micah

I'm going to be putting a rebuild into my car in the next couple months and I remember last couple times I did this, it was kind of a pain knowing off the top of my head how many miles the engine had on it... I'm no advocate for turning back odometer miles, so thats not an option..

I searched around and couldn't find a third-party second odometer to use along-side the existing one.... If somebody knows of one, I'd love to hear it. Maybe GPS?

An idea I had was to buy an engine-hour counter like they use on boats. You can put it pretty much anywhere, in your car, in your engine bay, etc.... and just let it do its job. It won't track miles, but actual on-time of your engine... which might be a more accurate representation of engine wear.

What do you guys think?

stevensimon

iTrader: (11)

i just reset the trip odometer. when it says 0 again im ready to rock. its not that hard

micah

"ready to rock"... Okay, I'm not quite sure what you mean by that. but I'm pretty sure you don't understand what I'm trying to accomplish.

Basically I want a running total of how long the engine has been used or how many miles are on it... I know for a fact that you can kill an engine in neutral, so... I think hours of use is more indicative of how much use an engine has... so, basically, I'm just wondering if anybody has hear of this or has done this.....

So.. the trip meter is a great idea if I only wanted to know if my car has gone 1000 miles.

Valkyrie

Uh, right down the mileage on the Odometer when you put it in the car?

It's not that hard.

micah

Counting............AHHH... My head hurts...

Oh fine... its a stupid idea... why didn't you just say that... gahh!

</thread>

adrock3217

Step 1. Go to Jiffy Lube.

Step 2. Ask for a couple of those clear mileage stickers they put on your windshield -- pay for it if they don't want to.

Step 3. Write down how many miles were on the car when you started, and stick it to the windshield.

Step 4. Perhaps write the mileage down somewhere else, I dunno, like in the car's manual, or something.


Done!

micah

F- you. I was hoping to add another cool gadget to my car...

But seriously, autozone and most other automotive places like that give those away for free no questions asked.

papiogxl

iTrader: (6)

http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.c...rod/prd285.htm

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

now my head hurts, thanks..

scathcart

Wow.

Is the American Educational system that pathetic, or are you just that simple?

It never amazes me the number of people who need a calculator to count to 10.

Technology is turning people into complete idiots.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

+1


at least i can still add.

micah

So... all of my posts need to be 100% serious ones? Sometimes I just have an idea and want feedback. Doesn't mean I'm a retard... doesn't mean my educational system has failed me (or you). Lots of very smart people have always said "The best way to learn is to ask questions". Thats what I was doing.

So.... Without calling you names, and lowering myself to your level... Can a mod please close/delete this thread? Sorry I asked.

Jager

iTrader: (10)

Apparantly it has failed. And yes, not being able to count by yourself does make you retarded.

Let's do this. When it's rebuilt at 111,111. Just remember that number. Then when it goes up as you drive to 120,000. Just subtract and that's how many miles are on your engine.

That doesn't seem to hard for anyone with some education.

micah

Right.. but part of my post was also proposing that counting engine hours was a more accurate way of discerning engine life rather than miles. So... if you want to poke fun.. poke fun.. but don't be mean. At least I searched before I posted...

If I ever sold the vehicle, an engine hour counter would be a lot more impressive than "Uhh.. well, 21,000 miles ago, I put a rebuild in... see? here's my piece of paper". I'd rather show him a REAL device that shows a counted number on it.

Okay, I'm a retard. We'll just leave it at that.. I have downs... okay?

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

problem with engine hours is there is no precedent since cars are equipped with odometers it is the easiest way to measure engine life. how many hours does a rotary usually run? 1 million? 1 billion? there's no figures asides from aircraft but that is a different ballpark with light loads and stead RPMs almost constant and mandatory engine teardowns at X amounts of hours.

the only real way to judge is with an odometer and the easiest way is to just write it down and count. you could probably rig up an external odometer but you would have to search for something that works, i have personally not seen anyone bother with something like that here just for knowledge sake when subtracting from the odometer is much easier than trying to tap into the speedo housing and figuring a way of running two odos off one cable.

yep, you did pretty much ask for what you got with the thread though, brainfart i hope.

micah

Thats a good point... However, lets say a well-driven boat needs an engine change at 400,000 hours (I really have no idea.. just a number)..

Piston engines at 100,000 miles are well-driven, rotary engines at 100,000 miles are well-driven... So... a well used piston boat at 400,000 hours would be the same scale as a rotary boat with 400,000 hours. boat/car.. that might be the hard part.

But, the main reason I was interested in it was because the engine-hour counters are simple as a **** to hook up. you just hook a +12v feed onto it from your ignition. It starts counting as long as your ignition is hooked up. You could also use your oil-pressure sender for a more accurate engine running determination.

And yes.. I did ask for what I got.... sort of... I did expect jokes at my expense, not ridicule. There's a big difference.

Hecubus84

iTrader: (1)

Not to mention, hour counters are either operated by a by a driven cable or counting how many times a engine sparks. You would have to run a custom cable with the correct ratio to the counter or find a digital one that works with the 13b's unique otto cycle.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

and it doesn't take into account for city driving, sitting at a stop light can count in a high number of hours by the end of it's life so a good guess would be a rotary engine could last 150k miles or 150k hours, add in city and it would be in the neighborhood of 225k hours.

even after all this there is still no point, there have been numerous cases of 13Bs going over 300k miles without a rebuild. who's to say what the ttrue average lifespan of the motor will be? it greatly varies by situation and luck.

micah

The one on my bayliner isn't cable driven. Its connected to the oil pressure sender on a chevy 4cyl engine. It counts based on actual time... so it has a time-clock.. starts counting when it senses pressure, stops when it senses lack of pressure.

I would assume that sort of system would work...

micah

It takes into account city driving as much as an odometer does. Edit: In the sense that its more accurate. You get actual run time.. so in this sense its actually MORE accurate than an odometer.

You could, in theory, idle an engine to death.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

yes but like i said there is no precedent so you have no general idea of how many hours a motor with 150k, 200k or 300k has actually been run.

all this would be in the end is an educated guess, no where near anything that we generally use to judge an engines lifespan in a car.

micah

yeah.... well, atkins rotary has put rotary engines in boats before. they must have some good idea of the scale. I bet it could be done... but.. completely stupid.

Hecubus84

iTrader: (1)

I haven't seen that type before, seems like it would work just fine.
All I'm going to say on the subject is this: its your car, do what you want with it. And don't let a bunch of negative nancys get you down about it. Its your idea after all.

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

whatever floats your boat, literally, heh.

its just like i said though, different situations. boats and planes have greatly different loads and RPM usages so at the end of the day a plane could go for 500k hours, a boat 400k and a car 250k, it just isn't a good way to measure when there is a fine one already mounted on the dash.

you could always be the first though, show people just how many hours these engines do last in automotive use.

micah

True dat.... Okay, let this thread die.