Hours on boat

[grathwohlk]

I have a 2011 promo ProStar 197 WTT with a 5.7 Ilmor that is in awesome condition. I have maintained it meticulously and the boat has been used only for 3 event skiing/training on fresh water. It is dialed in and skis awesome. Most of the hours are due to tricks. The water pump was replaced at about 300 hrs and the fuel pump finally went out at 1300 hours. I didn't intend to sell this boat but because MC has changed hulls I decided to buy a Malibu for the next season and sell this boat. The boat now has 1450 hours. Prospective buyers inquire about the boat because the price is good; 29,900 but once they hear the hours I don't hear from them again. I would be interested to see what your experience is with high hour boats and what can realistically be expected before the engine needs to be replaced. The engine purrs like a kitten and there are no oil leaks or other issues to speak of.

[Jody_Seal]

1400 hours on a well maintained engine is nothing! Were the boat starts to see issues with those kind of hours is in other components. MC utilizes a composite rudder port insert that has been known to get sloppy and loose within 500 hours. the Hurth transmission is the week link in the drive train. 1400 hours on the strut bushing is a lot. MC utilizes a lip seal in the their shaft log this probably needs replaced. At this time we really have not any long term knowledge of catalytic exhaust life span. To me most of this kind of repairs is not a big thing however getting these repairs done can be expensive to the average Joe boater.

 

[Wish]

Over 100,000 on a car or 1000 on a boat seems to be the buyers run away point. Would have been mine had I not seen/driven/skied @OBs boat.

[Kelvin]

I'm with @OB and @Jody_Seal on this one. Bought a 2011 SN200 6.0L last year with just over 1000 hours for a price I couldn't believe. Wasn't necessarily looking for a new boat, but jumped on the opportunity. As it turns out, the boat was Matt Rini's team boat that was never titled and came with the full PCM new boat warranty. Used the warranty to replace the circulating water pump at 1100 hours and will take it in again this winter for a few other minor things. I have no reservations about buying a well maintained high hour boat. From the sounds of this thread, I will be keeping it for a long time. :)

[DanE]

A few years back I skied a SN 196 with over 6000 hrs on it, it ran just fine and neither the Engine or tranny had been repaired or replaced. Properly maintained 1000 hrs is nothing, and as @Jody_seal Points out those kind of hrs Only would make minor service work neccesary(strut bushings,steering cables etc.)

[JackQ]

Most cars average about 35mph or less over their life, so 1,000 hours is equivalent to 35K miles. So 1,000 or 2,000 hours is not near end of life, in college we put over 1,800 on our boat in one year with no issues.

 

Skiing does involve a lot more starting and stopping than auto use which could cause some increase wear but the type of use the boat may have a bearing on how you should view the hours, most boats used in a ski school type setting (vice a ski club or personal use) will have an inordinate amount of time at idle, as the engine is often at idle when the skier is given instruction. You can scan the ECU and determine how many hours were recorded at under 1,000 rpm.

 

[grathwohlk]

Thanks all. That is what I was thinking as well. There was some water in the engine well so several hundred hours ago I had the rear shaft seal replaced as it is supposed to be dry and while the shaft was out asked the mechanic to replace the strut bushings. The mechanic said the shaft alignment was perfect and the bushings were great. Jody, good call on the rudder port b/c that's where the water was coming in. So if anyone wants a great boat for a great price let me know.

[DW]

There are several items that are significantly more damaging on an engine that hitting the 1000 hour mark, but I concur that people tend to feel that 1000 hours is an end of life number.

I would be more interested in knowing: How many impeller failures & how hot did it get, was the boat ever used in salt water, if stored in cold climates what was the winterization process & how often was the routine service done. As Jody notes, many other items are the real service needs.

[behindpropellers]

My wife's SUV has 340 hours and 11k Miles on it. FYI.

[grathwohlk]

@DW Boat had one episode at around 300 hours where it went into safe mode after heating up to around 200. Replaced the impeller but still heated up when I started it so my boat mechanic thought the water pump was not working and he replaced it. I have not had any other Impeller failures and they have been changed every 300 hundred hours. Boat has been used exclusively on fresh water private water ski lakes and is located in South Texas at San Marcos River Ranch. Never have winterized it but I have an automatic engine heater during the winter months and when it get below the 40's. Routine service was done at the same time impellers were changed.

 

Thanks to the several folks who have emailed me separately to discuss pricing.

[skibumm]

Pushing 4500 hours on my boat 94 centurion and it runs as well as it it did the day I bought it. I have replaced a thermostate once and the impeller maybe 5 times. Regular OCD maintenence. I would not even hesitate on a 1000 hr boat if I were in the market for a new one.

[swc5150]

I'd be cautious equating vehicle mileage to boat engine hours. The same small block chevy is not running 3,000+ rpms in an automobile nearly as much as a boat.

[ForrestGump]

True. But then again, less than 25% of a 3 event boats time is spent at anything above idle. We downloaded the history on a 200 a while back and it spent 78% of it's runtime at less than 1000rpm.

[DW]

@grathwohlk: limp mode can be a saving grace, 200 degrees is not an issue as cars run warmer although with a pressurized system and antifreeze that raises the boiling point well past 212 deg F. I would surmise the new impeller simply was not correctly priming itself, that can and does happen, but better safe than sorry. Fresh water should keep the nasty's from building up in the cooling system.

 

@Shane: did you plot an RPM histogram? Would love to see that, I would guess four spikes: idle (most), trick rpm, slalom rpm, jump rpm.

[Razorskier1]

I had 1250 on my MC 197 when I sold it recently. I got three calls on the boat when I put it on ski-it-again. The first guy thought the hours were a misprint, and wasn't interested. The second guy understood that I took good care of the boat and he bought it. The third guy wanted to buy it but it was already sold. I think you have to look at the individual boat, its history, and its owner(s). Some high hour boats are a steal. Heck, the guy I sold it to will probably only put on 50 hours or less a year, so he's got a lot more years on that boat!

[LeonL]

Just for info, my Chevy truck has 58,000 miles and has a factory hour meter that shows 2600 hours.

[thager]

@LeonL Must be parade miles!

[swc5150]

FYI as well, I just traded my Tahoe with 238k miles on it, and I had just under 6,000 hours...obviously I used it for a LOT of commuting, as that's roughly an average of 40mph.

[addkerr]

Our 06' Malibu Responce has 3,700hrs on the clock. Had since new. Just putting some nearly new heads on 340 monsoon. Goes better than our 10' with 320 in it. Question is, is it worth anything now.

[DCinVA]

I would suggest putting the number of hours in your add. It is the first question everyone wants to know, well perhaps second, price being first.

High hours does not scare me at all, I think that folks who know boats very well, as most people here do, would not hesitate to buy a boat with 1,000 plus hours. EFI has made a huge difference in longevity of engines, especially ring wear. No more raw fuel washing the oil from the rings.

[ForrestGump]

Hard to compare vehicle hours as some are incrementing the hour meter any time the key is on, regardless of if the engine is running. My F150, though, only counts engine running hours and with 27k on it, 900 engine hours have passed.

[Dacon62]

In general I would think that a vehicle typically runs at half the rpm and has considerably more 'unloaded' run time than a boat making a direct hour vs. mileage comparison unfair.

[Dacon62]

The Great White North buyers tend to shy away from anything approaching 500 hours. There are usually a few good low hour boats on the market to pick from because of our short season.

[andjules]

The other thing about Great White North car buyers is that resale drops at 100,000 kilometers (only a little over 60,000 miles) - power of the 'round number' (vs facts or science).