Question on Engine Hours

[Geoffreykwright]

Hi - I've got a 34 Mk II - Hull 1494 (year 2000).  She's got a Universal M35B.  I've now got 975 hours on the engine.  Is this a lot?  I've been pretty good (I think) at maintaining it as did the previous owner (I believe).  All freshwater sailing (if that makes a difference)

Is this a lot of hours for a 19 YO Catalina?  I do motor more often than I'd like, but many times where I have a destination in mind and little to no wind.

Thanks in advance.

[KWKloeber]

50 hrs a year?  She's still in diapers.

[Ken Juul]

M25xp 1990 I'm at 2300+ engine still runs strong.  Worry more about gaskets drying out causing leaks.

[Stu Jackson]

I have 3,600 on a 1986 boat.  100-150 per year seems "average." 

[Ron Hill]

Geo : I didn't change engines until mine had 5,000 hrs!!

A thought

[dw]

Where do you find all of these working engine hour meters?  I recently finished looking at many different boats few had a working engine hour meter.  I looked at a couple of Pearsons none had a working engine hour meter.  I did purchase a C34 that has been repowered with a Yanmar in the 2003 still no working engine hour meter.  Don't let them get hot and change the oil regular they will go a long time.

[britinusa]

The 'hours' meter was not working when we purchased out boat. I installed a digital hour meter after doing some engine work (new instruments, new harness, new Injectors & tubes, rebuild injector pump, etc. etc.) The new Tach did not have the hour meter (about 1/2 the price)

The meter is connected in parallel to the fuel pump, I figured that if the pump is running the engine is probably running too.

The meter is installed at the Nav table.

Paul

[scgunner]

      The hour meter on my tach stopped working at about 1500hrs, like Paul I installed a meter in the Nav station and just made a notation in the log to explain any discrepancy down the road. When I need a total hour count I use the number on the new meter plus 1500hrs.

[KWKloeber]

Put a jumper to it when you are off the boat until it catches up!

Just fer everybody's info, the new (tach)HMs where the Alt signal advances them (rather than 12v) can also be made to catch up using a cheap wall adapter (120vac > 12vac.)

[Ron Hill]

Guys : Here is what I found on age and engine hours. My oil was faithfully changed every 100hrs and /or end of the season.
I ran into a seal failing. I also know of 2 other owners that have had a seal fail.  Mine just happened to be the rear crank seal while theirs was the front crank seal.  The big difference is that the front seal can be changed on the engine while still in the boat, while the rear seal requires the engine to be removed.

So you can watch the engine hours, but also be a where that older age will catch up with the engine seals!! 

A few thoughts

[captran]

Ours is a 1997.  It had about 266 hours when we bought her in 2001.  The hour meter on the tach stopped at 388 during our second trip to the Bahamas. I found a place in Marsh Harbor that had a stand alone hour meter that I mounted on a bracket attached to the underside of the board the fridge compressor is mounted on.  When I fuel, it's easy to open that locker and see the hours.  at the end of this years cruise, I have about 2100 hours on the new meter.  I also motor more that I prefer, and our typical summer cruise is 8-10 weeks, so that's about 2400 total hours on a boat that is 22 years old, just a smidge over 100 hours per year.  Seems like we put more hours on the engine cruising in the Northwest than when we were in the Bahamas.

[Jeff Kaplan]

Having been involved in the trucking industry and dealing with diesel mechanics most of my working career, I'm a sales rep now, I know that around 500,000 miles, big diesel engines under go a rebuild. Will our dinky 3 cyl diesels last that long, who knows. What I know, is that if you keep your oil and filters changed regularly, depending on your geographic location and use, and use good fuel with conditioner, the engine will last a long time. As was stated in a previous post, on the older engines, check for gasket leakage. Repair or replace what needs to be done, water pumps, impellers,belts, heat x, ect., your diesel will run on.

[Geoffreykwright]

Thanks to everyone for the input...

[Ron Hill]

Jeff : I don't doubt the truck engines last that many miles, but they are not idled (off) for a week at a time nor put up in the winter for 5 or 6 month.  Not running a diesel and also being installed at an angle -  doesn't help either!!

A thought

[Jeff Kaplan]

Understood Ron,  that's why I said, who knows how long our marine engine will last. But what I did say, was that if you take care of the engine, it will last a long time.