Thoughts on Engine Hours...

[wakescene]

So I have a motor with bad compression...I have to get into the teardown to see what the real problems it. This will determine what I actually have to do.

After speaking with my local dealer about this, he didn't feel that 1060 hours was all that much. In our talk the scenario cam up that, if it's just a valve issue, having the heads redone should be sufficient and the motor would be good for another 500+ hours (assuming the low-end is not leaking or has some other issue.

What are everyones thoughts on hours? is 1000 a lot, or would 2000 be a lot???

If you look at your car's engine, it runs for many 1000's of hours with no real issues. I understand that the scenario is not exactly the same, but there is little worry there, why should it be any different for a boat engine.

Thoughts, info, experience? Post what you know.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Double D]

I have always heard that 2000 hours is like 100,000 miles on a car. I think.... My engine has about 1100 hours and still running strong and compression is good in all cylinders.

[dmayer84]

I had to do a full rebuild at 170 hours, but that was a bit out of the norm.

[shunra]

Yea the load on a boat engine is much higher than on a truck. So it is hard to compare hours to hours.

The way I think of it is like this. Manufacturers recommend an oil change every 50hrs in a boat. How often do you change your oil in your truck? 3000 miles? So using that math 1000hrs on a boat would be about equal in wear and tear to 60,000 miles in a truck.

Not sure how accurate that is but that is how I think about it.

[BrianM]

If your problems are head related I would most definitely make the head repairs and leave the bottom end alone. 1000 hours is some hours but with good maintenance the bottom end ought to be good for double.

[Jorski]

Also there are hard hours and easy hours.

My boat has 1500 hours on an LT1 that is as strong as the day I got it nine years ago. While we ski a fair amount, a ton of those hours are just putting down the lake!

For example ski school hours would be much more intense. Or worse would be a jackass owner who didn't do maintenance or give a crap about his boat.

[thatsmrmastercraft]

Yea the load on a boat engine is much higher than on a truck. So it is hard to compare hours to hours.

The way I think of it is like this. Manufacturers recommend an oil change every 50hrs in a boat. How often do you change your oil in your truck? 3000 miles? So using that math 1000hrs on a boat would be about equal in wear and tear to 60,000 miles in a truck.

Not sure how accurate that is but that is how I think about it.

I would agree that this is a pretty close estimate.

[mikeg205]

There's many motors out there with 2000 plus... it all depends how well maintained and how often oil changed and if there was every an over heat situation. Friend lost an engine at 1008...there's a thread here.

[wakescene]

Also there are hard hours and easy hours.

My boat has 1500 hours on an LT1 that is as strong as the day I got it nine years ago. While we ski a fair amount, a ton of those hours are just putting down the lake!

For example ski school hours would be much more intense. Or worse would be a jackass owner who didn't do maintenance or give a crap about his boat.

We do everything. Wakeboard, wakesurf, waterski, tube, drive around...The wakeboarding could have up to 2100lbs of ballast, the wakesurfing, a little less or the same.

Maintenance has been done by me, and it not a concern, I do regular oil changes and keep things clean and (over)lubed as needed for a saltwater environment. I Replaced the oilpan a few years back, and the lower end looked very good. (about 800 hours). I am hoping for just an issue with the heads, it will reduce my expense dramatically!

[MC209]

I find it hard to believe that 1000 hours is like a 100,000 miles. or even 1000 hours is like 60,000 miles. I do know there are some hardcore boaters out their. but the majority prolly do not have over 1000 hours on their boat, little own have 2000! so I have notta clue on a good conversion!

[bill-d-c]

I've thought about that alot, how to convert miles to hours (or visa-versa). The thing is, you drive you car/truck at 40 MPH for one hour, the RPM might be around 1300-1400, drive your boat around at 40 MPH for an hour, the RPM will be around 4000. The engine will wear out much faster with an average RPM of say 3500, that it would at 1800. Anyway, I have a friend with a 98 Prostar with the LT-1 and 2100 hours on it (he bought it new), he says it runs as good today as the day he brought it home. I think it depends on use (RPM's), and maintenance. With 1000 hours on it, that don't seem like enough to warrent major work yet.
Bill

[wakescene]

Valued argument in my book, all relative to the use. And good to see someone with over 2k hours, it's a milestone for sure.

[jfw432]

Definitely relative to use... Knowing the engines history is worth more than knowing the hour count. There are people on my lake who idle up and down the lake for hours and hours. There are other guys who run WOT for hours and hours.

Even if run solely in a slalom course, it could vary drastically. One guy I know will let the boat idle after he drops you at one end so the boat runs for 20-30 minutes but only above idle for 5-6 minutes. Another guy turns his boat off for 2-3 minutes after you drop at each end and only runs the boat from pull up to drop which is roughly 1 minute or less. Even if those guys drove the boats on the same lake for the same number of passes through the course, the guy who idles all the time would have massively more hours but almost no extra wear.

[wakescene]

funny you mention this...We have a ton of No Wake Zones in south Jersey. It's a 15min idle just to get to my house from the channel (Intercostal Waterway), therefore it's 15min out just to get going towards our wakeboard spot. I have TONS of idle time, we almost never turn the boat off when we go out, it's idle idle idle all over the place between riders and travel.

I would guess that we are up at speed for 2.5hrs of a 6 hour day out in the boat. This is between Wakeboarding, Wakesurfing, and moving from channel to channel. The rest of the time is all idling. In a typical Sat or Sunday I may only turn off the boat once, maybe twice if we decide that we are going to go swim. I'd venture that a good half of my hours are idling.

[tockit]

Yea the load on a boat engine is much higher than on a truck. So it is hard to compare hours to hours.

The way I think of it is like this. Manufacturers recommend an oil change every 50hrs in a boat. How often do you change your oil in your truck? 3000 miles? So using that math 1000hrs on a boat would be about equal in wear and tear to 60,000 miles in a truck.

Not sure how accurate that is but that is how I think about it.

I'm not sure I agree with this analogy. I do agree with the person who posted that its all about how the boat was maintained.

One plus for these engines is that the RPM's are lower than they would be in an automotive application.

On the downside, a lot of boat engines sit idle for long periods of time between uses, which isn't good for anything mechanical, possibly leading to premature wear during starting, etc.

I think a boat engine that's ran every weekend, with regular oil changes, etc, is better off than one that sits in a garage for years, being used once every 2 or 3 years.

Just my $0.02.....