Maintenance interval recommendation for 2010 Sea Ray 450DA

sandydlc

sandydlc

Active Member
Feb 24, 2016
605
Seattle, WA
Boat Info
Swift Trawler 50
Engines
Volve IPS D6
We just purchased a 2010 Sea Ray 450 Sundancer at the end of February 2016. Based on what the broker told us prior to our purchase, the boat had been regularly maintained and although the prior owner didn't use her much, supposedly the broker or his mechanic ran the boat at least one a month since the prior owner purchased the boat in 2012. We were specifically told by the broker that the latest service on the mains and pods was completed in September of 2015.

Since we took ownership I took it upon myself to contact Lake Union Sea Ray and although they can't give me the service records without the permission of the previous owner (unlikely to happen), they were able to tell me verbally when the latest full service had been done by them. They said it was in June of 2014.

It is possible that another mechanic completed the September 2015 service however I'm more inclined to believe that it's likely that the service happened in June of 2014. The survey did indicate that fluids should be changed prior to the upcoming boating season but I'm sure you can all imagine that we're not excited about laying out another few boat bucks so soon after purchasing the boat.

The boat has about 340 hours on her engines. So for a 2010 boat that means it was only used approximately 70 hours per year.

Do you think that it's reasonable to wait until the end of the season to do a full service? What are the risks of delaying the service by 6-8 months? Is it reasonable to start with just a transmission fluid change and then do the remainder in the fall? How annoyed should we be with our broker??

We have Cummins 480 HP Diesel engines with Zeus QSB pod drives.

Thanks for any help/recommendations.

Sandy
 
I had done similar issues when trying to get the service records as well. I went ahead and had all the major items serviced when I purchased her so at I knew I had a good baseline to start from instead of trying to figure out what was and was not done during the previous season. Might cost you a few bucks, but you will know for sure going forward what you need to do and when. Some of these dealer service departments just suck when it comes to this. I had contacted them and was happy to show proof of ownership of the vessel and stated that they can feel free to redact any personal info of the previous owners from the copies of the service records. That was no good. I even said just tell me over the phone what was done and when. No luck. Good thing I use a different company and drew to maintain the big stuff on my boat.
 
The life blood of diesel engines is clean fluids.......and clean air.

Don't take chances with $100,000 worth of engine/drive package.....change the oil, transmission fluid, filters, fuel filters, and clean the intake air breather. This shouldn't be "a few boat bucks" either. $250 should cover the parts and lubricants.

Also, there are no mandated privacy requirements on the dealer as to past service records. The dealer likely is ashamed of what he charged the original owner for service......or he is setting up to be a future screwee. Go see the dealer's service manager in person with your change or ownership info from Sea Ray and calmly tell him you want to keep a complete service record on the boat and you would like copies of any prior service records he has on the boat so you can keep the service history in tact. Tell him if privacy is his worry, he can redact any personal info on the service records.

Also, keep in mind that you do have some leverage here......you represent a future service customer for him and if he refuses to cooperate on a simple request for a prior service history, just how big a jerk is he going to be in the future and will be go to bat for you on close call warranty issues. My final point is that these days boat buyers are extremely well informed and they do extensive research. A future buyer expects a complete well documented service history on his new boat. If you don't have one, it is going to cost you when you sell or trade, either in terms of a lower selling price or lower demand for your boat. Your boat is not a 5 year old Hundai.....it is a sizeable investment and a very complex thing with a lot of varied systems on it.
 
I bought our new to us boat last year and although I think the owner did a good job taking care of her, I changed out all fluids and filters as soon as I got home. I always trust myself,but not the word of others. Just sayin


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I don't understand the dealer not wanting to give you the service records, that seems like BS. I bought my current SeaRay used and when I called the original selling dealer (Hall Marine) they didn't even hesitate at going through the service history with me. The didn't give me any of the previous owner's information, but when through and told me what was done when.
 
