Official 1998 Sea Ray Sundancer 290 Thread

[hifive]

Hello to all,

A very good friend of mine, purchased a (very rare example at least to my knowledge) 290 with twin D-tronics 150 located in salt water in Athens, Greece.

To my surprise, after first sea trials he was only making +/- 20 knots at cruising speed. Unfortunately, his dad was the one who tested the boat, which was very clean and passed all servey checks with success, but he (his dad) didn't bother at all about the low cruising speed, so they bought the boat.

Now after loading the boat with tons of accessories, fuel, water, hydraulic gangway and dingy plus AC, the boat has difficulty to get in plane and holds 1 knot less at cruising speed.

Any experience with the above setup? Are the numbers close to the usual diesel option or we need to look further? And a maybe stupid question... has anyone repowered with diesel engines a 290?

Thank you in advance

Nick

Bit late to the party with this reply, but I have the same set up. 98 290 with the Merc 150/165 d-tronic Diesels on bravo 2's.
The boat is a little slow to plane but always gets there even if fouled/heavy etc. W.o.t. Is 29 knots and cruise is around 23/24. The big thing for us European boaters (Ireland) is the fuel economy, this boat sips fuel. I have had three Searay 290's a 92 with twin v6 gas motors, a 97 with a single Merc 250 hp diesel (a dog!) and this one. The gas one one was really not practical to run over here. Even if you could afford the rediculous cost of the fuel, almost no marinas even have gas available. Diesel pumps are common. Gas prices here in Ireland are scandalous @ roughly $1.62 for a litre, so for mid size to larger boats, diesel is the way to go. I'm fortunate to also have a 97 Searay 190 with the 5.7 gas motor, so I can still get my speed fix

Glad to answer any questions on either boat. I've owned the 190 from new, 21 years! And the 290 for 12 years. I do all my own maintenance, including an engine swop on the 190 due to leaking risers, and I've had both engines out of the 290 for different reasons. One burst an oil line, ran out of lubricant and seized and the other one had to come out because a u/j let go and destroyed the transom shield

 

[Strecker25]

Not 290 specific but started doing the spring routine today. Alignment check, drives back on and torqued, etc. Here are some pics if anyone’s interested. I take pictures as I go so I can go back later as a sanity check to make sure everything went as planned, mainly to prove to myself I didn’t lose a gasket or oring during install.

 

[Strecker25]

Getting there. Hope to be in this weekend or early next week

 

[Strecker25]

Another project underway. This is the ebay stuff. We’ll see how good my templating skills were. I hope to install it this weekend. Not as custom as seadek but when you cut it at an angle it shows nice black edging.

 

[Strecker25]

Anyone replace the steering cable? I just ordered a replacement. $160 on amazon with prime shipping. Steering has always been tight for us and seems worse this year. For less than $200 I figured just go ahead and swap it. I'm sure it wont be fun to snake it out but it's a thick cable so I'm sure I can force it through

 

[Little Ducky]

Anyone replace the steering cable? I just ordered a replacement. $160 on amazon with prime shipping. Steering has always been tight for us and seems worse this year. For less than $200 I figured just go ahead and swap it. I'm sure it wont be fun to snake it out but it's a thick cable so I'm sure I can force it through

Note some tips and tricks for us that might have to tackle this at some point.

Mine is tight but I'm going with the Gimbal Pin on the port motor is toast.

 

[Strecker25]

Note some tips and tricks for us that might have to tackle this at some point.

Mine is tight but I'm going with the Gimbal Pin on the port motor is toast.

Will do. If you want to isolate the drives or the cable as the problem pull the clevis pin where the cable end connects to the transom and turn the wheel, if it's smooth it's likely the drive or rough it's the cable.

 

[Strecker25]

Here’s our platform finished up

 

[Strecker25]

Note some tips and tricks for us that might have to tackle this at some point.

Mine is tight but I'm going with the Gimbal Pin on the port motor is toast.

The trick is, be ready for a battle. I didn't replace it yet, but just getting the clevis pin out took 45 minutes. The cable is in the wire track with all the main harness going to the helm, so if I replace this thing I'm probably going to cut the ends off the old and leave it, then re-run the new one. Pulling that 1" nut and cable end back through all those wires is just asking for it.

Everything is also zip tied to the rack under the helm (perfect) so I'll have to remove them and re-attach somewhere else. The shifter console definetly is going to have to come out to route the new one. I need to re-bed that stanchion anyways, so that's one positive.

 

[flying_steve]

Here’s our platform finished up

View attachment 55215 View attachment 55216

Looks great. I am about to mount the same grill pedestal mount I see you have attached. How long were the bolts you used? I'm not sure how thick the platform is and the boat is still under shrink wrap at the marina an hour north. Thanks.

 

[Strecker25]

Looks great. I am about to mount the same grill pedestal mount I see you have attached. How long were the bolts you used? I'm not sure how thick the platform is and the boat is still under shrink wrap at the marina an hour north. Thanks.

Way too long lol. I just bought 1 1/2” for the Davit plates and they were plenty long

 

[flying_steve]

Way too long lol. I just bought 1 1/2” for the Davit plates and they were plenty long

Great, thanks. I've got plas-teak on the deck too so I'll go 2" then. No problems drilling the platform at all? This is my first project for the boat we bought last year so I'm apprehensive!

 

[Strecker25]

Great, thanks. I've got plas-teak on the deck too so I'll go 2" then. No problems drilling the platform at all? This is my first project for the boat we bought last year so I'm apprehensive!

Nope, easy to get through. You can put painters tape down to minimize gelcoat tearout and drill through that. I drill about 2 drill sizes up, fill with 5200, then Redrill to size. You can just fill the hole with 4200 or something too, but wear gloves when you put the nut on otherwise it’ll get all over your hands.

 

[flying_steve]

Nope, easy to get through. You can put painters tape down to minimize gelcoat tearout and drill through that. I drill about 2 drill sizes up, fill with 5200, then Redrill to size. You can just fill the hole with 4200 or something too, but wear gloves when you put the nut on otherwise it’ll get all over your hands.

Did you put anything under the mount or just put it right on to the platform?

Thanks!

 

[Strecker25]

Did you put anything under the mount or just put it right on to the platform?

Thanks!

Right to the platform, fender washers underneath to spread the pressure a bit. Water collects a little in the mount and then algae grows so I spray it good with the hose when cleaning back there

 

[Strecker25]

Steering cable done, and that was the problem. I can turn with one finger and barely any effort now. Honestly it was so easy when I first turned it on that I thought the clevis pin had come out. Ours was Seastar SSC13417 if anyone needs to order one. Only $122

You have to disconnect the shifter section and pull it back to get your hand behind the helm and direct the cable through. I took a new path down the hollow gunwale then into the bilge where the waste pumpout goes to the deck. From there it’s easy to route back to the transom plate. I left the original and will now just cut the end off and pull it back through (or leave it if I get any resistance)

Ignore the squealing pulley, I need a new tensioner

 

[Strecker25]

Added the full camper today. Changes the whole boat, especially early in the year when it’s cold. I like the look against the new foam on the platform too

 

[flying_steve]

Anyone able to point me in the direction of an LED replacement for the fluorescent lights in the galley area?

 

[Strecker25]

New dash panels from FP. Absolutely love them and changed the feel of the whole helm. I can actually read the switch labels for the first time. Bad picture but they’re gloss black stardust. I’m going to add the middle panel as well

 

[Strecker25]

Replaced both bilge blowers yesterday. What a difference, they're wayyy quieter. I just went with the direct replacement attwood 4000's.