Official 280 Sundancer Thread

Hello all. Just joined the forum. So glad I found it!

I just purchased a 2004 280 Sundancer. Twin 4.3’s. Boat was a repo. But seems to be in very good shape. I had a survey done before I purchased. I am excited to try it out, as it was no where near water so no sea trial. I had it moved to a marina in Deltaville Va. and it’s currently on blocks so now is the time for any repairs/maintenance before I have a test run. I have already pulled the drives and am having them re-painted and new water pumps.

Other than fluid changes and spark plugs, I wanted to see what you all recommend for any preventative maintenance that has been common issues for these boats.

Thanks for any help in advance. Happy boating!!
 
Hello all. Just joined the forum. So glad I found it!

I just purchased a 2004 280 Sundancer. Twin 4.3’s. Boat was a repo. But seems to be in very good shape. I had a survey done before I purchased. I am excited to try it out, as it was no where near water so no sea trial. I had it moved to a marina in Deltaville Va. and it’s currently on blocks so now is the time for any repairs/maintenance before I have a test run. I have already pulled the drives and am having them re-painted and new water pumps.

Other than fluid changes and spark plugs, I wanted to see what you all recommend for any preventative maintenance that has been common issues for these boats.

Thanks for any help in advance. Happy boating!!
Josh,
Welcome. Hope you enjoy your 280 as much as I enjoy mine.
Are you new to inboard/outboard motors? Are you asking for items specific to the 280DA or to the I/O drive system plus the 280?
Maintenance items on a I/O of that age can be fairly extensive. I should know, I have three!
 
Hello all. Just joined the forum. So glad I found it!

I just purchased a 2004 280 Sundancer. Twin 4.3’s. Boat was a repo. But seems to be in very good shape. I had a survey done before I purchased. I am excited to try it out, as it was no where near water so no sea trial. I had it moved to a marina in Deltaville Va. and it’s currently on blocks so now is the time for any repairs/maintenance before I have a test run. I have already pulled the drives and am having them re-painted and new water pumps.

Other than fluid changes and spark plugs, I wanted to see what you all recommend for any preventative maintenance that has been common issues for these boats.

Thanks for any help in advance. Happy boating!!


Welcome Josh! I think you'll love the 280, great boat with the twin 4.3s. Because you already have the drive maintenance covered, if the engines haven't been tuned up that's a good next step. Plugs and distributor caps if the boat sat for an extended period. Did your survey have an in-water portion and out of water? If you haven't yet you'll want to ensure the boat gets up to the stated max rpm of 4500-4800 when trimmed. If not then you can asses whether you need to do any engine maintenance to get there. Outside of that I'm sure you'll find things along the way that need addressed but it's a relatively easy boat to work on, with good access to most systems. This thread covers most of it, but ask away and we're happy to help with any questions you have.

John
 
After some sore shoulders and a couple of days work in the shed she's all shined up for the summer. Didn't need to compound this year, just a round of 3M finesse it followed by Collinite fleet wax. Sorry about the sideways photos, Not sure how to fix that




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Josh,
Welcome. Hope you enjoy your 280 as much as I enjoy mine.
Are you new to inboard/outboard motors? Are you asking for items specific to the 280DA or to the I/O drive system plus the 280?
Maintenance items on a I/O of that age can be fairly extensive. I should know, I have three!
Thanks so much for the input. I was looking for any common boat issues that should be addressed. I am very familiar with the I/O systems.

Thanks,
Josh
 
Josh,
One thing I found was the nasty sump pump under the steps leading into the galley. The sump under there has a bilge pump for A/C condensate and shower water collection. Mine was so scummed up it was almost clogged. Had to remove the whole thing, clean, and reinstall before I got an overflow.

Also remove the filter from your a/c system under the seat at the dinette. If you remove the seat, you will see there are two filters: one on the a/c and one on the housing. I cleaned mine real good with Simple Green and water hose.
 
Oh, BTW, that shine on your hull is amazing. When you get the boat in some sunlight you got to post some photos.
 
Hi Guys, I'm a new member as well. I've been reading the posts on this forum on and off for about a year, and they are great. Hopefully I can contribute. Bought my 280DA last May, we love it, and have been running it everywhere. I do have a question for stg099, I have the same blue hull, not sure what the actual color is, its got a purple hue. The yard buffed it for me as I didn't have the time. It cleaned up pretty good, but by end of season it doesn't look so good. Before I shrink wrapped it I tried my orbital buffer on a small area and it cleaned up some. Can I ask what you use to buff, by that I mean the type of machine and the waxes and/or compounds? I've always had white hulls, for a reason, but this boat was the cleanest and best maintained that I found out of roughly the 30 boats I looked at. And, I got the black bottom paint as well. Was thinking it should be green, as blue boats typically have a green bottom. Why black?
 
