260 Sundancer Thread.........Comments questions and answers

Spot lights in boats are NOT like headlights on cars. Please don’t try to use them as such. You will blind yourself and ruin other boater’s night vision.

Spotlights are intended to be used briefly for picking out or confirming the location of objects like a nav aid, other (moored) boat, or a dock. Otherwise it’s much more effective to use your night vision. You will actually see far more and have better situational awareness by just letting your eyes adjust to the dark. Save the light for picking out the nav bouys.

A hand held light is often more versatile and useful than a fixed light.

 

Maybe someone can save me some money and help me ID an alarm issue. I have a 2006 260. The other day the check engine mssge triggered and the alarm was 2 beeps with a long delay, continued. No performance problem noticed. I checked all fluids okay. No low fuel. But I didn't check fuel water separator. Any Ideas?

 

2 beeps per minute is a sensor and there is no way to know based on the info here. Get a Merc tech to read the computer.

If memory serves, power 'could' only be backed off by 10% or 15%, or something like that... which you may not notice. Other things, power can be backed off quite a lot.

Google for Mercruiser warning horn system.

 

Thanks for the help. I did take it slow getting back to the dock thinking I may go dead in the water any minute. So I really dont know if power was reduced. It did ring a bell what you said, when I bought the boat, the broker had some trouble with it not getting full power. So to get it sold to me, they took it to diagnostics and it was a sensor. I will have to look at that receipt and see what it was. If it's the same problem then I guess the question is why is it happening? Thanks Will

 

I’ve read that engines with the cool fuel system the filters need to be checked and changed regularly. The issue with not reaching higher rpm seems to be directly related to the filters.

 

First thing that comes to mind is the dreaded "cool fuel three" issues - there were a few years where Merc, without thinking things through, painted parts of the INTERIOR of the cool fuel canister. Your model year is a prime suspect for this. Well, fuel (especially ethanol) would degrade the paint and it would start flaking up... clogging parts of the fuel system (pressure regulator, injectors, etc). Merc will help out on the cost of components, in most cases. To start, check your fuel pressure. If you're not comfortable working with the fuel system, get it to a Merc shop. If you google for this issue, you'll come up with lot's of information - searching this site will return lot's of threads about it, as well.

It could be something else - but with the limited info this would, at least, be the most likely suspect.

 

We are looking at a 2008 Sea Ray 260 Sundancer and would like to know the height from the keel to the top of the windshield. The Sea Ray manual only has the height from the keel to the top of the spoiler (10' 10"). Since the boat we're looking at doesn't have a spoiler the information in the manual isn't relevant to us. Thanks for any information you can provide.

 

The distance between the top of the windshield and the top of the spoiler on the 2009 270 Sundancer is 2' 4.25" and on the 2010 260 Sundancer is 2' 9.5". Does anyone know the distance between the top of the windshield and the top of the spoiler on a 2005 - 2008 260 Sundancer. With that information I can calculate the distance from the keel to the top of the windshield. At this point I'm estimating that the tallest the boat would be is 8' 6" (10' 10" minus 2' 4").

 

Does the Mercathode system operate when the battery switch is off or does the battery switch need to be in the on position for the Mercathode system to work? In the 2007 Sea Ray 260 Sundancer manual it doesn't mention the Mercathode system when describing what systems are energized when the battery switch is off (bilge pump, stereo memory, etc.).

 

The wiring diagram shows it’s always powered. Does not matter the position of the battery switch.
I have confirmed this with a multi meter.

 

Thanks!

 

Here is a partial of the diagram. Red from battery # 1 is Hot all the time. The Bus bar connects the bilge pumps,Sump pump,stereo memory and the Mercathode.

 

The 2005 Sea Ray 260 Sundancer standard power was a 350 MAG (300 hp) and a Bravo 2 outdrive. The Bravo 3 outdrive was an upgrade. Are the Bravo 2 outdrive boats usable or does the boat require a Bravo 3 to really be usable?

 

Bravo II was the go to drive for a long time, till the B3 came on the scene and eventually the B2 fell out of favor. Nothing wrong with a B2, though. The B3 performs better, but it's not a 'night and day' difference, either. If you're in salt, the B3 will require more regular attention to keep corrosion at bay.

 

If you keep the boat in a wet slip in any type of water whatsoever the B3 require regular corrosion attention.

 

so I tried doing multiple searches but couldn't find the information I needed. The boat is currently 3 hours away right now, but can someone who knows or has easy access to their boat please provide me with overall Length/Width dimensions of both the rear bed and front v-berth when made into a bed to know what size memory foam I need to consider? Thank you in advance! So far liking the new boat, but sure is a lot smaller (as expected) than our older 270 with the 10ft beam and extended swim platform!

 

We had an ‘06 260DA and it took a queen size on the v birth and a full on the aft cabin. Use an electric knife to cut the V birth to shape. Night and day difference.

Bennett

 

Thank you Bennett!

 

Good day. I just purchased a 2005 DA and need to test / replace the fuel sending unit. I've looked on the forum, but can't find anyone replacing one specific to this year and model with a generator. I was able to look in the rear aft, but seems like there still not enough room to test or to lift up and out to replace. Has anyone here replace one? If so, I would appreciate letting me know your experience. Thank-you,

 

If memory serves, your genny sits on a shelf above the aft portion of the gas tank and the fuel fill/sender is located towards the aft end of the tank? Unfortunately, you may have to move the genny to get to it... which of course may also require moving something on the port or stbd side of the bilge - that way you can possibly just slide the genny to the side with a little ingenuity. If you have an overhead lift (or build one using the top of the gunwales for support) you can bring the genny back and up... I 'think' there is enough clearance in front of engine.

I don't remember how much clearance there is between shelf and the tank, but if there's enough, you may be able to at least test the sender as you could do that by feel.

I realize such a simple thing as replacing a sender requires a lot of work, but that's kinda the name of the game with boats - especially small boats with lot's of equipment. "Something" has to be buried... On the plus side, as the amount of bilge space goes, your boat is actually pretty good! Many are much worse.