Engines Hours

gordo50 · Post by **gordo50** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 6:51 pm

Hello

I'm looking at a 1973 F32 Trojan, with 1200 +/- hours just wondering if this is excessive, I realize maintenace is a big issue but don't know that right now. Any help would be appreciated

Thanks

Gord

k9th · Post by **k9th** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 7:38 pm

First of all welcome to the forum.

Secondly, hours don't mean a whole lot on a pleasure boat. Small aircraft engines like on a Piper Arrow or Cessna 172 are rebuilt at between 1500 and 2000 hours based upon the manufacturer of the engine and they run mostly max HP and max RPM all of their lives.

Your fuel mileage will be a good and quick indicator as to the condition of the engines if the bottom of the hull is clean, the boat is in trim, the boat is not over-loaded, and you have the correct props and gear ratio in the transmission.

The Trojan owner's manual lists power and fuel consumption settings for each engine package they offered that year and I have found it is very accurate. Check your fuel burn and see how it compares to the manual. If you are within 5-10% you are probably good to go.

prowlersfish · Post by **prowlersfish** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 8:23 pm

I just posted this the other day for the same basic qestion and a lot of folks agreed with me

Hours mean nothing , you don't wear boat engines out on a pleasure boats ,its the bolt on stuff that kills them when they fail or lack of care . if take care of you have lots of life left in them .

g36 · Post by **g36** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 9:52 pm

i'm pushing 1500 hrs on my 318's. good compression all the way around burns no oil and in my mind have alot of life left. knock on wood

ready123 · Post by **ready123** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 10:07 pm

g36 wrote:i'm pushing 1500 hrs on my 318's. good compression all the way around burns no oil and in my mind have alot of life left. knock on wood

Me too.

wowzer52 · Post by **wowzer52** » Mon Jul 26, 2010 10:50 pm

1800 hrs and planning on getting 3000.

gettaway · Post by **gettaway** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 1:38 pm

I just bought my 1977 F-32 with 1250 hours on GM 305's called mercruiser 228's

I made the offer contingent on a mechanical and hull survey as well as sea trial and haul.

before sea trial I had the engine survey performed, my theory was this, a savy mechanic could get an engine to run good through a sea trail but couldn't hide mechanical issues, such as compression, oil pressure, excessive corrosion etc
I paid 300.00 for the survey of both engines, I feel it was money well spent and if the engines were bad, it would have saved me thousands and prevented me from buying a boat I would need to immediatly have to repower or do a major repair.
I was prepared to walk if the survey came back bad, which it did not.
a previous post mentioned that it is the bolt on parts that fail which is true, and my surveyor identified those items that needed replacement and I went back to the owner with a counter offer stating that the price would have to adjusted or he could repair them, he reduced the price. those parts? one alternator, risers and an oil coolers
Keep in mind that the mechanical survey included transmissions, enigne alignment, propshafts stuffing boxes, bonding system and FUEL TANKS
these are all high dollar items if you need to repair or replace them

Tuck · Post by **Tuck** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 3:16 pm

i bought my 77 f32 about 18 months ago. at the time of purchse, it had about 970 hours on the originals chrysler 318s.

the previous owner didn't use the boat very often, and as a result, he had to have a few things fixed on the engines before i bought it. even with that, i had to have a few things done afterward. since purchase, the usual upkeep has been required...impellers, etc. i changed my own oil (and as i'm not mechanically inclined at all...yea me!) last year, and plan on doing so again this weekend, actually.

i use the boat A LOT, and as of this last weekend, the engines had right at 1072 hours.

Danny Bailey · Post by **Danny Bailey** » Thu Jul 29, 2010 3:48 pm

On an F-32 of that vintage I would look real closely at stringers and deck coring. I helped a friend look at one recently that you could stick a screwdriver right through the stringer just aft of the aft engine mount.

RWS · Post by **RWS** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 7:20 am

My 454's had over 2600 on them when we did th erefit.

One had been rebuilt to some extent by the previous owner, the other was factory original.

Everything previously posted is valid advice.

A compression test will tell the story of the inards, the bolt on items are a different animal.

RWS

captainmaniac · Post by **captainmaniac** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:12 pm

The Chrysler 360s in my '79 have a little over 1600 hours each. The question you have to try to get an answer to is : how hard were the engines worked over those hours? Makes a big difference if its only been run 1500-3200 RPM for its entire life versus being firewalled half the time.

gordo50 · Post by **gordo50** » Sun Aug 01, 2010 7:44 pm

Thanks all

I will make sure stringers are checked and rechecked

Thanks for all info

Gord

Still looking, hoping fall prices will come soon

Dan Faith · Post by **Dan Faith** » Mon Aug 02, 2010 11:08 am

I have an 83 F32 was used for a while for trolling low (RPM) port engine has sucked valve and I had the engine rebuilt at 1750 hours. Stb engine has 1850 hours and has no problems. Oil pressure is within 5lbs of the newly rebuilt and I believe this engine would fo 5,000 hours with good maintenance. Again depending on how is was run.