Official 1998 Sea Ray Sundancer 290 Thread

Garintheair said:
I don't have the patience these days but I have the space, equipment and know how to repair it. I currently need to pull the port engine and remove the gimbal housing to track down a solid leak. I'm pretty sure that it's from the lower two studs on the housing. I have a clean used housing to replace it with. While I'm in there I'm going to pull the generator and replace it with another one I have. I'd rather be on the water now but such is life.

If I didn't buy this boat with trailer for under $5k I wouldn't want to spend the time and money. It is actually very clean and well equipped otherwise. I've updated some electronics and have a Garmin radar package to install also.

I do like this boat but still wonder if the 1998 and newer hulls are that much better...
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5K?!? Nice, I think we did ok, survey had it at 26K we got it for 21k, I tell the Queen she has good bones. As time goes on she will come back from the abyss
 
UNDER $5k. Of course this was three years ago pre Covid. Everything worked except the low hours starboard engine was locked up tight due to water injestion. A local $75.00 S10 engine with marine parts swapped over solved that problem! That one pulls stronger than the low hours 2011 replacement Mercruiser port engine.

I found a treasure trove of NOS electronics from the inventory of a small marina where the owner passed away; his widower sold everything for a song to clear it out in order to sell the property. Most of it is installed except for the Garmin radome-which I already wired-and a new Airmar bronze Garmin triducer which I don't have the gumption yet to drill a 2" hole in the hull.

I have a slip but haven't splashed my boat yet due to the leak I need to address; it's sitting at the marina on its' trailer. In the past two months I've had one broker and two other individuals ask if I wanted to sell it. I told them that I wasn't done with it yet... :)
 
GirlyGirl1999 said:
I’m just grousing Ducky. It’s all good. I told the Queen whoever gets our boat 10 years from now will get a steal. The tech came back at $130 to fix the relays, $260 to service the GenSet and $260 to R/R the carb. So basically $130 an hour, I’m ok with that. I turned that off the carb until I can figure out the choke. I thought I had the Kohler SM but no, off thread, if you want to see something funny look up IZMO on Conan,

So until I strike gold in my back yard, Can I manually apply the choke and start it in the ER, so I’m not grinding the poor thing to death when I start it? Once warmed up it starts in seconds and I’m sure it’s going to be even better with fresh parts in it.
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I'm not sure what a Kohler SM is but, if it currently runs now with the choke the way it is then yes, you can manually choke it to start it. The only issue you might have is the pull off. That rubber hose on the housing connects to a pull off piston which might be frozen in its' bore. If that's the case the choke will stay on. Then again, that piston might be stuck in the open mode....
 
Pilot290 said:
Yes, with the folding insert in place and forward bunk made up we use the space under for the soft bags/personal gear so it’s out of the way. No doors fitted but we do have several blankets (for our Swedish ‘summer nights’) which tastefully draped, hide any untidiness.
I don’t have table storage in the ER but might look into it. Not sure where it goes though as brackets under the hatch may make it heavy and overstress the gas shocks that keep it open. I have no generator (PO removed) so I’ve now taken the mounting frame out. Might be room there, so long as it’s well clear of the precious Belts on the engine. Must say it’s nice to have access to the bilge so need to think this through.
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I’m going to the boat tomorrow to install speaker spacers, I’ll take a picture of mine, I would bet you have them but their not obvious if the tables not in them. I’m actually going to take them out once we get a decent, light table in there.
Here’s what I’m thinking about.
Sorry Pilot I meant this for Ted
upload_2021-6-15_21-18-6.jpeg
 
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Garintheair said:
UNDER $5k. Of course this was three years ago pre Covid. Everything worked except the low hours starboard engine was locked up tight due to water injestion. A local $75.00 S10 engine with marine parts swapped over solved that problem! That one pulls stronger than the low hours 2011 replacement Mercruiser port engine.

I found a treasure trove of NOS electronics from the inventory of a small marina where the owner passed away; his widower sold everything for a song to clear it out in order to sell the property. Most of it is installed except for the Garmin radome-which I already wired-and a new Airmar bronze Garmin triducer which I don't have the gumption yet to drill a 2" hole in the hull.

