Going to look at a 96 300DA with V-drives

P

Pakmule

Member
Mar 18, 2007
674
St. Albans, VT
Boat Info
310 Sundancer 2000
Engines
350 Mercruiser w/V-Drives
I have always had I/Os. Is there anything I should look for on the V-drives in particular as I check out the boat?

Thanks!
 
shifting of coure (quite and smooth), look and smell the transmission fulid, if it doent smell like oil or look a clear red, lack of maintance might be an issue, oil that looks brownish or smells like rotten eggs is bad
 
I have the same boat, but with stern drives. I've found it to be a very good boat.
Good luck, if you have any other questions, I'd be glad to answer.
 
You can't go by transmission color alone. Some marine gears use hydraulic oil, some SAE oil an others use ATF.

Whatever color it is, look for drips under the transmission, look for moisture (cloudy,milky apearance) in the gear case and look for water leaks where the shaft goes thru the bottom of the boat. A '96 should have drippless shaft seals so the bilge should be dry.

There should bu no appreciable delay when you put the boat in gear and the transmissions will make some noise but no grinding, squeals, clunks, etc. ....just smooth noise as you might hear in a manual transmission car. For the most part, a v-drive is trouble free since all the important stuff is inside the boat, not hung off the transom.
 
Thanks all. Going to go look at it today. Although I really want to buy the '98 310 I am looking at. The admiral wants the cheaper boat (the 300).
 
Pakmule-

I have a 1995 300DA with v-drives. I love my boat. Engine room access is a pain. The plugs are very very difficult to get at, and top end is speed is not all that high. Not bad, but not as fast as the same boat with stern dives.

As an fyi, I had concerns regarding a slight chatter when shifting into gear two seasons ago. I thought there was a problem with the gearbox. It turns out that if the engine is not running at the correct idle or missing, this is a common symptom and nothing is wrong with the drive. It turned out I had a plug wire work loose and was running on seven cylinders. If you hear/feel something when shifting in and out of gear, don't assume the worst, have a pro check it for you, it could be a good bargaining item.

Let me know if there is anything else I might be able to answer for you,

Dan
 
Man I am at a loss. I am looking at two boats. the '96 300DA (a local boat) and a 98 310DA (a salt water boat 500 miles away).

The 300 was in good shape. Not as clean as I would like but generally in good shape. The 310 is the boat I would rather have. It has the space I want and was cleaner than the 300. I am really concerned that it was a salt water boat though. It has the blue water inboards and very low hours but who knows what damage was done by the salt water inside the cooling system.

I can't get over my last hellish experience with a salt water boat though. Do I spend more and get the boat that I want at the risk of the salt water or do I get the boat that is close and in good shape.

It really seems to me that the 310 is WAY more boat than the 300.

Signed,
Confused in Vermont

(disclaimer: I have had a two martinis)
 
Hold out for what you want. When you find it there will be no doubt she is the one. That is the mode we are in just now...

We looked at Fine Line last fall while it was still in the water. Let me know if you want to compare notes.


Frank
penbroke(at)yahoo(dot)com
 
I wouldn't discount a boat from a salt water location just because it had been run in salt water. Maintenance means everything and the previous owners attention to protecting his boat from salt water damage should be obvious upon inspection. ........please tell me you do not intend to enter into a purchase agreement on this boat without seeing it in person.

With Bluewater series engines they should be freshwater cooled. That leaves you with basically cosmetics and risers/manifolds to worry about. If the owner cannot produce documentation of recent exhaust system replacement, then discount the value enough to cover that repair and be sure to have a Mercruiser technician do a mechanical survey.

There is another CSR member who just closed on a similar boat that happened to be at the marina where we are. There's no telling how many people passed on this boat because it was a saltwater Bravo III boat. When our fellow member got involved he found a boat that was almost brand new....very low time, had not been registered since 2004 and had been stored in a dry stack building all its life. One thorough survey and an oil change later, and every time I'm here I see that boat on the water or on the wash rack being cleaned up after a weekend's fun.

You won't know until you get into it and take a look.
 
"For the most part, a v-drive is trouble free since all the important stuff is inside the boat, not hung off the transom."

+1, only trouble we have had with ours is a busted hose. Pretty much indestructable if you service them regularly. As for service records/log and ask when the coolers where last changed.
 
fwebster said:
I wouldn't discount a boat from a salt water location just because it had been run in salt water. Maintenance means everything and the previous owners attention to protecting his boat from salt water damage should be obvious upon inspection. ........please tell me you do not intend to enter into a purchase agreement on this boat without seeing it in person.

With Bluewater series engines they should be freshwater cooled. That leaves you with basically cosmetics and risers/manifolds to worry about. If the owner cannot produce documentation of recent exhaust system replacement, then discount the value enough to cover that repair and be sure to have a Mercruiser technician do a mechanical survey.

There is another CSR member who just closed on a similar boat that happened to be at the marina where we are. There's no telling how many people passed on this boat because it was a saltwater Bravo III boat. When our fellow member got involved he found a boat that was almost brand new....very low time, had not been registered since 2004 and had been stored in a dry stack building all its life. One thorough survey and an oil change later, and every time I'm here I see that boat on the water or on the wash rack being cleaned up after a weekend's fun.

You won't know until you get into it and take a look.
Click to expand...

God no! I would never buy a boat without looking at it, having it surveyed (both mechanical and hull) and a sea trial. I learned my lesson after my last boat which I had surveyed but I did not have a mechanical survey as it all "seemed" good. Luckily that was an older boat and I will not take too much of a hit after all the repairs.

I have looked at probably 20 boats all over New England and the salt water 310 is by far the best boat I have looked at. It was very obvious that the boat was very well maintained. I could grow old waiting for the 310 I want around here. They just don't come on the market that often so I look at salt water boats too.

I will email penbroke to get his thoughts on the 300 but I don't think it is the boat for me. It is really about the same size as my current 270 and from what I saw today it is nowhere near as clean as the salt water boat.

As we all know these decisions are not made alone. We all have our admirals and she just looks at price and says get the cheaper one even if that is not the best boat for us.

If I can be assured that the risers/manifold is in good shape then I would feel comfortable with the salt water boat.

Thanks for listening to all my rambling :)
 
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