Engine Hours...?

[Dale I]

I would think by the nature of the term that there is should be an hour clock mounted somewhere that would indicate, among other things, when to change oil, etc.....but have never seen one on ANY of the half-horse boats that I've crewed on... How would ya hook one up?....and not knowing how many hours are on my 20+ year old boats engine.....its become a kind of 'ignorance is bliss' thing...and I probably don't WANT to know.

 

[Colin]

Planning on doing it now.

I have just had an hour meter given me and I plan to hook it into the ignition switch of my Yanmar figuring that if that switch is on then the engine is running.

 

[Mike I.]

Hour Meter

It might be better if you hook the hour meter to an oil pressure switch so that the meter is only powered when the engine is actually running. On our boats it may not be a big difference in "ignition on" time and "engine running" time but in some applications there is. There are times that the ignition will be on but the engine not running. On my M-25XP there is a low oil pressure warning (idiot light and buzzer) where the hour meter is connected.

 

[Gord May]

Ign

The oil pressure light (guage) is likely energised from the ignition "on". I can think of no reason (on a boat) to have the ignition on, but engine off ("accessory").

 

[Larry W.]

engine hours

Why don't you just keep a small notebook near the helm or write in the log your engine hours for a season.

 

[Paul Akers]

Engine Log

For eight years I have kept an engine log to track hours. I always knew when to perform any scheduled maintenance. I had bought an hour meter to install back then, but never got around to installing it (Talk about procrastination). This prompted me to keep the log. But the log also serves as a cruising log and I'm glad that I kept it.Finally, this year, I installed the hour meter. I have continued to keep those hours in the log, also. It was an easy install. I pulled the control panel, removed the whistle and let it hang behind the console so that I can still hear it. The round hour meter fit exactly into the whistle hole. Instructions told me how to connect it to the ignition switch and ground. And now I have accurate timing to refer to.