340 Sundancer PM items

Hello all,

Just upgraded from a 1985 Wellcraft 2900 Express to a 2002 340 Sundancer. Looking for advice on Preventative Maintenance Items. Looking to change the oil, oil filter, fuel filters, and transmission fluid this weekend. For my last boat, we always bought these items form an auto parts store to save a little money. Are there any benefits with going with these items from a Marine Specific store or is it the same thing? Going to check the spark plugs as well, I was told they were changed two seasons ago though (we will see). Impellers were changed last season and all batteries before we bought them.

I am having some difficulty finding owners manuals but a few google searches lead me to believe 20W40 full synthetic is the correct oil. Any ideas for the transmission fluid? The engines are 6.2L Mercruiser 320HP. Please don't beat em up on the engines, I opted for this because I am 6'3" and could not even think about fitting in the bilge with 8.1's or even 7.4's.

Any and all advice, tips, tricks, etc are welcome.

Link for the manuals
http://publications.brunswick.com/category-s/1831.htm

I assume 25W40 Quicksilver is the suggested oil for that vintage merc?? The best price I can find for that oil is West Marine. Whether or not there are better oils is very much like Ford vs Chevy. I tend to stick with what the manual says for boats. No idea why, really

Do you have a generator? If so my best PM advice would be the run the heck out of your generator. I think half of us spend more time screwing around with our gen sets than we do any other part of the boat. Run that hog and save yourself some grief.

On the 6.2's....you're still going to hate working on it I had 7.4's on a 99 340 and the access to the engine room was abysmal. You may have a few more inches between your manifolds with the 6.2's but I suspect it won't be life changing over the big blocks unless you also went with a sterndrive boat??

Ohh and welcome to CSR! That 340 is a really great boat.

don't apologize for having the 6.2 engines....they are strong and powerful engines....i have no problems pertaining to performance on my boat with the 6.2's.....

best of luck with the 'new' boat....

cliff

Stee6043 said:

I assume 25W40 Quicksilver is the suggested oil for that vintage merc?? The best price I can find for that oil is West Marine. Whether or not there are better oils is very much like Ford vs Chevy. I tend to stick with what the manual says for boats. No idea why, really

Do you have a generator? If so my best PM advice would be the run the heck out of your generator. I think half of us spend more time screwing around with our gen sets than we do any other part of the boat. Run that hog and save yourself some grief.

On the 6.2's....you're still going to hate working on it I had 7.4's on a 99 340 and the access to the engine room was abysmal. You may have a few more inches between your manifolds with the 6.2's but I suspect it won't be life changing over the big blocks unless you also went with a sterndrive boat??

Ohh and welcome to CSR! That 340 is a really great boat.

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Thanks for the welcome. I absolutely love our 340 so far! I did go with 25W-40 and also found that West Marine had the best price. I went with what the manual recommended and some other information I gathered from this site. So much good here, it is awesome.

The downside, after changing the oil I cranked the starboard engine and it made the loudest screaming sound I had ever heard. After some research online and here, I figured it was the water pump. Took it apart, the impeller looked ok and there was no scoring on the side wall but I could not turn the pump by hand. after almost buying the entire new water pump the mechanic at West Marine stopped me and said the pump was fine and to just replace the impeller. Compared to the old and new impeller, the same part number but the old one was about a 1/8" taller compared side by side. swapped the new impeller and ran like a charm. A good learning experience in maintenance and contortion as you are correct, not to much room to maneuver in there.

CliffA said:

don't apologize for having the 6.2 engines....they are strong and powerful engines....i have no problems pertaining to performance on my boat with the 6.2's.....

best of luck with the 'new' boat....

cliff

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Thanks Cliff, after an impeller change hoping the rest of the season goes smooth.

Are you in salt? Might want to think about manifolds if you don’t know when they were done.

Grats in the 340!

I use Shell Rotella T 15W-40 Heavy Duty Diesel Oil, and change it every year. I use a Fram PH-5 (for the 7.4L engine). I have used Fram oil filters for several years and have had no problems. I forget the oil I used for my transmissions... I used the manufacture recommended oil... I trick on you water pump is remove clamp from your transmission cooler and pull the pump and hose out together. Also, if you engines are fresh water cooled like mine, I change my antifreeze with I change you the RW pump. I have to remove an antifreeze hose to get to one of my pump bolts. I also have a hot swap pump with a pulley that you use to make the job quicker. Every other time I replace my serpentine belt when I change the water pump.