410 Sundancer/Express Cruiser and 400 Sundancer/Express Cruiser **Official Thread**

[fwebster]

Jeff,

The OEM arch lights lights are Perko products. They do sell the bases separate from the pole but, as I recall, you are probably as well or better off buying both parts was a kit and renewing the entire thing.

Now that the boat resides in Florida, you won't need to take the pole down unless you have real low bridges to deal with, so maybe one more time will get you a long term fix.

Perko's online catalog isn't very user friendly so if you need to get a dealer to order one for you, I'll hook you up with the best parts guy in captivity who happens to be at our local dealership and will sell to you directly.....just let me know.

Frank

 

[Dani-Lu]

Hey Frank, great hearing from you. The thought of ever using shrink wrap again sends shivers down my sphine. I literally received an email tonight from my boat mechanic I started using down here, that he ordered the light, but its gonna take 3 weeks to get here. Not sure why such a long lead time, but don’t want to piss him off so soon, sounding like a no patience, pushy NYer . My wife tells me I am on island time now. In the interim, I will jury rig one last fix, until he installs the new one. I am loving the weather and clear blue warm water, although the Floridians, say the ocean is still too cold. Went scuba diving off my boat this Sunday and I was in heaven. Can’t wait to head to the keys and Bahamas, but until things settle down with my parents, I will just suffer in southeast Florida. I know the summer will be hot and humid, but I’d rather be hot and jumping in the water than freezing and shoveling snow.

But, I do miss my friends and the great boating with our friends on Long Island.

If you guys come down this way, please let me know!!

Jeff

 

[dtfeld]

Jeff

I've looked for the replacement light pole as well, but ended up buying a shorter version of that perko light with the base off Ebay and rebuilding it. Perko does have an LED version, but I think it requires a wiring adaptor so that is wires up correctly in place of the incandescent. However, I'm still not a fan as the base is not very secure, and the way its built is just asking for water/salt intrusion to an area that is very difficult to get to.

Since I'm redoing radar, I'm going to add a new light to the radar mount. I'm looking at SeaView since a dockmate has that setup and it looks good and is sturdy. All in its probably $500, but the Attwood LED unit. Also lots of choices for mounting other items.

 

[dtfeld]

I'm back up and running!!! After a long (really long) off season of turning wrenches. I took her for a short shake down cruise. So far so good!!

 

[LG111]

Jeff

I've looked for the replacement light pole as well, but ended up buying a shorter version of that perko light with the base off Ebay and rebuilding it. Perko does have an LED version, but I think it requires a wiring adaptor so that is wires up correctly in place of the incandescent. However, I'm still not a fan as the base is not very secure, and the way its built is just asking for water/salt intrusion to an area that is very difficult to get to.

Since I'm redoing radar, I'm going to add a new light to the radar mount. I'm looking at SeaView since a dockmate has that setup and it looks good and is sturdy. All in its probably $500, but the Attwood LED unit. Also lots of choices for mounting other items.

I just replaced mine with this plug and play. Nice and bright. The wiring colors are a little different, so you'll need three people. One to flip the switch both ways, the second to verify the lights turn on properly and the third to test the combination of the three wires until it's right.

 

[LG111]

Has anyone replaced their anchor/running light on the radar arch? It is shaped to extend back past the open array radar. My light is shot! The holes are in bad shape, pins not much better and threads for the black connector are also shot. I have fixed this light almost every season for the last 7 or so seasons, because it has gotten warn from all the times it has been installed and reinstalled for shrink wrap. I just want to replace the whole contraption with an LED light. I found some nice replacements, from Edson, but they are made to be mounted to the Edson radar mount, but our radars are mounted directly to the radar arch. The 380 dancer has the exact same light pole and I would think so do other Sea Ray models from this era, so I may double back and post in a generic thread. For now, I am coming to you guys/gals....

If I can find a direct replacement with the mount, I would buy it and just change out the halogen bulbs to LED's.

Helllllp!

Sorry. I think I hit the wrong reply previous. See the pictures I just posted...

 

[JVM225]

I'm back up and running!!! After a long (really long) off season of turning wrenches. I took her for a short shake down cruise. So far so good!!

