Official 280 Sundancer Thread

[Josh28161]

That looks really nice!

Thanks!!

 

[Seldom Right]

The 120AC outlet in the cockpit keeps tripping. Replaced the outlet itself, which had seen water. And then the GFI outlet in the head as well, as it continues to trip. Any idea's?

 

[UgisO]

Hello, I know this issue was brought in past by others. But I cant find a clue to find root cause. In pic with blue color I marked were water comes in. I cant figure it out from where. Doesnt look like hatch is leaking. But since last week (after few shouters) I sponged out maybe 1/4 gallon water from starboard side storage compartment under v berth. With 2 4.3 MPIs boat sits bow up little bit, right? So gravity force must be encountered. All railing , front shield was caulked recently.

Thanks

 

[Kenneth Pursley]

Hello Folks,
I have a 2005 280DA with twin 4.3s. I ran into an issue this past weekend while running the boat. The starboard side engine comes up with a Check Engine alarm-no other information comes up that indicates the issue. I was able to determine that every 60 seconds I get two beeps - same tone and length. While texting with our mechanic the issue and symptoms - he indicated he thinks it’s the IAC valve. Another oddity is that the starboard side water pressure at idle runs below 1.0 while at idle the port side runs at about a 3. During cruising speed (3300 rpm) the starboard side runs at about 4.5 while the port side runs at about a 9. The water pressure has been running like this for about the past 4 hours or drive time except this weekend I finally ran into the check engine. In my searches on the internet - it also looks like this could be a bad water pressure sensor or impeller.

I have no problem letting my mechanic do work on the boat but given the time of year, I may not see it back for a few weeks. I also don’t know if the low water pressure is the cause of the check engine as it just started this weekend.

For those that have done this type of work, is the water pressure sensor and/or IAC valve easy enough for a moderate mechanic to replace? I can’t find diagrams to assist - at least not yet. Any help/feedback is appreciated.

P.S. I also ensured that the gear lube box was filled between min and max - it was low but once I added some - it continued the beeping path.

Thank you.

 

[Jeff Delbuono]

You tube it. Looks pretty simple to do

 

[trdehmer]

Something is afoul in my bilge. It does not smell well, and it is not a smell we've ever noticed before and we've had this boat for around 10yrs. I assumed it was my holding tank vent filter being clogged or needing replacement - however, that didn't solve the issue. Also, we never noticed any bad smell when flushing the head like we have in the past if the holding tank filter was going bad. I checked all hose fittings to the holding tank and macerator and all look good (nothing leaking). My macerator pump/piston was changed 2-3 years ago and appears to also be fine - no leakage noticed at all - nice and clean. The boat toilet hasn't been used yet this season, but I had it pumped anyway at the marina and added the normal chemicals to it. I feel fairly confident the smell is not coming from the holding tank/macerator (unless someone has any idea of what else to check!) - so I think its coming from somewhere else in the bilge. Fresh water system water smells just fine - I add 1/2 to a 1 cup of bleach to it at the start of the season (which was a few weeks ago). My bilge is fairly clean, only a tiny bit of standing water towards the stern (I'm going to shop vac that out). I have the 494 MAG engine with the closed cooling system. Could any of the fluids (oil, coolant, power steering, trim tabs, engine trim) have gone "bad" to cause a real foul smell in the bilge? I could argue the smell popped up when I ran it at full RPM for a short period of time so the engine was good and hot - but I have a feeling the smell was in the bilge already and we just didn't notice it. Turning the blower on you can smell it immediately!

Any words of wisdom?

