Most important Gauge to watch

[Motormaniac801]

Whats the most important gauge to watch on the cluster?

I hear people say "RPM", "oil", "water temp"...it cant be preference?

My boat (74 glastron with a 4cyl 140hp i\o MERC with the R series outdrive) runs great at full throttle and the temp sits right in the sweet spot, and water temp sits right in the sweet spot but my RPMs shoot to 6000rpm. This cant be good...but it hasnt done any "bad" that i can tell. needless to say, I dont crusie at 6000rpm for more than a min at a time. perhaps the calibration is off, bad gauge, or something.

 

[jtmarten]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

Fuel gauge.

j/k

Sounds like the tach is off, 6K sounds really high for that engine.

 

[seabob4]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

6 grand is really high! Need to do some TS'ing on that tach..Assuming tach gets fixed, engine temp first, then water pressure...

Scan your gauges about every 30 secs, just like you do in your vehicle...

 

[seabob4]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

BTW, what are the conditions that exist when your tach "shoots" to 6 grand?

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

For me the most important gauge is oil pressure.

Water temp gauge:
Your motor can live for quite awhile with no coolant at all, but will do damage eventully.

Gas gauge:
it will run until it runs out of gas, fill it up and go.

Volt gauge:
it will run with no alternator until the battery goes dead, Charge or change and go.

Oil Pressure:
Lose this and your engine is on its way out in 30 seconds, more than that and its time to drop some coin for a rebuild.
I have a gauge and a light on this.

 

[rbh]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

All, just scan back and forth occasionally.

 

[GatorMike]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

Just watch where you are going......do you watch your gauges when you dirve your car? You just look at them every now and then. I keep sayin boating ain't rocket science.

 

[Motormaniac801]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

it was reading 6k when i was at full throttle earlier today. engine sounds and runs great at full, but the tach says 6, seems way too high especially on glassy water with 1 other person on the boat.

Ill have to start looking into it seeing if i cant get some gauges that work.

 

[MRS]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

All, just scan back and forth occasionally.

Yup, all

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

6K - either you are underpropped or your hub is spinning.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

There are no "unnecessary" gauges. Some are just more important than others but whatever gauges your boat has should be monitored -- frequently. They indicate an immediate or impending problem. On a four stroke, loss of oil pressure is an engine killer. On any engine overheating is an engine killer. On any engine a non-functioning charging system cam leave you stranded. A water pressure gauge can tell you when an impeller change is needed or when then the impeller has failed. Waiting until it reads "zero" is a good way to kill an engine. A 6000 rpm reading on a tach may be good or it may be bad depending on the engine. The proper rpm reading is when you go wide open throttle with what you consider an average load the rpm indication is within the manufacturers recommended WOT rpm band. If it goes higher you need more prop. If it is lower than that you need less prop (or throw some weight overboard).

 

[DianneB]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

For just about anything mechanical I would say the most important is to LISTEN! If you are used to the sound under normal conditions, you will pick up most problems by a change in sound. Scanning all the instruments regularly is second.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

Cover your bases all the way around.

Oil - put a peizo alarm on the pressure side that activates at <10 psi. If the pressure goes out while underway, the alarm sounds to alert you.

Temp - S/A/A, but with a temp reading of 200 degrees.

Tach - put an adjustable rev limiter on the engine. It can't overrev with a built in limiter.

Fuel gauge - That's all you, my friend.

 

[45Auto]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

The most important gauge by far is the trim gauge. If your motor is not angled correctly, the vortifluxer valve could easily be causing your motor to rev too high, sometimes to 6000 RPM or more ......

 

[seabob4]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

GD Vortifluxer valve! Should've known!

Seriously, the real key is to keep an eye on your gauges. My Dad flew F-100/101/104s in the Air Force, you know how many gauges are on a fighter dash, they were taught to scan every 15-30 secs or so. We do the same with our cars and boats. Your engine will tell your RPM by sound. Your speed? Who really cares. But your temp gauge will give you an idea that your water pressure is down. Oil Pressure? Yeah, that's bad, but how often to you see breeches in the oiling system of your motor?

 

[BTMCB]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

Agree with the "scan them all" crowd.

 

[Stachi]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

6K - either you are underpropped or your hub is spinning.

way under propped,bad guage , or spinning hub at WOT,.. my best guess ...lol

 

[Stachi]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

uhmm.. scan them all, thats what they are there for....sheesh !
All of those systems need to be monitored.... you will know what the gauge was doing just before the problem occurred as well...very helpful when diagnosing a problem...

 

[Beefer]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

For just about anything mechanical I would say the most important is to LISTEN! If you are used to the sound under normal conditions, you will pick up most problems by a change in sound. Scanning all the instruments regularly is second.

My 'entry level' Bayliner Capri has no guages. Nope, not a one. And that's from the factory. My ears tell me whats going on. I do look back to make sure the motor is peeing like it's supposed to, but it's all about the sound.

But... a tach tells alot about whats going on, so that's my choice for an install this summer.

 

[seabob4]

Re: Most important Gauge to watch

Now that is "Entry Level"!