Buying With Non-Working Hours Meter

[harvey38]

We purchased ours not knowing engine hours, fortunately the previous owners had kept a meticulous log of their trips so after an extended sea trial and close monitoring of Ts&Ps, we went for it. No electrickery sensors on Ford Sabres ???

If, as others have indicated, a 1k hour service is coming up, take it into consideration whilst negotiating a purchase price.

 

[rgsmg53]

No electrickery sensors on Ford Sabres

I had two 225Ls with good old fashioned rotating digits. Trouble was they were electrically driven.

One did fail so we just went off the other engine.

 

[Momac]

If, as others have indicated, a 1k hour service is coming up, take it into consideration whilst negotiating a purchase price.

What is required at 1000hrs on a kamd43 extra over any other service ?

 

[Chris_d]

Volvo LCD displays often come back to life with a bit of heat, mine are currently blank but in the recent heatwave the hour readings appeared when they were in full sunlight. Worth asking the owner if you can warm the display with a hairdryer and see if it will display the hours even if only for few seconds.

 

[Momac]

Volvo LCD displays often come back to life with a bit of heat, mine are currently blank but in the recent heatwave the hour readings appeared when they were in full sunlight.

One of mine does that but only rarely and a you say when the sun has eben on the display . But not convinced a hair dryer will do any good. I need to get the replacement hour counter fitted really.

 

[oldgit]

Both failed on my boat.
Bought two of the cheap kits from ebay.
A right fiddly pain but an hour with a jewellers screwdriver and lot of patience produced a working hours meter with the total recorded hours back on display.
Would I do one again, Nope, would send it off and let them take the thing to bits and fix it.
Tip. Photograph as you dismantle, it will save tears and anguish if you have the memory span of a Goldfish.

 

[Mr Googler]

All the hour meter shows is how long it’s had 12v to it. I could buy new ones and set them to whatever hours I want.

I wouldn’t sweat it. My KAD 44’s have 287 hours (from the ECU) and needed many new parts due to lack of use. Run sweet as now mind ?

 

[bluetooth]

I used AKSpeedo last year, as above post, and they charged 62£ from memory and returned the unit within 4 days.
Ask the dealer/broker to send away and have fixed. This will help both you and vendor.

 

[boatmike]

The preoccupation with engine hours is misleading. Most diesel engines are capable of a great deal of service without showing any problems. Boat engines, especially those in leisure boats, get very little use compared to similar engines in commercial plant and vehicles. Many lorries are used for over 3000 hours per year! Its not running time that causes the premature demise of boat engines, it's misuse lack of proper maintenance and long periods out of commission without proper attention followed by short running times, especially in sailboats where very often the engine gets only short periods of use and seldom reaches optimum temperature. Running at low throttle for extended periods glazes bores, lack of oil changes etc all take their toll. More to the point a proper sea trial should indicate if there are problems. Does the engine develop full power without smoking? Is the oil pressure as expected? Does it have any tendency to overheat? If in doubt a compression test is easy to do and tells a great deal. I have seen many engines with a lot of hours running time that perform very well. Conversely neglected ones with low hours that aren't serviceable. I never trust stated hours anyway. They are very often wrong.

 

[PalmaTarga]

It will just be the LCD ribbon screen on the tacho that needs replacing, the hours are stored in the ECU. You can buy the LCD's on ebay cheaply and replace them easily enough.

Probably not much use as a buyer, but if you do go for the boat, that's how you can fix it.

 

[Momac]

I just changed the hour meters .
The first one took a while due to me being more than a bit cautious but after the learning curve the second was very quick and easy .