97 (early) Sundancer 290DA 454ci L29 Bravo 3

[HawkX66]

I might take you up on your offer...although our window of opportunity for summer MIGHT be 03 July-04 July...as long as it's not snowing at that time...!

:O

Well, I'll be at our house in Seabrook, NH that weekend so come on up!

 

[Garintheair]

Well, I'll be at our house in Seabrook, NH that weekend so come on up!

Oh sure; that's even farther north than where I am. There'll still be blizzards there in July, I'll bet! :O

 

[HawkX66]

Oh sure; that's even farther north than where I am. There'll still be blizzards there in July, I'll bet! :O

Ha. We're down here with the generator running because of a little ice storm right now. Weak power grid here.

 

[Garintheair]

Ha. We're down here with the generator running because of a little ice storm right now. Weak power grid here.

We're just cold here but little snow, which is odd for us this time of year.

Generators?? Sheesh, I just picked up a Kohler 5e with 28 original hours on it to replace the Onan First Mate the previous owner installed in my boat. I didn't catch that it was missing the entire choke/governor system, however, and I'll need to find that before I can go through this thing!

It's always something....

 

[HawkX66]

We're just cold here but little snow, which is odd for us this time of year.

Generators?? Sheesh, I just picked up a Kohler 5e with 28 original hours on it to replace the Onan First Mate the previous owner installed in my boat. I didn't catch that it was missing the entire choke/governor system, however, and I'll need to find that before I can go through this thing!

It's always something....

What a pain. I bought a used 2004 8eozd. All new internals. Real nice unit. I think I'm going to sell it and buy something smaller though. Not sure.

 

[Garintheair]

What a pain. I bought a used 2004 8eozd. All new internals. Real nice unit. I think I'm going to sell it and buy something smaller though. Not sure.

The one I picked was freshwater and is like new but stopped making a/c power for the previous owner apparently. He had the unit removed and sent it out for a rotor and stator rewind. He also replaced the control board, regulator, fuse holders, start switch and start relay. He said that it still wouldn't make power and simply replaced the unit in the boat with another one. I'm going to take a crack at getting it working although I'll need to locate a choke assembly. Kohler wants stupid money for a replacement...

 

[HawkX66]

The one I picked was freshwater and is like new but stopped making a/c power for the previous owner apparently. He had the unit removed and sent it out for a rotor and stator rewind. He also replaced the control board, regulator, fuse holders, start switch and start relay. He said that it still wouldn't make power and simply replaced the unit in the boat with another one. I'm going to take a crack at getting it working although I'll need to locate a choke assembly. Kohler wants stupid money for a replacement...

I'm not impressed with the price difference between a marine genset and a regular one. It sounds like yours will end up being brand new. You can't hate that. Mine just needed the head reinstalled. The PO gave up because like yours, he didn't want to dump anymore money into it. It appears that it was a freshwater set up. I think I have decided I'm going to sell it and get a 5kw. The 8kw is just unnecessary for my boat. I do like that it's diesel though.

 

[Garintheair]

My 5kw has 28 original no corrosion freshwater hours on it...and the expensive stuff has already been rebuilt or replaced. The PO states that it's still not making power and simply gave up on it. I'm thinking that it's something simple which has been missed...

I have a 1995 290-nearly the same boat as yours but with twins-and a 5 kw is as large as I would want in this boat due to size and weight. As it is the original owner had an Onan First Mate 3.5kw gen installed on the port side with ballast weights installed on the starboard side for offset. The generator in my boat now is clean with 120 hours on it but it started giving me shut down issues last season; not a sensor problem but probably one of the relays. Parts are difficult to find and I don't want to mess with it. I do have to say that the 3.5kw ran everything in the boat-a/c, hot water, battery charger and fridge without issue-simultaneously although I didn't try the electric stove along with these.

I'm a diesel guy, though, and would love to have had a diesel gen set! I seem to recall that my year boat had an option of small twin diesels for overseas markets. THAT'S an option I would love for his boat and at one time considered doing a conversion...

That looks like a decent generator; what does it weigh? The Kohler 5e comes it a bit over 200 lbs.

 

[HawkX66]

My 5kw has 28 original no corrosion freshwater hours on it...and the expensive stuff has already been rebuilt or replaced. The PO states that it's still not making power and simply gave up on it. I'm thinking that it's something simple which has been missed...

I have a 1995 290-nearly the same boat as yours but with twins-and a 5 kw is as large as I would want in this boat due to size and weight. As it is the original owner had an Onan First Mate 3.5kw gen installed on the port side with ballast weights installed on the starboard side for offset. The generator in my boat now is clean with 120 hours on it but it started giving me shut down issues last season; not a sensor problem but probably one of the relays. Parts are difficult to find and I don't want to mess with it. I do have to say that the 3.5kw ran everything in the boat-a/c, hot water, battery charger and fridge without issue-simultaneously although I didn't try the electric stove along with these.

I'm a diesel guy, though, and would love to have had a diesel gen set! I seem to recall that my year boat had an option of small twin diesels for overseas markets. THAT'S an option I would love for his boat and at one time considered doing a conversion...

That looks like a decent generator; what does it weigh? The Kohler 5e comes it a bit over 200 lbs.