Ok, I have another question. To get up on plane if I don't put the trim tabs down it cavitates. How far should I put them down? Should I keep them down when running and trim the drives up? I find that if I have the tabs up and attempt to trim the drives up it cavitates. So I've been leaving the drives in the down position, never trim it up, just bring the tabs back up. What am I doing wrong? It runs around 28 SOG at around 3300 rpm. Fuel burn is not bad, wish the fuel tank held another 20 gallons or so.
 
Seldom... was that a sarcastic comment about blue boats having green bottoms? I wasn't sure. But, if not, no that is NOT the norm. Black is the norm - probably at a 99% rate. Personally, I've never seen a blue boat with a green bottom... other than one without bottom paint that was left in the lake too long... that was sarcasm ;)

The 280DA doesn't like a lot of up drive trim before ventilating (cavitating is a different thing). But you can, for sure, use some up trim with the tabs retracted. You should be able to get close to 4,800RPM's, if not a bit over. If you're ventilating on take-off, you may not have the drives trimmed all the way down. Another possibility is that there is growth on the bottom or running gear... or the props are damaged.
 
Hi Lazy, actually I was serious on the green paint. Maybe its a sail boat thing, I had several sail boats way back when. I just relocated back to the ocean after 20 years of power boating on lakes.
 
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I found that the tambor track for the roll up door above dinette is broken, any idea where you can purchase new track?
 
Seldom... was that a sarcastic comment about blue boats having green bottoms? I wasn't sure. But, if not, no that is NOT the norm. Black is the norm - probably at a 99% rate. Personally, I've never seen a blue boat with a green bottom... other than one without bottom paint that was left in the lake too long... that was sarcasm ;)

The 280DA doesn't like a lot of up drive trim before ventilating (cavitating is a different thing). But you can, for sure, use some up trim with the tabs retracted. You should be able to get close to 4,800RPM's, if not a bit over. If you're ventilating on take-off, you may not have the drives trimmed all the way down. Another possibility is that there is growth on the bottom or running gear... or the props are damaged.

I found that with the Bravo iii running the drive all the way down was enough to get on plane without tabs. When using the SmartCraft trim gauge set the drive to the six o’clock position and apply throttle. The bow will come up and at that point, the drive trim can then be pulled up (SC gauge 4 o’clock). The tabs are then just used to adjust the ride.

As for bottom paint color, we had blue on the 280 for years and the Sabre has bright red Petitt Vivid. The bottom paint on many of Hunt’s and Hinckley’s offerings is a green blue color similar to oxidized copper. Colored bottom paint seems to be a sailboat thing; using alternating colors to determine when the top layer had ablated.
 
Hi Lazy, actually I was serious on the green paint. Maybe its a sail boat thing, I had several sail boats way back when. I just relocated back to the ocean after 20 years of power boating on lakes.
I was probably exaggerating with the 99% thing - it's probably only 90% :)

But the 280, with twin 5.0L/B3's (520HP going through 4 props)... that thing gets up and boogies REAL fast. If my memory serves, I think I've even hit over 50MPH with it! As Henry noted, the tabs, while they can only help, aren't even really needed. Aside from damage or growth, the only way you might see ventilation on take-off would be if you nail the throttles too quickly (although the B3 grips really well) or have the drives trimmed up.

Your cruise speed sounds about right, though. And, yes, the fuel tank size could stand to have some extra room in it - depending on how the boat is used, of course.

Tip... while you're getting used to the boat, forget about the tabs - just get used to the boat with how it handles with drive trim. Especially if your other boats didn't have tabs. Basically, get accustomed to one boat system at a time. Great boat, though - a lot of bang for the buck.
 
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I had that same boat with twin 5's. Tabs all the way up at take off with drives all the way down never any slippage with hammer down from standstill. Maybe your celery stick is reversed. Boat never needed much trim
 
I had that same boat with twin 5's. Tabs all the way up at take off with drives all the way down never any slippage with hammer down from standstill. Maybe your celery stick is reversed. Boat never needed much trim
I was wondering if this was a celery stick issue.
I was kinda wondering that, too - but he posted in a different thread with a profile picture of his boat on stands. It "appears" that the drive is tucked under/down far enough.
 

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