp]

no i havent had it anywhere to get anything in it. The water was pretty free of debris today. Never been beached or started in shallow water.

Should I take it back to the dealer and tell them. I have a 1 year warranty with it.

[Bryan Glynn]

I would take it back then - it sounds like you have a cooling system issue.

[John Sharp]

Ok, I'll give them a call tomorrow.

[SeaLion]

Did you have any water in the hull? Are all your cooling lines tight and not kinked or cut? One way to test this is to ride with the seat of and look inside to see any leaks. While under load, it will show up. I would recommend this as diagnosis for a boat out of warranty but you just bought yours and I wouldn't even mess with it. Take it back to the dealer and have them check it out. Like I said above, it seized and it is very unusual and uncommon for this to happen from a mechanical failure, especially on that engine. My guess is something wasn't tightened or a cooling passage was blocked from either debris or kinked. It is too new for sand to block anything. The pump has a screen so that larger objects can't get into the cooling line and get lodged in. Keep us posted on what the dealer says. This is probably won't make you feel better but it is very unusual. Hopefully you have a good dealer that will do a correct diagnosis and take the appropriate action to fix it to new condition?