Engine hours vs. miles
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Jul 2014
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From: Houston, Texas
Engine hours vs. miles
Just wondered how everyone else's engine hours compare to actual miles. I understand that it will vary based on idle time, city vs. highway, etc., but still could give me some baselines. I think the ones of this used truck I bought are out of whack.
Lead Driver
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,496
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From: So. Jersey
Divide the miles by hours gives you the average speed. > 35 is frowned upon and reflects more than normal idle time.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2013
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I could tell you that lol! It runs 8-10 mins every morning from when the temps get below 30* til it warms up. Thank you for what to do with the info. Being I load two 6 yr olds in it every morning for school my habits probably won't change.
Lead Driver
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,496
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From: So. Jersey
To adjust your oil change schedule, for every hour of idle time = 20 miles driven.
5000 miles or 200 hours, whichever comes first, max though I usually change sooner than that in winter short drives.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Sep 2013
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Likes: 84
I have the block heater that gets plugged in when cold. Yes the truck starts easier but doesn't help the heat or to clear the windshield faster. 5k oil changes period fuel filters every second oil change. That's the schedule I stick to. I also bought the truck used with 168k on it so most of them hours are not mine.
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Lead Driver
Joined: Mar 2010
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From: Woodbridge, Ontario, CA
I have 196172 kms. (121896 miles) and 3679.4 hours on my truck. As per Ford's guideline, multiply your engine hour count by 40 to obtain how much actual wear and tear there is on your engine (in kilometers, or multiply by 25 to obtain the figure in miles). So, by using that guideline and the mathematics, my engine has about 147176 kms. (91451 miles) of actual wear and tear on it. For this reason, Ford's recommended oil change interval is every 200 engine hours, if the vehicle is idled extensively and/or driven very little. I change my oil every 5000 kms. (3000 miles). Changing it at those intervals, I've averaged about 120 engine hours between oil changes.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2006
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I recently purchased a CNC Motorsports 540 BBC marine short block for my go fast boat. The motor builder told me that they use 1 hour of run time equals 60 miles. I asked since they told me to breakin the motor for 10 to 15 hours running at various RPMs. I guess the only way to get a real good SWAG is to install an engine hour meter when purchaseing a new vehicle. Seems like that should be in the 6.0L PCM software and the dealer should be able to read it or am I missing something. Based on 60, mine should have approximately 2016 hours.
Ed
Ed
Fleet Owner
Joined: Mar 2003
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From: Blue Hill Township
I recently purchased a CNC Motorsports 540 BBC marine short block for my go fast boat. The motor builder told me that they use 1 hour of run time equals 60 miles. I asked since they told me to breakin the motor for 10 to 15 hours running at various RPMs. I guess the only way to get a real good SWAG is to install an engine hour meter when purchaseing a new vehicle. Seems like that should be in the 6.0L PCM software and the dealer should be able to read it or am I missing something. Based on 60, mine should have approximately 2016 hours.
Ed
Ed
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Oct 2013
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Likes: 6
Miles divided by hours gives miles per hour, and that's not mean to be used in reverse to guesstimate hours by knowing miles and using 60mph as your average speed. It's only to find the truck's average speed over its life, telling you if it's been highway driven a lot vs. idling a lot.
Less than 30mph average would be lots of idling. Over 50mph would be lots of highway.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 24,724
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From: Blue Hill Township
So I take it yours doesn't have the hourmeter? Maybe it's a MY2005+ addition. My 2005 has it.
Miles divided by hours gives miles per hour, and that's not mean to be used in reverse to guesstimate hours by knowing miles and using 60mph as your average speed. It's only to find the truck's average speed over its life, telling you if it's been highway driven a lot vs. idling a lot.
Less than 30mph average would be lots of idling. Over 50mph would be lots of highway.
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Postmaster
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 3,472
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From: Southern Cal
To get an avg of 60' you'd have to do a heck of a lot of 85-90 mph driving. Not going to happen.
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Logistics Pro
Joined: Jul 2014
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From: Houston, Texas
At what ratio do you start to worry that the used truck you bought really has more miles, based on the hours meter, than the odometer says? Is it easy to roll back mileage anymore? I forget my exact hours, but remember thinking that it would have to have averaged only 25 mph or so to do that. On the other hand, based on the brake pedal rubber being all wore off, it may have sat in a lot of traffic.
Logistics Pro
Joined: Feb 2013
Posts: 4,073
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From: TX
At what ratio do you start to worry that the used truck you bought really has more miles, based on the hours meter, than the odometer says? Is it easy to roll back mileage anymore? I forget my exact hours, but remember thinking that it would have to have averaged only 25 mph or so to do that. On the other hand, based on the brake pedal rubber being all wore off, it may have sat in a lot of traffic.
In my mind in a perfect world anything 50 and above would show mostly highway miles--so yeah at 25 I imagine your truck idled ALOT--but who really knows. Heck by the time you're done wrenching on yours i might consider it close to brand new
or at least the inside of it is clean as new