Engine Hours - how to tell on a 196

[GSchmid]

Like everyone else in the world with a 2001/2002 Ski Nautique and the digital gauges, my hourmeter/tachometer (and speedo) have long since given up the ghost. So this weekend I replaced the Tach with a built in hourmeter. My boat is now NEW once again :wink: . But seriously, the display hasn't been readable in years and I don't really know how many hours are on the boat. i know it's a 4 digit number that starts with 1. Is there a way to read the engine hours from the ECM? Would a boat dealer be able to do this? I was using my PP hourmeter in the past, for oil changes and stuff, but I don't know how accurate that is. It's a Ford GT40 5.8... thanks

[skier2788]

Anyone with diacom software should be able to.pull the hours from the ECM for your

[dvskier]

The GT 40 engine hours cannot be determined from the ECM. GM engines can be read though.

[jjackkrash]

On a GT-40, I don't think the ECM tracks hours. At least that's what I have read on CCfan.

 

http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=33520&title=gt40-engine-hours

[dvskier]

Absolutely correct @jjackkrash .

[BraceMaker]

PP keeps fine hours - our runabout doesn't have an hour meter - one of those cheapo small engine ones with a spark plug lead works fine for doing oil changes - use auto body mounting tape and stick it to the bracket for the throttle cable which stays pretty cool and it works fine and you never need to move it to fix stuff.

 

[markn]

My 2004 limited with hour meter in the gauge was designed to end at 1000 hours. Searched all over and was not able to find a replacement. In addition, I ended up replacing the engine. To keep track of hours, I installed an hour meter (the old VDO type) under the dash. In addition, I keep track of total hours on boat, hours on new engine and hours on meter. When the mechanic came to check out the boat, he asked why I have 3 different hour numbers on the oil filter. Now he knows and when I sell the boat, I will have accurate numbers and records to share with the prospective buyer.

[oldjeep]

Does the PP hour meter actually track run hours or key on hours?

[BraceMaker]

@oldjeep it seems to be with RPM.

[keithh2oskier]

@oldjeep my understanding and I read this along time ago but I think the PP hour meter only took readings at specific intervals ie 10-15 min. What that may mean is over the course of 1000 hours there might be some discrepancy between pp and the true hours but it would be generally pretty close and probably within a few percent of actual.

[Jody_Seal]

No way of extracting digital information from ECM/ fomoco marine. It does not log the information. Pretty basic EFI system.

 

Better way of tackling the hour issue is have a compression and leak down tests performed on engine. Does it have perfect pass ? Perfect pass will log hours.

[Jmoski]

In my old 2001 SN that had the dreaded gauges, I rolled the old hours onto the new gauge by leaving it connected to a battery over the winter, but yes with the GT40 block any buyer is at the mercy of sellers honesty in regards to hours. The PP gauge can be replaced as well...

[fsts2k]

Since you already pulled them you might be able to temporarily fix them enough to get the hours pulled off and write-down where the boat is as of now.

 

My gauges come and go, but this weekend I was able to take a picture of both the PP hours and the engine hours. I need to figure out if I can reset the PP hours but at least now I know the delta between them.

 

Here is a link to a temp fix, looks like the ribbon cable gets loose.

 

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/forum/nautique-topics/maintenance-technical-discussion/26323-teleflex-digital-rpm-and-mph-digital-gauge-repair-circa-2002-sante

 

[GSchmid]

Thanks all for the input. I guess the answer is.. we'll never know how many hours my beautiful '02 Ski Nautique has on it... But the context behind the question isn't for resale, but more because I want to know the truth! My hourmeter crapped out years ago and I've been just measuring "relative hours" using PP. I've changed the PP module twice. Once many years ago ('05?) and then again last year upgrading to Stargazer. The first time, I don't remember typing in hours (may have?). But at that point in the boat's life, the primary hourmeter worked and I figured I'd never need that layer of redundancy. Last year when I put Stargazer in the PP said ~973 hrs (or something like that), but I could clearly see the hourmeter said: 1---.X

 

So I plugged in 1000 hours which was the best I could guess from the missing digits. This was last June. 2019. Well... I'll be damned, in the second half of 2019 and first half of 2020, I put 174 hrs on my boat - according to PP (now at 1174). Not unreasonable, but seemed high to me. In fact according to oil change records (I always write the hours on the Oil Filter), I put 100 hrs on between Sept '19 and March '20! Which is on pace for over 200 hrs/yr. Again, it's possible, we skied through the winter here in San Diego, but this is double from any previous season... so I'm starting to question the PP hourmeter... Anyway, now I have a second hour meter, but it say 2.1 hours. I guess we'll never know :)