380 Sundancer purchase

[markhpc]

Markhpc, the 99 boat we are looking at is on its third set of motors. The first repower was done in 2003 with all of the exhaust upgrades, water lift mufflers, risers etc. The second set of motors had 1400 hours on them before the recent repower. Should I still be concerned with water ingestion/reversion?

If you read that thread it sounds like for whatever reason when the dealer repowered they failed to fix the issue even though it was well known at the time. I think it would be incredibly surprising after two repowers if they hadn't fixed it on the boat you are looking at, but better to make sure now than be surprised later if you buy it!

 

[HarryW]

Good point! Thanks!

 

[Chris-380]

If you read that thread it sounds like for whatever reason when the dealer repowered they failed to fix the issue even though it was well known at the time. I think it would be incredibly surprising after two repowers if they hadn't fixed it on the boat you are looking at, but better to make sure now than be surprised later if you buy it!

1400 hours on the last set seems like what i would hope to get out of a set of motors.... i am at 810ish, new top end on starboard when i bought it....

 

[Henry Boyd]

Harry,

Our last boat had the 496 (sterndrive version of the 8.1 engine) and our repair history over twelve years was limited to the usual; sparkplugs, water pump impellers, and one manifold change. Having just made the leap this year from a 280 to a boat similar in size to the one you are considering, I can't stress enough the benefit of switching to diesels. It is a gigantic improvement.

Now for the boat you are considering. The downside to the 7.4 over the 8.1 is that the former is an analog engine, the latter digital utilizing Canbuss technology. For the Mercury product line this is called Smartcraft and will allow the networking of the engines and the ability to read, see and track things like fuel consumption. When coupled with a NMEA2000 network it will allow things like engine display on a MFD. In short a modern boat.

H

 

[HarryW]

Good points Henry, thanks!