 

[eweise]

Something is afoul in my bilge. It does not smell well, and it is not a smell we've ever noticed before and we've had this boat for around 10yrs. I assumed it was my holding tank vent filter being clogged or needing replacement - however, that didn't solve the issue. Also, we never noticed any bad smell when flushing the head like we have in the past if the holding tank filter was going bad. I checked all hose fittings to the holding tank and macerator and all look good (nothing leaking). My macerator pump/piston was changed 2-3 years ago and appears to also be fine - no leakage noticed at all - nice and clean. The boat toilet hasn't been used yet this season, but I had it pumped anyway at the marina and added the normal chemicals to it. I feel fairly confident the smell is not coming from the holding tank/macerator (unless someone has any idea of what else to check!) - so I think its coming from somewhere else in the bilge. Fresh water system water smells just fine - I add 1/2 to a 1 cup of bleach to it at the start of the season (which was a few weeks ago). My bilge is fairly clean, only a tiny bit of standing water towards the stern (I'm going to shop vac that out). I have the 494 MAG engine with the closed cooling system. Could any of the fluids (oil, coolant, power steering, trim tabs, engine trim) have gone "bad" to cause a real foul smell in the bilge? I could argue the smell popped up when I ran it at full RPM for a short period of time so the engine was good and hot - but I have a feeling the smell was in the bilge already and we just didn't notice it. Turning the blower on you can smell it immediately!

Any words of wisdom?

There could be a dead rodent that crawled in and died somewhere.

 

[trdehmer]

There could be a dead rodent that crawled in and died somewhere.

I would agree! I searched everywhere in the bilge and even where the cooler gets stored - I pulled the panel by cooler to see if there was anything back behind there dead. I found absolutely nothing - no sign a rodent was ever in the bilge to begin with. Even used my leaf blower through all the bilge vents to see if any debris would come out - nothing!

I did see however that my Speedo gauge cable where it goes through the hull out the back is dripping very very slowly into the bilge. How can I seal that up while the boat is in the water?

 

[Gunn]

Well, well I'm glad to see this thread is still very active! I have been MIA for a year and a half, since about October of 2019. Just got all caught up (I've read every single post over it's lifetime here). That's when I pulled my boat onto a trailer in disgust and have let it sit since then. Never even touched it last year. Caught up on other projects around the house. But now I'm ready to tackle the large issues looming...

As mentioned here back then, my starboard engine hydro-locked more than once in 2019. It would come and go. I would pull the spark plugs (forward to on the far starboard side) and seawater would pour out. Then it would be fine. Anyway, engine completely gave up the ghost while arriving at the dock for the end-of-season pull out.

I now have a remanufactured long block 4.3MPI engine. Now the challenge of pulling the old one, swapping over all the good parts and putting it back in. I believe that the old cylinder heads rusted through their water jackets, allowing water into the cylinder. But we'll see once it's sitting in the garage and I can disassemble easier.

Now onto my primary question: Has anyone ever pulled the Kohler 5E generator from the boat? And if you have, could you do it WITHOUT removing the starboard engine? Because the pan that my Kohler genset sits on is totally rusted and drives me crazy. Since I'll have the engine out, I could do it. But I'd rather save it for another year maybe. But that would mean, the engine is in place...

If you have pulled the genset, how hard was it? On the surface, other than lifting it out, it does seem very straightforward with just a few connections. But... ?

Wish me luck! I've been around these forums since before I purchased the boat in 2010 (previously had a 1995 175), so hopefully I'm back for good!

Tom

 

[Gunn]

For those that have done this type of work, is the water pressure sensor and/or IAC valve easy enough for a moderate mechanic to replace? I can’t find diagrams to assist - at least not yet. Any help/feedback is appreciated.

The IAC valve on each engine is -very easy- to replace. It's probably a 15-30 minute job, depending on your skills. Not messy, very easy, right on the topside of the engine. Don't forget to replace the IAC air filters too! They are very little pieces of some kind of air filter material, square, like a 1/4 size of a cotton ball. I keep a spare IAC on the boat, just in case of low idle or stalling issues...

I've never done a water pressure sensor.

Good luck,

Tom

 

[Gunn]

I wonder why they would double filter the fuel line? Do you think it’s factory on later models or an after-market addition? That may be why you can’t find a Sea Ray or Merc part number on it.

This is a response to a year-old post, but I wanted to answer since no one else did. On some 280DA's, Mercruiser installed low pressure fuel boost pumps. This helped prevent a vapor lock condition.