That’s great! You got a lot done in the off season. Now it’s time to enjoy all that work.
Mine wasn’t nearly as productive but at least I got a few things done before I went back in the water.
I added Vacuum gauges to my Racors for the motors.
I’ll add the drain valves to the Racors the next time I change the filters. I’m going to do the drain valves on the transmissions like you did when I change their fluid and filters again in the Fall.
Also in the off season I got my freshwater tank gauge going again (shout out to Speakerdude), added a Carling USB (pricey but worth it) charging port to the empty Accessory spot on the dash, had my props tuned and replaced the vinyl boot stripe on the hull before re-launch.
Now that I’m back in I ordered a new alternator to replace a lazy one (only putting out 12.4 volts).
Still on the prowl for a couple of donor tachs to modify to fit a pair of Aetna Digitals and when the weather gets warmer I’m going to replace the vinyl stripes and Sundancer emblem on the topsides.
Before it gets too warm I want to tackle the damn engine zincs again. Hate those things!

 

[dtfeld]

That pretty good list John!

Which alternator is “lazy”? My port one is always lower than starboard. I thought the voltage was adjustable on these alternators, but I’ve never confirmed that or tried to adjust it.

I’m also adding drain valves to the racers. I’ve done the heavy maintenance, now time for fuel filters and oil change.

 

[JVM225]

That pretty good list John!

Which alternator is “lazy”? My port one is always lower than starboard. I thought the voltage was adjustable on these alternators, but I’ve never confirmed that or tried to adjust it.

I’m also adding drain valves to the racers. I’ve done the heavy maintenance, now time for fuel filters and oil change.

I do the oil changes and all the filters just before the boat gets pulled out for the winter. I did the engine zincs before launch last year (and again mid season) but time constraints and laziness got in the way this year so I still have that nightmare task to look forward to.

Take a look at the gauges for the Racors. They have a trailing indicator needle on them that will stay in place when you shut down the motor so you can see how much vacuum built up while you were running after you get back to the dock.
https://www.parker.com/static_content/parkerimages/Racor/7700 (11-1676E Vacuum Gage).pdf

It’s the starboard alternator so it’s the easier one to get to. Should be putting out at least 13.5 volts at the back of the alternator. Found a new aftermarket one online (DB Electrical) for about $151 with free shipping. That’s about 1/3 of what Cat wants and they don’t make their’s anyway. I suspect that the internals are the same since there aren’t many companies that make them. Hopefully it will work out.
Can’t really see how the voltage would be adjustable. My first job when I got out of the service was working in a shop rebuilding cylinder heads, starters and alternators. Nothing was adjustable back then, but that was in the 1970’s so who knows what wondrous innovations they’ve made over the decades. One take away from that experience was to opt for new alternators instead of rebuilt when similarly priced because most rebuilders tested, cleaned and reused the stators and rotors in their alternators. They usually just refaced the rotors, changed the brushes and bearings and put in new internal regulators where applicable. Dating myself in that I rebuilt a lot that used external regulators and even some car generators.
There are only a couple of local rebuilders around here anyway and their prices would probably be the same or even more to rebuild mine.
The good news is that there is virtually no voltage drop between the alternator and batteries so the 17 year old cables are great and the gauge in the dash is pretty much dead on. Kudos to Sea Ray for using quality cables and clamps!

 

[JVM225]

Whew! Got through the damn engine zincs this cool and windy afternoon and only had to use the easy out on two of them in the aftercoolers this time. The rest of the aftercooler zincs stayed in when I backed out the stainless caps, but I was able to ease them out with my little coupling nut contraption.
A sarcastic thanks to the sadistic engineers from Caterpillar.
Hopefully the zincs will cooperate as much when I tackle them again in the middle of the hot summer.
For those of you who share my burden with the 3126 zincs: Follow FrankW’s advice and do them more often so they don’t completely weld themselves in to the aftercoolers.
Thanks again Frank!
I’ll just add that I find it better to just remove the cover from over the aftercooler before I start on each engine. It gives me a clearer shot at each of the holes when retrieving the zincs, reverse drilling, using the easy-out, and cleaning the holes out before installing the new zincs.
Time for a hot shower, some Advil and a couple of evening cocktails.

