09-26-2013, 03:59 PM
What is the expected life span of a 7.4L 350 HP Crusader engine? Assuming reasonable care and maintenance.
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10-01-2013, 08:43 AM
Its hard to answer exactly. As sailor2 says, boats that run a lot can get several thousands of hours out of them. For pleasure boaters that put less than 100 hrs/year on the engines, I wonder if years isn't a better measure. When the engine isn't running, corrosion is happening somewhere shortening the life rather than wear on bearings or piston rings from use. For low usage boaters, I would think at least 20 years if properly maintained.
10-07-2013, 02:06 PM
Engine life is due to so many factors that unless you know a motors complete history, it would be hard to tell.
For a recreational vessel used 100 to 150 hours per year, oil changed every year or 250 hours whichever occurs first, risers replaced every 3 to 5 years, coolant changes, ethanol fuel conditioners and run easy, then I would say you could expect 1500 to 2500 hours for fresh water cooled engines.
If you need to find out what condition a gas motor is in, then pull oil samples and do a compression test and inspect exhaust manifolds and risers. This will give you a small snapshot of present condition.
When low hours is not necessarily a good thing: Vessels that sit in the water year around and are only used seasonally. Engines that do not run for long periods of time lose their internal coatings of oil. Then the high humidity actually rusts the engine from the inside out (piston rings, cylinder walls, cranks shaft and bearing surfaces). The other issue is ethanol in the fuel. Ethanol is highly corrosive and if not treated with fuel conditioners, can lead to internal corrosion (valves, pistons, rings, cylinder walls, etc.....). If you leave your vessel in the water and only use seasonally, have someone fire the engines at least monthly and weekly would be better and bring them to temperature. This keeps everything lubricated and corrosion free internally. If a boat is properly winterized/summarized in a storage building, this is not as important.
For a recreational vessel used 100 to 150 hours per year, oil changed every year or 250 hours whichever occurs first, risers replaced every 3 to 5 years, coolant changes, ethanol fuel conditioners and run easy, then I would say you could expect 1500 to 2500 hours for fresh water cooled engines.
If you need to find out what condition a gas motor is in, then pull oil samples and do a compression test and inspect exhaust manifolds and risers. This will give you a small snapshot of present condition.
When low hours is not necessarily a good thing: Vessels that sit in the water year around and are only used seasonally. Engines that do not run for long periods of time lose their internal coatings of oil. Then the high humidity actually rusts the engine from the inside out (piston rings, cylinder walls, cranks shaft and bearing surfaces). The other issue is ethanol in the fuel. Ethanol is highly corrosive and if not treated with fuel conditioners, can lead to internal corrosion (valves, pistons, rings, cylinder walls, etc.....). If you leave your vessel in the water and only use seasonally, have someone fire the engines at least monthly and weekly would be better and bring them to temperature. This keeps everything lubricated and corrosion free internally. If a boat is properly winterized/summarized in a storage building, this is not as important.
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