Can someone explain the "hours" calculator on a boat engine?

[Hoffer]

Posting this for my brother who is looking for a boat. One of the boats he is looking at has an "hours" indicator on the engine.

So, I have a few questions. Is there a way to find out what models and makes and years etc...of boat engines have these?

2nd and probably most importantly, how is this calculated?

For example, is it simply the "hours" the engine is on? If so, does that really tell a person much? For example, lets say someone lives at the lake. They have their boat on the lift and use it to slow troll back and forth by their lake place all day long for 8 hours. Then take a different example. Lets say you have a resort owner up North and they are on a large lake and they buzz around at pretty much full speed/full RPM's all day long for that same 8 hours. Do both engines say "8 hours" ??

if so, then is that really telling us much about the "life of the engine"?

Last...how many hours on an engine is considered "high" ??

Thanks!

Hoffer

[Valv]

The hourmeter on PCM/ECM or any gauge is caunted every time the ignition is on, regardless of use or handling.

Example, if you forget the ignition key on for 5 hours, it will add 5 hours to the counter. There is no reset, rewind, etc. once it's marked on meter it will stay forever.

It is the same for any vehicle also, regardless if you raced it all it's life, or drove it only on sundays.

[DTro]

and if the motor was rebuilt or replaced, and it wasn't documented properly the hour meter is basically worthless.

[Hoffer]

Thanks Valv!!

So, are they really useful then to gauge how much a motor has been used?

Doesnt seem to me like I would rely on it much.

[Valv]

They are useful for the majority, but you don't know what kind of use that is since there's no other measuring method to combine with.

Example, my truck can have 100k miles and 10,000 hours, or 100k miles and 4000 hours, that could tell you I idled a lot, in the first case, or I traveled a lot in a city. The second case could be I only traveled interstates, and no idling.

I honestly have noticed many motors with huge amount of hours running better than some with very few of them. Many issues with outboards is they don't get used much, they barely warm up, travel few yards, usually 1/2 or full throttle, then shut off. This maybe twice a year.

On the other side I rather buy a motor with 200 hours than one with 4500.

Also, any shop that replaces/rebuilds a motor with hour meter should leave notice of the rebuild/replacement. Same as if they replace the ECM/PCM, it should be noted on motor somewhere that there is a discrepancy of hours. But unfortunately for many reasons, definitely legitimate, this doesn't happens sometimes, and you have a meter that is completely false

[Transporter]

They are usefull to some degree, if I recall correctly my outboards will record and store percent of total time at idle, wide open throttle and time in between the two, but I'm not about to buy the machine to read them. On my diesel boats they just tell total time the ignition is on, but we never leave the key switch on if the engines are'nt running, we keep track of all of our maintenance intervals using the hourmeters. If an engine has high hours it is worth a few questions from the buyer but there is nothing better than a good visual inspection to determine overall condition, obvious problems and a good feel for how the boat was cared for.

[Hoffer]

Great feedback guys!

1. Would a 1997 engine with 410 hours be considered "high"?

2. I have a 2003 mercury 75HP. My boat is still in storage...but when I get it back do you know if this particular engine has the hour counter on it? I would just be curious to know how many mine has.

Thanks for all the input so far!

Hoffer

[Transporter]

No not at all, average hours per year for recreational use is about 100 hours and boats in this region typicaly are well under that. Even if someone fishes 5 days a week it is unlikely the motor is running continuously for hours a day while they fish.

As far as your outboard, I don't know, if it computer controlled and EFI or DFI most likely it's in there, if carbureated, most likely not. You have to have a scan tool w/Mercury software to retrieve the info so a trip to the dealer is needed and there will be a nominal charge.

[SkunkedAgain]

I have a 2009 Suzuki 4-stroke that I bought new. I don't have a kicker motor as I think it's a needless expense for my purposes. However, my boat puts along at the lowest speed a lot when I'm fishing. It also goes at higher speeds as I cruise back and forth around Vermilion. If I ever sell it it will show very high hours but I only use it once or twice a month tops from April-October.

To me the more telling sign of a motor is how it and the boat look. That usually tells you more about how the seller maintained the engine than you can get from just analyzing the hours.

[Transporter]

How do you figure it will show very high hours if you only use it a couple times a month? The boat he mentioned shows roughly 400 hours in 15 years, that's under 30 hours per year. The vast majority of recreational boats in this area would probably be very similar. If you really think about the total time per fishing trip that the average person's engine is actually running it's generally a pretty short time. Why do you think boats from this area will have a considerably higher value than those in southern areas where they can be used 12 months a year. As far as a visual inspection, that was already mentioned.