The big old 80's 340 owners thread

Hi Shawn, Continuing saga. All of a sudden I have no water when I turn on the taps. Did I overfill the water tanks? Would this cause the pump to shut down? My water switch is on. The vacuflush doesn’t pump water either. I was hoping to spend a long weekend aboard
 
Most obvious question is do you hear the water pump cycle on? After sitting on the hard for what?....4 years? it's very likely that the diaphragm in your water pump dried up and no longer functions. I would look at just changing out the pump. It's an easy job and I think a new Jabsco or Shurflo pump is about $125. It's an easy job and should take an hour or so.

Shawn
 
Quick question for ya'll....I see alot of talk about fuel consumption and people are saying at 3200 rpm they are getting 25 gph and others are talking 13-15. Are some talking about a total of both engines while others are talking per engine?
 
With a 454, at 3200 RPM each engine will burn 12-15 gph. I used to get a TOTAL burn(both engines together, as per floscans) of 30gph at 3300 rpm.
 
Greetings to my fellow big old 80's 340 owners. I've been the proud owner of a 1989 340 Sundancer since 2012. I've been updating the boat a little each year, such as a camper canvas and new cockpit upholstery. I have a couple updates that I would like to do this season and I thought my fellow 340 owners might have some input. First, I would like to replace the cabin refrigerator. Has anyone replaced the Norcold unit? If so, with what brand and model did you use. The second update I am considering is replacing the prop shaft stuffing boxes with the no drip type. Has anyone done this conversion? Was it even possible to get to the area without pulling the engines? One other update is replacing the tachometers. My readings are all over the place and I would prefer to have them accurate. I appreciate anyone's thoughts on these items. Thanks in advance!
 
Greetings to my fellow big old 80's 340 owners. I've been the proud owner of a 1989 340 Sundancer since 2012. I've been updating the boat a little each year, such as a camper canvas and new cockpit upholstery. I have a couple updates that I would like to do this season and I thought my fellow 340 owners might have some input. First, I would like to replace the cabin refrigerator. Has anyone replaced the Norcold unit? If so, with what brand and model did you use. The second update I am considering is replacing the prop shaft stuffing boxes with the no drip type. Has anyone done this conversion? Was it even possible to get to the area without pulling the engines? One other update is replacing the tachometers. My readings are all over the place and I would prefer to have them accurate. I appreciate anyone's thoughts on these items. Thanks in advance!

Welcome - I'm about to be of almost no help to you!

-We still have the original Norcold so I have interest in what you do there.
-Our 340 came equipped with the Tides Marine dripless setup so I cant say for certain, but I think it would be one hell of a trick to install them without yanking the engines.
-We had after market tachs already installed when we bought the boat. If they are jumping around, there is a 4/6/8 switch on the rear of the tach that just needs cleaning by moving it through all three positions a bunch of times.

-Mike
 
Greetings to my fellow big old 80's 340 owners. I've been the proud owner of a 1989 340 Sundancer since 2012. I've been updating the boat a little each year, such as a camper canvas and new cockpit upholstery. I have a couple updates that I would like to do this season and I thought my fellow 340 owners might have some input. First, I would like to replace the cabin refrigerator. Has anyone replaced the Norcold unit? If so, with what brand and model did you use. The second update I am considering is replacing the prop shaft stuffing boxes with the no drip type. Has anyone done this conversion? Was it even possible to get to the area without pulling the engines? One other update is replacing the tachometers. My readings are all over the place and I would prefer to have them accurate. I appreciate anyone's thoughts on these items. Thanks in advance!
I might be able to help some. I owned an '89 340da for 4 years.

I replaced my Norcold fridge right after I bought the boat. I wasn't planning to and at the time I really didn't have $1400 or so for a new dual voltage fridge so I bought a 110 volt GE that fit the hole. It worked great as we usually stayed pretty close to shore power. However, we started going on longer cruises and stuff in the fridge got warm. to solve this I installed a Xantrex 1800 watt inverter and a pair of 6-volt golf cart batteries. It worked great and if you want details on the install let me know, I can send them to you.

My boat also came with dripless seals but I had to have a shaft replaced and when that was done I think there would have been room to install them if I needed to. Check with your local boat yard, they should know.

Before you dump the tachs have you tried cleaning the contacts? On the back of each tach is a small selector switch for adjusting the tach for 4, 6 or 8 cylinder engines. The contacts on this switch get crusty but if you take a small screwdriver in the slot and turn it back and forth several times it will often clean the contacts enough to improve the accuracy. be sure and leave it pointing a the "8".

My 340 was one of my favorite boats and I think my wife and I probably had the most fun with it. It's a nice roomy boat but still small enough to just cruise to dinner or ice cream.
Shawn
 
Welcome - I'm about to be of almost no help to you!

