40 sedan bridge forum

[On the Reel]

Has anyone replaced their anchor windlass?
Tried to use for the first time this season, went down with no issue, started bringing back up and it tripped out, I reset and no go….
Manually cranked back up with handle, now when I try it I hear a humm then it trips out.

Lofrans 1997 40’ sedan bridge

Looking from anchor locker, I can see the control box and motor.
How do I remove, two large allen head screws on top of winch?
Thanks for anyone’s advice!

 

[Drafter]

Has anyone replaced their anchor windlass?
Tried to use for the first time this season, went down with no issue, started bringing back up and it tripped out, I reset and no go….
Manually cranked back up with handle, now when I try it I hear a humm then it trips out.

Lofrans 1997 40’ sedan bridge

Looking from anchor locker, I can see the control box and motor.
How do I remove, two large allen head screws on top of winch?
Thanks for anyone’s advice!

Curious to see what you come up with. Mine is easily tripped, and it's progressively getting worse. Usually, a crank or two with the hand crank would reset it pretty easily.

 

[Pgeee]

Has anyone replaced their anchor windlass?
Tried to use for the first time this season, went down with no issue, started bringing back up and it tripped out, I reset and no go….
Manually cranked back up with handle, now when I try it I hear a humm then it trips out.

Lofrans 1997 40’ sedan bridge

Looking from anchor locker, I can see the control box and motor.
How do I remove, two large allen head screws on top of winch?
Thanks for anyone’s advice!

Your post made me think I should find out how to maintain the windlass , I tend to forget it’s there as I usually moor to jetties. This link I found shows an exploded diagram along with maintenance using lithium grease, more jobs on the list . Maybe this helps a bit

https://www.imtra.com/learning-center/articleid/23/windlass-maintenance-tips

 

[Pgeee]

This might be a lazy question but I’m not on the boat for ages so can’t work it out. It never occurred to me until recently. Is the top of the main engine strainers above the waterline. Reason I ask is I had weed on the intake grills under the hull and am trying to figure out if a garden hose or a pressure hose flushing back down thru the hull is a good solution next time it happens, but it won’t work if the top of the strainer is under the waterline .

 

[TotallyGross]

This might be a lazy question but I’m not on the boat for ages so can’t work it out. It never occurred to me until recently. Is the top of the main engine strainers above the waterline. Reason I ask is I had weed on the intake grills under the hull and am trying to figure out if a garden hose or a pressure hose flushing back down thru the hull is a good solution next time it happens, but it won’t work if the top of the strainer is under the waterline .

My engine strainers are below the waterline. ALL the 400's I know are also. I have a sea flush funnel and I can blow air through the strainer to blow our weeds from my intake from the main engine strainers.
Close Sea cock. Open strainer. Remove basket. Shop vac suck out all the water. Put funnel in strainer. Turn on shop vac to blow. Place it into the funnel then open the sea cock. I hear bubbles from the air blowing through the bottom of the boat. Close sea cock before removing shop vac.

 

[scooper321]

My engine strainers are below the waterline. ALL the 400's I know are also. I have a sea flush funnel and I can blow air through the strainer to blow our weeds from my intake from the main engine strainers.
Close Sea cock. Open strainer. Remove basket. Shop vac suck out all the water. Put funnel in strainer. Turn on shop vac to blow. Place it into the funnel then open the sea cock. I hear bubbles from the air blowing through the bottom of the boat. Close sea cock before removing shop vac.

Yup. When I open my strainers without closing the sea cock, I get a wet bilge!

 

[Pgeee]

My engine strainers are below the waterline. ALL the 400's I know are also. I have a sea flush funnel and I can blow air through the strainer to blow our weeds from my intake from the main engine strainers.
Close Sea cock. Open strainer. Remove basket. Shop vac suck out all the water. Put funnel in strainer. Turn on shop vac to blow. Place it into the funnel then open the sea cock. I hear bubbles from the air blowing through the bottom of the boat. Close sea cock before removing shop vac.

