New 2006 38 Sundancer with transom door that does not match

Given the time of year, this may not help...but last spring I had a recurring fresh water leak on my boat; water was ending up in the bilge on the port side, and puddling in the pan under the 9KW Onan Gen set. I also had water in the bilge consistently..the annoying quantity that is not high enough to trip the float on the pump, but enough to make a mess in the bilge.

The first cause of water was a loose fresh water fitting at the icemaker. When the fresh water system would pressurize, the loose fitting would release a steady drip of water which would run down the deck under the cockpit sink, then into the lip of the engine hatch, back to the transom, where it would pool, overflow the lip, and end up under the Onan. I put teflon tape on the fresh water connection to the icemaker, tightened it up, and that solved the problem.

My second source of fresh water (I run in the fresh water Potomac River) was from the Cummins exhausts. On a 420DA diesel, and most diesel boats I guess, the exhaust is about the size of a 155MM howitzer barrel. These big fiberglass tubes are held in place, and to the other components of the exhaust, by hose clamps. Diesels vibrate a lot, and my exhaust clamps had all come loose (previous owner not into visiting the engine room, apparently) Once I tightened up evey hose clamp in sight, the water problems dissappeared.

I also noticed during shrink wrapping that at the point in my radar arch where the radar antenna cable enters the arch is open--the unattractive glob of silicone which was "good 'nuf" when the boat was built has now shrunk to the point that it will allow water into the arch internal spaces. Not good, and a spring maintenance item for me.

From my perspective, you only ought to get water in yor engine spaces when you check strainers..a little overflow there is unavoidable. Otherwise, you should not have any water in the bilge. If you do, someting is amiss somewhere. It might be worth getting into your engine spaces during the next rain storm or having a friend with a hose do the next best thing--this might help narrow down the source of the water intrusion.

best of luck with it
regards
Skip
 
Octopus, your 38 is a lucky girl to have such cozy accomodations, except, of course, when she looks out the window at a beautiful 72 degree day and can't go out and play :wink: Nice shot of the boat :thumbsup:

Skip, I've also got that annoying water in the bilge that doesn't get pumped out. I figure that's to be expected. It's all the other water that's concerning me. I'm going to do a couple of things:

1) put one of those Radio Shack thermometers in the bilge that tells you high/low temperatures,
2) check the exhaust hose clamps, and
3) crawl into the engine room and have my wife hose down the cockpit. Maybe I'll spot the leak that way if there is one. We'll need another wam day for that one. I hope she remembers to let me out!

I'm really hoping it's a condensation thing. The day I noticed the water it was 72 degrees outside, but the metal parts in the engine room were still cool (from overnight temps.) That's why I'm going to place a thermometer down there... in case the heater's not doing its thing.
 
admin (uber user) That's good info. I want to get these guys to concentrate on the fit. Once they get it fitting right, I'll bring up the issue of the color mismatch.
 
Greetings,

Just went to the Miami Boat show and the 2007 38 Sundancer at the show the transom door color did not match the rest of the boat.
 
as long as its made from a different material as the transom, it will NEVER match 100%.

some people have a better eye for these things then others, certain lighting conditions enhance the difference in color as well.
 
I am reviving this thread because what I have to say deals directly with the transom door of the 2006 and newer 38DAs. My neighbor has an '06 38DA. Yesterday, while boarding from the platform, the transom door's bottom hinge busted. I don't have any pics (I'll try and get some) so I'll try and describe what happened. Apparently, those two large hinges each have a SS stud which is captured in the top half of the hinge with a "pin". The bottom half of the hinge appears to be nothing more than a receiver for the stud, (threaded stud) which had about 9 washers and a SS nylon lined capture nut. We think the hinge is made of aluminum and the "pin" is a cheap grade SS as a magnet will stick to the "pin".

Anyway, his door was getting tighter and tighter to open lately, and not knowing the exact way that the hinge was made (until now) he was spraying white lithium grease in between the two halves. That was marginally working.....until yesterday that is, when the stud in the bottom hinge snapped.

He called Sea Ray customer support and spoke to Rusty's replacement. The hinge is out of warranty but Sea Ray is going to cover it under good will. Actually they are sending him two new hinges. (That's a good thing and thanks Sea Ray if you're reading this). However, the issue is still going to be there if the design hasn't changed. He was told not to use white lithium grease as it holds the salt and will accelerate corrosion. Besides not understanding that statement, I can assure you that there was no corrosion on the stud....it simply snapped (wish there was a NASA engineer here that could es'plain the grease thing)....

We tried drilling out the old stud, but it just won't budge...and besides...did'ya ever try drilling out a SS stud...next to impossible with regular home tools..

We're headed out for a weekend trip, and new hinges won't be here for a few weeks. For now, we have th transom door on with one hinge and a prayer.

