gsmith
New Member
What pad thickness did you go with? I understand there are several options.$2,300 for cockpit, bridge and a snap installation tool. They even tossed in the Sea Ray mat for free.
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What pad thickness did you go with? I understand there are several options.$2,300 for cockpit, bridge and a snap installation tool. They even tossed in the Sea Ray mat for free.
Bit of a long post here, lots of new things to understand!
So we finally got our new purchase up to the chilly water up North. Fairly uneventful trip, other than a partially submerged tug boat in the one of the Erie Canal locks.
Boat ran well, with only one real issue, and a couple of observations. I am hoping to get some opinions and advice on them.
We left Plymouth, MA and the boat ran well with no unusual readings the first day. The second day as we were getting close to NYC, I noticed a differential in the boost pressures. On the sea trial, both engines were showing around 60 psi +/- 1 psi at 2400rpm. This was also what we saw on day 1. On day 2, the port boost dropped to around 28-30 psi. Engine performed identically, no smoke, etc. Tried WOT, right on at 2680 RPM. Everything stayed the same until day 4 when the starboard boost also dropped to 28-30 psi. No change in performance.
20 hours of motoring later and they are still both within 1 psi of each other, around 28-29 psi at 2300-2400 RPM. I spoke to the gentleman who did the engine inspection (Doug Gorham at Gorham's Diesel...great guy, BTW), and he doesn't think it is anything to be concerned about. Any opinions? Reading other posts, it seems around 30 psi is typical. I am curious what others see, and what may explain the 60 psi readings we initially saw.
Another observation is that at around 800-1000 RPM, there is a small shake or shudder...I would describe it almost as a wobble. It is not present at idle speeds nor once up on plane. I was able to isolate it to the starboard engine. The marine surveyor showed me some play in the starboard cutlass bearing, and stated in his report "The starboard propeller shaft strut cutlass bearing found to have some minor play when checked. It is suggested cutlass bearing be renewed winter layup 2018-19".
I am new to straight shafts and cutlass bearings. Would it make sense that what I am experiencing is due to the cutlass bearing? The boat didn't get much use the last couple of seasons...it is possible the bearing deteriorated quickly with the fairly rigorous use of quickly getting north.
Last one, and this was the most significant, although there was an easy work-around. About halfway through the trip it was noticed the engine alternators were not putting out any volts. It seemed surprizing to me that both would fail. They were confirmed operational during the survey / inspection. It was masked somewhat as we were running pretty much all the time with the generator running, and the battery charger on.
A few points and questions about this:
- We did have the house battery charger on when underway. Unnecessary, I know, but being new to the boat and not confident about what batteries were charged by what (e.g. is the generator battery only charged when the charger is on, or does the generator itself charge it, etc.), we left it on under the presumption it would not harm anything. Bad presumption?
- At no time were the battery solenoids turned off.
- The belts were replaced by the marina before we left (based on advice from this and the QSC-500 thread!), and confirmed installed correctly.
- The problem was highlighted when the generator was not run one day, and the batteries ran down after about 10 hours...kind of quickly, I thought.
- Only getting about 12.4V (then slowly dropping) on both engines when underway (and no charger on), and there is no SmartCraft fault, which is strange.
- Could a faulty battery, isolator, or solenoid be the culprit?
- I will measure voltage directly at the alternators this weekend, but I assume the reading will be the same as what is reported by SmartCraft. Is this logical?
- Am I missing something obvious here?
As always, this forum is an incredible resource and wealth of information!
Brian
What pad thickness did you go with? I understand there are several options.
Great boat! We love ours. Have you learned of and looked into the potential valve seat problems on the 480CEs? Be mindful of your power settings and loads that you cruise with if the heads have not been changed. Read up on the issue on SB Marine’s site.New Guy to the club,
New to the forum and new 420 Sedan bridge owner.
Purchased a 2005 420 Sedan Bridge "Pura Vida dos" In July! Love it!
Blue Hull, Cummins 480ce's w/200 hours. Mods / upgrades since purchase, Garmin 7612 chartplotter, Simrad vhs w/AIS Rocna 55lb anchor,led bulbs & lights throughout, Custom bamboo flooring in salon, galley & dinette. Also Freedom Lift tender lift to carry Highfield CL340 with euro console & 25hp Suzuki.
View attachment 51524
Previous boat "Pura Vida" a 1987 410 Aft cabin wCrusader 454's. She served us well for great Michigan summers & a full year on the great loop!
Now headed south with the new boat, Northern summers are so short.
In the words of Jimmy Buffett
"I Gotta go where it's warm!"
Thanks for all the great info on the forum, Happy boating!
New Guy to the club,
New to the forum and new 420 Sedan bridge owner.
Purchased a 2005 420 Sedan Bridge "Pura Vida dos" In July! Love it!
Blue Hull, Cummins 480ce's w/200 hours. Mods / upgrades since purchase, Garmin 7612 chartplotter, Simrad vhs w/AIS Rocna 55lb anchor,led bulbs & lights throughout, Custom bamboo flooring in salon, galley & dinette. Also Freedom Lift tender lift to carry Highfield CL340 with euro console & 25hp Suzuki.
View attachment 51524
Previous boat "Pura Vida" a 1987 410 Aft cabin wCrusader 454's. She served us well for great Michigan summers & a full year on the great loop!
Now headed south with the new boat, Northern summers are so short.
In the words of Jimmy Buffett
"I Gotta go where it's warm!"
Thanks for all the great info on the forum, Happy boating!
Re: 420 DB Owners Club
Thanks Tim,
It's very possible that after this summer I'll be asking for tips on how to install the bridge A/C. I remember seen your thread somewhere.
New to Club, but long time SR Owner, so please excuse any "Forum" faux pas'.
5 years ago I bought a 2004 420DB with 480CE's. Love the boat and do most if not all the maintenance myself (with the exceptions of outboard impellers, if you get the drift).
Anyway, I think I need to replace my salon A/C and trying to figure out how to access it. Does any of the A/V panels come apart or ???
Any help would be appreciated...thanks
.... Also, I know about the Velcroed panel as I've changed A/C high pressure switch and cleaned the filter annually. But there is no way that a/c will fit through that hole, much less me getting good enough access to the bolts, etc. The whole thing must come off somehow.
I may have misunderstood. Are you buying a 2005 420DB? Just noticed you had several other posts.What motors does it have? Assuming 480CE. Take the engine serial numbers and call Cummins and try to get the records. In my experience, some Cummins dealer’s systems don’t integrate to corporate so you should call all nearby Cummins service centers too.
This boat with the 480CE was allegedly over propped which led to valves dropping into engine if run hard. I’m no expert, but you can find experts at boatdiesel.com (2nd best boat web page IMHO, and worth subscription).
Good luck!
yes 2005 420 Sedan Bridge but the engines are stated as Cummins 6cta 8.3 430 hp.
Ok, I think you should be good then. Here is some info from boatdiesel.com on your engines: https://www.sbmar.com/engine-info/cummins-6cta-specifications/
I'd make sure the PO has kept good records, and verify that everything is on schedule with the diesels. Some of the scheduled maintenance is pretty expensive (i.e. valve adjustments), and you don't want to skip maintenance with a diesel.
If the boat came from a salt water environment then you're going to need to make sure the aftercoolers have been serviced on a continuous basis (Tony Athens has some great write-ups on this at boatdiesel.com).
My opinion is that you need to have two distinct surveys done: one for hull and other systems, and one for the motors. You want a qualified diesel guy to do the motors. Diesels are great but they are very expensive to replace, so you want to have your eyes wide open when you're ready to commit.