Official 1998 Sea Ray Sundancer 290 Thread

Shaver said:
Can anyone help me out with a small problem ? I have noticed that one of my Risers is extremely hot, whereupon the other 3 are cold to the touch when running. Both engine temps appear to be normal at 170 Degrees. What would cause this ?
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Which riser is hot? I went through this a bit when I replaced all of our exhaust components. The starboard side of the 305/350 is always going to be hotter than the port side because the preheated block water is running through that side while the portside gets the cold seawater. (I think I have the sides right, I'll have to check my notes) this information was per meecruiser after I called them.

That being said, both stbd sides should be similar between engines, so you might have a block on one motor. How old are the risers and manifolds? When's the last time you did an impeller service?

pulling to inspect the riser is very easy and is worth doing.
 
It is the Port motor/ Starboard side Riser that is getting very warm to the touch. You can leave your hand on it for about 15 seconds before you have to remove. It would appear that I may have one side semi blocked. The Starboard engine risers are stone cold on both sides when running. I have no idea of the age of the manifolds or risers as only purchased last year. They must be in reasonable condition to be running so cool. It's strange that the engine temps are normal.
 
Shaver said:
It is the Port motor/ Starboard side Riser that is getting very warm to the touch. You can leave your hand on it for about 15 seconds before you have to remove. It would appear that I may have one side semi blocked. The Starboard engine risers are stone cold on both sides when running. I have no idea of the age of the manifolds or risers as only purchased last year. They must be in reasonable condition to be running so cool. It's strange that the engine temps are normal.
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Id pull the riser for inspection, you'll know right away if you need to replace them. Luckily on our boats the starboard riser is much easier than port because the hatch channel covers the port side. You'll just need a couple gaskets and an hour or two to get the job done. Are you in salt? They're 3-5 year items in salt water usually
 
Yes the boat is in salt ! Are the blockages normally in the Riser or can they be in the manifold also?
 
Shaver said:
Yes the boat is in salt ! Are the blockages normally in the Riser or can they be in the manifold also?
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My entire exhaust system was at least 8 years old when we bought it (manifold, riser/spacer, and elbow) so I replaced them all. The manifolds were in pretty bad shape, but they were old. From what I've read around here and on other boards people get away with replacing just the riser/elbow sometimes more often than the manifolds but without knowing how old they are your best bet will be to replace the whole system. It's a big parts bill, but the job is really pretty easy to do. I replaced ours right in the water, started at 9AM and was boating by 1PM.

Bottom line is a complete exhaust makeover is way cheaper than a repower, so it was worth it to me.
 
Strecker25 said:
My entire exhaust system was at least 8 years old when we bought it (manifold, riser/spacer, and elbow) so I replaced them all. The manifolds were in pretty bad shape, but they were old. From what I've read around here and on other boards people get away with replacing just the riser/elbow sometimes more often than the manifolds but without knowing how old they are your best bet will be to replace the whole system. It's a big parts bill, but the job is really pretty easy to do. I replaced ours right in the water, started at 9AM and was boating by 1PM.

Bottom line is a complete exhaust makeover is way cheaper than a repower, so it was worth it to me.
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Sent a PM !
 
if there is a blockage, it could be in the block and not in the manifold causing one side to be hotter as well. if the cooling water is being stopped or slowed down enoughin one of the passages it would increase the temp really quickly. not saying this is the case but could be.
 
boats unwrapped, cleaned and drives re installed. now the bad news...the drive trim is all wacked out. one will work sometimes, one not at all, the trailer switch was working with both but now not at all......AAGGHHHH. anyway, the bottom is painted and i could have the shop pick it up as it sits and take care of everything so i might go that route, i'm way too busy to deal with this issue right now. we close on the house in 10 days so i'm living out of a suitcase already and all my tools are packed up. no more woodworking projects, paid or unpaid until i build a garage.

both motors fired right up within 3 seconds of cranking though so thats a plus. it was 9pm and the next door neighbors have a baby so i didn't run them longer than fire up and shut off.
 




Let's see if this one breaks.
Mahogany this time, pine wasn't strong enough
 
nice work, looks great. The gelcoat under your windshield is so much cleaner than mine. I ordered a set of drill cleaning brushes I'm going to try and polish the **** out of it this year and clean it up. Worst case I might actually see if I can recoat it somehow
 
My friend was sitting backwards on this one when we dropped off of the front of a huge wave and split it.

 
Strecker25 said:
nice work, looks great. The gelcoat under your windshield is so much cleaner than mine. I ordered a set of drill cleaning brushes I'm going to try and polish the **** out of it this year and clean it up. Worst case I might actually see if I can recoat it somehow
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Under the cupholder?
I unscrewed the last one and just waxed it with 3m cleaner was. Took me about 2 days last year to do the deck area because it was awful. I can't imagine it would take longer than 3 hours this year. It stayed very clean

I actually made a spare cupholder out of pine incase this one breaks this year
 
You are right, that's a bad picture. Ha ha. I still have the chart holder in mine. I use it any time I go anywhere except for a couple places I could find with my eyes closed.