Cool, I have a shop vac on board , just need to get or make a groco adapter , I’ve seen a few posts on the forum about doing this for raw water system flush but it never occurred to me it could be used for the hull intake also. I googled sea flush but only found an a/c flush/small strainer unit, found groco and these https://www.trac-online.com/products/accessories/tracs-flushcaps so another thing on the shopping list it seems. I assume there’s no issue with a blast of air going up into the engine raw water system also as it will go in two directions if I understand this method properly

 

[Dbrownie]

Hello;
New to Sea Ray boats, looking at a 2001 Sea Ray sedan bridge w 3116 cats, not on market yet, needs its 1000 hour service. Neighbors boat, Nice shape I am familiar with the boat. Currently owning a smaller Egg Harbor and looking to upgrade. This thread has been invaluable. Trying to gauge the market value on this boat, (without getting emotional, I really like the boat) getting an engine survey and hull survey done. Any obvious do or dont’s ?
New to diesels also….
Thank you for you time.
DB

 

[TotallyGross]

Hello;
New to Sea Ray boats, looking at a 2001 Sea Ray sedan bridge w 3116 cats, not on market yet, needs its 1000 hour service. Neighbors boat, Nice shape I am familiar with the boat. Currently owning a smaller Egg Harbor and looking to upgrade. This thread has been invaluable. Trying to gauge the market value on this boat, (without getting emotional, I really like the boat) getting an engine survey and hull survey done. Any obvious do or dont’s ?
New to diesels also….
Thank you for you time.
DB

You'll love owning that boat if the diesels are perfect. I have the Cummins 6CTA in a 2002.
I had an insurance survey done on it in the Baltimore area of the Chesapeake Bay last spring 2022 and it was valued at 185k. I see Saltwater boats go for a little less. I have a bow thruster and my engines had 650 hours on them.
Overall my condition is a 8 out of 10. I would say if you have to do the service that should come off the value of the boat. You have to spend money to get it into well maintained condition. Good luck

 

[Dbrownie]

You'll love owning that boat if the diesels are perfect. I have the Cummins 6CTA in a 2002.
I had an insurance survey done on it in the Baltimore area of the Chesapeake Bay last spring 2022 and it was valued at 185k. I see Saltwater boats go for a little less. I have a bow thruster and my engines had 650 hours on them.
Overall my condition is a 8 out of 10. I would say if you have to do the service that should come off the value of the boat. You have to spend money to get it into well maintained condition. Good luck

Thank you for the quick reply, I think it will be listed in the $170 range. I’d say this is a 7 or 8 out of 10 (in my opinion) yes salt water but cared for, I know my neighbors history and they are good owners. No bow thruster I will be putting one in, was one of my favorite upgrades on my egg harbor, I like to single hand the boat. Also I have done and plan to do much of my own maint (with in reason lol) any core issues soft deck areas to look for ?
Thanks Again
DB

 

[ZZ13]

Thank you for the quick reply, I think it will be listed in the $170 range. I’d say this is a 7 or 8 out of 10 (in my opinion) yes salt water but cared for, I know my neighbors history and they are good owners. No bow thruster I will be putting one in, was one of my favorite upgrades on my egg harbor, I like to single hand the boat. Also I have done and plan to do much of my own maint (with in reason lol) any core issues soft deck areas to look for ?
Thanks Again
DB

Cored hull mid 2001 and earlier. Solid glass hull after that. Mine was built in May ‘01 and is solid glass. But no one has reported here any wet hull issues with the cored hull. Deck to hull joint is likely leaking water into the bilge if it hasn’t been resealed by now. Especially the transom rubrail joint. Not a deal breaker at all. Easy to reseal. Just pull rubrail off, recaulk joint, then screw rubrail back on. Many here have resealed the transom joint and some have taken the time to do the full rubrail. The three glass pieces of the Windshield tends to leak if not resealed by now. Tedious labor to reseal but not hard. Several here have done that. Bow hatch can break its seal and leak into headliner of master stateroom. Another easy reseal job. Deck at cutout is blocked with wood so the leaking water generally doesn’t weep into the core and soften it.

