The average marine diesel engine will run for more than three times that long and log an average 5000 hours under the same conditions. Boat hours generally translate to between 10 to 30 miles per one hour of use.
For example 1235 hours on an engine equates to approximately 74100 miles.
How do you check the hours on a boat motor. How Do You Check Boat Engine Hours. Engine hours can be checked by looking at the hour meter for older engines. Engines built in the last 20 years will store the hours on the engine computer and can be read via the gauge or a diagnostic computer.
There are three ways to check hours on a Mercury Outboardengine diagnostics a gauge on the boats console or an after-market engine hour meter. Some boaters rely on the old-school method of pen and paper logging. We believe manual logging has a lot of value but today is best coupled with electronic methods.
Inspect the engine for an installed hour meter. The meter can usually be found above the engine or somewhere around the steering area of the boat. The numbers on the meter show how many hours the engine has been in use.
If there is no hour meter one should be. Well if the boat is equipped with electronic fuel injection which has been available in the marine market for about 15 to 20 years you can tap into the engine management system which will have a reliable record of the engine hours. One of the electronic tools that can help with that is one Ive mentioned before the Rinda TechMate.
If the boat you are. Cant tell the hours per se but you can check for hi time wearYou may have to remove the lower pully and install 3 bolts instead. Remove the dist cap rotate motor untill timing mark is visable in the index plateon the balancer.
For Engine hours click on Data Logger and then click on Engine Operating Hours according to engine speed If you wish to save the hours click F2 to save the file it saves as a csv file or a Comma Separated Value file and an xls filein a nutshella file Excel can read or most any data application like Notepad wordpad etc. If a boat has electronic fuel injection you can look in the engine management system. This will give you a reliable record of the engine hours.
An accurate representation of engine hours can be essential if you plan on buying a used motor. Boat Hours versus Miles. Boat hours generally translate to between 10 to 30 miles per one hour of use.
Most marine engine manufacturers recommend an oil change every 50 engine hours. Our 1000 hour boat serviced every 50 hours would have had the same 20 oil changes. Similar levels of wear can be assumed in this example.
Some newer vehicles have an engine hour meter. Here is a picture of the hour meter on one of our shop trucks. Mercury Yamaha and Suzuki all break down the hours in 1000-rpm increments from idle to 6000 rpm depending on the motors range.
This gives you an idea of how the motor was used - lots of trolling or lots of time at wide-open throttle. A typical use pattern should show about 40 percent of the hours below 1000 rpm. The meter can usually be found above the engine or somewhere around the steering area of the boat.
The numbers on the meter show how many hours the engine has been in use. If there is no hour meter one should be installed by a marine mechanic. Subsequently question is what is considered a lot of hours on a boat motor.
When I had a Df90. A few years ago now from memory for boats that dont have an hour meter on the rev counter the indication of the hours was done by the first 3 seconds when ignition switched on the rev counter will show the hours before starting engine. Again from memory per 100rpm indicated every 10hrs run so if rev counter goes 200rpm thats your first.
You can take it to a dealer and they will hook it to the buds system and tell you for a slight charge i assume. Then buy a hour meter and install it yourself. The average marine gasoline engine runs for 1500 hours before needing a major overhaul.
The average marine diesel engine will run for more than three times that long and log an average 5000 hours under the same conditions. The number of hours that a marine engine runs is very dependent on the amount and quality of maintenance over the years. For the total operating hours you can have that displayed continuously either.
- on a Yamaha Command Link tachometer Im assuming you dont already have that or. - on a NMEA 2000 capable GPSchartplotter. Now if you want to see the total operating hours broken down by 1000 rpm ranges -.
Small plane engines must be rebuilt in the range of 1200-1600 hours depending on make and they are usually well maintained. You can do a test diagnostic and find out some data or even pull a head. Also you can put clean oil in it with new filter and run it several hours to see if it remains clean.
Also check old oil for any metal filings. Multiply the amount of hours on your engine by 60. Use the number you come up with to estimate how many miles are on your engine.
For example 1235 hours on an engine equates to approximately 74100 miles. Engine oil-life monitors that track engine hours rather than mileage take into account idling time rpm and other factors that aren. I run an older boat and still use a simple points and condenser ignition.
The hour meter portion of the tach requires a signal from the ignition system in order to record hours. In other words simply turning the key on wont record any time on the meter. The engine actually has to be running and the tachometer reading engine RPM.
The total hours of operation for both style tachometers cannot be reset. The operational hours on the Multifunction Tachometer are measured when the engine is running. The operational hours for the Command Link Tachometer are received directly from the ECU computer on the engine.
Both tachometers have a trip meter function that can be reset. Check for telltale cooling water or water exiting with the exhaust every time you start the engine. Replace water pump impellers every two years.
Proper maintenance and basic knowledge of your engines cooling system will ensure. An engine hour meter automatically records the number of hours your boats engine operates in the same way an odometer records the number of miles your car moves. If you dont have an engine hour meter simply start your log with zero hours and add the total hours of operation each time you start and shut down the engine.
First check to see if your boat includes the trailer by clicking on the brand andor model note under the manufacturer heading. This will determine whether the value of the trailer is included. If the value is not included simply click on the tab for Boat Trailers.
Then select the year and the length of the trailer.