Gauge replacement

Pirate Lady

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2020
7,574
Chesapeake Bay, Middle River
Boat Info
Sundancer 250 ‘91
Engines
7.4 Bravo 1
I would like to replace my old teleflex gauges with new Sierra set, 6 gauges.
Was told by mechanics at marina next door that labor is about $1k after I buy gauges ($215).
Their labor is $100 an hour. I find it hard to believe it takes 10 hours to replace 6 gauges.
Informed opinions welcome.
 
Yeah, no way. It's an easy DIY project anyway.
 
Problem Jim is I know nothing about electric or meters or any of that. So if a gauge don’t work after install I am clueless.
I can write you a hella program/mapping in Oracle, Informatica, Mongo, Snowflake, C++, all that. Digital meter just no.
I have a fancy meter, I know how to put it on DC to tell if batts charged then i done.
 
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Problem Jim is I know nothing about electric or meters or any of that. So if a gauge don’t work after install I am clueless.
I can write you a hella program/mapping in Oracle, Informatica, Mongo, Snowflake, C++, all that. Digital meter just no.
I have a fancy meter, I know how to put it on DC to tell if batts charged then i done.
I'm impressed right there! As a programmer myself, I understand every thing you said!
Been a C÷÷ programmer all my life, but also have lots of electrical training/experience.
If I was closer, I'd do it for you for the beers!
 
I'm impressed right there! As a programmer myself, I understand every thing you said!
Been a C÷÷ programmer all my life, but also have lots of electrical training/experience.
If I was closer, I'd do it for you for the beers!

I would like to replace my old teleflex gauges with new Sierra set, 6 gauges.
Was told by mechanics at marina next door that labor is about $1k after I buy gauges ($215).
Their labor is $100 an hour. I find it hard to believe it takes 10 hours to replace 6 gauges.
Informed opinions welcome.

I replace my rpm guages. Considered replacing the 4 in 1 guages but got them up and running before pulling the trigger on that diy. Main thing is will your shinny new guages need sending units, also figure out how you'll route the wires. Next find you some one that can do it in about 5 hours. That or find get you a dear close by friend that also works for beer
 
Installing gauges = 1 hour
Knowing how to test, wire, modify, and make work = Priceless
 
Nothing is as simple as it looks. I replaced my tachs this summer. Problem I ran into was the posts were different sizes, so the connectors had to be changed. That was a lot of extra work and turned an hour job into a day.
 
Nothing is as simple as it looks. I replaced my tachs this summer. Problem I ran into was the posts were different sizes, so the connectors had to be changed. That was a lot of extra work and turned an hour job into a day.
Installing gauges = 1 hour
Knowing how to test, wire, modify, and make work = Priceless
Replaced all the gauges two season's ago went Digital best move i made the Aetna Tach's were worth the money
 

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Gauge swap is very easy. Especially since it's pretty much a direct swap - no need to understand electronics to do it. An experienced person can do that in a few hours tops. So to give an estimate of ten hours is a bit crazy, half that would be about right since sometimes the stud placement doesn't match up and wires need to be extended.

You really could do this yourself, since you have to buy the gauges anyway. Take the dash panel off and take a picture of the a gauge back and match it up to the new one. You can verify the that the wires go in the same location. If they do then it will be a breeze to swap out yourself. Just take lots of pics so if something goes wrong, someone can put it back and no harm done. Just replace one gauge at a time.
 
I would like to replace my old teleflex gauges with new Sierra set, 6 gauges.
Was told by mechanics at marina next door that labor is about $1k after I buy gauges ($215).
Their labor is $100 an hour. I find it hard to believe it takes 10 hours to replace 6 gauges.
Informed opinions welcome.

I replaced all of the analog gauges on our 280 with Smartcraft, myself. While the engine was “Smartcraft capable” there was no SC wiring. Although I had to run a trunk cable from the engine to the helm, the biggest time consumers were getting the dash apart to get the old gauges disconnected and new ones in place, finding wires like the fuel tank to tap into, finding plugs etc. Also putting things back together so that it didn’t look like $hit took time as well. Given that the shop probably treated the request for quote as a fixed price project, and considering they should build in time for unforeseen events (like new gauges not being compatible with existing sensors), tired old wiring and it being done on an unknown boat, etc. I actually think ten hours is reasonable.

Having done this and other boat wiring jobs, my experience is these are big time consumers where the slightest thing can cause the job to go downhill in a hurry. It’s also a very reasonable DIY project if you have basic electrical circuit knowledge and have a basic multimeter and jumper wires.
 
Nothing is as simple as it looks. I replaced my tachs this summer. Problem I ran into was the posts were different sizes, so the connectors had to be changed. That was a lot of extra work and turned an hour job into a day.
This reflects what the mechanics told me. He said on a 30yo system it’s probably not gonna be a plug and play swap. No telling what the spaghetti wiring behind the dash might be. I think he was being honest and quoting a ‘expect the worst’ scenario.
These old gauges are sticking and require tapping to get the needle to move. Really want to change but $1k seems excessive for labor to just sit on the helm seat and change wires.
OH, GO NAVY!!!!
ps army 8-3 navy 3-8; not looking good again.
 
This reflects what the mechanics told me. He said on a 30yo system it’s probably not gonna be a plug and play swap. No telling what the spaghetti wiring behind the dash might be. I think he was being honest and quoting a ‘expect the worst’ scenario.
These old gauges are sticking and require tapping to get the needle to move. Really want to change but $1k seems excessive for labor to just sit on the helm seat and change wires.
OH, GO NAVY!!!!
ps army 8-3 navy 3-8; not looking good again.
It is, if that is all he's doing. Maybe work with him on a "not to exceed" basis. Or you'll cover any surprises, etc. You don't mind paying for the job, but what you don't want is the job to be so easy it takes 2 hrs and he bills you for 10. Good luck.
 

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