 

[Dbrownie]

Thank you very much, I really like the look of the boat and esp the fly bridge. It is such a nice space.
My Egg harbor had some leaking from the rub rail area that had to be resealed..
It is coming up on its 1000 hour service.

 

[Pgeee]

Thank you very much, I really like the look of the boat and esp the fly bridge. It is such a nice space.
My Egg harbor had some leaking from the rub rail area that had to be resealed..
It is coming up on its 1000 hour service.

I have the 3116s . They are very simple , hence easier to maintain than modern engines with all their electronic wizardry. They have a good record as being reliable workhorses that can go on to clock up many thousands of hours . They were used in fishing trawlers to give you an idea. Parts are easily found on parts.cat.Com , most parts like filters etc cat are not too expensive to buy the real deal as opposed to risking it with non standard. Make sure to do a sea trial. Should be no smoke, no steam and wot should be readily achieved. The surveyor should be on board for the trial. Watch the gauges closely, as the alarm system can be flaky if it’s the original. During the trial if temperature goes to too hot but comes down at throttle down, you need cooling system fully serviced including flushing til it’s clean as well as the usual heat exchanger and Impellars stuff. That would be an opportunity to reduce price if it overheats. There are two different thermostats we find on these engines, one is set at 190 the other 180 . The 190 is the more recent , cat changed recommendation apparently to get the engines to run hotter. So your running temp might be one or the other depending on what you have . Did you find the 3116 3126 thread on this forum, it’s very good . Also watch the YouTube video by adept ape on the 3116. Don’t be put off when he talks about the injectors, yours should not need service til 2000 hours if that. They need a very cluey dude to reseat them and special tools, Valve lash is also one for experts really. People swear by boatdiesel.Com but it costs and I reckon I have figured out everything I need to from other sources, like this forum . It’s worth buying a 400 almost just because of this thread !

 

[scooper321]

Thank you for the quick reply, I think it will be listed in the $170 range. I’d say this is a 7 or 8 out of 10 (in my opinion) yes salt water but cared for, I know my neighbors history and they are good owners. No bow thruster I will be putting one in, was one of my favorite upgrades on my egg harbor, I like to single hand the boat. Also I have done and plan to do much of my own maint (with in reason lol) any core issues soft deck areas to look for ?
Thanks Again
DB

My recommendation would be to buy the boat and run it for a season before you invest in a bow thruster. Obviously, it will make docking easier, once you get familiar with it, but it may not be necessary. This boat, with diesels, is very easy to maneuver. And powerful enough to respond almost instantly to your changes. I don’t have a bow thruster on mine and I don’t think I need it. I put that money towards a hydraulic swim platform, which changed the way we use the boat far more than a bow thruster could. Granted, you still have to kick in a few extra bucks. But the weakness in the 400 is the tiny, low to the water, swim platform. So that is where we chose to make a big usability modification.

 

[Pgeee]

My recommendation would be to buy the boat and run it for a season before you invest in a bow thruster. Obviously, it will make docking easier, once you get familiar with it, but it may not be necessary. This boat, with diesels, is very easy to maneuver. And powerful enough to respond almost instantly to your changes. I don’t have a bow thruster on mine and I don’t think I need it. I put that money towards a hydraulic swim platform, which changed the way we use the boat far more than a bow thruster could. Granted, you still have to kick in a few extra bucks. But the weakness in the 400 is the tiny, low to the water, swim platform. So that is where we chose to make a big usability modification.

wise words I agree. see how you go. Having a massive tube drilled through the bow is not to be taken lightly or cheaply. However you may find like I that the bow thruster becomes very useful due to the windage. I have more windage than most 400s with an added hardtop and more Eisenglass. I could actually do with a stern thruster more than bow as I need more momentum than I would like to get the stern to swing in hard enough against the wind. it's like having a sail up there and not taking it down to moor. So if I get it wrong I sometimes use the bow thruster to twist the stern in but that means the bow twists out so I might use the motor to correct but that means moving forwards and backwards. At the end of the day if you get good at it with just the engines, you'll be ok as long as you get the hang of either coming in to a windward jetty with some good momentum, or/and wiggling her in with both engines forward and back. or go around. All part of the fun though Steve what's your thoughts on how you moor up to windward jetties without bow thruster. As I have it as a backup I probably cheat a bit but you would have to do it everytime