I have a slip but haven't splashed my boat yet due to the leak I need to address; it's sitting at the marina on its' trailer. In the past two months I've had one broker and two other individuals ask if I wanted to sell it. I told them that I wasn't done with it yet... :)
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Garintheair, In my Navy days that’s know as having the golden horse shoe up your bum!
 
Garintheair said:
I'm not sure what a Kohler SM is but, if it currently runs now with the choke the way it is then yes, you can manually choke it to start it. The only issue you might have is the pull off. That rubber hose on the housing connects to a pull off piston which might be frozen in its' bore. If that's the case the choke will stay on. Then again, that piston might be stuck in the open mode....
Click to expand...
Service/Maintenance Manual. Thought I had one but I don’t I will by tomorrow, two things I live by, Always have a plan so you can deviate if things go wrong and RTFM

And yes once it’s running and warms up it’s fine so I’m sure the choke is open. It’s hard to get running when it’s cold
 
GirlyGirl1999 said:
Service/Maintenance Manual. Thought I had one but I don’t I will by tomorrow, two things I live by, Always have a plan so you can deviate if things go wrong and RTFM

And yes once it’s running and warms up it’s fine so I’m sure the choke is open. It’s hard to get running when it’s cold
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Yes, then I would manually choke it in the interim.

The service manual is available online as a free download somewhere.
 
Garintheair said:
I don't have the patience these days but I have the space, equipment and know how to repair it. I currently need to pull the port engine and remove the gimbal housing to track down a solid leak. I'm pretty sure that it's from the lower two studs on the housing. I have a clean used housing to replace it with. While I'm in there I'm going to pull the generator and replace it with another one I have. I'd rather be on the water now but such is life.

If I didn't buy this boat with trailer for under $5k I wouldn't want to spend the time and money. It is actually very clean and well equipped otherwise. I've updated some electronics and have a Garmin radar package to install also.

I do like this boat but still wonder if the 1998 and newer hulls are that much better...
Click to expand...
Wow! And I thought I did well. Mine didn't come with a trailer so I did spend quite a bit on a like new Venture from another CSR member. It's funny, patience is something I've acquired more of as I've gotten older. When I was younger I'd be out in the garage at 3am struggling to finish whatever project I was working on. Now I have no problem walking away for a while. Like yesterday, sliced the tip of my finger off and divoted my pinkey on something razor sharp in the engine bay. Walked away very calmly lol
 
HawkX66 said:
Wow! And I thought I did well. Mine didn't come with a trailer so I did spend quite a bit on a like new Venture from another CSR member. It's funny, patience is something I've acquired more of as I've gotten older. When I was younger I'd be out in the garage at 3am struggling to finish whatever project I was working on. Now I have no problem walking away for a while. Like yesterday, sliced the tip of my finger off and divoted my pinkey on something razor sharp in the engine bay. Walked away very calmly lol
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I bought this boat as I could not pass up the deal! I figured even if the boat was complete junk-it wasn't- that the trailer alone would be worth somewhere n'ear the purchase price. The prior original owner simply had enough of large repair bills even if caused more by lack of use than failures.

I probably should redefine "patience" in that I would rather be enjoying the toys than fixing them! Otherwise, I agree; I tend to think things through more thoroughly these days than I did in my younger years. Probably a good thing as it might afford more time to enjoy those things which I don't have the patience to work on anymore! :O
 
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Garintheair said:
I bought this boat as I could not pass up the deal! I figured even if the boat was complete junk-it wasn't- that the trailer alone would be worth somewhere n'ear the purchase price. The prior original owner simply had enough of large repair bills even if caused more by lack of use than failures.

I probably should redefine "patience" in that I would rather be enjoying the toys than fixing them! Otherwise, I agree; I tend to think things through more thoroughly these days than I did in my younger years. Probably a good thing as it might afford more time to enjoy those things which I don't have the patience to work on anymore! :O
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You guys crack me up, I’ve always had the patience to look it over, you know when the directions (yes I read them) say “Read these instructions before starting” that’s what I do. My down fall is the body won’t respond like it used to. I’ll put a thought in your head. Tin man is in the woods, Dorothy walks by, he barely squeaks out “oil can” a few times until she gets it. Problem is there’s no oil can for the arthritis in my neck and I don’t see up close well anymore. BUT I do make a significant amount more money now. Yay!

