300 Sundancer questions.

Turned out to be the Idle Air Control valve/sensor. Got the part for $140 along with the gasket and "spongy" muffler piece that goes inside under the flame arrestor. Works great now. The only question I have is if it resets the error code (the alarm did stop). I guess I'll just save my receipt to show it was changed as a record.

Seemed like the most common issue and I guess I got lucky that it didnt fail closed which makes the boat stall at idle!
 
Has anyone been able to get access to the fresh water tank on the 300? Im sure there's a way, but it appears to be behind the bulkhead where the batteries, charger, and wires run. I'm trying to figure out if I can add some brackets / hook eyes to use to store my newport on top of the batteries. Wasnt sure how thick the bulkhead is, or if there is a gap between the bulkhead and the tank.

Thanks
James
 
Your fine on the water tank - its under the mid berth down low in the belly of the boat you access it through a panel inside the boat underneath the cushion
 
Ididntdoit said:
Your fine on the water tank - its under the mid berth down low in the belly of the boat you access it through a panel inside the boat underneath the cushion
Click to expand...


By mid-berth, you mean the aft cabin... or the dinette table? I have the Plan B layout with the couch.
 
Let us know how the Newport BBQ mounting goes. I have been storing mine in a plastic storage tub bungied to the battery rack and it has done ok. I was thinking about building a cradle on top of the battery rack for it to rest in.
 
So I took some family and friends to a fireworks display last night that is part of a fundraiser held every year the week after the 4th. When hoisting the anchor with the windlass, the anchor swivel came up and got jammed onto the vertical edge of the metal anchor mounting bracket/channel. The chain was locked tight, so we secured the anchor with the cable/clip and headed home. Once at the pier, I was able to free the swivel, but the windlass foot pedals arent working for some reason. From the helm controls, I can hear the up/down relays click, but no movement. I took the windlass crank handle and loosened it up, and then also tried to lower the anchor with the crank by hand, but no movement there either. I did check the breaker under the helm, and it had not tripped.

So anyway, apologies for the "any ideas" kind of question, but at 1030 last night, I didnt have much time to investigate before getting on the road home for the 45 minute drive. I plan to go check it out Tuesday after work, but was hoping to go armed with a list of possible problems/fixes.


Thanks
James
 
Jim, isn't there a large fuse in the bilge (next to charger and above batteries) for the windlass? I think the EIM fuse is only to control the relay which controls the high current circuit. I know the EIM fuse/relay blocks will not handle windlass current.


Terri
 
Thanks All,
As you suggested, it was the fuse/breaker on the solenoid in the bilge just above the batteries. Once I reset it, it was good to go. At 1030 or whatever time it was Sunday night, I figured there must have been a fuse or breaker somewhere else since the one under the helm hadnt tripped. Glad it was that easy.


Question 2... So in my quest to learn more every time something "goes wrong"... I was experimenting with the windlass clutch and manual crank. So I was able to unlock the clutch with the winch handle, and could also manually crank up the chain when i let some out... But is there a way to manually let down the anchor? The only way I could find was to pull some chain up out of the locker by hand, to then remove it from around the windlass all together. I did unlock the clutch nut, and also tried spinning the gypsy backward until it wouldnt go further. But it did not drop at all.

Thanks
James
 
These are directions for the progress 1. Hope it helps.

Gipsy Clutch Operation - Low Profile
Gipsy is connected to the main shaft (514) by a clutch, items (511 and 513). To disengage the clutch insert the handle into the lock nut (508) and turn counter clockwise. Then insert the handle into the star shaped slot on the gipsy cap (519) and loosen it. To engage the clutch again tight the gipsy cap until you cannot move the handle any more. Anchor and/or chain provide resistance during the tightening process. Then engage the lock nut.
Gipsy Clutch Operation - Standard
Gipsy is connected to the main shaft (282) by a clutch , items (275 and 513). To engage the clutch insert the handle supplied into the clutch nut (273) tighten it turning clockwise until you cannot move the handle any more. To disengage the clutch loose the clutch nut turning counter clockwise.
 
Just curious... Does anyone have a sound sheild on their Kohler? My 2005 didnt have one installed. Wondering if it's worth it. Stayed rafted on a mooring for part of the weekend and had the generator running. Was a bit louder than expected in the cockpit. (Typically I've been below while it was running before bed to top off the batteries, or just not sat up there talking as much.) Wondering if it would be worth while to retrofit the sound sheild or if thats even possible.

James
 
Theresamarie11 said:
These are directions for the progress 1. Hope it helps.

Gipsy Clutch Operation - Low Profile
Gipsy is connected to the main shaft (514) by a clutch, items (511 and 513). To disengage the clutch insert the handle into the lock nut (508) and turn counter clockwise. Then insert the handle into the star shaped slot on the gipsy cap (519) and loosen it. To engage the clutch again tight the gipsy cap until you cannot move the handle any more. Anchor and/or chain provide resistance during the tightening process. Then engage the lock nut.
Gipsy Clutch Operation - Standard
Gipsy is connected to the main shaft (282) by a clutch , items (275 and 513). To engage the clutch insert the handle supplied into the clutch nut (273) tighten it turning clockwise until you cannot move the handle any more. To disengage the clutch loose the clutch nut turning counter clockwise.
Click to expand...


