engine hours guage

[oommd]

I just bought my first boat and its got lots of dangling wires and some guages that dont work. Not sure if the engine manual that is on its way will address the issue , but where/how does this datcon counter hook in, Id like it to keep track of the time the motor is running to start a maintenance schedule.

I do see great diagrams posted and will try to look at them all , but I dont even know how to search for this topic , like what is that gauge called?

thanks in advance!
new boat owner, long time fishin fool.

 

[Silvertip]

Re: engine hours guage

It's called an hour meter. Hour meters are nothing more than a 12 volt clock mechanism that digitally reads hours. You might be surprised to know that most of these operate as soon as the key is turned to RUN and the engine does not have to be running. So the long and short of this is that the hour meter will help you with maintenance, but NEVER rely on one to be an indicator of how many hours are actually on the engine. They are simply too easy to alter.

 

[oommd]

Re: engine hours guage

That makes sense , After I posted I traced the one wire that is still hooked to the hourmeter and it went to the temp guage , my guess it gets power from that, the other loose wire must go to ground. if thats not right I will get attached it to something that gets powered when the key is turned.

This is a frankenboat , not original motors and I just want to start fresh for my own purposes.

Thanks for your reply.