Official 1998 Sea Ray Sundancer 290 Thread

Going with the wife to sea trial a 2000 290DA next week. We are told the boat came with V-6's that were later replaced with EFI 5.7's. Pretty sure [from shop notes] that the Bravo 3's have 2.2 gears; don't know about the props. What WOT revs and SOG should we expect with this hull? It has a generator as well. Probably won't be carrying much water or fuel.

I've already visited the boat in its slip. Everything works, and there are extensive receipts for work paid for by the current owner. The 5.7's are said to have 800 hours, and the tech who pulled the heads on starboard engine last year said the water passages looked good while the cylinder bores still had cross-hatching and looked round with no ridges. Head work was indicated by misfire traced to a tuliped valve caused by overheating due to a partially clogged injector. Current owner apparently bought the boat in 2020 without getting a mechanical survey done.

We previously owned an 88 Seville 20 [V-6 205], followed shortly by an 88 240-S [V-8 260]. We kept that one for 14 years and then moved up to a Chaparral 265Ssi with 8.1 DP. Sold the Chap just before the crash of '08 and have been boatless ever since, other than day rentals here and there, and of course rides with friends. Our previous boats were trailer queens kept in a shed unless we took them to a lake, bay, or ocean. Launched in fresh and salt everywhere from Delaware to Florida.

If it isn't already sold, we expect to sea trial a 2004 280DA with 5.0's a few days later. By then we should know whether one of these two models will be in our future. No trailering anticipated: this boat will be slipped in VA [Northern Neck] except for a midseason hull cleaning and winter layup on the hard. Can anyone compare the size of the mid-cabin between early 2000's 280 and 290?

Online owner groups like this are just the best when it comes to shopping a purchase and then keeping it in good shape. I've only read about a dozen pages on the "official" 290 thread, but about 60 on the 280. Thanks to all who keep this one going,

enfield
 
enfield said:
Online owner groups like this are just the best when it comes to shopping a purchase and then keeping it in good shape. I've only read about a dozen pages on the "official" 290 thread, but about 60 on the 280. Thanks to all who keep this one going,

enfield
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Welcome. I love my 290 and I bet you will as well. Some information below. You can find more information on the searay.com web site...... look under the owners tab and go to the bottom of the page to search out all the previous models.

https://owners-resources.searayweb.com/model-archive-files/1C1_27_74DERNX14045.pdf

https://owners-resources.searayweb....s/electronic_brochure/company8483/34831_f.pdf
 
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Thanks, Ducky. I will read through your "fix-it" thread before sea trial. This is the first boat the wife has shown interest in; I've been searching near home off and on for about a year. Broker and seller were nice enough to waive deposit requirement before trial; that can happen when you ask lots and lots of questions and the broker is a marina manager who keeps a broker's license in part to help out his customers.
 
Question to the group. I know that only 1 of the 2 engine power steering pumps control the steering on the boat. ( starboard side) but seems that i may have a small leak somewhere on my port motor power steering. When i check it it is always low and i can see power steering fluid in the bildge. Short of pulling the motor to find the leak, probably the cooler or cooler line, can i run that pump dry without fluid? If it controls nothing do i really need to keep filling with power steering fluid
 
Asking this here because of well-informed discussions by regular participants. It seems that catastrophic failure of engines is a relatively common occurrence. Yes, the marine engine operates at high load most of the time, but the Chevy Vortec 350 was designed to rev up to 5500 for long periods of time under heavy load. A 6 mile grade on two interstates here in VA will keep a Vortec towing a boat or race car trailer turning over 5000 rpm the whole way with no problems; I've done it many times. So why do Vortec Mercruisers so often grenade while running at lower revs?

Our last 350 Sea Ray was a pre-Vortec 1988 model, but it seemed pretty well protected by its gauge and alarm systems. In 14 years of use it only sounded the alarm once - when I had run through some seaweed in Kitty Hawk Bay while pulling my son on a slalom ski. A buzzer sounded loudly; looking down at the gauges, I saw that water temp was too high and immediately shut down. Raised the stern drive, cleared the seaweed, and all was good. Last I heard that 350 was still running fine at over 20 years of age.

What engine protections do the Sea Rays of the 21st century offer? I would assume that water temp/pressure, oil temp/pressure, and fuel pressure at a minimum are monitored by sensors that will sound the alarm when they detect problems. Is such the case? In particular, I wonder how the operator can detect a lean fuel condition such as the one that apparently led to valve failure on an engine in the 290 we're going to visit this week. The tech who repaired the engine has 40+ years of Mercruiser experience, and he was quite sure that a clogged injector was the culprit. He explained that with EFI there is one injector for each plane of engine rotation and ignition. Thus one injector feeds two cylinders on each bank. By this theory, half the cylinders were running lean. What gauge or alarm should or could have notified the operator in this case?

