420 DA Thread

The 420 and the 44 Sundancer are the same boat. 2003 and 2004 were called the 420, and then Sea Ray changed it to 44 Sundancer beginning with the 2005 model. Sea Ray did make some of these with gas engines but most are diesel. The gas engines are enough power, just harder to find.
 
SRMark said:
The 420 and the 44 Sundancer are the same boat. 2003 and 2004 were called the 420, and then Sea Ray changed it to 44 Sundancer beginning with the 2005 model. Sea Ray did make some of these with gas engines but most are diesel. The gas engines are enough power, just harder to find.
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Actually 2005 was still the 420, 2006 was first year of 44.

Big ticket year over year differences are

2003 introduced
2004 Added option of a hardtop (highly desirable)
2005 Updated the interior significantly
2006 added Hull side windows. (very nice to have) and went to 'E' class Raymarine electronics.
2007+ not sure

You'll find that many of the boats on inland lakes have twin 8.1s. Most people on big water will want the diesels.
 
Agree with above list but also add the they also started offering cockpit heat/air in 2006 as well.

The other difference is the Cummins engine package:

2003-2004 it was all 450C - full mechanical
2005 there was an option to go to 480CE which is electronic controlled fuel
2006+ is all QSC500 which is 100% electronic controlled

450C are nearly bullet proof, 480CE I have heard can be a troublesome, QSC are solid but a single sensor failure can mean you go home in "guardian mode" which I think limits you to 1400 RPM (about 10 knots).

The benefit to the QSC is less smoke/smell at startup especially on cooler days, for me (my wife is very sensitive to deisel smoke) it was the difference between getting a diesel and staying in smaller boats with outboards.
 
swaterhouse said:
Agree with above list but also add the they also started offering cockpit heat/air in 2006 as well.
Click to expand...



My 420 is a 2005 and has the cockpit heat/air factory. It is a really nice option that I did not know I needed until I had it!!!!!!!
 
I stand corrected! I had a whole cheat sheet built for myself while shopping and comparing prices that I lost somewhere, it had all these notes.

I agree even in New England the Heat/Air is AWESOME! We use the heat early and late season and the air is a godsend in slow zones when its hot!

No matter what year the 420/44 is a great boat.
 
SRMark said:
The 420 and the 44 Sundancer are the same boat. 2003 and 2004 were called the 420, and then Sea Ray changed it to 44 Sundancer beginning with the 2005 model. Sea Ray did make some of these with gas engines but most are diesel. The gas engines are enough power, just harder to find.
Click to expand...

I have a 2006 44da with gas that will be on the market soon
 
Has anyone tried to install 24" TV's in the aft cabin and/or master? I picked up 2 Samsung LED TVs yesterday, couldn't miss the deal, but I'm questioning if they will fit or not. I'm going to mount it outside of the hole, no cutting required, but need to know if there is enough width and height within the design of the stuff around the TV cabinet area.
Thanks

Found some old notes on my phone, the note is that the aft TV space is 19" high x 14.5" tall. TV I got is 22.1" x 13.7"
Need to know if I am safe with the extra 3" in width.

My boat is 380 miles away from me, wont be back there for another month.
 
Last edited:
Magic34 said:
Has anyone tried to install 24" TV's in the aft cabin and/or master? I picked up 2 Samsung LED TVs yesterday, couldn't miss the deal, but I'm questioning if they will fit or not. I'm going to mount it outside of the hole, no cutting required, but need to know if there is enough width and height within the design of the stuff around the TV cabinet area.
Thanks

Found some old notes on my phone, the note is that the aft TV space is 19" high x 14.5" tall. TV I got is 22.1" x 13.7"
Need to know if I am safe with the extra 3" in width.

My boat is 380 miles away from me, wont be back there for another month.
Click to expand...

Yes it should fit with no problems. I will be starting the same project next week on the same boat. If you need any measurements lmk. I will be down on my boat every day this week ;)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Lawnboy said:
Yes it should fit with no problems. I will be starting the same project next week on the same boat. If you need any measurements lmk. I will be down on my boat every day this week ;)
Click to expand...

Post pics of your progress... I am looking at doing the same thing in the new year.
 
Lawnboy said:
Yes it should fit with no problems. I will be starting the same project next week on the same boat. If you need any measurements lmk. I will be down on my boat every day this week ;)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

That would be great thanks! I did the main TV and DVD player in the galley. Here's a link to what I did and used, worked perfectly. The aft and masters are my next. I'm using the same DVD players as they fit perfect without any cutting.
http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/78691-TV-and-DVD-replacement-07-44-DA
 
I changed my tvs as well. The issue I had was tv mounts. Most slide on a track from the top. then there is a set screw. Samsung tvs have a base that is not flush at the bottom. So u cant reach the set screw ! I don't recall the tv sizes but they are HUGE .

So the weight of the tv is all that's keeping it on the mount . So far so good .

Rob
 
I have thoroughly enjoyed revisiting this thread! When I started it ~10 years ago I never thought it would get so many views or posts. I started my own Company last year and that decision has left very little time for CSR..thankfully we still make time to go boating.

I traded my 03 420DA in November '13 on an 07 52DB with most of the available 2007 model year options, including R6 800 Common Rail MANs. We love the 52, and it is a rocket with the MANs--35 knots at WOT, burning 80 GPH. Where we boat the visibility from the bridge is a real plus as well--I can see the crab floats and river debris in time to react.