To clean and brighten my dash, I laid across it and did it all by hand with cleaner wax. It was the only way To get it smooth and uniform in color
 
Anyone ever tried to adjust alignment on our boats? The port side might be off very very slightly, I can get the alignment bar in and out with very slight resistance but I know it could be a hair better just because the port side slides in and clunks against the back of the coupler, port takes just a little push. The problem is how tight the outboard mount is to the wall/generator I'm not sure I could easily get a wrench on it. Since it's so slight, not sure I want to mess wit ith it.
 
Boat is in, everything running great. Had to kick the reverse engagement up on the stbd side a little bit using the slot on the shift plate to get full engagement but seems ok now. I posted this to the iboats prop forum but curious what you guys think. The 14.5x18 isn't enough prop for us. See below:

Hey guys, tried going from 3 to 4 blade this year and bouncing off the limiter at WOT so it seems like we need more prop. OEM on our boat is 14x19 SS Vengeance. They were a little dinged but performed OK, just had a high minimum cruise/planing speed.

1) Performance issue you are trying to correct.
Better low planing speed, reduced RPM at cruise.
2) Current prop manufacturer, model, aluminum or stainless as a minimum.
 Went from OEM 14x19 SS 3 blade Vengeance, currenrly have 14.5x18 Quicksilver Diamond 4
3) Current prop diameter and pitch (required).
14x18 4 blade Aluminum
4) Wide open throttle RPM and speed with an average load (very helpful)
5000, very slightly touching rev limiter
5) Engine/drive make, model, year, and HP
Twin 1998 5.7EFI, Alpha I gen II drives (standard/counter)
6) Boat make model, year, length and weight
1998 Searay 290 Sundancer, 31' overall including platform. 10,500 dry, 130 gallons fuel, 40 gallons water, gear, 2 people.


With the change to the diamond 4's we see a nice low planing speed and decent hole shot with no tab needed to get on plane. I never run WOT or anything much faster than 3400 or so. Tested speeds today on a slight tailwind, full fuel, full water, 2 people and gear. Another owner recommended 15.5x17 3 blades instead of 4. I really like the extra bite at the dock with the 4 blades but it seems to need more prop based on today's test.

1200RPM - 7mph
1600RPM - 8mph
2000RPM - 9mph
3000RPM - 24mph (planing, drives fully tucked, no tab)
5000+RPM - 40mph (rev limiter, drives tucked)

Sticking with 4 blade - do I go up 1-2 inches in pitch and keep the size? Or try the big 3 blade?
 
Seems like you made a bunch of changes, and not sure which had the most influence....?
Do you think the drop fins made a difference?... I run stainless 4 blade with 17 pitch, and they are perfect for me... but I have 4.3's...
 
gtfireftr said:
Seems like you made a bunch of changes, and not sure which had the most influence....?
Do you think the drop fins made a difference?... I run stainless 4 blade with 17 pitch, and they are perfect for me... but I have 4.3's...
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If nothing else the fins help tremendously with tracking. The boat stays true now even at low speeds (1200-1400rpm). I also don't feel the need for as much tab to get similar lift, but that could have been the 4 blades.

Amazon prime had the 14x20 diamond 4's super cheap and as a prime member I can return them no issue so I'm going to try them out. 20" pitch seems like a lot but going off what we saw with the 18's if we lose 400RPM i'll be right in the sweet spot.

The other variable here is the aluminum vs stainless. I'm sure the aluminum is flexing so maybe we're losing a hair of pitch during running. Hoping the 20's do the trick.
 
Strecker25 said:
If nothing else the fins help tremendously with tracking. The boat stays true now even at low speeds (1200-1400rpm). I also don't feel the need for as much tab to get similar lift, but that could have been the 4 blades.

Amazon prime had the 14x20 diamond 4's super cheap and as a prime member I can return them no issue so I'm going to try them out. 20" pitch seems like a lot but going off what we saw with the 18's if we lose 400RPM i'll be right in the sweet spot.
I also installed the drop fins... I am going to splash next week, so hopefully I can see a nice difference....

I definitely agree that the aluminum will flex more than the stainless.... hopefully the 20's will match what you need.... Good luck...
The other variable here is the aluminum vs stainless. I'm sure the aluminum is flexing so maybe we're losing a hair of pitch during running. Hoping the 20's do the trick.
Click to expand...

I also installed the drop fins... I am going to splash next week, so hopefully I can see a nice difference....

I definitely agree that the aluminum will flex more than the stainless.... hopefully the 20's will match what you need.... Good luck...
 
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