New member from South Florida - proud owner of 280DA

Dooley

New Member
Jun 13, 2013
109
South Florida
Boat Info
Boatless
Engines
Boatless
Hello all,

I'm glad to be a part of the forum.
My wife and I just recently purchased a 2002 280 Sundancer, and we absolutely love it!
The only previous experience with Sundancers (and Sea Ray for that matter) we had was our friend's 380 but let me tell you, the 280 has everything the 380 had, only in a slightly smaller package.
This is our first boat.

The boat is powered by twin 4.3 Mercs with 835 hours. Mechanical inspection of both engines was performed as condition of sale, and the certified Mercruiser tech reported they're as healthy as engines with 1/2 those hours.

The boat is stored on a rack indoors, but the marina charges extra for flushing the engines (you have to be on their wash plan and pay another $250/month).
I'm doing research on the flush kits available and so far, I'm kind of leaning towards the SuperFlush system.
Curious if anyone has rigged a dual Superflush to their twin engine Sea Ray, and what your thoughts are.

I hope I can make friends here and learn as much as I can teach.

Aldo
 
No experience with the flush kits... Congratulations and welcome to CSR!
 
Welcome! You'll love the boat, a very popular model here.

I've never heard about the super flush systems before; interesting. Looks like it will work with Alpha drives since you don't have to run the engines. However, the only units I saw on their website was for 4.0 liter engines or less.

Enjoy!
 
First, welcome. Very nice boat.

Second, a rant. It blows me away that marinas with salt water customers consider flushing the engine to be optional. At my previous marina they did it as part of the service. At my current marina they don't even offer the service but the forklift operators do for me because I ask them to and tip them well.

Third, on the rare occasion that I need to flush them myself I just use the regular muffs and they seem to work well. I'll be interested in the responses to your original question as there is probably a better way.
 
Welcome aboard. I don't have I/O's so I can't help., I'm fresh water cooled. Sorry
 
Welcome to the Forum and to SFL Boating.

A word of warning, I had a flush kit installed on my boat installed by the previous owner...and I removed it shortly after one of the cheap plastic fittings broke and probably would have done me in had I not caught it when I did.

So where do you store your boat if you dont mind me asking? I didn't know there were still rack marinas here is SFL that dont include flushing in the rental cost is South Florida. Mine is high & dry as well.

You might want to consider relocating to a different facility
 
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Thanks for the warm welcome!

I too can't believe that the marina won't flush the engines considering their prices, but I guess living in South Florida comes with a [very] high price tag.
I do all maintenance on my vehicles, bikes and now, the boat, I like it that way; but I do have a lot to learn about boats. Luckily, all our closest friends have owned boats for a long time.

We haven't renamed her yet. Still trying to think of the "perfect name"!

Here's another question for the group: is there a source for OEM Sea Ray parts other than MarineMax? I need to replace a few minor little things and would like to keep those items stock.

TIA!
 
Welcome and congrats!! Where here in South Fla are you? I've also thought of the superflush kits, but haven't heard that much about them.. They were sponsors for a while on Ship Shape TV, then kind of disappeared. If you find any good info- or any good discounts, let me know, and hopefully I'll see you around the water!!
Barry
 
Welcome, and I'm going to watch your superflush research with interest too.
 
Welcome aboard and congrats!
 
Welcome aboard.
 
Welcome aboard! What kind of spare parts are you specifically looking for. Throw it out there and watch the flood of information coming at you. Try playing with the search function as well. Once you have it figured out (see the thread regarding searches) you can find most anything.

check out this thread too. You will look through this for hours and when you find good information, simply save it to a file. Good luck.

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/10064-Official-280-Sundancer-Thread
 
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Hello again, and thanks for all the replies.
The past few days have been brutal, as my 2-YO boy has had surgery and is still in the hospital recovering. He's doing very well and the doctor just told my wife a couple hours ago that once he has a bowel movement, we cna go home. That is probably way too much info for you guys, but I thought I'd share anyway! ;)

Last weekend, in anticipation to his surgery, we went out on the boat on Saturday and Sunday. It ran great, although once I fired her up to return home, I noticed my port engine throttle lever was very smooth.
Wells, as it turns out, I have no throttle nor shift to port engine.

Since the sea trial I noticed these controls were extremely hard to operate, and going form neutral to either fwd/rev is always a chore. Once in gear, no problem. I assume the cables are either in dire need of being lubricated or replaced altogether.
I called a friend who is also a Mercruiser mechanic, he's going out to the boat tomorrow to check the cables and I'll be there with him; I just may replace them just so I know what I'm running.

Any tips on how to make your throttle controls on t-4.3s a little smoother?
Also...there's no "throttle-only" switch on these controls; It is hard to believe.

Finally....I'm on page 126 on the "Official 280 Sundancer thread" and figured I'll save my questions (if any are left) for when I'm done reading it.

Y'all take care and have a great weekend!
 
Good to hear he is doing ok!

There actually is a throttle only available on the control. On each throttle control there is a pushbutton black switch...right at the point of rotation of the handle. Push it in and then move the control. The one on the starboard side is a bit harder to access but is functions the same.

New shift cables from sterndrive to engine are probably necessary and will help your shift smoothness.

Tom
 
Hey Gunn, I figured out the push-button while on the boat the other day. My port throttle is missing the black cap, I have made a mental note to order one.

Since I have finished reading the entire 280DA thread I feel I'm now entitled to use it. See you over there!

Ps: I have just replaced an IAC on my port engine, and after dishing out 89 at MM I found the same part at Rockauto.com (one of my parts suppliers for my company), although Standar Motor Products brand for 1/2 the price.
Live and learn...
 

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