Why Checking Boat Motor Hours Is Important

Checking the runtime hours your boat engine operates is essential to its performance and longevity, as the hours provide guidelines for keeping up with a routine maintenance schedule.

Hour meters not only tell you when the next maintenance cycle is due, but logged hours help you document service records to prove you’ve taken good care of the motor when it comes time to sell your boat. Many boats come equipped with an hour meter to track engine hours, and most modern outboards from the last two decades now come with their own built-in hour meters. 

How Many Hours is A Lot for a Boat Motor?

Hours logged for a boat motor isn’t as straightforward as one might think. When comparing the age of the motor to the hours on it, a low amount of hours doesn’t necessarily mean the engine was well maintained. For example, a 20-year-old outboard with only 200 hours sounds great if it was well-maintained. 

However, if the outboard was neglected, it doesn’t matter if its runtime is low for its age. Think of it like low mileage on an older car: just because the mileage is low for its age doesn’t mean the car isn’t a lemon. Knowing how many hours the outboard has logged is a great guideline for how much use the motor got, but it doesn’t say much about how well it was cared for, including whether it was stored properly during the offseasons and prepared for every new boating season.

As for how many hours is considered a lot for a boat engine, there’s really no straightforward answer, as it all depends on how the motor was cared for and used. Some would say 3,000-4,000 hours is a lot. However, well-maintained outboards have been known to last for up to 8,000 hours of use. 

Check the Service Manual for Maintenance Schedule

Knowing your boat engine’s hours helps you determine if the motor is due for regularly scheduled maintenance. Read your boat motor’s service manual for guidance on when to perform maintenance based on engine runtime hours, but always do the 100-hour service no matter what. 

How to Check Boat Motor Hours

There’s nothing wrong with the old-school way of logging hours on paper, but most boat motors manufactured in the last couple of decades track the hours for you. Modern boats also typically come equipped with hour meters you can check in case your engine doesn’t have its own run-time tracker. 

Hour meters are a standard feature of most boats built since the 1990s, and they can typically be found above the motor, or somewhere on the dash or console of the boat. A boat’s hour meter runs from the voltage it gets the moment the ignition key is turned on, until it’s shut off, so it’s important to keep in mind that the hours on the motor may include time spent while the engine was turned on but not moving.

Some modern boats have hour meters that double as a speedometer or tachometer, while others may be found on a multi-function gauge. Older boats may come with an analog hour meter found in or underneath the boat dash. It’s important to note that analog meters are susceptible to being wound back, so beware of hour meter fraud. Also, keep in mind that if the hour meter gauge was replaced with a new one, all hours were reset back to zero. If that’s the case, there’s no way of telling how many real hours the motor has on it. 

The good news is most boat motors built in the last couple of decades log their own hours, and the hours can be determined through the manufacturer’s data. To get the most accurate reading on boat engine hours, hook the motor up to a computer and use the manufacturer’s proprietary software to get the readings.

Visit an Authorized Dealership

If you’re not sure about the accuracy of the hour meter data or simply don’t know how to check the hours, visit an authorized dealer to pull the engine runtime data for you. The dealer will use proprietary manufacturer software to access the runtime, and may only charge you for an hour of labor to get it done. This data from an authorized dealer is especially valuable if you’re buying a used boat, as it’ll tell you not only the boat motor’s runtime, but also give you a diagnostic check. 

If you bought or are buying a used boat from a private seller, make sure they provide a service history report that includes engine runtime. Ask for proof of service history, and find out if the hour meter was replaced at some point or if it came with the boat. If the hour meter is original, the engine runtime on it should be pretty accurate.

Another way to gauge the accuracy of engine hours if they seem unusually low for an older boat is to figure out if the hours and the age of the motor add up. One way to do this is to find the serial numbers on the motor to determine the year, make and model, and calculate whether the hours logged seem dubiously low.  

Even casual boaters typically log in at least 50-100 hours of use per year, and maintenance should be done after every 100 hours, so get the service history and compare it with the age of the motor to gauge how well it’s been maintained.

Do an Engine Compression Test

A compression test gives you an indication on how well or poorly the motor has been cared for. Hire a marine mechanic to do the compression test for you and give you diagnostics, or easily do it yourself if you don’t want to pay a mechanic.

Engine compression tests help paint a picture of how much wear the engine has endured. While the compression test won’t give you the runtime hours on the motor, it can provide an estimate based on wear-and-tear, since a worn engine will logically have more hours of use on it than a fresh motor.

Don’t Rely on Engine Hours Alone

While engine hour runtime data is useful for gauging wear on a boat engine, don’t rely solely on that information to make a purchasing decision. Remember that the hour meter on a boat only logs data from the time the gauge was installed, so if the hour meter was replaced at any point, the new meter started from zero and the data isn’t accurate. 

The best way to gauge the health of a boat engine is to get both its service history report, and a diagnostic report straight from the manufacturer’s proprietary software.