1989 340 EC owners

[wileecoyote]

I am looking, close to buying a 1989 340 EC. I'm asking for the owners of the same boat to share what to look for, what are know probs, and tips that will help a new owner. Oddly enough it has 454's which are NOT FWC, and Hurth 630A trannys. A/C, ice maker, central vac, and some of the other optional gear. Help me with your previous experience please.:huh:

 

[oknoproblem]

A survey is always the best bet, these folks know what to look for (potential trouble areas) in many different types of boats. I didn't see mention of a generator, I'm fairly sure it has one, and you want to be sure it is in good running order, or see a substancial savings from the asking price.
Best of luck

 

[margarita jane]

Hi Just sold mine, great boat!mine had borgwarner drives. One spot to watch is deck delamination which happened to mine and appeared to be caused from factory windlas foot switches(bad design) but survey should pick problem up... Tom

 

[wileecoyote]

not sure I undersatnd the foot switches? I'm not that familiar with the windlass in general since I've never had one. Also the boat has a Quicksilver 6.5Kw and it appears to run good and generate power. I guess I'll wait for the survey to come back.

 

[Captain Don]

Hi, my boat is a 1988 340DA, same hull. It has 7.4's Fresh Water Cooled, V Drives and a Westerbeke Generator, Maxwell Automatic Windless, plus all the other ameneties, bells and whistles. My boat is in prestine condition.
I have owned the boat for 8 years, and l love the boat. It has everything I could ever want and it will take me anywhere I want to go. Not bad fuel consumption either.
I also had some what the Fiberglass Repairer called Spider crackes on the deck around the Foot switch, along with cracks around the exhaust ports on both engines. Four years ago, I had all the cracks repaired for $150.00, not a big deal. They seemed to be surface cracks in the gelcoat, not unusual for a boat of its generation. You may not have any.
I will be glad to provide you with any other information I have about the boat.

 

[rondds]

Wilee
Not all boats have footswitches out by the windlass. I dont - I only have a switch at the helm. Some boats have ONLY deck mounted windlass footswitches and nothing at the helm. Depends on your boat.

Your genny is no longer made and no longer supported by Mercruiser. It's obscene but they've washed their hands of these units and parts are difficult to come by and can be very expensive. The engine is a 987cc Nissan engine and the genset is made by Generac. During your survey, make sure you run the genny, load it down and LET IT RUN FOR A WHILE! There's lots of info on this board to help you with generator problems if they should arise, but let it arise during the survey!

 

[wileecoyote]

We ran the geeny for a while and it seemed to run OK. I've read alot of the posts and John seems to be the diagnostic expert on those! The windlass is a "good" brand and I don't think it has a foot switch, just the helm switch. The 454's are not FWC which I found to be odd, but the manifolds are 5 years old, and it is in near fresh water(upper Chesapeake). I also have spider cracks on the Starboard side just above the rubrail. What do they do to repair that it was that cheap? Thanks for all the info, it's good to know there is a useful knowlege base out there for me to tap into.

 

[rondds]

5 yo manifolds should not be a problem, esp in the north end of the bay. If you buy the boat, I'd install a fresh water flush sytem immediately and start using it. Easy to do and will prolong the lifespan of those engines tremendously. Gel coat problems are not my forte' so I'd leave that to others. If your windlass is the same Good model as mine, the only disadvantage is that it does not allow for use of chain in the rode. Sometimes makes for adventures in anchoring - just use a LOT of scope!

I put a short length of heavy chain before the bit. Does yours look like this?

 

[wileecoyote]

When I get home I'll post pic of the windlass ron. here's the best I can give you right now. It has only rope.

 

[wileecoyote]

I forgot to ask, where do you get the fresh wash system and what is it/does it do? Is it just some way to flush the engines, like I do with the earmuffs and hose on my bowrider?

 

[wileecoyote]

Here's a side view of the boat. Seems to be in decent shape for a 89, I think the price we are looking at is the 15-17K range. I know the 454's need to be tuned and carbs overhauld due to age and owner inexperience, but the hull/interior seem to be in good shape. I need to buff it and need at least one tach. Also sliding door is hard, need to fix the upper slide hardware.

