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

[Strecker25]

yes we accounted for the drive ratio. I was going to purchase a new/used set of props and keep these onboard as spares. The owner ran with tabs completely down at all times so I am sure that didn’t help either. Not like I am going to be trying to set the water on fire either lol.

Bent strut interesting. I’ll keep an eye on on that for sure.

Def exciting for the change of pace and doing some serious entertaining and overnighters.

beautiful boat. The cabin floor looks awesome

it might be a 400 vs 410 thing but I noticed your racors are on the port side, seems like easier access than ours which are mounted all the way on the transom wall.

I also like the raised bottom paint in place of the boot stripe, I’m doing the same thing this spring on ours

good luck with her, keep us posted on the prop work

 

[dtfeld]

2500 is really, really low. Normal would be 2700, maybe even high 2600, but 2500?

the first question I would have is how was the RPM measured. If of the stock Sea Ray tachometer, I would not believe that number. If That’s something more than just repitching the prop. Something else is going on th

Was noticed at tachs then shot the output shaft of the transmission. Was 2500-2600. I am gonna shoot the crank when I get the boat down to Va Beach. Pervious owner maintained the boat in pristine condition. Thank you for the links will make good reading today as I fly down to Florida to inspect a few Navy ships. I’ll keep everyone updated on what I find. Thanks for the responses.

My first bet would be bad tachs. These Teleflex ones Sea Ray used are absolute garbage. There are a lot of posts on here about the subject. Almost all of us swap out to Aetna's pretty early on, and it make running the boat much easier.

There wasn't much variation in these boats and it seems tweeking the props down to 21.5" of pitch +/- usually get these boats running sweet.

 

[dtfeld]

yes we accounted for the drive ratio. I was going to purchase a new/used set of props and keep these onboard as spares. The owner ran with tabs completely down at all times so I am sure that didn’t help either. Not like I am going to be trying to set the water on fire either lol.

Bent strut interesting. I’ll keep an eye on on that for sure.

Def exciting for the change of pace and doing some serious entertaining and overnighters.

Congrats!! Great looking boat!!! Looks really clean and well taken care of. These 400/410's of this era were really sweet boats.

 

[dtfeld]

Interesting looking at your pictures. Several differences I notice, the best being the location of your Racor filters. Mine are buried back on the transom and are a royal PITA to get to. I like your setup much better!

Edit: Obviously Ryan has a keen eye!!

 

[knotonduty]

beautiful boat. The cabin floor looks awesome

it might be a 400 vs 410 thing but I noticed your racors are on the port side, seems like easier access than ours which are mounted all the way on the transom wall.

I also like the raised bottom paint in place of the boot stripe, I’m doing the same thing this spring on ours

good luck with her, keep us posted on the prop work

Thank you, yes boat was maintained very well. Def love the Cabin flooring as well. Was hard to find a Knick or scratch anywhere on the boat.

We cleaned the hull and I have hull cleanings scheduled every 6 weeks here in Va Beach. I’ll keep everyone updated.

 

[knotonduty]

Interesting looking at your pictures. Several differences I notice, the best being the location of your Racor filters. Mine are buried back on the transom and are a royal PITA to get to. I like your setup much better!

yeah sounds like a PITA for sure. Everything was laid out pretty nicely I thought. Can’t say the same for the two 496s stuffed in my Outlaw.

 

[knotonduty]

2500 is really, really low. Normal would be 2700, maybe even high 2600, but 2500?

the first question I would have is how was the RPM measured. If of the stock Sea Ray tachometer, I would not believe that number. If That’s something more than just repitching the prop. Something else is going on th


My first bet would be bad tachs. These Teleflex ones Sea Ray used are absolute garbage. There are a lot of posts on here about the subject. Almost all of us swap out to Aetna's pretty early on, and it make running the boat much easier.

There wasn't much variation in these boats and it seems tweeking the props down to 21.5" of pitch +/- usually get these boats running sweet.

Yeah def know the Tachs are off. We were running 2200 via tach and the engines were def out of sync. I think we saw 26 knots for speed at wide open. Boat was pretty full of fuel with 6 people. Atneas and a new stereo head unit are first on the list. Has new speakers but has orignal clarion tape deck head unit and 6 disk cd changer. We are trying to find an old tape to play in it.

 

[dtfeld]

26 knots top end sounds about right, A new stereo and tachs would be a nice boat warming present to yourself!!

Your floors are gorgeous. Love it!!

 

[Stee6043]

I thought about this diesel thread, I mean, this 400/410 thread yesterday whilst replacing my bilge pump float switches.