Your boat was a fantastic deal by the way and I passed on the comments to the Queen about just keep fixing and upgrading when we can. Ours is a great boat. Drive relays and Gen work on the 7th.
This was put on yesterday and the Queen is VERY HAPPY, It looks messy because the blue is the cover and she just wanted to try it out the actual pad is very tight.
9C58D6AB-EFF2-4AB5-AA3D-86BD342A5921.jpeg
 
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GirlyGirl1999 said:
You guys crack me up, I’ve always had the patience to look it over, you know when the directions (yes I read them) say “Read these instructions before starting” that’s what I do. My down fall is the body won’t respond like it used to. I’ll put a thought in your head. Tin man is in the woods, Dorothy walks by, he barely squeaks out “oil can” a few times until she gets it. Problem is there’s no oil can for the arthritis in my neck and I don’t see up close well anymore. BUT I do make a significant amount more money now. Yay!

Your boat was a fantastic deal by the way and I passed on the comments to the Queen about just keep fixing and upgrading when we can. Ours is a great boat. Drive relays and Gen work on the 7th.
This was put on yesterday and the Queen is VERY HAPPY, It looks messy because the blue is the cover and she just wanted to try it out the actual pad is very tight.
View attachment 107301
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I went the opposite; I made significantly more money when I was younger...but didn't have the time for most of my projects. Now I have the time but out of money and I'm not even retired. Go figure...

I love that pad! That's one thing my boat doesn't have and would be nice.
 
My genny was not working whenni got mine, spent several hours trying to figure out myself, Well that was a waste of time and called in a kohler guy, found out carb was seized, fuel pump was shot and metal fuel line was rusted and rotten in half and broken. Well at $250 for the first hour and $100 a hour after that i spent $2,200 in total with all parts. Was shocked but after watching this poor guy trying to get in to such a tight space to work on her and all the blood he lost i figured it was worth it. Now when the admiral wants to make a frozen margarita on the boat i hit 1 switch and boom we off drinking. Worth every penny
 
Jeff Delbuono said:
My genny was not working whenni got mine, spent several hours trying to figure out myself, Well that was a waste of time and called in a kohler guy, found out carb was seized, fuel pump was shot and metal fuel line was rusted and rotten in half and broken. Well at $250 for the first hour and $100 a hour after that i spent $2,200 in total with all parts. Was shocked but after watching this poor guy trying to get in to such a tight space to work on her and all the blood he lost i figured it was worth it. Now when the admiral wants to make a frozen margarita on the boat i hit 1 switch and boom we off drinking. Worth every penny
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Yep, we used it a good bit just to try and get it loosened up, It really runs well once it starts, just have to grind the heck out of it when it’s cold with no choke. I LOADED it up with AC, both stove burners, and microwave plus just the normal stuff all at the same time and not a whimper when it was warmed up. Plus once warm it starts right up so I’m going to keep looking on the replacement choke parts. So yes it was a must have when I went boat shopping, Queen likes her A/C, toast, coffee, Ice machine (we do on the rocks margs)
 
Hey so what oil and filters are we running on the 4.3s, Port engine has the filter down on the block Starboard is remote up top, Going with the remote kit on the port engine when I do it.
Also, anyone know where to get the hinges for the doors that cover the electrical panel? The door that covers the 120v side has bent hinges and doesn’t shut properly, I removed them and tried to bend them straight with no luck.
 
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Ted Russell said:
Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads out there! Wanted to say thanks for all the help so far and for more that will come. Mine was splashed last Wednesday and spending Fathers Day at the lake! View attachment 107402
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Thanks Ted, you too, our weather is a little poopy today so we zipped everything up and are hanging at the house. Not horrible.
66080417-7172-4452-BB35-08D2DAF248F5.jpeg
 
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