-We still have the original Norcold so I have interest in what you do there.
-Our 340 came equipped with the Tides Marine dripless setup so I cant say for certain, but I think it would be one hell of a trick to install them without yanking the engines.
-We had after market tachs already installed when we bought the boat. If they are jumping around, there is a 4/6/8 switch on the rear of the tach that just needs cleaning by moving it through all three positions a bunch of times.

-Mike
Mike,
Thanks for the information. I'll be sure to post my refrigerator choice when I make it. At the moment, I'm leaning towards a model from Virtrifrigo. This line of equipment has good reviews and a friend of mine chose them when he replaced his fridge on his '96 330 DA. I will try out the tach fix this weekend. Thanks!
 
I might be able to help some. I owned an '89 340da for 4 years.

I replaced my Norcold fridge right after I bought the boat. I wasn't planning to and at the time I really didn't have $1400 or so for a new dual voltage fridge so I bought a 110 volt GE that fit the hole. It worked great as we usually stayed pretty close to shore power. However, we started going on longer cruises and stuff in the fridge got warm. to solve this I installed a Xantrex 1800 watt inverter and a pair of 6-volt golf cart batteries. It worked great and if you want details on the install let me know, I can send them to you.

My boat also came with dripless seals but I had to have a shaft replaced and when that was done I think there would have been room to install them if I needed to. Check with your local boat yard, they should know.

Before you dump the tachs have you tried cleaning the contacts? On the back of each tach is a small selector switch for adjusting the tach for 4, 6 or 8 cylinder engines. The contacts on this switch get crusty but if you take a small screwdriver in the slot and turn it back and forth several times it will often clean the contacts enough to improve the accuracy. be sure and leave it pointing a the "8".

My 340 was one of my favorite boats and I think my wife and I probably had the most fun with it. It's a nice roomy boat but still small enough to just cruise to dinner or ice cream.
Shawn
Shawn,

Thanks for your suggestions and help. Your fridge upgrade is a good idea, but I think I will stick with the built in dual voltage type.

As I said to Mike in the previous post, I'll try the tach cleaning idea this weekend. I hope it works!

I spoke to a SeaRay mechanic recently, and he said it's possible to upgrade the seals, but it could get expensive. Most likely, both shafts would need to be replaced, because of the wear the shafts have seen with the rope style packings. He wouldn't want to install the new style seals that could land in the worn area of the shaft. He suggested to clean and repack the stuffing boxes with the GoreTex brand of packing material. He said installed properly, they will last a long time.

Thanks!

Steve
 
I am new owner of 1988 345 SB...twin 7.4 mpi....home port St Augustine ,Fl eager to learn all about it.
 
I have a 345 SB...PO says the westerbeke genny needs a fuel pump....if this is true any ideas on aftermarket ?
 
Have a 1988 Sundancer, had genny issues, called Tri-county Diesel in Bellingham Wa. and they diagnosed a "condenser", entire procedure was smooth and only cost a couple hundred. Well worth having them do it rather than me running around etc. Diagnosed one day and had it done the next in water at dock. Pleasant and efficient technician. He also checked out the generator completely. Mine is a Westerbeke.
 
Proud new owner of a 1987 340 EC. First big, twin screw boat. Bought the boat in March, brought it home (about 50 miles) no problem. Ripped out the 1980's carpet and have been installing new lonseal flooring and it looks great. I went to take the boat out for the first time in a few months (I do run the boat in place regularly) and ran into a problem that I cannot figure out and was hoping someone could help. The boat runs great (only 180 or so hours on new motors - Marine Power 5.7L 350's) when leaving the dock at low speeds in no wake zone. When I throttle up to take off the boat reaches about 7 mph, squats in the water, and just will not go any faster. Both engines do go rev up as if it were moving but the boat does not move. I tested both transmissions from stand still and they turn boat just fine and seem to work fine (at low speeds at least). I open hatch and can see the shafts spinning just fine. The boat just won't move. It's almost like something is holding the boat down at that moment, I have gone in the water and checked the props and shafts as best as I could and do not feel anything hanging on that could be an anchor (crab trap, net). I am very frustrated with the situation and hope someone could provide a newbie some useful information.
 
5.7's??? Shouldn't those be 454's, i.e. 7.4's ?
If motors are spinning up ok, trans could be slipping, or not fully engaged. Kind of odd that both are doing the same thing, though. Might be worth taking a marine mechanic for a ride to be on the safe side.
Love to see what that floor looks like. I'm planning to do mine, it's held up really well but, IT'S PINK! I don't care what SR called it, it's pink.
 
2017-12-01_12-51-44_219.jpg
 
Yea I see that pink nightmare, mine was green! When I figure out how to post pics Ill post one of the floor I'm working on. I was thinking the same thing about the trannys. How could it be both though at the same time? When I read up about checking the levels in the trannys I get mixed info, the line on the dipstick is for the cold or hot level? Right now the level is just on or below the line when cold. Someone else told me it could be the growth on the bottom of the boat, its got barnacles but I can still feel the hull in between for sure. And I do feel them on the prop and rudders.
 

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