Engine hours?!?!

[jayjames]

hi, whats alot of engine hours on say the v8 5.7`s found in wakeboard boats and 4.3 mercruiser`s etc?? i suppose it depends on how it has been looked after ,.,., but in general!

[DBJTS]

It’s entirely down to type of use and maintenance 200 hours in salt water without ever changing the oil is a lot worse of a prospect than 800 hours in fresh water with regular servicing.

The general condition of a boat should give you a good insight in to how a boats been maintained, if the seller looks like he can’t afford the gas then he’s probably skimped on the maintenance.

In the UK I would say anything between 75-150 hours per year is what you would expect to find.

[rossl]

Our Indmar v8 has over 2000 hours on it now and is going strong, as its a 1991 its an average of 133 hours a year, i would rather have a high hour boat that has been well mantained, than a boat that has only done 20 hour a year, as the biggest killer of boats is sitting around doing nothing, as they say "use it or lose it".

As above It's all down to how it is looked after.

Also normally the bigger engines last longer as they are not as stressed during running, direct drive ski boats go on for ever, i can't say the same about sterndrive's (too many things to do, up/down/right/left/forward/reverse) thats asking to break!!!

Fresh water running also makes a big difference, but most ski boats never see the sea.

Cheers
ross

[saltwater_cowboy]

Yep its all down to servicing. My old MC done over 2500hrs before a rebuild and that was only really required as it sat un used for several years. The v8s are really strong engines and if serviced every 50hrs will run into 3000hrs easy.

I'd say the average hours for a boat in the uk is less than 50. Most of us on here run more than that but you regually see boats advertised with next to no hours at all. Plenty of people spend all that cash and leave it sitting on thier drive all summer long. Up the road from me is a real nice 2004 campion, wakeboard tower, speakers, lights etc and its been in the water once in the past 2 years!

You can generally tell by the overall condition of the boat and trailer how well its been looked after and if its been looked after then it should have been serviced regually.

[TRD]

I had a V6 4.3 w/ 433 hrs when I sold it and it ran fine. Never had any problems but I kept it up pretty good. I just bought a Tige w/ 462 hrs 2 months ago and I was wandering the same thing.

The v8s are really strong engines and if serviced every 50hrs will run into 3000hrs easy.

Other than engine oil, what type of maintenance would you need to do. This is my first wakeboard/ski boat. I just learned about this site, so I hope you don't mind me ask for you knowledge.

Dale

[rossl]

This what we do to our ski boat, Ford Indmar W v8 5.8L

Yearly Service Items:
Oil Castrol GTX Mag 10-40w
Oil Filter
Spark Plugs
Impellor + gasket
Transmittion oil
Fuel filter

Yearly Winterize Items
Fogging Oil
Antifreeze
Trailer Wheel Grease
Petrol Stabilizer (We don't as we have LPG)

Bi-Yearly Tune Up Items
Dist Cap (Tan)
Rotor
points+condensor
Plug Leads set

And also every couple of months use a whole can of WD40 over everything, then regrease all shifters etc. And change anything that looks worn, belts etc.

It's worth doing all the above as it means we get more water time and less fixing time.

Cheers
Ross