After spending 2 hours aft of my engines I setup a couple lawn chairs between them and had a quick beer break. You poor diesel guys...barely enough room between your motors to stash a six pack, let alone invite friends over to hang out down there?

 

[knotonduty]

26 knots top end sounds about right, A new stereo and tachs would be a nice boat warming present to yourself!!

Your floors are gorgeous. Love it!!

Good to know then def a tach issue. Ohh stereo, underwater lights def a must. And a cushion for the bow. Thanks, added a few more pics.

 

[Stee6043]

And hey - on a more serious note, when was the last time you guys checked the function of your float switches in your engine room? This is an item I hadn't given much thought to until last year.

I discovered in the fall that my high-water bilge pump was 100% INOP, my forward bilge pump was intermittent and my only properly functioning rig was the aft pump. All related to the floats, only one of which appears to be original to the boat (the high water rig).

I replaced them all with water-witch switches yesterday. A cheap project, good piece of mind. Check your switches!

 

[knotonduty]

I thought about this diesel thread, I mean, this 400/410 thread yesterday whilst replacing my bilge pump float switches.

After spending 2 hours aft of my engines I setup a couple lawn chairs between them and had a quick beer break. You poor diesel guys...barely enough room between your motors to stash a six pack, let alone invite friends over to hang out down there?

looks good def a lot of room I looked at a 38 with 496s. Tons of room Then I looked at how much fuel it burned compared to a diesel and gas prices vs diesel prices on the water. Lot of lengthy trips planned so I figure diesel the way to go.

 

[knotonduty]

And hey - on a more serious note, when was the last time you guys checked the function of your float switches in your engine room? This is an item I hadn't given much thought to until last year.

I discovered in the fall that my high-water bilge pump was 100% INOP, my forward bilge pump was intermittent and my only properly functioning rig was the aft pump. All related to the floats, only one of which appears to be original to the boat (the high water rig).

I replaced them all with water-witch switches yesterday. A cheap project, good piece of mind. Check your switches!

good call if your unbolt your bilge pumps and turn them upside down and let the float fall it should kick on. It’s a easy check.

 

[Stee6043]

looks good def a lot of room I looked at a 38 with 496s. Tons of room Then I looked at how much fuel it burned compared to a diesel and gas prices vs diesel prices on the water. Lot of lengthy trips planned so I figure diesel the way to go.

Yeah....I read a thread on CSR's facebook page last week about people spending $20-35k on "1,000 hour service" for their diesels and I thought to myself, gosh, that's 4,000 gallons of fuel for me I'd have to commute to work daily in my 400 to make that math work out.

Shoot, I think @SeaNile is about to drop $4k to have his diesels surveyed! I could nearly buy a reman Merc for that much cashola.

I think you diesel guys just hate money

 

[Stee6043]

good call if your unbolt your bilge pumps and turn them upside down and let the float fall it should kick on. It’s a easy check.

I don't think you'll find many combo pumps with integral switches on our boats. Mostly they are separate and have a "test" switch somewhere on the float. The pain is in accessing them...especially the two aft of our engines. And if mine are painful to reach, I have no ideal how you diesel guys get in there. Pain...

 

[Strecker25]

Good to know then def a tach issue. Ohh stereo, underwater lights def a must. And a cushion for the bow. Thanks, added a few more pics.

We’re in the same ballpark with top end, 27 knots at wide open

 

[dtfeld]

We’re in the same ballpark with top end, 27 knots at wide open

Man, I'm a slacker, I'm only getting 25.5

 

[Strecker25]

Man, I'm a slacker, I'm only getting 25.5

That was with the 23’s (and overpropped) I expect our top end to drop and egt’s to come down. Fingers crossed

 

[knotonduty]

Yeah....I read a thread on CSR's facebook page last week about people spending $20-35k on "1,000 hour service" for their diesels and I thought to myself, gosh, that's 4,000 gallons of fuel for me I'd have to commute to work daily in my 400 to make that math work out.

Shoot, I think @SeaNile is about to drop $4k to have his diesels surveyed! I could nearly buy a reman Merc for that much cashola.

I think you diesel guys just hate money

25-35k on service? The the cost of overhaul. I read 2k hour service is around 6k. I can do most work myself. Plus being a Navy engineer for 23 plus years I know a lot of CAT techs. Some worked for me . What does it take 10 years to put a 1k hours on a boat?

 

[dtfeld]

25-35k on service? The the cost of overhaul. I read 2k hour service is around 6k. I can do most work myself. Plus being a Navy engineer for 23 plus years I know a lot of CAT techs. Some worked for me . What does it take 10 years to put a 1k hours on a boat?

That would require a "MAN Man" to spend bucks like that lol!