Unequal hours between engines

[jellyfishbone]

Greetings Jet Boat Drivers,

For the last several weeks I have been searching for a used Yamaha. I've seen and touched a few examples within 500 mile radius. Now that the market has chilled a bit, I've found a 2014 212X I'm considering buying. It has 138.2hrs on the port and 140.2hrs on the starboard sides.

All boats I've seen have small differences between the motors, but this seems like a head scratcher to me. How could there be a two hour gap at this operational age? Should it be alarming? Curious to see your thoughts.

Seller is not the original owner and has no knowledge of any repairs or maintenance other than plug/oil changes.

Thanks in advance!
jf

 

[Julian]

Absolutely no big deal whatsoever. Owner probably just ran on one engine while:
1) Trolling
2) Sightseeing the shoreline

If you do this at idle speed you run a little slower - which is good for some trolling, and use half the gas. The only thing you have to know is not to run one engine over no wake speed without clamping off the intake line for the non-running engine.

But again...uneven hours.....no biggie.

 

[Adrian @ JB Solutions]

Could be a sign of flushing the engines a lot.

I flush mine after every use and the hours get off. I will do 5 minutes on one then get distracted while cleaning and do 10 minutes on the other. I was about 30-40 minutes off and just evened them out recently.

Could also be something like he sucked up a rope on one engine and took an hour to get back on the other engine (have to go slow).

 

[Jim_in_Delaware]

LOL, if it was me selling the boat, I woulda just ran the port engine for two hours so I didn't have to address this question!

Jim

 

[HangOutdoors]

Run the one with more hours in Reverse

 

[Bluewater272]

LOL, if it was me selling the boat, I woulda just ran the port engine for two hours so I didn't have to address this question!

Jim

Yep. I 'true' them up at the end of each season anyway when winterizing. I'm never off by more than .1-2 at the end of any given season, so just have an extra half a beer while syncing them up.

 

[212s]

Yeah even start/stop cycles where you start one then the other, then shut them both off quickly or at the same time will throw off the hours over time as it adds up. To help avoid that, I start and stop in the same sequence port > strb, then shut off port > strb. Usually keeps me within 0.1 hours which is 6 minutes. But even doing this, I tend to shut them both off quickly at the ramp before trailering which widens the gap, so when I notice it's off by 6 mins, I start the strb engine first a few times or let it idle a few minutes longer at the dock, and it gets me back to matching hours. People who are not as mindful of the hours wouldn't care and it could add up easily over time.

 

[David Martin]

I say the flush is the most likley.............I always start with starboard flush then port so I know I always run Port a min or 2 short because I'm tired and want to call it a day.....LOL 2 flushes a week 30 flushes later and I'm off and hour. I sawa few boats off 15 hours or so which is a red flag that it limped home with an engine problem. 2 hours no big deal.

 

[Cleveland Steamer]

I always start the left engine first and in the 170 hours on my boat I developed a 45 min difference between the two engines as a result. My OCD got the best of me this summer so I motored at no wake speed on the one engine for 45 minutes and now both show the same hours. ?

 

[Sdisanti]

If something gets stuck in the jet pump and you can't get it out you would have to limp home on one motor.
If you block the jet pump cooling intake with grass and are in some current and can't immediately stop both engines you would need to shut down one engine and limp to a safe spot. (this has happened to me)

Nice tips on the other posts, I think my OCD will get the best of me as well and I'll even them out on the next trip.

 

[ImHowl]

I have a 2 hour difference in mine. I sucked up a little hug fruit barrel 2 hours at idle speed from the dock. I start the lower engine first each time...in about 100 years maybe they will read the same by me doing that....

 

[jellyfishbone]

Great responses, thank you!