Do modern Mercruisers have sensors that perform the functions that OBD systems in cars have? In a car, a lean condition like this one should trigger a lean fuel trim reading and the OBD would light up with P0171 or similar code. When the potential for a five-figure repair bill hangs in the balance, I want to know as much about each engine's running condition as possible. For example, our current tow vehicle has a Chrysler 5.7 engine, and its digital display shows engine coolant temp, oil temp/pressure, and transmission temp - as well as all the conditions monitored through the OBD. Can a 2000 Sea Ray show all that, and if not how does one go about adding that level of protection?

tia, enfield
 
enfield said:
Do modern Mercruisers have sensors that perform the functions that OBD systems in cars have?

tia, enfield
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I'm not really the one to answer much that you asked. You might want to start a thread all by itself with what you ask to get a better response but here's my take.

I'm not sure you can adequately compare a boat motor running conditions to a vehicle. I run my twin 5.0's at 4200 RPM for 30-45 minutes depending on where I want to go. I'm rarely in putt putt mode unless I just to get out in front of the marina in deep water to take a swim. Vehicles might RPM up for a few miles but for the long haul I think they would explode as well running high RPM's for long periods of time. Just my take, others might have a different perspective.

I recently blew up one of my motors that had over 900 hours on the clock while cursing at over 4K rpm and it was catastrophic. The ECM died turning off everything including all the sensors and alarms and it ingested water and boom cracked heads. I wonder what does 900 hours on a boat motor equate mileage wise to a vehicle.

Before the 1998 290 I had a 2012 260 (bought new) with more modern electronics including the generator and I have to say every year I had to call the marina a few times because something would cause the engine to go into limp mode and ruin my weekend. Faulty O2 sensors were the worst. And the generator never did run right since day one. So I'm please to have gone backwards a bit in technology.

On monitoring electronics ..... if you search clubsearay there are many folks updating their electronics on older vessels to go digital so you might find a thread that discusses how this can be done.

Enjoy..... looking forward to hear back from your test drive of the 290.
 
Finished your thread last night after reading with horror the story of the ECM that died and took everything with it. A quick search shows that there was a trouble code setup even on the '80's-'90's Mercruisers; so far all I've found is a YouTube tutorial on how to read the codes using a jumper and an multimeter with audible continuity test. Sort of a simplified Morse Code method. Just a matter of combining the readings from all those sensors into a real-time digital dash display. Will search CSR for this.

Forgot to mention that the Merc tech where the 290 is slipped has nothing good to say about SEI replacements for the B III drives. He does like a place in FL that uses stronger internals and sells units for a lot less than Merc.

FWIW, here is the list of codes that I believe should be available to consolidate from a 290 [note codes 54 & 62]:
13 Oxygen Sensor Inactive
14 Coolant Sensor Voltage High (cold)
15 Coolant Sensor Voltage Low (hot)
21 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage High
22 Throttle Position Sensor Voltage Low
23 Manifold Air Temp Sensor High (cold)
24 Speed Sensor Inactive (if installed)
25 Manifold Air Temp Sensor Low (hot)
31 Governor Not Tracking
32 EGR Valve Not Tracking (if installed)
33 Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor High
34 Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor Low
41 Electronic Spark Timing Open Circuit
42 Electronic Spark Timing Grounded Circuit
43 Electronic Spark Control Detects Continuous Knock
44 Electronic Spark Control Cannot Detect Knock
45 Coil Driver Fault
51 ECM Calibration Checksum Error
52 ECM Hardware Failure
54 Oxygen Sensor Lean
55 Oxygen Sensor Rich
61 Fuel Pressure Sensor High
62 Fuel Pressure Sensor Low
81 (multiple causes, use scan tool to determine cause)
 
enfield said:
Forgot to mention that the Merc tech where the 290 is slipped has nothing good to say about SEI replacements for the B III drives. He does like a place in FL that uses stronger internals and sells units for a lot less than Merc.
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Did they mention the name of the place?

I don't have B3's but my outdrives are rotting off the boat and are on borrowed time.

The marina mechanics at my location don't like to replace outdrives with anything but OEM. They stand behind them including labor for warranty issues but not SEI's if that's what someone wants to use.
 