Mine didn't have it, but I suffered from vapor lock constantly (as did the previous owner). I ended up installing low pressure fuel pumps between the fuel tank and the fuel water separator/filter. These inline filters are added before the low pressure fuel pump, since it is ahead of the screw-on filter/separator.

It cured my vapor lock issues, finally. So there's the story...

Tom

 

[crazyheart]

Hey everyone. It’s time for new canvas for our 2002 280SD. It seems like everywhere I check they aren’t taking orders until this fall. Any suggestions on a good supplier that is servicing new orders? We are in San Antonio TX. Thanks

 

[Shaps]

try @Kevin C. on here, cove marine
he's a site sponsor too

 

[Woody]

Hey everyone. It’s time for new canvas for our 2002 280SD. It seems like everywhere I check they aren’t taking orders until this fall. Any suggestions on a good supplier that is servicing new orders? We are in San Antonio TX. Thanks

Did you try Great Lakes Boat Top?

 

[crazyheart]

Did you try Great Lakes Boat Top?

I haven’t called them directly yet but their website says they aren’t taking orders, similar to the rest of the sites I’ve looked at

 

[Henry Boyd]

I haven’t called them directly yet but their website says they aren’t taking orders, similar to the rest of the sites I’ve looked at

Great Lakes may not be able to help you if your 280 was built at the Sea Ray Phoenix plant. This plant was closed and the fabric patterns have been lost. The patterns that Great Lakes has access to do not exactly match the ones other plants used. Trust me I know, had a Phoenix 280 bought GL canvas and spent a fair amount of money having it altered resulting in an ok fit. If the HIN of your boat starts "SERA", yours was built in Phoneix. At one time GL's first question when you contacted them was "what is your HIN?", If you replied SERA, they politely told you they would not sell you canvas because they could not ensure it would fit. Since then reseller middlemen have gotten involved and will sell you GL canvas at full price with no warranty or fit promise, with the understanding you are buying to have someone make it fit. My advice, skip this step if your boat is a SERA and go to a good local shop that can make you a custom top.

 

[crazyheart]

Great Lakes may not be able to help you if your 280 was built at the Sea Ray Phoenix plant. This plant was closed and the fabric patterns have been lost. The patterns that Great Lakes has access to do not exactly match the ones other plants used. Trust me I know, had a Phoenix 280 bought GL canvas and spent a fair amount of money having it altered resulting in an ok fit. If the HIN of your boat starts "SERA", yours was built in Phoneix. At one time GL's first question when you contacted them was "what is your HIN?", If you replied SERA, they politely told you they would not sell you canvas because they could not ensure it would fit. Since then reseller middlemen have gotten involved and will sell you GL canvas at full price with no warranty or fit promise, with the understanding you are buying to have someone make it fit. My advice, skip this step if your boat is a SERA and go to a good local shop that can make you a custom top.

Thanks for the info! My vin starts with SERT so I’m hoping I won’t have that problem. I have seen several places that advertise “Stock” Searay canvas. Is Great Lakes the origin for all of them?

 

[eweise]

Thanks for the info! My vin starts with SERT so I’m hoping I won’t have that problem. I have seen several places that advertise “Stock” Searay canvas. Is Great Lakes the origin for all of them?

If you have the original pieces with the label attached, the order number on the tag when supplied to Great Lakes boat tops will get you a perfect fit.

 

[Gunn]

Was wondering if anyone knows details about troubleshooting a failure of my -down- sterndrive trim to not work on the starboard side engine? I ran through the Mercruiser troubleshooting steps to see if it was the solenoid on the trim pump, but the down solenoid works fine when I jump it at the pump. It just won't work when I push forward on the trim switch on the throttle control.

Could this be an issue inside the throttle control, at the switch? Anyone had this issue before? Or are there any other locations in the wiring harness I can access and try to jump to figure out where the problem might be. It's somewhere between solenoid and trim button, but...not sure where to start!

Tom

 

[Seldom Right]

I got the same problem, but when trimming up. Still there after replacing both solenoids. What a pita and waste of time.