Recent content by bjdunnie

I had something similar with our Mercruiser 5.0l, the gauges would periodically fluctuate wildly, but the engine would never overheat. It turned out to be a failed circulation pump. The impeller in the pump was almost completely gone except for a few corroded bits, which resulted in large...

This can be done in the water, I did mine recently without any problems.

Similar speed, maybe a touch slower at 22 - 24mph - load dependent.

Funny you should say that, I always felt it wanted to go fast as well. I always referred to our 300DA as a small "big" boat, in someways it was almost in a category of its own in terms of size and power and performance.

We had no problems with the power from the twin 5.0MPI setup cruising quite comfortable around 3,200 to 3,400 rpm - beyond 3,500 they were quite thirsty. We had extra chain rode (around 50 meters from memory) which really assisted the balancing of the boat, making it noticeably easier to handle...

I like Rotto, of all the things I miss about not having a boat (for the moment at least) it is the ability to temporarily put your "normal" life on hold and go to the island for a few days with the family. In my experience there are 3 types of boaters who live in Perth, those who have hit the...

I had a similar problem with our 300DA and it was solved by replacing the low pressure boost pump. After lots of trouble shooting we discovered the boost pump would generally work on startup when the engine was cold, but it did not operate when the engine was warm. We initially used the...

Good luck with the sale. We sold our 2004 300DA last week. The boat was immaculate but I still got nervous when the broker took the boat out with the surveyor and the purchasers and tested everything - all turned out fine in the end. We would like to buy another Sea Ray, although the...

Fuel spend encouragement noted - I am trying hard to spend more, we should get a spike now coming into Spring/Summer

I used to have a similar problem, cold starts no problem at all, however once the port engine was warm it needed revs to restart - this always frustrated me with an MPI engine. Anyway, in my case it was a failed boost pump which was causing the problem. $750 for the parts and install and...

Another similar set of costs in Western Australia: Annual slip fees $4,900 Annual engine service $3,000 Allowance for pro-active maintenance throughout the year $1,500 Annual hardstand and anti-foul $3,200 Fuel $2,000 All up around AUD$15,000 per year. The boat is probably worth around...

+ 1 for the Meguires Plastex - I use it a couple of times a year on my isinglass (hand application) along with 303 and it still looks new after 4 years Brad

I'm not sure of the chain size, however we have found that the extra weight of additional chain (we added 35 meters) is helpful for stability and the overall ride/performance of the boat

The 300DA (known as 335 in Australia) is a great boat and I agree with the 6/4/2 guide. We find sleeping with 2 adults and 2 kids gets a little cosy, especially if you have been on the boat for a couple of days as a family. As with the fridges, we have no problems running them all night off...

+ 1 Sadly no boating this long weekend, although a few nights in Busselton and Margaret River with the family was a reasonable compromise. Happy Australia Day Brad