40 sedan bridge forum

The crime scene said:
My wash down shower nozzle on the back transom is damaged and I need a new one. My manuals are on my boat a couple hours south (yes, I forgot to bring them home again). Does anyone have the part or model number handy? I called MarineMax and they cannot find the part number....or any number for that nozzle. Any help will appreciated.
Keith
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Its made by Aquatik. Here is their current version. The shower head is also available from searay-parts.com http://www.replacementboatparts.com/aquatiktransomshower.aspx
 
So I am looking at a 400DB. The vinyl has pulled away in the corner in the main saloon forward dash where the arrow is located. A better view in the second picture. How difficult is is to get at that to reattach the vinyl?

Steve
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It's pretty easy Steve. But the boat most likely has a windshield leak that rotted away the soft flexible wood strip that the vinyl should be attached to. I had a similar problem and first had to reseal the window (easy to do from outside but the outside rubber trim will need to be pulled away and either replaced - if old - or re attached). Then I pulled off the entire 6' length of the interior trim and replaced it with a flexible pvc board that I ripped and cut to size. I painted it to match the vinyl.
 
Posted this in General Discussion Section, but thought this thread would be better. Sorry for such a basic question, but a boat this size and Diesel engines are new to me. Thanks.

Original Post:
Does anyone know of a good thread that covers diesel vs gas; pros / cons, etc, esp. as pertains to 400 sedan bridge. We currently have a 340 Sundancer and are thinking our next move will be 400 Sedan Bridge. Boating on the San Joaquin Delta (not open bay or ocean, but not a lake either). With our current boat we are pretty active, using it about 30-35 weekends per year and log around 100+ hours per year. Most weekends are short cruises, 10-30 miles RT, with only the occasional long trip of 50 + miles.
 
We are in the same area, sort of, Suisun City, we went diesel on our big boat purchase. Love our 44DB. We too don't do long cruises but the diesel is easier on the wallet to burn, less worry of fire, less fuel vapor smell, the torque at idle when maneuvering in the marina is great, never think of using throttle during berthing in just about any wind conditions.
Down side is higher price at purchase and exposure to high repair cost if something does go wrong. Read my post on Sudden development of loud knocking. The gassers are inexpensive to repair and just about any mechanic can work on it for you.
We struggled with the same question but got lots of great input from fellow yacht club members and pulled the trigger on deisel and have not regretted it for a minute.
Good luck in your search, come visit us at the Solano Yacht Club some time.
Rusty
 
I am in the process of the same upgrade... moving from a 340 Sundancer to a 400DB with diesels. I have an offer accepted and I am waiting to see how the survey items will be handled.

Rusty pretty much sums up the differences in the previous post. Examples for here in my area on Lake Michigan.

My 340 burns about 35 gallons per hour in cruise at $3.75 per gallon, the 400DB with Cat 3116 (350 HP) will burn about 18-22 gallons per hour at about $2.50 per gallon. That in itself is a big win.

No explosive gasoline vapors with diesels. No carbon monoxide risks.

The high torque means great control. One comment I have heard is "make sure the boat is pointed where you want it to go before putting it into gear... with the high torque it is going there".

Research posts by Frank Webster on reliabilty and maintenance of diesels. He is a wealth of knowledge on these boats.
He states that he has less maintenance on his diesels than he had on gas engines.

Downside - Diesels more expensive in initial cost than gas motors BUT you usually will have a higher resale value at the end. Also as Rusty mentioned, if something goes wrong it can be very expensive to repair. But as Frank talks about, keep your fluids clean, and do good normal preventative maintenance and they can run for thousands of hours.

Good Luck!

Steve
 
On each side of the engine room are raised platforms that the fuel tanks, holding tank (port), hw heater (starboard) sit on. Are there hollow cavities under them? Can a limber hole be drilled through the aft corner to create a drain should any water get in there, or to scope around and see what's in the cavity?
 
I'm pretty sure the space is hollow,
Should be able to drill additional drain holes, obviously you will want to seal the wall of your new hole with epoxy paint. There are a couple of inspection access plates on those sections of floor boards to access the prop shaft strut hardware.
 
Getting closer to owning a 2000 400DB. One question - anyone have any info on replacing the lock in the sliding door from the cockpit to the salon? Where can I get a replacement lock assembly and how much will it cost. And how hard is it to replace?
 
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Hello everyone. Been lurking for a bit, great info. We are looking very very hard at a 98 400DB on our local lake. We've been searching nationally for a freshwater boat of this model, and one popped up on our lake 2 weeks ago. I don't need two big boats right now, but hate to lose one in our own backyard. The good, is pretty much one owner, and a pretty good captain in regards to very very little dock rash, scrapes, and bruises. It's pretty clean. On the bad captain side, little if anything has ever been updated, and maintained only when broke. He lost the boat after 17 years of payments to repo. In talking to the service guys at his marina, I've got the records which aren't much. Last bottom job was in 06, so the bottom as I can tell without haulout is pretty furry. I expect little things like impellers, hoses, etc. Other than that, the boat has 468 hours, all freshwater. Kept under cover since new, and apparently rarely washed, so I don't expect any soft spots. Before we pull the trigger on a haulout and survey, does anyone have any suggestions on potential issues. I'm pretty concerned about the balsa cored hull with minimal bottom paint maintenance at this point. Every thing else, I can deal with. Diesel would be nice, but they're gas which is ok on our lake. Easier to maintain and more knowledgeable mechanics available. Plus, we're not going that far. Any advice would be much appreciated.
 
I find the cored hull panic to be way overrated. I can send you a cross section diagram of the 400DB hull if you want but the bottom balsa core is sandwiched between several layers of glass on each side. And all the thru hull areas are blocked in. The keel is solid about a foot on either side. The sides just have a thin 3mm core mat in the center of glass on each side of it. If the hull has any wet issues it would be because someone didn’t seal properly an aftermarket addition.

I ran into a lengthy list of odds and ends stuff that needed to be repaired or replaced when I bought mine in 2013. Totaled out to about $10k of stuff with me doing most of the labor. Didn’t find them all at survey. A few just weren’t detectable without long term use.
 
I don't think the lack of fresh paint would have any effect on the balsa core. A good surveyor who knows how to use a sounding hammer will be your biggest asset. Tap tap tap... the whole hull. If there's any issues, the surveyor should find them. My boat had some blisters on the hull when I bought it. This past spring, I media-blasted the whole thing, got down to gelcoat, ground off all the blisters, filled them with epoxy and then barrier coated and painted. A PITA, but it was worth it. Just something to look out for. Not that it matters all that much, but was this boat you're looking at kept in water all year, every year, or does it get pulled and winterized in the winter (like mine, unfortunately)?​
 
Bill thank you very much for that. I would love to hear more about your odds and ends list if you wouldn't mind PM'ing me. I'm figuring on 10-15K myself on just things that need updating. I'm good with the labor myself. I don't believe the boat has ever had a hull repair or a thru hull ever added or replaced.
 
I am looking at a 98 400 with the cat 3116 motors with about 600 hours. Any big red flags to look out for?

If it looks good I would definitely make any offer contingent on engine and hull survey.
 
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