Will any hour meter work on a GM engine

PSU80

Recruit
Joined
Apr 16, 2020
Messages
3
Just put in a new engine (4.2L) but don't have an hour meter. Any "easy" recommendations?
 

dingbat

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Nov 20, 2001
Messages
15,414
Heck, it will work without a motor...lol

Hour meters are nothing more than electric clocks. Ignition on, clock running...Forget to turn off the ignition, clock still running.

Works good to keep track of how long the ignition was on. Not so good as to how long the motor was actually running.

Pretty useless measuring device in reality.
 

Scott Danforth

Grumpy Vintage Moderator still playing with boats
Staff member
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Jul 23, 2011
Messages
47,296
not sure what the purpose of an hour meter is unless you do hundreds of hours of boating per year and have multiple maintenance events per year.

otherwise, the average boater never needs it because they boat less than 50 hours per year, so the "annual" maintenance is required since most maintenance things are "every 50 hours or annually"
 

tpenfield

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 18, 2011
Messages
17,620
Yes, hour meters are stupid, they have no idea what engine they are monitoring, as long as they are getting their input from the ignition switch.
 

H20Rat

Vice Admiral
Joined
Mar 8, 2009
Messages
5,199
I like tinytachs and their clones. Cheap tach + hour meter. They also don't require any electrical connections, just a single antenna wire wrapped around a spark plug lead.
 
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