480 DB Owners Club

I made it down to the lake yesterday to pull the batteries out. First time pulling them for me.....and I found it was easier than what I thought it would be. The two batteries in front of the engines were made easier by a board that fit between the engine compartment rails. The board fit over the forward bilge area between the battery boxes. Is this a Sea Ray factory piece or did the previous owner make the board? I found the board on top of the forward battery box cover. It works. I pulled the batteries out of the battery box onto the board and then slid the battery off the board onto a small rolling cart, which easily rolled down the aisle for removal. The board prevented me from damaging anything in the forward bilge, which I was really concerned about. Needless to say, I was happy the board was there.

Yes, I am a little sore this morning :)

Keith

I think that the PO must have done the board. I don't have one there. Just think, you get to put them back in later. BTW the ones in front of the engines are for the Bow thruster..
 
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Got morning DB owners. I had these shirts made up for our team and have quite a few extra so I thought I would offer them here. What do you think.
 

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Matt, Save me an XL or 2XL if there sized on the small side. I will pick it up in Morehead City in May. Sea Trial went well today. Should have final offer/contract on Monday. 34.1 MPH WOT into the wind and seas. Engine Sync off. buyer had surveyor and Cat tech there for the engine survey. Looks like Crime scene is getting a rear bench seat.
 
Matt, Save me an XL or 2XL if there sized on the small side. I will pick it up in Morehead City in May. Sea Trial went well today. Should have final offer/contract on Monday. 34.1 MPH WOT into the wind and seas. Engine Sync off. buyer had surveyor and Cat tech there for the engine survey. Looks like Crime scene is getting a rear bench seat.
I will save one for you.
 
Good evening fellow DB owners. What a nice place to go to for information. We've checked in concerning Sub Zero refrigerators/ freezers, engine information and other issues having to do with our boat. One thing......We have complete black sunbrella aft curtain panels for our boat that we do not use. It is in excellent shape and was never used. We own our own canvas/upholstery shop and we changed the color and have no use for it. Inquire for additional info. We can reborder the snapline so when you get it, a shop can install it to the exact snaps placed on your boat. Just noticed a seal leak on the bow thruster....nice!
 
Good evening fellow DB owners. What a nice place to go to for information. We've checked in concerning Sub Zero refrigerators/ freezers, engine information and other issues having to do with our boat. One thing......We have complete black sunbrella aft curtain panels for our boat that we do not use. It is in excellent shape and was never used. We own our own canvas/upholstery shop and we changed the color and have no use for it. Inquire for additional info. We can reborder the snapline so when you get it, a shop can install it to the exact snaps placed on your boat. Just noticed a seal leak on the bow thruster....nice!
Tell me about the seal leak. How did you notice it was leaking?
 
Calling all 48 DB owner, I need help....
I am trying to get the wife on board with my Dream Boat, what's the best way to convince her right NOW...that a 500,000 boat is worth it, and we need this boat!!!!!! She is still in LOVE with our 320, but I'm ready to move up.....She thinks its arrogant to spend this kind iof money on a boat...Yet she's seen higher priced boats out there....How did you guys get your wives to just fall in LOVE with these 48 monsters...??

Signed Need your Help on getting her to switch..
I told her if she doesn't want one I'm sure the GF does! lol J/K
 
What the heck. All the links I put up on this thread at the beginning are all busted. Many of them are not relevant anymore though. The AV system I posted is like reading about computer punch cards.

How do I get this "Head Pot Stirrer" designation removed? (Nevermind. I figured it out)
 
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What the heck. All the links I put up on this thread at the beginning are all busted. Many of them are not relevant anymore though. The AV system I posted is like reading about computer punch cards.

How do I get this "Head Pot Stirrer" designation removed? (Nevermind. I figured it out)

Not long ago, the underlying software managing this site changed. In that process, the names of the pages for all of the posts changed. So all old links broke. The posts aren’t gone. But it takes some patience to find them. If the old link was “12345-Which-engines-are-better-Cummins-or-Cat” I just use the search feature and drop the numbers and the dashes. You get a bunch of results but generally can find the exact post you’re looking for.
 
What the heck. All the links I put up on this thread at the beginning are all busted. Many of them are not relevant anymore though. The AV system I posted is like reading about computer punch cards.