 

[Captain Don]

What he did to repair the Spider cracks did not look complicated. The person who did the work, was a friend who likes to do side jobs for extra cash. I am an Electrician, so we all help out each other.
He used a tool which resembled a can opener (Maybe it Was!!) to score or gouge out the cracks, when he was done, they looked like a V shape. Then they were filled with a filler, sanded, sprayed on gelcoat, this process repeated three times.
I used the origional color gelcoat spec'd from Searay(Oyster) from Spectrum Gelcoat. Exact match! The time frame to do this work was spread over three days, total about 3 hours. That was four years ago, those cracks have not returned, you can't even see where they were. This may sound like a lot of work, but it was not. I also failed to mention, along with the $150 I kicked in 2 -30 packs! LOL

 

[rondds]

here's the best I can give you right now

That's the same as mine. Good. Made right here in NJ. Solid windlass. The tachs are no longer available from SR. MarineMax called SR for me while I stood there and they told them to tell me to go aftermarket, which I did. Teleflex Blue Vector series. Same manufacture as the SR ones but slightly different in appearance. Buy two b/c the mismatch will drive you crazy! You can see them here - they blend pretty well with the other SR stuff (the engine temp gauges are also Teleflex Blue Vector). Next to the red throttle controls you can see the helm controls for the windlass.

 

[wileecoyote]

I'm not sure if you can see it, but this is the best pic of the cracks. These seem to be more like small stress cracks? When the surveyor looks at it I will try to see what his recommendation will be. Those gauges look great to me, If I couldn't find any I was going to see about changing them all over. Thanks, now I don't have to! Boat will be pulled on Wed and surveyed on Thurs. I'll let ya'll know how it goes.:huh:

 

[rondds]

Good luck! :thumbsup:

 

[wileecoyote]

Thanks, I guess we'll find out how much work needs to be done that I haven't seen:smt013 Have any of you guys found or created a winterizing checklist? I have the one in the owners manual, but I wasn't sure if anyone had made a more concise list? I was thinking about modifying the list's in the owners manual and laminating them, Then I would have ones for leaving/returning to port.

 

[vernh59]

Usually these spider cracks are just a sign of old age. They usually appear in hi stress areas. On my boat they are at the corners of the fiberglass mold on the steps going to the flybridge and at the exhaust ports for the engine and generator. If you find them someplace where there shouldn't be any stress it may indicate some impact damage. Spider cracks are pretty easy to fix. The trick is to match the gel coat.

 

[wileecoyote]

I wasn't sure there was a way to repair all those cracks. I guess I'll have to find someone who works with gelcoat. Ron, when you talk about the Fresh Water Flushing system, what does that entail? Is it simply a connection to run fresh water through the system before you store boat, or is it something you add on that is passive?

 

[rondds]

Fresh Water Flushing system

Coyote
This thread is a MUST read for anyone interested in flushing. My boat is Factory FWC and I still insist on flushing before I leave the boat for the week. You have straight drives in your EC so your setup will be a lot like mine (see post #6 in the thread listed below).
http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8878&highlight=fresh+water+flush

There are many ways to skin the cat when it comes to rigging a flushing system. This is easiest for me b/c i dont have to disassemble any seating or hit any power tilt buttons to get in the bilge. Plus I think it's important to get into the bilge as often as possible to keep an eye on things, even if you don't know exactly what you're looking for.

 

[fwebster]

Stress cracks do seem to appear more frequently as a boat ages, usually in convex or concave areas where the gelcoat hhapens to be a little thicker in the mold. The reason stress cracks occur is because the gelcoat and the fiberglass underneath are different and have different rates of expansion. The thicker the gelcoat, the more likely you are to have stress cracks, particularly where the boat may flex.

I don't believe the cracks in the 340EC pictured above are age related or are normal stress cracks. I think the boat has hit something hard enough to make the deck cap flex and when the boat is surveyed, you may find that there has been a previous repair at and above the rub rail there.