New to us 2000 310 Dancer!

[Bugsy22]

The war dept (AKA my wife) and I sold our 90' 270 dancer a couple weeks ago. It was time to upgrade as we just outgrew her. We have a lot of hours in the truck traveling to look at new boats. A 97 292 Regal, 2 310 dancers, Rinker 310 fiesta gee, 99 290 dancer, 01 cruisers 3075 and more via the inter web. We made a deal pending a survey and sea trial on a 00' 310! Ironically it's a local boat and is the first one we looked at! Loaded with 415 hours and twin 5.7 efis. We love just about everything about her. We're on the hook for $47500 which I figured is a more than fair price per NADA and a few of our friends. Owner was asking $55500 so we didn't do bad! These forums had some great help and advice on our 270 so any thoughts/ help/ advice would be welcome. Thanks guys and gals!

 

[CliffA]

The war dept (AKA my wife) and I sold our 90' 270 dancer a couple weeks ago. It was time to upgrade as we just outgrew her. We have a lot of hours in the truck traveling to look at new boats. A 97 292 Regal, 2 310 dancers, Rinker 310 fiesta gee, 99 290 dancer, 01 cruisers 3075 and more via the inter web. We made a deal pending a survey and sea trial on a 00' 310! Ironically it's a local boat and is the first one we looked at! Loaded with 415 hours and twin 5.7 efis. We love just about everything about her. We're on the hook for $47500 which I figured is a more than fair price per NADA and a few of our friends. Owner was asking $55500 so we didn't do bad! These forums had some great help and advice on our 270 so any thoughts/ help/ advice would be welcome. Thanks guys and gals!

be sure to check the deck for soft spots due to water intrusion from inadequate bedding of deck hardware.....

also be sure the engine exhaust has been converted from the original 'log style' to the updated 'water lift muffler' style....the log style exhaust allowed water to be sucked back into the engine thus ruining the valves and piston ring over time....be sure to have a certified marine mechanic check the engines for good compression in all cylinders and for signs of water inversion.....

both of these were big issues with boats of this era....


good luck....

cliff

 

[Bugsy22]

be sure to check the deck for soft spots due to water intrusion from inadequate bedding of deck hardware.....

also be sure the engine exhaust has been converted from the original 'log style' to the updated 'water lift muffler' style....the log style exhaust allowed water to be sucked back into the engine thus ruining the valves and piston ring over time....be sure to have a certified marine mechanic check the engines for good compression in all cylinders and for signs of water inversion.....

both of these were big issues with boats of this era....


good luck....

cliff

Thanks Cliff, I was aware of the potential deck problems but the exhaust issue is new to me. I'll ask about that lateR on today. Survey/ sea trial start at 1pm. My fingers are crossed!

 

[CliffA]

Thanks Cliff, I was aware of the potential deck problems but the exhaust issue is new to me. I'll ask about that lateR on today. Survey/ sea trial start at 1pm. My fingers are crossed!

if interested do a goggle search for 'Mercruiser water inversion' and you'll pull up all the reading material you want on the subject....

take a pic of the engine exhaust and post it here and we can tell which style exhaust the engines have....

cliff

 

[Bugsy22]

Our survey is nearly complete. A pretty neat process to watch. Surveyor said no deal breakers but couple little things that need attention. A minor gouge on a port side chine. From the look and feel of it we can fix it after she's laid up for winter. Moisture test was good in that area. Power trim/ trailer switches didn't work. Probably a solenoid. Marina will fix and and surveyor will run it again. Couldn't attain max rpm at wot. We suspect a combination of trim issue and 2 nearly full tanks of 1.5-2 year old fuel. Even though it's been treated it's still old gas. We'll have to burn that off before winter layup. We're dealing with a Sea Ray dealership owner and he stated that a lot of bigger bravo 3 equipped boats of that vintage came over propped and this could also contribute. I of course did some research and found some info supporting this. Boat has been marina maintained but the owners rarely use it. Confirmed w/ a couple friends who's boats are very near this one. So assuming the surveyor gets the report emailed to me so I can forward it to the dealership for our financing we can close later this afternoon. If not we're waiting till Monday.
Bill

 

[CliffA]

Couldn't attain max rpm at wot. We suspect a combination of trim issue and 2 nearly full tanks of 1.5-2 year old fuel. Even though it's been treated it's still old gas. We'll have to burn that off before winter layup.

please tell me you are getting an engine survey before buying this boat.....not able to hit the specified WOT rpm can be a symptom of internal damage to the engines from water inversion.....

cliff

 

[Bugsy22]

Surveyor was back on board the boat today. I asked him about water inversion and he said he was aware of that problem but this boats exhaust system was not prone to experience that. I also chewed on our marina owners ear and good friend of mine who owns a garage/machine shop who confirmed what the surveyor said about the old fuel. The garage owner owns a 99 formula f34 pc with bravo 3s that came new over propped. I've payed the surveyor a lot of money and he's been a member of SAMS since 1989 so I'll put my trust in him. This morning he was in the bilge checking the motors and he says there good. As I said I'll just have to trust him.
Bill

 

[CliffA]

Surveyor was back on board the boat today. I asked him about water inversion and he said he was aware of that problem but this boats exhaust system was not prone to experience that. I also chewed on our marina owners ear and good friend of mine who owns a garage/machine shop who confirmed what the surveyor said about the old fuel. The garage owner owns a 99 formula f34 pc with bravo 3s that came new over propped. I've payed the surveyor a lot of money and he's been a member of SAMS since 1989 so I'll put my trust in him. This morning he was in the bilge checking the motors and he says there good. As I said I'll just have to trust him.
Bill

best of luck with it....I was just trying to save you from a VERY costly mistake.....two boats I looked at before the one I bought had water inversion issues...both started right up and seemed to run very well until we pushed the throttle all the way and both failed to reach WOT rpm's....I had the engines on one of the boats surveyed and the mechanic found rusty valves and combustion chambers as well as compression issues.....

it was a shame because both boats were in very good condition otherwise.....

cliff

 

[keokie]

I think it was the v-drives, not the sterndrives that were prone to inversion. However, while bad fuel and over-propping can cause the symptoms experienced, I would not be so quick to dismiss the symptoms as such. I would investigate further with a compression check, computer scan, and oil analysis. I wouldn't buy a boat that did not run correctly during the sea trial unless I was paying a price that would account for a bad drivetrain...