I am neither able to vote in the American election nor do we own a SeaRay anymore. But count us in appropriately as I self-identify with owning a 125 footer.
Don't forget your safety kit for the truck with the usual assortment of tools (including a portable impact wrench), flares, bottle jack, grease gun, temperature reading gun (for checking trailer wheels/axles/tires), kneeling pad, rags, spare coolant, brake fluid etc.
Happened to us on our 480 Sedan Bridge. Turned out to be an electrical post on the winch motor had broken off due to over zealous tie strapping by someone at the factory. An $80 repair at the local starter shop.
When we go cruising to Desolation Sound, we often anchor out and make use of our tender, which is an Ocean Air aluminum RIB with 8 hp Yamaha 4 stroke. This tender (97 pounds) and motor (90 pounds) is ideal for towing in calm water. In open water towing in out. So we wanted a pot puller which...
We had a 4788 Bayliner for 10 years; great creature comforts and value for money, but a light boat. Then we got our 480 DB; it was 1 foot longer and 6 tons heavier. In a big sea there was simply no comparison in stability. But the SeaRay used double the fuel on plane.
We were lucky, in that we had a lower station with its own panel. Because I never drove from the lower station, I swapped the good panel to the bridge helm and filled the lower station hole with the inoperative panel.
The 6BTA is a great engine, but beware the well known piston problem with the 370 HP version. Cummins went through 3 piston designs before getting it right on that engine. Early production engines, when run at WOT, had a habit of the #1 or #6 piston "grabbing the wall", followed by a loss of...
You could try 2 things:
1. Install a larger muffler, like an Onan 14" aqualift unit. I did and it made a huge difference.
2. Install a water separator at your next haul out, if the geometry of your boat will permit it. This will make the largest improvement. Also involves the most work...
We had Detroits in our 480 and yes we did use the reverso system to fill. I simply stuck the filler hose into the 5 gallon pails to pump in the fresh oil. There simply wasn't room to get anything larger than a 1 quart container to fill the engines through the valve cover cap. I wasn't...
I believe they started in model year 2000 to equip the 480 with barrel chairs. After 1999, they changed the orientation of the slider door and shape of the lower salon cabinet on the starboard side. These changes allowed the barrel chairs to better fit into the salon space. Good luck trying to...