How do I get this "Head Pot Stirrer" designation removed? (Nevermind. I figured it out)

Yes, not happy about that, I often go back for reference
 
A few maintenance questions:

I am thinking about having my Cat 3196 serviced this spring by certified Caterpillar mechanic. I have a little over 1200 hours on them. They run fine, but just thinking of having them tuned up and checked out since this is the last big boat I plan on buying (yeah, that's what they all say). What is involved in getting the interior cabin hatches open? It appears that I just have to remove the breakfast bar and the hatches will clear the couch and other cabinets. It that correct?

How often should I service the after coolers being it is a fresh water boat? Every couple years? Five years?

How hard is it to change the engine coolant? Any special tools required or should I leave this to the pro?

Thanks in advance,
Keith
 
A few maintenance questions:

I am thinking about having my Cat 3196 serviced this spring by certified Caterpillar mechanic. I have a little over 1200 hours on them. They run fine, but just thinking of having them tuned up and checked out since this is the last big boat I plan on buying (yeah, that's what they all say). What is involved in getting the interior cabin hatches open? It appears that I just have to remove the breakfast bar and the hatches will clear the couch and other cabinets. It that correct?

How often should I service the after coolers being it is a fresh water boat? Every couple years? Five years?

How hard is it to change the engine coolant? Any special tools required or should I leave this to the pro?

Thanks in advance,
Keith
You need to remove the bar on stbd side. If you are removing both, then the couch must be removed from port side. This means removing aft cabinet first. I would then do aftercoolwrs every 2 years for pressure test. At this service do everything you mentioned and relash the valves. Change coolant, belts, impellers, flush all coolers.
 
A few maintenance questions:

I am thinking about having my Cat 3196 serviced this spring by certified Caterpillar mechanic. I have a little over 1200 hours on them. They run fine, but just thinking of having them tuned up and checked out since this is the last big boat I plan on buying (yeah, that's what they all say). What is involved in getting the interior cabin hatches open? It appears that I just have to remove the breakfast bar and the hatches will clear the couch and other cabinets. It that correct?

How often should I service the after coolers being it is a fresh water boat? Every couple years? Five years?

How hard is it to change the engine coolant? Any special tools required or should I leave this to the pro?

Thanks in advance,

Keith

Hi Keith,

I haven't had to pull my salon floor, but I've attached a detailed procedure for removing the salon floor that one of our fellow owners posted a while back. His original post was in this thread somewhere.

I have 3196s also. My mechanic has pulled my aftercoolers, adjusted my valves and did the rest of the 1,000 hour maintenance without needing to pull up the floor. It's not easy but it can be done. I can't give you any maintenance advice because the preventive maintenance I do myself I limit to changing oil and filters. Anything more complicated I leave to my CAT mechanic. I like my CATs. I've owned my 2001 for 10 years now and the CATs have not given me any trouble, but I have adhered very strictly to the preventive maintenance schedule.

Good luck,
Steve
 

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Hi everyone,

My salon freezer ice maker water line started leaking today. The leaking water ran aft outboard or perhaps under the stbd side cabinets until the water dripped down the forward stbd lazarette bulkhead.

I found an isolation valve in the water maker water line tucked back in the aft outboard corner under the salon sink. Thought I'd let everyone know it's there.

Next step is to pull up floor boards so I can slide the freezer out to repair the water line.

I pulled all of the access covers in the stbd cabinets and didn't find any water so I don't know how I'm going to dry the areas that got wet.

Sea Ray tech assist was very helpful. They sent me a very detailed power point presentation with photos of all the potable water lines. It's too large to attach here, but I'll email it to anyone who wants it.

Steve
 
Hi Keith,

I haven't had to pull my salon floor, but I've attached a detailed procedure for removing the salon floor that one of our fellow owners posted a while back. His original post was in this thread somewhere.

I have 3196s also. My mechanic has pulled my aftercoolers, adjusted my valves and did the rest of the 1,000 hour maintenance without needing to pull up the floor. It's not easy but it can be done. I can't give you any maintenance advice because the preventive maintenance I do myself I limit to changing oil and filters. Anything more complicated I leave to my CAT mechanic. I like my CATs. I've owned my 2001 for 10 years now and the CATs have not given me any trouble, but I have adhered very strictly to the preventive maintenance schedule.

Good luck,
Steve
That is an awesome step by step tutorial.

Like you, I change the oil and filters myself. I also change the fuel filters. I am going to change the engine coolant this year, which looks more messy than difficult. I am on my second boat with Cats and never had any problems with either boat.

It is nice to know the maintenance can be done without pulling up the floor. It does look tight though. Ill probably go ahead and pull the floors up so the mechanic can get in and out quicker.

Keith
 

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