Sounds like you've potentially got an awesome new generator once you figure it out. The one I have is very decent, but I think I've decided to offload it. I'll put it out there that I'll trade it for a nice 4kw-5kw diesel in good shape. That might be a good deal for someone that wants to upgrade.
The 8kw appears to be 467 lbs wet according to the spec sheet I downloaded.

 

[HawkX66]

We finally settled on a name. We love American history. Our home was built in 1730. That and with being a Sergeant of Marines I thought this name more than appropriate. For those of you who don't know, the Gadsden Flag was the first US Marine Corps flag flown.
Obviously this is a pretty lame Photochop attempt by me. I'm going to work on the design a little, but I like this font and even the blue/black fade.

 

[Garintheair]

Sounds like you've potentially got an awesome new generator once you figure it out. The one I have is very decent, but I think I've decided to offload it. I'll put it out there that I'll trade it for a nice 4kw-5kw diesel in good shape. That might be a good deal for someone that wants to upgrade.
The 8kw appears to be 467 lbs wet according to the spec sheet I downloaded.

I'm hoping that's the way this will end up. My already non existent boat budget was exhausted long ago...
That much extra weight would make my boat do wheelies! I'm stern heavy now with twins, generator and ballast...
I'd still love a diesel, though!

 

[HawkX66]

I'm hoping that's the way this will end up. My already non existent boat budget was exhausted long ago...
That much extra weight would make my boat do wheelies! I'm stern heavy now with twins, generator and ballast...
I'd still love a diesel, though!

It's funny. I think my rig will set better in the water with a heavy genset on the starboard side. You can see the water line on the trim tab pistons from where it sat before I bought it. It definitely was lower in the water on the port side from when they removed the factory gen. Obviously I'm going to look for something lighter than this 8kw though. I'd rather have a diesel too, but gas will be ok for me if it turns at 1,800 rpms or so.

 

[Black Valkyrie]

After running my new transponder cable from the stern to the dash, I noticed how ugly my compass was. As I was looking for a new one I thought about it and figured I couldn't make it any worse... I just completed a little clean and repair on it and after that, I'm pretty happy with the results. Saving $150 on a new compass didn't hurt...

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Looks like there is still air in there. Did you buy the seal kit and new diaphragm for this? What oil did you use? It will all leak back out if not.

 

[HawkX66]

Looks like there is still air in there. Did you buy the seal kit and new diaphragm for this? What oil did you use? It will all leak back out if not.

There is still a small amount of air. You have to pull a vacuum to get every last molecule out I'm sure. I recon'd the seals and reused them so I'm half expecting to have to pull it apart and put new seals in. This was more of a test to see if it would work. It's filled with mineral spirits.
I bought a new type syringe so I could add more fluid to eliminate most of the rest of the air pocket.

 

[Black Valkyrie]

The kit and diaphragm cost next to nothing.. you don't need a special syringe - you just have to keep adding slowly until the air is gone. Unless you replace the seals and diaphragm it will slowly and inconspicuously leak all its contents into your nice new dashboard.

I believe mineral is incorrect for the fluid and viscosity - though there was some debate over this on the site previously. They sell the correct fluid but if you read closely on their website and service info.you can find a proper match at your hardware store. It is parrafin based "ultra clear" lamp oil (for tiki torches and lanterns etc). Again - debated on this site.

 

[HawkX66]

Yesterday was the start of prepping the heads for assembly. I cut the guides for posilock seals and measured the seat heights with rotator eliminators. Stock the heads didn't have enough valve spring height even without shims and with the rotators. With factory springs the installed height should be 1.88". If you look at the last pic below you'll see one of the intake heights is ~1.825" without shims. I need to take .055" off the seat to get it to the correct installed height. Several of the other intake seats are the same way. Easy cut thankfully.
Some of the spring heights were all over the place:

Head 1
In 1.83" Ex 1.895 In 1.835 Ex 1.885 In 1.845 Ex 1.889 In 1.86 Ex 1.885

Head 2
In 1.837 Ex 1.895" In 1.846 Ex 1.89 In 1.85 Ex 1.899 In 1.86 Ex 1.885

 

[HawkX66]

The kit and diaphragm cost next to nothing.. you don't need a special syringe - you just have to keep adding slowly until the air is gone. Unless you replace the seals and diaphragm it will slowly and inconspicuously leak all its contents into your nice new dashboard.

I believe mineral is incorrect for the fluid and viscosity - though there was some debate over this on the site previously. They sell the correct fluid but if you read closely on their website and service info.you can find a proper match at your hardware store. It is parrafin based "ultra clear" lamp oil (for tiki torches and lanterns etc). Again - debated on this site.

The syringe makes it much easier to get the fluid in.
Per Ritchie:

 

[Black Valkyrie]

Yes... what I said... parrafin oil. Ultra clear. And there is no "special" syringe - just a syringe and some patience while you slowly push all air out. I didn't say "no syringe" - just helping you by letting you know that you can use any syringe. A steady hand and there will be no bubbles, and a perfect seal. The rebuild kit is $4.

 

[HawkX66]

Finished setting up the heads last night. I should be able to get the crank and cam in today. Maybe the pistons too.

 

[Getaway]

Love them big bore Chevrolet's! That's a thing of beauty right there!