1999 SeaRay Sundancer 270

Glad to be a first time boat owner but didn't start out well. I bought a 1999 270 from a guy who had it trailered in his garage for 2+ years. Engine cranked fine there but after I bought and put in water I realized ...power steering pump bad, raw water pump bad, belt broke in half, heat exchanger dry and other seals bad. I should've known deal was too good to be true. Anyway, having those things fixed this week and hope to be functional in the water soon.

Just wanted to hear if others had similar problems with boats that were very mildly used. So frustrated if these repairs don't work I want to sell the boat.

Sorry to hear about your issues. Did you have a survey done before purchasing the boat (a mute point now but I was just curious if you did what the surveyor said/found). Fortunately, we were at the opposite end of the spectrum from you. We got a killer deal on a 98 270 (wide beam) from an RV dealer that just wanted it off the lot. The surveyor found a handful of issues that may or may not have been simple fixes. Luckily, so far, they have all been simple fixes with just a couple of items still TBD.
I wish you the best of luck and here's hoping that the repairs work and aren't too costly.

Thanks for encouragement...no, I didn't have a surveyor (lesson learned). Fortunately after having it diagnosed this week most things are due to the boat having sat in an airplane hangar for 2+ years. Raw water pump was seized up, power steering pump bad, needed a new belt...mostly things that would need to be serviced or changed fairly routinely. We'll got back out this weekend and hopefully all goes well.

Welcome to CSR!

That's usually par for the course with boats that get little usage. Seals and gaskets dry up and leak and rubber parts dry rot. So far, your list isn't too bad. Try to do some of the easy stuff yourself or find a mechanically inclined friend that likes to boat. The good news is, once you have these small things repaired, you should be OK as long as there's nothing wrong with the motor itself.

In your post you mentioned it was a great deal, so maybe once these items are fixed you could resell the boat and make a few bucks, but if you had the itch to boat, might as well use it for a little while to see if this is what you wanted.

Older boats require more maintenance so be prepared to fix a few things once in a while. The hobby isn't cheap, but very rewarding if you enjoy the water and keeping mechanical things operational.

Risers and Exhaust manifold replacements are a must if it was a saltwater boat. Need to do these now.

ttmott said:

Risers and Exhaust manifold replacements are a must if it was a saltwater boat. Need to do these now.

Click to expand...

When the boat overheated last week the manifolds cracked, so they are being replaced this week. Hoping I didn't crack the block:-(