New to forum but not new to boats. I purchased a used 2011 Searay 205 Sport from an individual in Florida (140 hrs on clock). I did due diligence prior to buying. Hunted down previous owners and ensured the boat was stored inside or under cover and flushed after each use. Seller was a boat flipper. I wanted this particular boat since it had the ULTRA RARE Mercruiser 5.0 MPI. In addition it didn't have the wakeboard tower which I did not want since I go under bridges and it was to heavy to lower by myself. It did come with a brand spanking new 2017 galvanized trailer. One thing I loathed about the boat from beginning was it was catalyzed boat...and it was coming from salt water. I live in Houston and my previous boat is 30 years old in salt water so I know if flushed the engines will last forever.
I live in Houston so seller transported over and title transfer went off without a hitch!! Take out on first outing and first item I notice is an alarm going off. After Marinemaxx quoted $206 to pull the code I purchased a Rinda diagnosis tool ($600) set up to pull codes with catalyst engine. Quickly determine it was post oxygen sensors. What a surprise. I replaced O2 sensors and code went away. As far as the Rinda tool what a dream. My dash temperature gauge led me to believe I was running on the high side of engine temperature. Nope Rinda read engine temp and I found engine and manifolds running perfectly cool. I also verified hours on boat with Rinda in addition to tons of other data. I was showing excessive misfires on #3 cylinder even though boat was running great. I pull spark plug wire and terminal was completely corroded. I cleaned and reinstall. All other spark plug terminals perfect. I guess when they built engine they forgot the dielectric grease on that one. As far as the catalyst I plan on retrofitting back to traditional manifold in future. As far as pre cat O2 sensors I will just drill and tap to mount on manifold or purchase a spacer plate between manifold and riser and mount there. All the parts to retrofit come to $1400 which includes the $400 module to trick computer to think rear o2 sensors are installed. Truth be told I may just disconnect siren. Rear o2 sensors are useless as far as how the engine runs. On side note Mercruiser did not install knock sensors on this engine. If I run 89 octane zero pinging but 87 it will ping under wide open throttle for extended periods of time.
I did run into a problem mid-season. Boat would just stall when going into neutral. Not instantaneously, it would run for a second or two and stall. I found the shift cable sheathing had been damaged allowing salt water in which caused the cable to bind. This in turn caused the shift interrupter switch to kill the engine. The shift shaft seal looked perfect, water passage o-ring in good shape, bellows dry. I don't know how the cable failed. Shift is butter smooth now with no leaks and no stalling. I was originally tricked into thinking it was the IAC valve but it wasn't.
As far as Searay quality I feel it is pretty crappy. (Carbon steel trim bracket where you can get stainless off ebay for $50) Definitely not the Searay of yester year. If I knew what I knew now and was buying a new boat I would go with an outboard as the catalyst has increased the cost and complexity of these engines where they are not economical to own. I now have 175hrs on the boat and the bugs have been killed, only ghost left is when to replace manifolds, temps look good so I will hold off. The failures I have seen in the past is either the manifold thins behind the exhaust port where the exhaust gas enters the manifolds and thins and fails (water constantly boiling against cast iron and erosion corrosion occurs) or the manifolds crack externally. Cracks occur when sediment builds and cooling is lost, usually in corners. The new manifolds are very smooth so sediment concerns may not be an issue. No way to check thickness behind exhaust ports without destroying manifold.
Below are all my activities for your enjoyment
2011 Sea Ray 205 Activities
I live in Houston so seller transported over and title transfer went off without a hitch!! Take out on first outing and first item I notice is an alarm going off. After Marinemaxx quoted $206 to pull the code I purchased a Rinda diagnosis tool ($600) set up to pull codes with catalyst engine. Quickly determine it was post oxygen sensors. What a surprise. I replaced O2 sensors and code went away. As far as the Rinda tool what a dream. My dash temperature gauge led me to believe I was running on the high side of engine temperature. Nope Rinda read engine temp and I found engine and manifolds running perfectly cool. I also verified hours on boat with Rinda in addition to tons of other data. I was showing excessive misfires on #3 cylinder even though boat was running great. I pull spark plug wire and terminal was completely corroded. I cleaned and reinstall. All other spark plug terminals perfect. I guess when they built engine they forgot the dielectric grease on that one. As far as the catalyst I plan on retrofitting back to traditional manifold in future. As far as pre cat O2 sensors I will just drill and tap to mount on manifold or purchase a spacer plate between manifold and riser and mount there. All the parts to retrofit come to $1400 which includes the $400 module to trick computer to think rear o2 sensors are installed. Truth be told I may just disconnect siren. Rear o2 sensors are useless as far as how the engine runs. On side note Mercruiser did not install knock sensors on this engine. If I run 89 octane zero pinging but 87 it will ping under wide open throttle for extended periods of time.
I did run into a problem mid-season. Boat would just stall when going into neutral. Not instantaneously, it would run for a second or two and stall. I found the shift cable sheathing had been damaged allowing salt water in which caused the cable to bind. This in turn caused the shift interrupter switch to kill the engine. The shift shaft seal looked perfect, water passage o-ring in good shape, bellows dry. I don't know how the cable failed. Shift is butter smooth now with no leaks and no stalling. I was originally tricked into thinking it was the IAC valve but it wasn't.
