Survey and Sea Trial tomorrow

Adam-swf

New Member
Dec 13, 2016
29
Bradenton, FL
Boat Info
1998 Sea Ray 270da Sundancer
Engines
7.4 Mercruiser w/Bravo III
Hi All,

What a great forum you have here. I'm very close to buying a '98 270da, the survey and sea trial are tomorrow. Very excited, won't have any trouble getting up in the morning. Late to ask now but if there's anything to look for in particular please let me know. And thanks for the great resource of Sea Ray info!

-Adam-swf
 
The best feeling ever is the anticipation of a sea trial in the morning, on the boat you think you love! Good luck!! Only advice I could give you is to have the courage to walk away (or threaten to) if things don't go as planned with the sea trial. I was so in love with my 3rd boat that I decided to overlook some things we found during the inspection and sea trial. My wife had to step in and slap me around a little to help me come to my senses and so glad she did. Also get a survey (engine and hull). The surveyors also help to provide an unbiased second opinion to help us men see things more clearly through our boat goggles.
 
That is very sound advice, thank you! I do have the surveyor going with me for
the sea trial and an engine guy will look it over in the afternoon. It would be hard to walk at this point but you are right, have to be able to. Anyway I should know what shape she's in tomorrow, hopefully good news!
 
That is very sound advice, thank you! I do have the surveyor going with me for
the sea trial and an engine guy will look it over in the afternoon. It would be hard to walk at this point but you are right, have to be able to. Anyway I should know what shape she's in tomorrow, hopefully good news!

Then you're doing everything right and putting yourself in the best position! Good luck tomorrow and be sure to post plenty of pics if you decide to move forward!
 
Good luck with survey. I know the feeling of loving a boat and having to walk away. I had to do it twice and it hurt, but found a great boat in the end. Sending you positive Searay vibes.


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Ask if you can take it to max RPM for an hour to see how the engine works. If owner says no ask why if it is fuel consumption offer to pay if he still says no there could be things wrong.
 
An hour at WOT? I respectfully disagree, not happening on my boat.

5 minutes at WOT is more like it with 30 minutes at around 3300 - 3600 RPM.
 
I agree. There is no way I would allow anyone to run what is still MY boat for an hour at WOT no matter who pays for fuel! A few minutes to verify WOT speed and rpm and that is it!
 
Hi All,

What a great forum you have here. I'm very close to buying a '98 270da, the survey and sea trial are tomorrow. Very excited, won't have any trouble getting up in the morning. Late to ask now but if there's anything to look for in particular please let me know. And thanks for the great resource of Sea Ray info!

-Adam-swf

Well, you asked late and I'm answering late, but hope it's still timely enough to help. Check the portlights. They are very bad about leaking around the outside trim ring.
Congratulations and good luck!
 
I agree. There is no way I would allow anyone to run what is still MY boat for an hour at WOT no matter who pays for fuel! A few minutes to verify WOT speed and rpm and that is it!

Count me in the no freaking way category as well. In fact when I pulled the engine data on my current boat I looked specifically at some of the operating ranges to make sure the boat wasn't beat to death. If recall it only had 1.1 hour at 4000-4500+ RPM which is exactly what I'd want to see for a boat that at the time had about 250 hours.
 
Thanks guys, the survey and sea trial went well. There are three concerns. 1. The battery charger is not working. 2. The bracket that the hydraulic pump is mounted to has rusted and is no longer attached to the hull. 3. The AC does not blow cold air. The heat works and water is flowing but no cold air. So that stuff will be checked by a mechanic.


The compression test was good as was the outdrive oil. We did run at cruise speed and WOT for a few minutes to verify speed and rpm. Boat handles nicely and the surveyors said it’s in terrific shape for a boat that age. Freaked me out seeing the guy jump into the engine compartment with the motor running and while underway!


So I’m waiting to hear back on what the mechanic says. Concerned about the AC and not sure what a battery charger costs installed. We will have to determine who is paying for that stuff, and how that’ll all work. I was also going to have them put in a flush system while it’s there since I will store it on a lift. And considered sending them a transducer since I would have to haul it out to install that, no trailer. Anyway, wait and see but very positive experience.
 
Excellent! Sounds like fairly minor stuff... the charger isn't a huge deal, the bracket should also be fairly simple, the A/C could be spendy depending on what's wrong. Good luck!
 
As to running at max RPM we have 2750 hours on our engines and the compression is good. Goes the same speed it did at 650 hours. Going north we have run the boat for an hour or so at full RPM because we want to miss rapids or get out of the way of a storm that was not supposed to be there. Boat handles it well. Crew does not. It burns 28 gallons an hour per engine so we try not to do it often. We normally run at 1400 RPM and burn 6 gallons an hour. If an engine will not take full load for extended time it is not in good condition. In a given year we might have 5 hours at max RPM. Before we had a 28 footer with twin V6 3.8 we ran them all the time at 3800RPM same results as this boat. Sold the boat at 1500 hours. It is still around and the owner has had no problems with the engines. Start stop does more damage than constant running under load. I used to run the maintenance department for a large pipeline company. We had every thing from turbines to diesel to electric. if it said full load 22,000 RPM on a turbine we ran it at that for days same with reciprocal engines. We used to get 40,000 hours on the turbines between rebuilds. Others I do not remember but t was in the 10s of thousands of hours. Maintenance is the key to long life of all equipment and the only way to find out if equipment is well maintained is to make it work hard.
Glad your test run went well. If you got it to max RPM and all stabilized for 5 minutes that would be an indication all is well. There will come a day when you will need to run it hard for an extended time knowing now it will do it is good.
 
AC is probably the reversing valve stuck, no big deal, tap with hammer. Battery charger a couple hundred or so plus labor. Not sure about the bracket you are talking about.
 
AC is probably the reversing valve stuck, no big deal, tap with hammer. Battery charger a couple hundred or so plus labor. Not sure about the bracket you are talking about.

That is reassuring. The bracket is on the starboard side at the corners near the stern and the tilt/trim hydraulics appear to be mounted to it. Seems like an easy fix and the only rusted corroded part in the bilge.

Also noticed the breaker panel by the battery switch is cracked pretty bad, assuming I can find one is that Diy?


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THe BEST in my opinion. Last year I had my heart set on a 405 Cruisers Yacht, but the sea trial did not go well and I was torn between justifying the results, or walking. In the end I walked and then found the boat I now own, the 390 Sea Ray MY. I love the boat, and looking back I dread the thought if I would have moved forward with purchasing the Cruisers Yacht! Rob
Very good advice indeed.
 
I almost purchased a 32' Regal with Volvo outdrives. Even the 20k repair bill on the outdrives didn't deter me, kept going. But the high sodium levels in the engine oil analysis (from the engine survey) after only 4 hours of engine run time since the oil changed finally scared me off. Bought a Sea Ray with vdrive inboards and could not be happier.


Brown Eyed Girl - Sea Ray 320DA 350 MAG MPI V-drive
 
The bracket for the trim pump is about $100 and takes 1 hr to change and is rather simple.
 

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