Hours on Yanmar 110h.p.

[dancewithme]

We are looking at purchasing a hunter 50 with a 110 Yanmar. The broker tells us that there is no hour meter on the engine but insists that it is very low and has had very little use. 2 questions. First would it not have come from the factory with a hour meter and secondly, if there isn't one, is there any way of telling what the hours are (It was suggested to me that some of the electronic controls on the engine may have internal meters) Any insight would be appreciated.

[jamhass]

Most owners I know keep a log of engine hours. Lacking a meter, the log would be the only real option. If he didn't keep a good log, you are pretty much on your own. A good mechanic doing a thorough engine survey can give you some estimate of hours, quality of maintenance, etc.

[Tia Bu]

How old is it? Sailboat engines generally don't wear out. They rust out.



Twenty years is getting kinda old, in my experience. If it's thirty years old, consider how you might pay for a replacement.


If it's less than twenty years old, you could argue that the more hours it's been run, the better. Seems counter intuitive, but sailboat engines that run a lot aren't as likely to have corrosion problems.

[Compass790]

Originally Posted by dancewithme

We are looking at purchasing a hunter 50 with a 110 Yanmar. The broker tells us that there is no hour meter on the engine but insists that it is very low and has had very little use. 2 questions. First would it not have come from the factory with a hour meter and secondly, if there isn't one, is there any way of telling what the hours are (It was suggested to me that some of the electronic controls on the engine may have internal meters) Any insight would be appreciated.

Without knowing that engine I'd certainly not take the brokers word for it. Yanmars should have a hour meter as they need one for the service intervals.
If it doesnt have one or it is disabled I'd say it needs a check by a competent mechanic familiar with them.
Some electronic control engines do have that sort of data accessible to the plug in reader.
Would help if you gave the model & serial no. perhaps

[E185640]

The Yanmar ECM records all op parameters and error codes regardless if there is an installed hour meter (or any meter). Any Yanmar mechanic can pull the data with Yanmar diagnostic software. It’s $100 to have it done on a piece of allied equipment. Assume a multiple with a ‘marine’ name attached.

The more interesting point...Yanmar will not certify an installation, and therefore offer their warranty, without basic instrumentation needed for MTC activities. I suppose the Adairsville Yanmar guys may not have cert’d the install, but it would be weird for a company the size of Hunter.

[dancewithme]

Originally Posted by Compass790

Without knowing that engine I'd certainly not take the brokers word for it. Yanmars should have a hour meter as they need one for the service intervals.
If it doesnt have one or it is disabled I'd say it needs a check by a competent mechanic familiar with them.
Some electronic control engines do have that sort of data accessible to the plug in reader.
Would help if you gave the model & serial no. perhaps

The boat is a 2011. The boat comes standard with a 75hp. The 110 is an upgrade. I've never heard of one without an hour meter but the broker insists that's the way it came from the factory.

[dancewithme]

Originally Posted by E185640

The Yanmar ECM records all op parameters and error codes regardless if there is an installed hour meter (or any meter). Any Yanmar mechanic can pull the data with Yanmar diagnostic software. It’s $100 to have it done on a piece of allied equipment. Assume a multiple with a ‘marine’ name attached.

The more interesting point...Yanmar will not certify an installation, and therefore offer their warranty, without basic instrumentation needed for MTC activities. I suppose the Adairsville Yanmar guys may not have cert’d the install, but it would be weird for a company the size of Hunter.

I thought it was weird that there wasn't one as well. The boat is a 2011 and the broker says it came from the factory like that.

[CarlF]

This engine is before ECM's. Some boats of the era didn't use a Yanmar panel. Sometimes the hour meter was installed near the engine. But you need an hour meter.

The broker knows perfectly well that every buyer is going to ask about the hours. He's hoping you won't press the subject.

You might ask the broker for a copy of the engine maintenance log showing engine hours at each maintenance interval. As mentioned by others, Yanmar requires maintenance to be done at certain hour intervals. Without doing so the warranty is voided. Evidence of maintenance is actually more important than the hour meter. Don't buy a boat who's owner didn't care about proper maintenance. You'll be buying unending problems.

[Compass790]

Originally Posted by dancewithme

The boat is a 2011. The boat comes standard with a 75hp. The 110 is an upgrade. I've never heard of one without an hour meter but the broker insists that's the way it came from the factory.

The broker only gets paid if he gets a buyer. There is a conflict of interest there. I'd call bs on a 2011 110hp yanmar having no way to access engine hours.
O.k. I'll say it he's a liar.
Not saying the boat might not be worth the asking price, just saying dont trust the broker about anything.
It would be like saying that Venezuelans robbed Trump of an election victory but 10's of millions believe that.
Saying it has an upgrade is just a diversion tactic.
Upgrade consisting of a 110hp Yanmar in 2011 MUST have a way to record hrs.
As earlier post said what about warranty? Yanmar would be gagging to know when it expired.
I'm done now its yr $$$$$ yr choice

[GordMay]

“Soutbound” had a Yanmar 2GMF, with a “B” panel, without hours. I kept a running (paper) log of my engine hours, for several years, until I finally added a Hobbs meter (still logged hrs).
This was pretty typical for a pre-millenial boat - don't know about later models.

[hpeer]

I have a 2006 4JH4 72HP. I suspect you have the same engine in the 110HP version. We probably have the same control panels.

My hour meter is a LED display in the tachometer. Sometimes the display goes out and I can not read the display. Yet it is still recording engine hours. I know because when the light comes back the hours match my manual reckoning.

I have just bought an external hour meter that I will hook up some where in case the Yanmar meter finally dies completely.

All this is to attempt to answer your original question.

IF you have a Yanmar panel the engine hour meter is a hard to see LED display on the Tachometer. It is possible that if you remove and reinstall the wiring plug on the back of the tach the LEDs will come back to life and have an accurate engine hour reading. But they may come back to life and have a low reading because it wasn't recording.

So its worth a shot if its not to hard to access the back of the tack.

But looking at maintenance records is more important.

If the boat was not heavily used, a dock queen, perhaps the seller had Yanmar or a rep do maintenance and they have a log? Might be worth an ask.

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by hpeer

... I have just bought an external hour meter that I will hook up some where in case the Yanmar meter finally dies completely. ..

FWIW:

[hpeer]

Thanks Gord!

Appreciated.

[S D Sailor]

I don't know if it corresponds or not, but my 2010 Yanmar 3YM30's have 466.5 hrs and 615.3 hours....just ran from Guatemala to San Diego. Boat was a Moorings charter for 5 years before I bought it in November 2015

[patfarrell1949]

We have a 2010 Hunter 50CC with the 110hp option engine. Initially I saw no hour-meter but finally noticed an electronic readout at the helm that reads out RPM etc including engine hours. The instrument is the same size & shape as the ST70 gauges. One of the menu items is engine hours...we have circa 1400 hours. Maybe you have the same? Interestingly what I really didn't like was the lack of an engine temperature gauge...it does monitor temperature but only alarms when exceeding a high temp set point but doesn't readout actual temperature to be able see any concerning trend. I'm told such a sensor can be added and then tied into the readout.