48 DA Owners Club

First repair needed on my 2008 48. Port side "Connection, Exhaust Outlet" (Cummins part # 3978849) which is the elbow coming out of the turbo. It developed a crack and is leaking. Does anyone know of an aftermarket supplier for these? Cummins wants $4600, DeAngelo is half that but I was wondering if the Sea Ray community new of place for replacement or used parts. It's aluminum so can it be tig welded? Thank you.
That to me is a weld repair...it looks like it cracked on the weld. You just need a good guy that can weld thin material...
 
IMG-2438.JPG Sundancer 48 cavitation problems...Has anyone experienced this? Had my boat hauled yesterday to get the rudder packing glands re-packed and noticed the prop-speed I just had done last March is all stripped off my props. KKMI in Sausalito said it looks like I have a cavitation problem and the boat is overpowered. I felt the props and they seemed pretty smooth. I personally think the yard didn't wait long enough or prep the props correctly before doing the prop speed. Anyone ever hear of cavitation problems on a 48 Dancer? All props and shafts are factory original. Anything I should be looking for before it goes back in the water? It runs great and I haven't noticed any loss of power, RPM's or vibration either.
 
Yes. I was getting "burns" (i.e. looked like small little holes to me) in the roots of my props supposedly from cavitation. I spoke with several prop shops, and was told this was due to cavitation and each shop told me this was a common problem on the 48DA. After 2 years of repairs in the off season I opted to purchase new props from ACME that are 25" x 29" variable pitch with .09" of cup. I had the burns repaired on my old props, and kept for a spare in that odd square hole under the head of the master bed. The new props aren't much different performance wise, but I did notice I get about a knot better speed at the same RPM/GPM as the factory EQY's.

-Tom
 
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Yes. I was getting "burns" (i.e. looked like small little holes to me) in the roots of my props supposedly from cavitation. I spoke with several prop shops, and was told this was due to cavitation and each shop told me this was a common problem on the 48DA. After 2 years of repairs in the off season I opted to purchase new props from ACME that are 25" x 29" variable pitch with .09" of cup. I had the burns repaired on my old props, and kept for a spare in that odd square hole under the head of the master bed. The new props aren't much different performance wise, but I did notice I get about a knot better speed at the same RPM/GPM as the factory EQY's.

-Tom
Thanks Tom, was Acme able to help you pic the correct prop based on the boat or is the information you provided enough to get the correct props?
 
Thanks Tom, was Acme able to help you pic the correct prop based on the boat or is the information you provided enough to get the correct props?

ACME was able to determine the correct props based on their proprietary software, the cummins info I provided, the boat specs, and knowledge of the 48DA.
 
Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and following up on my first post, which was whether owners of 48SD's preferred Zeus or v-drives.

Now that I've decided to go with v-drives, what kind of feedback can the 48SD owners out there give me on the differences between the two engine options, which were available on this boat, circa 2005-2008?

I'm going to look at an 06' this weekend, which is powered with the QSC - 483hp Cummins engines and would like to know the performance differences between these and the QSC - 514hp engines, as well as the effect on resale?

It appears that most 48sd's were ordered with the higher hp engine. Is this boat under powered with the engines with less hp?

Regards,
Steve
 
Hi Steve, I questioned the same specification when I bought my 2007 48DA. I did find an early spec showing the lower HP motors but never actually saw a listing with that rating. Honestly I don't even think that motor existed. If this 2006 is in fact 483 HP I would look for the 514 HP at the prop boat.
 
I agree with Rocket buy the largest HP prop and shaft boat you can find and you will not be sorry. I have never for one second wished I had pods. The 48’s are some of the best handling boats that Sea Ray ever made. After a few days of practice I was able to put it in whatever space I want. As my wife says “ I put it in the box it came in”
 
Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and following up on my first post, which was whether owners of 48SD's preferred Zeus or v-drives.

Now that I've decided to go with v-drives, what kind of feedback can the 48SD owners out there give me on the differences between the two engine options, which were available on this boat, circa 2005-2008?

I'm going to look at an 06' this weekend, which is powered with the QSC - 483hp Cummins engines and would like to know the performance differences between these and the QSC - 514hp engines, as well as the effect on resale?

It appears that most 48sd's were ordered with the higher hp engine. Is this boat under powered with the engines with less hp?

Regards,
Steve
I stayed away from pod boats simply because the early pods had lots if problems and there's nobody in my area to work on them. My 2008 48 is easy to handle so no need for pods from a handling perspective. The SkyHook option is cool though. One thing to watch out for is the props and cavitation. I had my boat out of the water two weeks ago and the PropSpeed I had put on back in March was wiped off the props. The boat yard told me the boat was over-powered and it was causing cavitation which was causing pitting or had burned off the PropSpeed. The props were still smooth but TNT8808 (Tom) had confirmed this was a problem with his boat as well. I guess this is a problem to look for with the 48 Sundancer. Tom fixed his by changing out the props to a more accurate prop. I'll probably be doing the same at some point. Here's a pic of my props and hopes this helps.
 