Everyone at the marina was busy today, so there was no chance to talk to the Merc tech. Will text him for you, though. Meanwhile, a rookie mistake cut our sea trial short. Yours truly was adjusting a trim tab after a u-turn reversed tide and wind vectors, and in the process the port engine ignition rocker switch got bumped and turned off. We [with broker at the helm] returned and docked handily on one 5.7. Only afterwards did we figure out the problem.

Trial itself took place under conservative engine rules. No WOT; top rpm of 3800 [briefly]; and no fiddling with throttles to synchronize. Looking back, I'm impressed that we got up on plane in about 20 seconds while revs were held to a steady 3000. After a very short run, we settled on 3200 as a cruising speed; that netted ~24.5 knots.

The Admiral was enjoying the port lounge when we crossed our wakes. She noted some shivering in the superstructure, not surprising since her hand was on the arch. She also observed that it was loud above decks and louder still in the cabin. Biminis were up but isinglass was not. The only comparison was her memory of cruising in our former 265Ssi with 8.1DP at 2900 rpm - no top, no arch.

Tied up next to the 290 was a 2002, low-hour 280. We got a tour on that one; Admiral favored the 290 cockpit but the 280 cabin and walk-through windshield. This last matters because I am early in recovery from shoulder surgery. 280's owner observed that his 4.3's need 37-3800 rpm to match the 290's cruise; at that point the 4.3's are well and truly into fuel-sucking mode. We know this because our first Sea Ray had the 4.3 205 4-barrel and spent a lot of time pulling pairs of slalom skiers. You just can't beat cubic inches!

Next we will visit some more 280's and 290's [even an AJ] in NoVa and the Land of Pleasant Living. May also check out a 288 Monterey and a 28' Denali. Will post the lower unit mfr's details here,

enfield

https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...wse_serp:125579fd-b8d6-4654-b77d-c2357cdb7c2d
 
OBR. If you go to their website they say they only sell to certified dealers, so can't get you a price.
Cheers
 
First time here :) just bought 2001, 290. Twin 5.0s (270 hours),Brand new transom assemblies, completely overhauled bravo 2's. Kohler 5e genset with 67 hours. Lets hope this bad boy gives me some good memoires :)
 
techmitch said:
Welcome aboard CSR. Run that genny!
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hahah I have been at least 30 min every time I step on the boat.

The only thing I'm having an issue with is my port motor throttle. After 2500 RPM it needs to be pushed forward about an inch more than the starboard to match RPM. And at WOT I am 4100ish on port and 5000ish on starboard. Now when I look at throttle bodies on the non running motors they both seem to be in the full open position when the throttles are fully forward.... so

1) Port motor is weaker ( I will do a compression test at end of seasons)
2) maybe a fowled plug or need a new cap /rotor
3) maybe its running less efficient due to being the counter rotating motor
4) maybe a prop issue.
5) bad gauges on the dash not actually reading properly

I was going to wait to dive deep into it until I bought and installed Fox marine gateways so I can see all the outputs of true RPM and fuel consumption before I went wild. Idk if this issue is common or not but i highly doubt it
 
jonl21 said:
hahah I have been at least 30 min every time I step on the boat.

The only thing I'm having an issue with is my port motor throttle. After 2500 RPM it needs to be pushed forward about an inch more than the starboard to match RPM. And at WOT I am 4100ish on port and 5000ish on starboard. Now when I look at throttle bodies on the non running motors they both seem to be in the full open position when the throttles are fully forward.... so

1) Port motor is weaker ( I will do a compression test at end of seasons)
2) maybe a fowled plug or need a new cap /rotor
3) maybe its running less efficient due to being the counter rotating motor
4) maybe a prop issue.
5) bad gauges on the dash not actually reading properly

I was going to wait to dive deep into it until I bought and installed Fox marine gateways so I can see all the outputs of true RPM and fuel consumption before I went wild. Idk if this issue is common or not but i highly doubt it
Click to expand...
Don't wait to get the engines running right. What could be a minor can turn into a major problem in short time.
 
Hello,
replacing my cockpit upholstery on 1999 290. Any tips or tricks to removing the backrest sections above the port side lounger? Thank you for the help in advance
 
jkelsey said:
Hello,
replacing my cockpit upholstery on 1999 290. Any tips or tricks to removing the backrest sections above the port side lounger? Thank you for the help in advance
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Go down in the cave and take the panel out. 4 screws.
If your talking about the one against the port side. My guy cut the bolts with a sawlsaw and then reattached with push connectors like a car door panel.
Trying to send pictures but I’m on the boat and WiFi. Is spotty
 
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