2020 ProStar Dealer Service Required

[MarkTimm]

I have a yellow Triangle on my Screen. When I turn the boat on I get the dealer service required message.

Does anyone know how to find out what the issue is without going to the dealer? The dealer in my area is impossible to reach by phone and a service appointment is even worse. I am hoping it is something simple, the boat needs to pull a tournament next week.

[Mastercrafter]

It might me scheduled maintenance. 91 is the code you need to reset.

 

You can look in your engine diagnostics/ faults screen to see if there’s anything going on

[ScottScott]

How many hours? Theres a big maintenance at 300 hours.

[MarkTimm]

@ScottScott 364.

I am guessing that is spark plugs. what else?

 

[ScottScott]

@MarkTimm plugs, wires, (edit; no cap, rotor,) on top of 50 and 100 hour services of oil, filter, trans, Trans filter, impeller. Check engine alignment....and probably a couple other things.

 

Edit: I forgot belt and air filter

[skihacker]

Also fuel filters.

[Horton]

@MarkTimm just take it to the dealer. I do not speak for Ilmor or MasterCraft but if there is a real problem and you screw around with it you may have warranty issues.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

Spark plugs at 300 hrs? No way. Maybe 30 years ago but with a modern engine you look at 1000 hr plugs and wonder if you should keep them in.

 

Sounds like you need a new dealer or at least someone knowledge about promo boats.

 

Uhhh. Cap and rotor??? Electronic ignition made those obsolete years ago

[ScottScott]

@Bruce_Butterfield

Edit: correct, no cap and rotor on a 2020. Yes cap and rotor on 5.7 up to 2019.

 

I'm sure you could run quite a while with the plugs. My last Tundra I never changed plugs and had over 300k miles over 12 years. But, if you're doing the rest....why not (it is part of the scheduled 300 hour service.)

 

 

 

[JackQ]

Cap, rotor and wires? Should have coil on plug.

[ScottScott]

@JackQ

Edit: Correct, no cap and rotor on a 2020. 5.7 up to 2019 yes.

[JackQ]

Some of their engines are coil on plug, I am not aware if the 2020 is.

[ScottScott]

It's probably more a matter of which engine. He didn't specify. The 5.7s and likely the 6.2 (if still offered in 2020 edit: 2019 last year of 5.7) are probably same as the 2017s, mine is the 5.7. The 6.0 may very well be coil on plug.

[Broussard]

The following were taken from the 2020 Ilmor Owner's Manual

 

[ScottScott]

Apologies..... it appears that 2019 was maybe the last year for the 5.7? 6.0 and 6.2 do not have cap and rotor. I'm sure many will be surprised that it did still have cap and rotor on the 5.7 in boats up till 2019

 

You'll notice that all services end up due at 300, plus an extra (belt.) I'm pretty sure we had a service required notice after 300 passed our 300 hour service (that due to previous owner NOT performing the 300 hour service, tho they told us that all services have been done, ended up being done at about 480 hours when we realized it hadn't been done, so a service message came on just before 800.)

[Broussard]

@ScottScott The base engine in 2020 was the 6.0L. This was the first year without the 5.7L.

[Andre]

If it ain't broke...

[MarkTimm]

I somehow got an appointment to bring it in. The service person also said because it wasn't throwing any codes I am ok to keep using it until the appointment. I changed the plugs yesterday. While they had plenty of life left, $87 for a full set made it an easy decision. It is the 6.0. Thanks for all the input.

[brettmainer]

I think boat maintenance schedules are skewed towards casual users who put maybe 50hrs per year on boats. Given the high rpms I generally figure an hour = 100mi in a truck. Probable less if pulling juniors and trick, probably more if pulling 36mph slalom and 35.5 jump.

 

I maintain a couple of club boats (one new MC and one 6L 196) plus my own 200 and sometimes the local college boat when I feel sorry for it. MC still recommends conventional 15-40 for the 6L but Nautique recommends synthetic 5-30 for the same. I change the oil every 50hrs in the new (under warranty) MC but the synthetic looks almost new at 50hrs, so I’ve taken to letting that slide to 75-100hrs. However we put 20-30 hours per WEEK on the boats, so they are getting serviced every 2-4 weeks either way.

 

Impellers still look new when changed every 200hrs if it has only been a couple of months. If we put 50hrs per year on the boats, I would change impellers every 50 hours (annually) but see no need to change $50 impellers every other week when they don’t sit and degrade. I change tranny fluid every other oil change and fuel filters every third oil change (how often do you change tranny fluid or fuel filters on your vehicles compared to oil?).

 

I change the spark plugs once a year (300-400hrs) but I doubt that is actually needed. I keep spare belts handy to change when one starts to look worn, but don't change them solely based on a certain number of hours. My 200 has 920hrs and the belt still looks new, so I have never changed it.

 

Point being, necessarily maintenance is a function of both time and hours, other than oil, which is truly just a function of how many engine revolutions.

[Horton]

@brettmainer using Shell Rotella 15-40 T4 in ProStar?

[brettmainer]

@Horton, yes

[vtmecheng]

We spoke with an Ilmor engineer about some of the maintenance. They ran tests on 50 vs 75 hr oil changes and found that waiting until 75 hr actually resulted in noticeable wear of internal components, especially bushings. I have to wonder if the lower oil volume of the 6L has something to do with it. 4.5 quarts isn’t much for a modern engine.

[ScottScott]

@brettmainer Are they really recommending conventional 15-40 on the newer engines? Don't know if it would be different but for our '17 5.7 but they recommend and I use Mobile 1 5w30 full synth, and for trans the Shell Rotella 15w40 T4.

[Mastercrafter]

@ScottScott I called Ilmor last year and they said use Rotella T4 15-40 in both engine and trans for 5.7L. The manual for one year says Penzoil 5-30 synthetic, and a later year says Rotell 15-40. Wonder when they’ll settle. Ha.

[JackQ]

I seriously doubt for a boat the used regularity, a 75hr change which is about 3,000 mile of use in a truck or car, would cause premature wear. For the casual boater who may not put 50 hrs in a year as oil dilution would be a factor. Do sure what bushing would be wearing and the rocker arm bushes are the only ones the come to mind, and typical are good for 500K in a vehicle.

[brettmainer]

@vtmecheng, I’d bet the oil the Ilmor engineer was referring to was conventional, not the synthetic.

 

I follow what PCM and Ilmor recommend for their respective boats (even though they are the exact same base engines), but I suspect either oil in either boat would be just fine.

[chrislandy]

My semi educated guess on the engine hours per filter change: The filters are high flow as per typical race engines, this generally means the filters don't filter out the smaller particulates akin to a road filter that has 20+k miles between oil changes. Add to that the high load and highish rpm and potentially high oil temps that these boats tend to see, the oil is used to suspend the smaller particulates and therefore you need to swap out the oil more often. I.e. sacrificing oil longevity and higher filtration for more oil flow and shorter oil changes.

[vtmecheng]

My mistype, meant rings (piston) sorry about that. I should add that we told the engineer that we exclusively use the boat for slalom, no casual boating. Our 2021 takes the synthetic Rotella 15-40 and that’s what we use. He said use for slalom is hard on an engine and this one is designed more like a race car. That’s why maintenance is more frequent. In the end, do what you want. I’d rather not chance it and just follow their recommendations.

[dbutcher]

@vtmecheng, did the engineer say why slalom is hard on an engine? Perhaps more high RPM's than other uses?