Over 8 seasons we put nearly 1,000 hours on our 420 with C Series Cummins. At 1000 hours of use the oil sample results were little changed from the first oil samples I pulled at ~150 hours. Great motors! The new owners keep it at our Marina and have put another 200 hours on it, and added satellite TV, teak decking on the platform, and added a custom camper canvas.

One 420DA maintenance item that I don't think I ever posted--in the summer of 2010 I found water accumulating in the storage compartment in the footwell of the mid cabin stateroom. The culprit was a blocked condensate drain in the salon AC pan. The water was overflowing and running to the lowest point. Blowing out the condensate line took care of the problem. Last fall I sea trialed an 05 420 with a friend, and this boat also had water in the same storage compartment..but the owner did not notice and did not take care of the problem, so in addition to a mess in the storage compartment, all of the bulkheads forward of the mid cabin storage area were moist.

We also replaced all the brass and chrome fixtures in the boat (cabinet pulls and lights) with brushed nickel finish hardware. That simple and fairly inexpensive project really freshened up the interior of the boat.

Congratulations to all the 420/44 DA owners--it is a great boat, and my boys grew up on ours. Incredible memories. Happy New Year!
Skip
 
It has been fun reading this thread...when I started it 10 years ago I never thought we would have 70+ pages of posts and over 160K views. This is a tribute to the Designers and Craftsmen who designed and built this boat, and the loyalty we all have to the model and the brand.

I started my own Company last year and have had no time for CSR, or much else. Thankfully we still have time to boat.

We traded our 03 420DA in November '13 for an 07 52DB with 191 hours on it--the boat has all of the popular options for that model year including R6800 Common Rail MANs. 35 knots at WOT burning 80 GPH. We love the Sedan Bridge and have put almost 400 hours on it.

We put nearly 1,000 hours on the C Series Cummins in our 420DA and the only failure we ever suffered was a sheared water pump shaft, which forced us to come home on one engine. Sherwood pumps have a history of this at the 1,000 hour mark and presume this has been posted elsewhere. Otherwise, the 420DA was a trouble free, family friendly boat for us. My sons were 2 and 5 when we bought Truly Blessed II and we have great family memories from time spent aboard. The 1,000 hour oil samples showed very little change in wear metal presence compared to the 200 hour samples. Great motors.

One item that I had to deal with on the 420DA that I did not post was accumulating water in the footwell storage area of the mid cabin stateroom--the cause was a blocked condensate drain line for the Salon AC. The pan would fill with water and overflow. Water would then run to the lowest point, in the footwell. We sea trialed an 04 420DA for a friend last year and found the footwell full of water. The owner had not checked the space and the water had been there for a while. The surveyor found that all the bulkheads forward of the mid cabin had moisture intrusion. Lots of discussions about the utility of non-destructive moisture testing, but the Sea Ray dealer's recommended fix was to sandwich the moist bulkheads with marine plywood on both sides and then fiberglass them in. Ultimately my friend walked away from the boat due, in part, to this issue. Regularly blowing out the condensate line with compressed air solved the problem for me.

Happy New Year to all current (and former) 42/44DA owners!
 
Skip said:
It has been fun reading this thread...when I started it 10 years ago I never thought we would have 70+ pages of posts and over 160K views. This is a tribute to the Designers and Craftsmen who designed and built this boat, and the loyalty we all have to the model and the brand.

I started my own Company last year and have had no time for CSR, or much else. Thankfully we still have time to boat.

We traded our 03 420DA in November '13 for an 07 52DB with 191 hours on it--the boat has all of the popular options for that model year including R6800 Common Rail MANs. 35 knots at WOT burning 80 GPH. We love the Sedan Bridge and have put almost 400 hours on it.

We put nearly 1,000 hours on the C Series Cummins in our 420DA and the only failure we ever suffered was a sheared water pump shaft, which forced us to come home on one engine. Sherwood pumps have a history of this at the 1,000 hour mark and presume this has been posted elsewhere. Otherwise, the 420DA was a trouble free, family friendly boat for us. My sons were 2 and 5 when we bought Truly Blessed II and we have great family memories from time spent aboard. The 1,000 hour oil samples showed very little change in wear metal presence compared to the 200 hour samples. Great motors.

One item that I had to deal with on the 420DA that I did not post was accumulating water in the footwell storage area of the mid cabin stateroom--the cause was a blocked condensate drain line for the Salon AC. The pan would fill with water and overflow. Water would then run to the lowest point, in the footwell. We sea trialed an 04 420DA for a friend last year and found the footwell full of water. The owner had not checked the space and the water had been there for a while. The surveyor found that all the bulkheads forward of the mid cabin had moisture intrusion. Lots of discussions about the utility of non-destructive moisture testing, but the Sea Ray dealer's recommended fix was to sandwich the moist bulkheads with marine plywood on both sides and then fiberglass them in. Ultimately my friend walked away from the boat due, in part, to this issue. Regularly blowing out the condensate line with compressed air solved the problem for me.

Happy New Year to all current (and former) 42/44DA owners!
Click to expand...

Skip, welcome back to the boards! Was wondering where you have been. We have moved on from out 420 DA that you helped me purchase to a 48DA. All the best to you!
 
I have a 2005 420 Sundancer with an Onan diesel generator that has a very rusty mounting pan. Does anyone know the procedure for removing this generator? Has anyone changed the pan?
 
Hello all :) Two things. Can someone please tell me where the a-b antenna selector is for the salon TV on a 2004 420 DA? I just put all my old TVs and other electronics in the marketplace if anyone needs anything from a 420. Thanks in advance for any help.
 
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