Just posting this as a heads up to other 38DA owners. My advise would be , if your door is getting tight, to either loosen the capture nut on the bottom half of each hinge and/or remove the door completely and grease up the stud and receiver...but first we would need to know what type of grease won't hold the salt and accelerate corrosion....
 
My sliding bolt lock thingy on my transom door snapped in two the first year I had the boat. I didn't even call Sea Ray on that one and just got a new one from Perko but don't remember what it cost. It was an exact replacement.

The door, like many, was getting tighter and tighter to close with that sliding bolt. The solution to this problem is not grease but adjusting the floor braces underneath. I looked for some pictures of my lazarette area but couldn't find any but there are braces that go from the hull stringers to the bottom of the floor (regardless if it is a Sundancer or Sedan Bridge). These braces are stainless poles and have two nuts on the top... one for adjusting and one for making it not slip. Adjust the brace closest to the door up or down 1/32" or so and the door will work fine after that... no grease required... and no stress on the hinges. Life is good.
 
Gary:

I'll have to get into his bilge this weekend and look for the support posts/brace you mention.

When he spoke with Sea Ray, he asked who manufactured the hinge so he could possibly get one at locall marine store. They got back to him that it is a custom hinge. You can see the hinges up above in the pic I posted on 12-1-06.

Thanks for the advise, I hope it works...but we'll have to wait for the new hinge to get here first.
 
Here's a picture from the bilge area of a 420 DA by the genny. I've put a red arrow on what these struts look like. You can also see the adjustment nuts on the strut.

strut.jpg


Remember that everything flexes it is just a question of how much. I assume that transom doors are put on at the Sea Ray factory while the boat is in a cradle and the decks and hull probably take on a little different shape when they are in the water. That's why these struts can be adjusted. Now if you are having to adjust them all the time, something is wrong.... I did mine the first year I had the boat to make the transom door align and have not touched them since.
 
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Gary,
I have no such brace on my 44. When my transom door wouldn't close they messed with the spacer behind the door hinge. ( I personally think they sat on the door to warp it into place )

Rob
 
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I am no expert in the construction techniques on all the different models. I do know that if your boat has these struts, they can be used to adjust the transom door alignment.

Maybe your boat should have had these and there was no room or something... who knows... it's Sea Ray.
 
Gary, is this a generic 420 generator picture from yachtworld? The happy owner needs to get after the corrosion on the top of the genset.
Or he could just go run the heck out of the boat and not worry about such trifles.

I like the no corrosion route.

regards
Skip
 
Two findings...

1. The new design 38DA does not have these adjustments rods in the bilge.

2. The way that the engine hatch is designed, the entire floor, including the trunk/transom raise with the door.

So, even if it had the adjustment rods, they wouldn't be under the (rising) floor where the door is attached to do any good in this case.

The hinges each have three rather small screws and nuts attaching them to the transom. The hinges are slotted where the screws attach. So I guess when he gets the new hinges, he'll have to really play with the adjustment to get the door to swing easy.

Curious question to other '06 and newer 38DA owners....does your transom door swing easily?
 
Well.. I'll post the obvious then. Having a swinging door that has tolerences of probably around 1/32" to work properly tied to a big piece of fiberglass like that is a bad design. To think an 8 - 10 foot wide (or even 4 feet) structure will not deflect enough to ruin a door is... well... poor engineering.

But that doesn't help your problem....
 
I agree Gary....very poor design.

If you look at that picture again that I posted in the early post in this thread, you can see the two LARGE stainless hinges that the entire floor and transom pivot on. Those, along with the lifting rams, are the only real points keeping the whole structure from flexing.

Thanks for the help though, at least now I know how to keep the transom door on my 410 from sticking....
 
The door on my 38 never swung easily. Matter of fact, it would stay at whatever angle it was left, anywhere from almost closed to open all the way. EXTREMELY poor design with flimsy hinges and no backing where they attached to the boat. Everytime the transom door was opened or closed the thin fiberglass beneath would flex noticeably. The transom lockers were also completely misaligned with the locker openings. To make matters worse, my dealer really dropped the ball addressing these issues. Everything about the 38 transom is a train wreck.
 
Dom

For whatever it's worth, I also had problems with the transom door sticking on my 260DA last year. It took several months for the problem to develop and I am sure it was caused by the flexing of the engine hatch which on a 260DA is really the whole transom area just like on the 38DA. (There are two big hinges on the floor for the transom/engine hatch to pivot just like on the 38DA). Since I had an acrylic door like the one on the 38, I "adjusted" the door itself by filing the mounting area for the hinges (on the door itself) to alter the swing of the door and the clearance when it closed. Those mounts are recessed on mine so filing them down causes no problems with appearance or functionality. That worked perfectly in my case and I haven't had a problem since. The door on the 38 may be more of a challenge since it is curved but I just thought I would mention what I did.

Dave
 
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