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furrylittleotter
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2008
Posts: 1506
Location: West Seattle
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 Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 4:40 pm Post subject: Hour Meter to determine when to do maintenance? |
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I am toying with the idea of installing an hour meter to decide when to do maintenance. Has anyone done this? How would one decide when to do oil changes, timing belts, etc. (I have a Frankenmotor)
Neil2 |
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chazz79
Samba Member
Joined: August 15, 2008
Posts: 2268
Location: ohio
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| Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 5:28 pm Post subject: Re: Hour Meter to determine when to do maintenance? |
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| furrylittleotter wrote: |
I am toying with the idea of installing an hour meter to decide when to do maintenance. Has anyone done this? How would one decide when to do oil changes, timing belts, etc. (I have a Frankenmotor)
Neil2 |
I wouldn't use one for anything other than a longevity reference.
Timing belts on that engine should follow the belt manufacturers recommendations. It's an interference job so allow wiggle room. If dayco says 80,000 miles or five years then do it at 70,000. The age out seems to always be fair. Timing belts can't be figured easily
Oil changes-
By hours the suggestion is 100
I have vehicles in service 24 hours a day and have done plenty with hours studies. Run time is nearly 3000 hours annually on some of these and I only change the oil monthly because logistics prevent doing it properly. At the end of a month and 150-450 run hours my oil analysis have come back great. This is using the cheapest crap Dino 5w20 and filter available in crown Vic's with 150,000+miles on them. No metal, ptfe, copper, lead or anything other than excessive fuel dilution at times. Valve guides only last 10,000 hours and oil consumption goes to the point that replacement is necessary.
This is true with all engines- diesels too.
10,000 hours you hit the wall and they're pretty well done.
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WestiCoast
Samba Member
Joined: June 25, 2012
Posts: 194
Location: Oceanside Ca
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| Posted: Fri Nov 15, 2013 5:45 pm Post subject: |
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| There is a company called Trail Tech that makes a cheap one. I put one on my motorcycle a while back. Its way simple. The one wire in the setup warps around one of your plug wires for the sensor. And you set how many cylinders you have. When the engine is running it is a tachometer and when you shut it off its an hour meter. I paid $30 for mine on Amazon. |
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DAIZEE
Samba Member
Joined: January 26, 2010
Posts: 7552
Location: Greater Toronto Area Ontario West Side
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| Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 1:10 am Post subject: |
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I have an engine hour meter. I record it with my mileage data and it acts mostly as an "event" meter altho I haven't had any 'events' for a few years now.
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'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
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84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold) |
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Wildthings
Samba Member
Joined: March 13, 2005
Posts: 50353
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| Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 2:52 am Post subject: |
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Oil changes are easy but it isn't all that necessary to do them frequently. Checking the oil, fixing oil leaks, and preventing overheating are all way more important than oil changes. If your crankcase ventilation system doesn't do it's job you will have problems with your lubricant even if you change it frequently.
Years ago I took over the maintenance of a bunch of standby engines. The previous guy who did the job didn't believe in all the new fangled stuff like crankcase ventilation systems, carb preheat stoves, etc. and had ripped these systems off across the board. By the time I started the mechanics were changing the oil about every two weeks when the engines had about 1 - 1 1/2 hours of run time on them as a result of the amount of water build up in the oil. At the time of the biweekly oil change there would be about a gallon of water mixes in with the 8-10 gallons of oil in the crankcase. Yikes.
When I took the maintenance over I reinstalled the PCV systems, installed block heaters, replace thermostats, and made sure the engine were run a steady half hour at least one a week to boil off any water that still managed to accumulate. I end up going with a single oil change per year on the same engines that had been getting an oil change every two weeks.
An hour meter isn't going to tell you much about your engine you shouldn't already know from being observant and from getting a bit of dirt under your nails fairly frequently. |
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Jake de Villiers
Samba Member
Joined: October 24, 2007
Posts: 5911
Location: Tsawwassen, BC
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| Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 8:43 am Post subject: |
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Why would you want a hour meter when there's an odometer built in.
I'm just asking - all the backhoes and farm machinery I've used had hour meters because they didn't have odometers...
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rubbachicken
Samba Member
Joined: October 05, 2004
Posts: 3058
Location: socal
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| Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 8:59 am Post subject: |
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i write everything in a book as it happens, since we bought lucy, i have recorded every gallon of fuel, and the mileage when we filled up, and every service item, from oil / fuel filters to resealing the tank, ball joints, CV joints, everything, and how much it all cost, so i just look in the book to find out when it was last changed
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dhaavers
Samba Member
Joined: March 19, 2010
Posts: 7757
Location: NE MN (tinyurl.com/dhaaverslocation)
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| Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 11:16 am Post subject: |
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Backhoes do most of their work standing still; tractors go about 50/50. That's what an hour meter is for, not for a travel vehicle.
Although I could see it being useful if you're a hard core, granny-gear
syncro-nut putting in way more slow hours than fast miles...
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furrylittleotter
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2008
Posts: 1506
Location: West Seattle
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| Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 11:24 am Post subject: |
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| WestiCoast wrote: |
| There is a company called Trail Tech that makes a cheap one. I put one on my motorcycle a while back. Its way simple. The one wire in the setup warps around one of your plug wires for the sensor. And you set how many cylinders you have. When the engine is running it is a tachometer and when you shut it off its an hour meter. I paid $30 for mine on Amazon. |
That is awesome, THANKS! Has a Tach as well. I love it. will get one of these.
http://www.trailtech.net/digital-gauges/tto |
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furrylittleotter
Samba Member
Joined: May 19, 2008
Posts: 1506
Location: West Seattle
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| Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 11:28 am Post subject: |
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| Jake de Villiers wrote: |
Why would you want a hour meter when there's an odometer built in.
I'm just asking - all the backhoes and farm machinery I've used had hour meters because they didn't have odometers... |
I wasn't sure I actually wanted one, I was just curious as to what others thought of the idea. I am a greenskeeper at a Country Club so I spend most days with an hour meter somewhere in my sight, we do all our maintenance based on hours. I was just curious how one could be helpful on the Vanny. Now that I see one with a tach is available for $30 I will definitely get one.
Neil2 |
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T3 Pilot
Samba Member
Joined: January 10, 2011
Posts: 1507
Location: Deep South of the Great White North
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| Posted: Sat Nov 16, 2013 1:01 pm Post subject: |
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Check out this car maintenance reminder app.....
http://jgmapps.com/car-minder/
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1988 Vanagon
The most important part in every vehicle is the nut behind the wheel...... |
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