As far as Searay quality I feel it is pretty crappy. (Carbon steel trim bracket where you can get stainless off ebay for $50) Definitely not the Searay of yester year. If I knew what I knew now and was buying a new boat I would go with an outboard as the catalyst has increased the cost and complexity of these engines where they are not economical to own. I now have 175hrs on the boat and the bugs have been killed, only ghost left is when to replace manifolds, temps look good so I will hold off. The failures I have seen in the past is either the manifold thins behind the exhaust port where the exhaust gas enters the manifolds and thins and fails (water constantly boiling against cast iron and erosion corrosion occurs) or the manifolds crack externally. Cracks occur when sediment builds and cooling is lost, usually in corners. The new manifolds are very smooth so sediment concerns may not be an issue. No way to check thickness behind exhaust ports without destroying manifold.
Below are all my activities for your enjoyment
2011 Sea Ray 205 Activities
- Trim Cylinder bushing replaced (external).
- Trim Cylinder pump bracket upgraded to stainless steel.
- New stereo and speakers installed. Pioneer/Alpine. Pioneer Bluetooth works perfect kenwood was horrific and never connected after numerous radios.
- Verified no Knock Sensor. Run 89 octane fuel and boat runs flawless with no pinging.
- Removed and tightened battery switch.
- Repaired Bimini top bow rail. Solid aluminum bars inserted. Repaired small Bimini canvas hole. New Bimini top tie downs for straps.
- Adjusted glove compartment.
- Two new oxygen sensors installed in pre-cat location 140hrs. Pre-cat oxygen sensors moved to rear positions.
- Boat alarming on starboard oxygen sensor
- Rear oxygen sensor rusted away
- Boat alarming on starboard oxygen sensor
- Depth finder gauge made by Hawkeye. Thru-haul transducer on starboard side under engine. Model D10XDX (depth and temp)
- A multitude of screws tightened. Partition walls in engine compartment etc.
- Installed correct size fuses in fuse panel.
- Reoriented bunk-boards. Repaired minor nicks in haul with marine tex.
- Applied anti-corrosion spray to electrical connections.
- Installed new boat letters and registration.
- Installed correct Sea Ray toggle switches on dash
- Fixed bilge pump float level – dash switch incorrect and would blow fuse
- Cleaned up wiring by battery. New correct length battery cable.
- Changed fuel filter 5/28/17 at 153hrs.
- Changed oil filter and oil at 153 hrs. 4.5 quarts of quicksilver semi-synthetic 20w40 and royal purple oil filter. Oil level found to be ¾ full when checked in water.
- Two new Bimini top mounts on windshield forward. In future Taco marine may sale an insert which can be modified to work with my concave brackets. If plastic insert exists a new one will not make a difference. New fittings didn’t do much to “tighten” up ball and socket fit.
- New mercury high five prop 153hrs. Purchased used for $300. Max RPM went from 5500 rpm to 5000 rpm (max for alpha 1 outdrive). Wide open speed 56mph. Installed prop lock with Loctite 242. Prop greased. Best improvement done to boat!!!! Pull a skier up in an instant. LOVE IT!!!
- Rebuilt starboard trim cylinder. Cylinder end cap will need replaced next time as corrosion existed behind wiper seal. Should present any issues as O-ring and shaft perfect. Filled cavity with grease. (6/2017) Trim cylinder squeaking.
- Painted struts for ski locker and side cushions. Minor rust. (6/2017)
- Greased steering cable. Removed from steering knuckle and greased in and outer part of cable. Steering working very good. (6/2017) Prior to greasing steering was very stiff. Now 1 finger turning.
- Replaced IAC valve. Engine would stall at idle. Used AutoZone part TV278 lifetime warranty. Old part was hanging up on little piston to sleeve fit due to salt? Did not fix stalling issue.
- Replaced shift cable, shift shaft and shift shaft arm and seals in shift shaft housing. Stalling issue resolved. Had a difficult time running cable. Use boroscope, cable makes right angle turn once inside haul. Use a coat hanger to snag cable and help along path. Ensure shift cable bellows adjusted correctly. Trim outdrive all the way up and stretch bellows and snug in place if not when drive is lowered bellows will be crushed. You do not have to drain outdrive oil there is a check valve in upper and lower outdrives halves which stop flow. (7/15/17 at 160 hrs)
- Starter drags sometimes when starting engine. Will try new ignition switch. Very minor annoyance. Ignition switch did not resolve problem. Starter gets better the more it is used.
- Bimini Top bracket screws. Purchased 10-24 aluminum rivet nuts. Windshield frame approximately 1/8” think and total depth is .50”.
- Rebuilt port side trim cylinder. Cap had corrosion but was acceptable to reuse. If needed again consider buying new cap. (11/2017)
- Used rivet nut on port side front bracket back bimini mount. Appears to work well. Used Loctite so heat to remove. This is key if you strip out bimini mounts. Searay quality not good.
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