Engine Hour Inconsistency- Need input

[Indyxc]

Hey guys,

Need some input on a boat purchase. Keeping the story purposely vague until I talk to the owner/dealers tomorrow to get full detail of the story.

I was looking at an inboard boat, hours listed in the mid 100s, for a 2004 model year boat, PCM engine.

Seemed low, but boat is in good shape, and ran well.

I got home, and tried to do some research relating, and found that the exact boat has been sold out of state, but had 250 hours! Before I walk away, I am going to call the dealer to verify the VIN, and listing hours in their ad are not a mistake.

Anyhow, questions are:

Anyone know how hard it is to modify the hours on a 2004 PCM engine? Do-able with a scan tool?

Replacing the ECM would be the other way to reset the hours?

Thanks!

[shawndoggy]

I would trust the ECM over the gauge on the dash. Get the data pulled from the ECM. my MB had a dumb hour meter that would run at keyup regardless of whether the boat was running. When I sold the boat the hour meter said like 315 or so, but it was really 297ish per the ecm.

'spose you could also replace the ecm and reset the hours that way, but that seems like an awful lot of work for marginal potential returns.

[Indyxc]

Yeah exactly, seems like a lot of work to go from 250 to 150.

If the boat had 1000 hours, then I could see changing the hours. But 250?

What's a dealer charge for a scan, and can they tell if the ECM is the original or changed?

Thanks!

[Smokinjo]

If it is an older boat that was equipped with perfect pass and upgraded to Stargazer GPS with a new gauge, original hours would be in the old gauge and would have to be manually input when the update was performed. Not sure if this is the case or not, but may be if the boat had this system and no separate hour meter. Best to pull hours from the ECM and be present when it is done.

[Indyxc]

No perfect pass. Original engine with original gauges in the boat.

[Lance B. Johnson]

I've frequently noticed dealer/ owner inability to get the hours correct. This is a simple thing one would think but sometimes dealers are listing multiple boats and get their lines crossed? I dunno but I noticed the same thing.

[shawndoggy]

very unlikely on a 2004 boat that the hour meter on the dash is actually reading the engine hours data from the ecm. They are two separate and independent counters.

[G-Mack]

I've frequently noticed dealer/ owner inability to get the hours correct. This is a simple thing one would think but sometimes dealers are listing multiple boats and get their lines crossed? I dunno but I noticed the same thing.

Not often they get it wrong and advertise a number greater than actual...... hmmmmm

[NCVride]

My VRide was advertised with 165+ but come to find out it was listed incorrectly, only had 115 on it. Pleasant surprise