Can you tell how many hours are on a boat motor?

[Hoffer]

can you tell how many hours are on a boat motor? do all motors have an "hour counter" ?

I have a 2003 Mercury 75HP and was just curious to know how many hours I have?? is there a gauge anywhere on the inside?

Thanks-

Hoffer

[Deitz Dittrich]

not that I am aware of.. I have smart craft gauges on my boat which tell me, but I think you have to connect yours to a computer to tell, and even then not sure.

[Valv]

I believe a dealer can tell you if he connects a scanner to the motor computer.

[Hoffer]

Thanks guys..wonder what they would charge?

I am just curious to know how many hours are on my motor...but not sure if I will bring it in to find out.

They should install standard hour counters so that when someone is purchasing a used boat you have full disclosure - like miles on a car...

[gregg52]

e-tecs tell you

[bassNspear]

some motors you cant check the hours. I would contact a dealer!

[Valv]

Maybe wait until next spring, if you have to do some maintenance work to it, ask them if they can read the hours.

I know some dealers have it written in the work order, regardless if you ask or not, just like a car dealer writes the car mileage on every work order.

Also remember that the hours used are not the "perfect" method to understand how much the motor has been used.

Many people spend lots of hours trolling at idle, which adds hours but not much wear. Overall I would think outboard motors are used not much at full or near full speed, the majority of usage is idle or slow speed.

[Hoffer]

Valv-

I have to agree...take for example I just took my boat up to canada and fished for 12 hours a day for 4 days. I did alot of trolling around...inbetween it was full throttle getting from spot to spot - but the overall majority of "hours" were probably at speeds of less than 5mph. My engine has worked perfectly - knock on wood since I bought my boat last late Summer. I always just wondered how many hours were on it before I bought it....

[Ufatz]

Yep, a person probably uses their motor less than you might think-or at least most of us. I have owned my Fishawk and 115 Yamaha since 2004 and by our best calculations run the motor maybe 15 ACTUAL hours a summer!! And it looks it too.....same as it did when I drove it away from the dealer!! But I fish small lakes and only occasionally. It takes me 7-minutest get to the far end of my lake running at 4500rpms. Engine redlines at 6500, so you can see it;s not being worked hard. Take care of your equipment and it will take care of you.