Thanks,
I read this too in the manual. Have yet to figure out how to "crank" it down, or let it freefall, without pulling some slack rhode up from the locker and then removing the rope/chain from around the winch. Doesn't seem to be what is described as the optimal procedure, but maybe someone else has figured it out. Im all ears!.

James
 
Well, finally installed one of my lowrance fuel flow meters on the starboard motor. I wanted to install only one side first to make sure the 3/8" line, flow meter, filter would not cause issues because the main fuel line from the tank is 1/2", and I could measure the effects easier if only one side is done. I can report that it doesn't have any effect on engine performance up to full throttle. I've also found that the boat is most efficient at 36mph and above up to a point (at least when loaded 1/2 full tanks and above. At 38mph and above, in reasonably calm water, I can get between 2.6 and 2.9mpg, on one engine, as read out on my lowrance (uses both GPS speed and flow rate). So this suggests overall mileage is 1/2 that number or 1.3 to 1.45 mpg. This mileage starts to deteriorate again around 43-44 mph. With just myself on board, and 1/2 tanks fuel and water I got her up to 50 mph in good water. But it was down to 1.05 mpg overall. At 30mph or below, it's less efficient, I assume, because it's barely on plane and starts to drop into the 1mpg range (or worse). This isn't a huge range, but given how much fuel we use, I'd like to be as smart as possible. On Sunday AM I put 100 gallons into her, at $4.76/gallon. I hope to install the other side this coming weekend.

Prior to this testing, I was really running as slow as I could on plane, which is wrong for efficiency.
 
Stray Cat said:
Teri, what rpm were you at running 38 mph?
Click to expand...
Excellent question Jeff. I want to say it's around 4000 RPM for 40mph (around there) because I thought it interesting that every 1000 RPM seem to mean around 10mph (on plane). So probably around 3700-3900 RPM (if I can believe my tachs). I have 26" pitch props. Off plane at 1500 RPM I'm going somewhere between 7-8 mph and it also gets pretty good mileage there, but it's very sensitive and can go down dramatically depending on the wind/sea when pushing water.
I've had flow meters installed on 3 of my 4 boats and one boat had it before I bought it. Call me a super-geek, but I just like to know what' going on.
 
Thanks Teri, I often wondered if the Smartview data I saw on my screen was accurate. I cruise quite a bit at 3650 rpm, which my data says I'm burning 21 gph and a 1.2 mpg. I can't remember ever seeing my mpg much better than that...good stuff to know.
 
Stray Cat said:
Thanks Terri, I often wondered if the Smartview data I saw on my screen was accurate. I cruise quite a bit at 3650 rpm, which my data says I'm burning 21 gph and a 1.2 mpg. I can't remember ever seeing my mpg much better than that...good stuff to know.
Click to expand...

The MPG on the HDS output I have changes quite a bit between 1.88 and 2.9. Now just remember that's on one engine. I don't have both, so I don't know if the other engine is higher usage or not. I'll try to get that one hooked up this weekend.
So you don't see anything better, going over 3650 RPM or better than 1.2? Is it a continuous readout? My boat doesn't have smartcraft.
For the 1.2 (or 2.4 on one motor) I had to be going pretty slow like 29-33mph. But I also keep my tanks full most of the time, so wonder if that's because of weight distribution. I'm doing this from memory so will try to log a bit more after I hook up the other motor.
Also Jeff, does smartcraft do some kind of calibration? My lowrance are supposed to be within 3%, but I haven't done a calibration yet. I may get a chance to do calibration on 1 engine next weekend.
I've been burning 80-100 gallons each weekend, which isn't a hardship, but I can't help but to try to optimize it.
 
Well, the 1.2 mpg on the Smartview is for 2 engines, which is pretty accurate to the amount of fuel I burn per miles traveled. The Smartcraft / Smartview to my knowledge doesn't have any calibration, however it relies on the current speed value (pitot tube in my case) to provide any data regarding fuel consumption. I once had an obstruction on the pitot hole on the lower unit, the Smartview data did not provide any remaining range under this condition. The readings you have observed with the one engine seem pretty accurate.
 
Do either of you guys know if your smart view is instantaneous, or averaging over time? If it's averaging over time, and you're on a long haul, you might want to speed it up a bit and you might end up with better mileage for the trip. My screen is instantaneous, and have yet to see over time (just put it in) how being careful will improve my overall mileage. Like I said, i was getting 1.15 statute miles per gallon (1 NM/Gallon). I haven't yet changed my st-60 to log distance in statute miles even though it measures speed in statute miles/hour.

Terri
 
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