I'm lucky that our local Sea Ray dealer is willing to tell me all that I need over the phone, they just can't give me printed copies. I'm just so irritated because before we traded in our Chaparral, we spent around $3k on annual maintenance (not knowing that the opportunity to get the Sea Ray was just around the corner). What I don't like is that the broker misrepresented the maintenance status of the 450. Here we were thinking that our major expense was our down payment and then we could recover a bit and now it's looking like another big expense.

How much do fluid changes usually cost you guys? (knowing that it's going to be different in different parts of the US).

Thanks,
Sandy
 
I purchased a 2008 330 last summer, with 130 hours on it. Similar situation - owner had spotty records, and Lake Union SeaRay, who sold the boat, was useless. In fact, they are only interested in selling me a new boat, and their labor rates are super high!

I had a private mechanic do a full baseline service on the engines and generator as soon as the deal closed, and now I keep detailed maintenance records.
 
I would vote for oil changes on all engines when you take possession of the boat. You now know specifically when the service occurred.

Also, contact a Cummins authorized service location - they can pull all Cummin's records on the engines.

FW had given me a lot of good insight when purchasing this last boat, this was just one of the nuggets.
 
FootballFan said:
I would vote for oil changes on all engines when you take possession of the boat. You now know specifically when the service occurred.

Also, contact a Cummins authorized service location - they can pull all Cummin's records on the engines.

FW had given me a lot of good insight when purchasing this last boat, this was just one of the nuggets.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this suggestion. They pulled the service records and they've only been on the boat once in 2010 for a warranty-related issue.

They are providing me a quote for a full fluid change. The Sea Ray dealer already quoted me $3550 for a full service but that included a haul-out and I'm assuming checking the seals on the pods. We're hauling the boat in the fall to re-paint the pods so I think that portion of the service I'll put off until then and just do a full fluid change now. I appreciate all of the suggestions regarding getting this done. I agree it's not worth running the boat and potentially having problems because we cheaped out on a little maintenance. My husband's main contention is that if it was done recently, we shouldn't pay to have it done again but I still haven't found evidence of a recent service. We purchased the boat through a broker, not the local Sea Ray dealer so I think that's why we're getting push-back on the service records.

Sandy
 
I have CATS 3126 with 6+ gallons, 3 fuel filters, 1 oil filter & approx 12 pencil zincs per engine.... Sure, it would be easier to write a check, but I have never done that. I know my ER & engines like the back of my hand. If something is out of place, a drip here or something over there I'm on it immediately. You do not get to know ER like that by writing checks. Source all parts & oil and plan on spending a day in your ER. You'll know your boat much better and when your up north across the border you'll be much more prepared for whatever could happen...
 
I'm impressed Mark! I'll be honest, I'm pretty handy and so is my husband but the sheer size of our ER is a bit intimidating. Also, what if we screw something up? What I'm tempted to do is find a good mechanic to do this first service and be there the whole time they're working. I know they probably won't like it but I learn best by observing and asking questions. I do agree that it's time that we start doing more and more of the maintenance work ourselves. I used to work on my first car when I was a teenager, so I'm not opposed to learning a marine Diesel engine - just a little intimidated by it!
 
Sandy, another good resource for Cummins engines is quickserve.cummins.com. Register your engine serial numbers there and you will gain access to all the Cummins documentation including detailed procedures for every maintenance and repair action. If you've worked on a car, you're probably going to do fine with these diesels. I imagine you have an oil exchange system installed, recommend you look for that and its manual. If you do, changing fluids will be easier than a doing a car.
 
alnav said:
Sandy, another good resource for Cummins engines is quickserve.cummins.com. Register your engine serial numbers there and you will gain access to all the Cummins documentation including detailed procedures for every maintenance and repair action. If you've worked on a car, you're probably going to do fine with these diesels. I imagine you have an oil exchange system installed, recommend you look for that and its manual. If you do, changing fluids will be easier than a doing a car.
Click to expand...

This is a great suggestion! I'll do this now.

Sandy
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,160
Messages
1,427,443
Members
61,067
Latest member
RoseyNerd
Back
Top