 

[JVM225]

To add to the 3126 Aftercooler saga:
Bargain Shopping Tip!
Now that I change the Aftercooler Zincs twice a year I go through 20 “O” rings a year at $.91 plus sales tax apiece from my local Cat dealer. Before heading out to them this afternoon to pick up another 10 “O” rings to prepare for the mid season Zinc change, I decided to Google the part number for the “O” rings (1J 9671) and I found them for $.10 each at “The O-Ring Store”.
They’re shipping from the Socialist State of Washington to The People’s Republic of NY is an outrageous $6.67 but since I go through them quickly and ordered 3 dozen of them it still worked out to be cheaper than buying just 10 from Cat locally.
While Fidel Cuomo is pushing through a tax on all internet purchases shipped here, he hasn’t gotten it done yet, so anytime I can deprive him and the rest of the thieves here of the 8.675% tax by ordering online I do it.
#Resist

 

[dtfeld]

I need to order a new set of the stainless caps so i can build an extra set and let the blue loctite dry.

Im due...i think ill order some oring too

Thanks for the tip Comrade

 

[carterchapman]

To add to the 3126 Aftercooler saga:
Bargain Shopping Tip!
Now that I change the Aftercooler Zincs twice a year I go through 20 “O” rings a year at $.91 plus sales tax apiece from my local Cat dealer. Before heading out to them this afternoon to pick up another 10 “O” rings to prepare for the mid season Zinc change, I decided to Google the part number for the “O” rings (1J 9671) and I found them for $.10 each at “The O-Ring Store”.
They’re shipping from the Socialist State of Washington to The People’s Republic of NY is an outrageous $6.67 but since I go through them quickly and ordered 3 dozen of them it still worked out to be cheaper than buying just 10 from Cat locally.
While Fidel Cuomo is pushing through a tax on all internet purchases shipped here, he hasn’t gotten it done yet, so anytime I can deprive him and the rest of the thieves here of the 8.675% tax by ordering online I do it.
#Resist

You'd live the price of "O" Rings on MAN engines - each aftercooler takes 22 "Toric Seals" (O rings) at $24 - EACH (Times 2)!!

 

[JVM225]

You'd live the price of "O" Rings on MAN engines - each aftercooler takes 22 "Toric Seals" (O rings) at $24 - EACH (Times 2)!!

Yikes!
If they are just simple rubber, like the ones on my 3126 stainless caps, you may be able to get them from somewhere else.

 

[JVM225]

I need to order a new set of the stainless caps so i can build an extra set and let the blue loctite dry.

Im due...i think ill order some oring too

Thanks for the tip Comrade

BoatZincs has the better price for the stainless caps. That’s where I got mine.
I’m going to set up my extra set later today or tomorrow and have them ready to go for the mid season change.
Another tip: I use the stainless plugs for the zincs in the exhaust elbows too. Same thread size and I like having the Hex head instead of the square on the brass plug. Don’t have to worry about rounding the square brass if the plug is stubborn coming out.
Frank’s tip to change the aftercooler zincs more often is a good one. While it seems like a waste, it’s easier to get them out before they get deteriorated enough to weld themselves in there. I only had two snap on me this time. Of course they were the ones on the side of each aftercooler but I have a theory I’m considering on those too. If the same thing happens to the same ones again I may shorten them a half inch or so. I think they may be up against the ones that go in on the top and it might be causing a problem.

 

[fwebster]

You should also have a set of 4 point sockets in your tool box for square pipe plugs. Bought a set of 4 years ago, I don't use them often but they are invaluable when I have a square pipe plug to deal with.

 

[RollerCoastr]

Does anyone know how to remove the upper padded bolsters in the master stateroom of a '97 400DA? (as far as I know, only the '97 has these - later models have curtains)

They appear to have screws in them from the other side of the fwd bulkhead... could that be true!?

 

[BoatZincs.com]

BoatZincs has the better price for the stainless caps. That’s where I got mine.

Just wanted to jump in and say thanks! Here if anyone needs any help.

 

[dtfeld]

You should also have a set of 4 point sockets in your tool box for square pipe plugs. Bought a set of 4 years ago, I don't use them often but they are invaluable when I have a square pipe plug to deal with.

Now you tell me after I rounded one off in the transmission cooler!!!

 

[JVM225]

Now you tell me after I rounded one off in the transmission cooler!!!

Too bad you can’t get the aluminum anodes you use in a 3126 pre packaged kit.
https://www.boatzincs.com/CAT-3126-AnodeKit.html
The ones I get for the transmission coolers in the 3126 zinc anode kit come with 11/16” hex heads on them. They’re in a spot where you appreciate being able to get a hex on them.
I’m pretty sure I have some old used brass hex head plugs for the transmission coolers that I can send you if you need them. Just send me your address and I’ll get then in the mail to you.