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Jeff - I'm no proffesional but after examining the picture you posted of your props, it appears the propspeed is missing from the outside 25% perimeter of your props, so I am of the opinion that you simply just bumped a sandbar or the like by accident and didn't realize, it's very easy to do on these boats. My props looked just like that after I hit bottom coming out of my marina at low tide, and it was only for a second before I popped the engines in neutral. I only noticed b/c of the muddy looking water in the wake, the prop pockets seem to mask things.
IMG_0470.jpg IMG_0471.jpg
 
Jeff - I'm no proffesional but after examining the picture you posted of your props, it appears the propspeed is missing from the outside 25% perimeter of your props, so I am of the opinion that you simply just bumped a sandbar or the like by accident and didn't realize, it's very easy to do on these boats. My props looked just like that after I hit bottom coming out of my marina at low tide, and it was only for a second before I popped the engines in neutral. I only noticed b/c of the muddy looking water in the wake, the prop pockets seem to mask things.
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Beercuda1, I'd have to agree with you on this. I actually did spin up some mud at one point awhile back and that was my original thought until the boatyard brought up the cavitation topic. I'm very skeptical on the cavitation thing as the props are still very smooth. It's still out of the water so I may have them reapply it and see what happens. Thanks for the input!
 
Cavitation Burn occurs at the base of the blade where it connects to the hub. It is usually caused by how close the prop is mounted in front of the strut. Both my 48da and my 420da had evidence of cavitation burn. I don’t have a picture but it looks like a pit in the metal. Not much of an issue. I have the original props she was born with, 750 hours.
 
For what it’s worth, on a 48DA I’m closing on shortly I had the surveyor specifically look for this prop burn on a 760 hour vessel, and it had virtually no evidence of any prop burn, but he specifically said if it did, its not the end of the world. PS - this boat has original props which need to be reconditioned as they haven’t been done in years - so any burn would’ve been evident.
 
For what it’s worth, on a 48DA I’m closing on shortly I had the surveyor specifically look for this prop burn on a 760 hour vessel, and it had virtually no evidence of any prop burn, but he specifically said if it did, its not the end of the world. PS - this boat has original props which need to be reconditioned as they haven’t been done in years - so any burn would’ve been evident.
When are you picking up your boat? In time to bring it over to Watch Hill for Columbus Day Weekend?
 
Hi Walter! Yes, we’re planning to bring her home shortly and WH is on the radar for us on Columbus Day! I’ll have to work out any kinks, but should be good to go! We’re super excited. As of today, I can officially change my profile to ‘owner’ of a 48DA.
 
Sooliman and Rocket...Thanks for the input! My boat only has 600 hours on it so I'm going with I hit a sandbar and "wiped" the propspeed off the edges of my props. No other signs of wear on the props so all is good. Sooliman, congratulations on the 48!
 
Hi Walter! Yes, we’re planning to bring her home shortly and WH is on the radar for us on Columbus Day! I’ll have to work out any kinks, but should be good to go! We’re super excited. As of today, I can officially change my profile to ‘owner’ of a 48DA.

Congratulations, and welcome to the 48DA club!

-Tom
 
Hi Walter! Yes, we’re planning to bring her home shortly and WH is on the radar for us on Columbus Day! I’ll have to work out any kinks, but should be good to go! We’re super excited. As of today, I can officially change my profile to ‘owner’ of a 48DA.
Great news!! Congrats!!
 
Hi Steve, I questioned the same specification when I bought my 2007 48DA. I did find an early spec showing the lower HP motors but never actually saw a listing with that rating. Honestly I don't even think that motor existed. If this 2006 is in fact 483 HP I would look for the 514 HP at the prop boat.


Thanks for the feedback guys.... although they had the smaller engine in the 2005 48Sd spec pamphlet, Sea Ray told me that none of the boats were ever built with them in it.

My search for a 48 SD continues. I'm going to look at a local 06' tomorrow, which has 1200 hours, but the owner recently had both after coolers and heat exchangers replaced!

Then there's another 06' in Florida with 1250 hours, but was in fresh water from 06 to 2015 (900hrs). It recently had the after coolers and heat exchangers serviced/cleaned and put back together without any parts required, since it was in fresh water for so long, it didn't have any issues, even with 350 hours of salt water use over 4-years.

Both boats are similar in list price, options and condition. leaving out the cost to drive the Florida boat back to NY out of the equation, I would like to know which of these boats would be more appealing to you 48 SD owners, if you were shopping?

My mindset is.... a saltwater boat, which has low hours on it, is not always the better option, than one with more hours and service records, when taking marine age into consideration.

One other thing..... how many hours is close to too many on an Onan 11.5kw diesel generator?

Steve
 

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