Hours on engine

Going to pick up the boat today, thanks for all the help and opinions!!! I look forward to enjoying the summers to come!!

ecfd925 wrote: Chris I live in Clanton

I'm in Decatur / Smith Lake. There are several Alabama posters around here.

By the way would you guys replace the hourmeter or leave it? (Pending I buy the boat)

by the way, where in Alabama are you?

Bri892001 wrote: Is this one a Ford or Chevy? I only asked because you can very easily get complete Chevy engine packages on Skidim etc. If the deal is right and the rest of the boat is mint and in the unlikely event that you needed to replace the engine, you could. Have a good marine mechanic give it a compression test. You can tell a lot though, just by the way it runs and performs. Look for any blue smoke coming from the exhaust etc.

If it were a fuel injected Chevy, you can pull the engine hours from the computer. It is probably a Ford, and you cannot.

Look at the condition of the boat. If it has tons of hours on it, you'll know. If it's a 2001, it's not likely it has more than 1000 hours. Probably less than that. 100 hours per years is a lot of use.
Most people average 50 or less. The Manufacturer says these engines should go at least 2500 hours if maintained properly. That's another 15 to 30 years use if you use your boat 50-100 hours per year as most do.

The hour gauges in that year failed all the time. At least the guy is honest. The hour meter was broken and he doesn't know the hours. I see a lot of boats that the gauges have obviously been replaced, and the owner is trying to pass the boat off as a low hour boat.

BKH

Nic, you might be able to put a Chevy in, but in that case, there would probably be better options, like a re-manufactured Ford Block and re-using all of the belt driven accessories etc.

But again, that's kind of getting ahead of yourself/worst case scenario. The Fords are know to last a long time if maintained. Probably best to just have a knowledgeable mechanic check it out.

Is this one a Ford or Chevy? I only asked because you can very easily get complete Chevy engine packages on Skidim etc. If the deal is right and the rest of the boat is mint and in the unlikely event that you needed to replace the engine, you could.

Have a good marine mechanic give it a compression test. You can tell a lot though, just by the way it runs and performs. Look for any blue smoke coming from the exhaust etc.

Ask indirect questions. For examples, what he likes to do on the boat? Where he uses? Kid? Adolescents? How good they are? What he does for living? When he bought it? How the bought was servided? Is he a mechanical inclined person? Then you can try to figure out how much it was used. You can tell by this things if the boat was used every weekend of just a couple of weekends. Then based on his age, kids, maintenance, you can try to come up with an estimate hours. For example, if is a boat the lived in a lake home, seats are tear up, and the owner has older kids you know the boat was used a lot. Now, for the right price about anything of this type of boat is a great buy. Take it to a local Nautique mechanic. Pay their fees and have them check the boat. This is the best advice. They know what to look for.

If its in good shape....then buy it.

Its pretty rare to see a boat in excellent shape and have higher than 1500 hours on it.

I know the hours topic has come up now and then. It's nice to know the actual hours, but personally I wouldn't hesitate to buy a motor with lots of hours. I'd rather buy a high hour boat that was well cared for versus a low hour boat that's been abused.

I never knew that you can have the oil tested. That's pretty cool.

Ken

Thanks for the advice. I've decided to go ahead and take the boat out for a spin and see how it goes. Hopefully all will be well and I can end my search for that "first nautique"!!! I did find out that the guy purchased the boat from a person in SC so if anybody on here sold a 01 Air(Green and White) to a guy in GA a few years back let me know I'd love to talk with you.

I kinda figured that, who can analyze the oil? I'm looking at an 01 Air that the owner claims is in good running condition, and never gave him any problems. But the hourmeter shows 93 hour and he's never known how many are actually on it and he's not the original owner. Im just iffy about buying a boat without knowing the hours reguardless of how it runs.

Ask the owner and add 1500 other than that no