 

[Dbrownie]

Thank you all, I like the idea of old school tech, my crusaders with carbs for example. The 3116s are everywhere for a reason so not fearing them.
I’ll check out those links.
Good gouge on the temps too I’ll be looking at that on the survey.
Is the gauge error an issue?
I know these are not electronic gauges ie digital.

The other advice on the bow thruster is welcome too, my current boat has much smaller wheels than this one, the thruster has helped my confidence on windy days, also with the squirrely current where I slip.
My slip neighbor (who owns the boat) seems to do fine.

I’ll keep reading and I am putting a deposit on the boat this week,

setting up an engine survey, oil analysis, and in the water survey, short haul.

Thanks again.
DB

 

[scooper321]

wise words I agree. see how you go. Having a massive tube drilled through the bow is not to be taken lightly or cheaply. However you may find like I that the bow thruster becomes very useful due to the windage. I have more windage than most 400s with an added hardtop and more Eisenglass. I could actually do with a stern thruster more than bow as I need more momentum than I would like to get the stern to swing in hard enough against the wind. it's like having a sail up there and not taking it down to moor. So if I get it wrong I sometimes use the bow thruster to twist the stern in but that means the bow twists out so I might use the motor to correct but that means moving forwards and backwards. At the end of the day if you get good at it with just the engines, you'll be ok as long as you get the hang of either coming in to a windward jetty with some good momentum, or/and wiggling her in with both engines forward and back. or go around. All part of the fun though Steve what's your thoughts on how you moor up to windward jetties without bow thruster. As I have it as a backup I probably cheat a bit but you would have to do it everytime

At my fuel dock, I often have to dock with the wind blowing onto the dock. I usually just come parallel to the dock and let the wind blow me onto it. I use the engines to pivot to keep me from slamming against the bulkhead, if needed. But rarely is the wind that strong anyway. In a severely strong wind, what might do is come perpendicular to the dock, secure a line and then pivot off of that, using the engines to control the speed of the pivot. I have not had to use this approach, however.

 

[Steve S]

Thank you all, I like the idea of old school tech, my crusaders with carbs for example. The 3116s are everywhere for a reason so not fearing them.
I’ll check out those links.
Good gouge on the temps too I’ll be looking at that on the survey.
Is the gauge error an issue?
I know these are not electronic gauges ie digital.

The other advice on the bow thruster is welcome too, my current boat has much smaller wheels than this one, the thruster has helped my confidence on windy days, also with the squirrely current where I slip.
My slip neighbor (who owns the boat) seems to do fine.

I’ll keep reading and I am putting a deposit on the boat this week,

setting up an engine survey, oil analysis, and in the water survey, short haul.

Thanks again.
DB

The torque on the 3116's in my 400DB push a "massive amount of water" (as commented by my dock neighbor with 7.4 Mercs in a 400DB), which means you pretty much get instantaneous response as Steve mentioned above. I have not felt the need for a bow thruster either.

 

[ZZ13]

Thank you all, I like the idea of old school tech, my crusaders with carbs for example. The 3116s are everywhere for a reason so not fearing them.
I’ll check out those links.
Good gouge on the temps too I’ll be looking at that on the survey.
Is the gauge error an issue?
I know these are not electronic gauges ie digital.

The other advice on the bow thruster is welcome too, my current boat has much smaller wheels than this one, the thruster has helped my confidence on windy days, also with the squirrely current where I slip.
My slip neighbor (who owns the boat) seems to do fine.

I’ll keep reading and I am putting a deposit on the boat this week,

setting up an engine survey, oil analysis, and in the water survey, short haul.

Thanks again.
DB

What part of the world are you and the boat?

 

[Dbrownie]

What part of the world are you and the boat?

I am in Mystic CT