Official 240 Sundancer Thread

Hey Islandhopper and the rest of the 240 owners,

Have you figured out your fuel burn? On a 100 mile trip I did 2 weeks ago averaging 3500-3600 rpms for 3.25hrs. I got a 11GPH and 2.796MPG. Not bad. Anybody else with their numbers? Just curious.
 
Alvin - what speed are you going at that RPM? I have the 5.7L and get closer to 10GPH at that RPM; however, I like to cruise faster than that. I usually wind up going 27-28 MPH with RPM at 3800-3900 burning between 11-12 GPH. I will try to get exact numbers on my next destination trip, happy to share.
 
I cruise between 3600-3800 rpm, at 11-12 GPH. I haven't figured out mpg though. My boat doesn't like to run slower than 3600rpm. The stern starts digging and squatting, the speed is to slow. Compared to others numbers, I have always felt my 5.0 must be sick. I can't post the numbers ya'll do. I have had my mechanic check my motor, he says every thing checks out normal though. My boat struggles to get on plane too. Has since I bought it new. I just keep running it. I can't wait to get rid of it though!!!!!! I just need to lose about 20 grand in the trade, it's why I keep it. Crap.
 
Islandhopper - it's strange that you are struggling to get on plane. I have the same year (2006) although I have the larger 5.7L engine and mine jumps on plane is a couple of seconds. Your 5.0L has plenty of power to get the 240DA on plane quickly. Have you posted about this? Just wondering if the experts on this site can assist you...
 
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Ah, I've had this "problem" since it was new. I've had my merc tech check the motor with his merc daigonistic computer, and he can't find a thing wrong with it. I've had the distributor cap and rotor changed, new plugs, and wires. I've had the motor alignment checked, back lash or clearances on the outdrive checked. I store the boat on it's trailer so the bottom is clean. I have the smallest props merc makes for the bravo three's, 20" uncuped props. I even moved the celery stick to give the drive extra tuck. I ran the boat on Lake Norman today, wide open throttle 4600rpm, 37-38 mph. I don't care about the wide open speed, but it kills me how much this boat drags to get up on plane. If I have full fuel, water, 4 people, stuff for hanging on the lake, I might get on plane just as I get to the raft up. haha Oh well, I just live with it. It is what it is!

Motors are all different and I got one from merc that was assembled on friday! haha What can I do? Live with it, that's what I do.
 
Heck, my boat period has been a love hate relationship. I've had every problem that's been documented with the 240da. The wet carpet, my fix was to install a shower drain sump from the 260da works great now. Water tank fittings leaked, had to tighten them to stop the leaking. A/C drain pan overflows into the midcabin berth, i can't remember what the fix was but my dealer fixed it. Gas tank was sliding back toward the motor. Dealer installed some new stronger mounts to stop it from moving. A/C 110 pump died, dealer replaced it. The table in the cabin that makes the berth by fitting between the two storage lockers and the corner of the galley, didn't fit, had to move the galley back slightly to let it fit. The drop down 7" screen t/v died, had to deal with the manafacturer to have them rebuild the broken one. The motor hatch gas struts have never held up the hatch, I made a prop rod after replacing them twice and giving up. I don't even want to mention the handling characteristics......

So, I never have enjoyed the Sea Ray quality everone else seems to have. I just chalk it up to me and my luck. What can I do about it? Nothing, live with it, that's what I do.

I want to mention my Sea Ray dealer Hall Marine Lake Wylie was/is great! They went above and beyond to help me. They stood behind thier product when Sea Ray ignored me. I would make a bet that if I took my boat to them, they would still help me with anything I asked for. Hall Marine is GREAT!!!!!!!!!! Can't say that enough.
 
islandhopper00 said:
11111.jpg

222.jpg


There you go. That's my cousin in a 30ft Regal.
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10 footers... PFFFT!!! Looks like a typical day on the south end of the lake.:grin:

It was good to see you yesterday. I got to look into that Sea Deck material. You helped make my wife's first "raft-up" enjoyable.

Also not an expert on the matter but warm fresh water is going to make it harder to get up on plane than cold saltwater. Something to do with physics and water density. I have more difficulty in the summer than I do in spring, fall, or winter. All things being equal.
 
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sswall1969 said:
Alvin - what speed are you going at that RPM? I have the 5.7L and get closer to 10GPH at that RPM; however, I like to cruise faster than that. I usually wind up going 27-28 MPH with RPM at 3800-3900 burning between 11-12 GPH. I will try to get exact numbers on my next destination trip, happy to share.
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I didn't look at the speed to closely as the dial on the speedo isn't the best. Next time out I will use the GPS speed on my Seatow app on the iphone. I would think that might be more accurate. But at around 3600 rpms the speedo read around 22-24 MPH.
 
islandhopper00 said:
Heck, my boat period has been a love hate relationship. I've had every problem that's been documented with the 240da. The wet carpet, my fix was to install a shower drain sump from the 260da works great now. Water tank fittings leaked, had to tighten them to stop the leaking. A/C drain pan overflows into the midcabin berth, i can't remember what the fix was but my dealer fixed it. Gas tank was sliding back toward the motor. Dealer installed some new stronger mounts to stop it from moving. A/C 110 pump died, dealer replaced it. The table in the cabin that makes the berth by fitting between the two storage lockers and the corner of the galley, didn't fit, had to move the galley back slightly to let it fit. The drop down 7" screen t/v died, had to deal with the manafacturer to have them rebuild the broken one. The motor hatch gas struts have never held up the hatch, I made a prop rod after replacing them twice and giving up. I don't even want to mention the handling characteristics......

So, I never have enjoyed the Sea Ray quality everone else seems to have. I just chalk it up to me and my luck. What can I do about it? Nothing, live with it, that's what I do.

I want to mention my Sea Ray dealer Hall Marine Lake Wylie was/is great! They went above and beyond to help me. They stood behind thier product when Sea Ray ignored me. I would make a bet that if I took my boat to them, they would still help me with anything I asked for. Hall Marine is GREAT!!!!!!!!!! Can't say that enough.
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That stinks. Sorry to hear that Island. I got mine used last year and went throught that transom leak issue. After that it was been pretty good. Small issues here and there but nothing to major thank god.

I have had no issues getting on plane with my 5.0. I do seem to get on plane better when I have a full load of water onboard. Guess that has to do with the water tank being in the front.
 
Steve your welcome! Glad I could help. I enjoyed ya'lls company, and it was nice to see your wife so excited by the small stuff!

As far as the warmer water, I understand. Hot outside temperatures also contribute to the sluggishness. I've learned the quirks of this boat and accept them. I've actually learned to run this boat so as if you were riding along with me, you would not notice it's short comings. It's embarrasing when to many people want to ride and I have to ask some of them to 'go up front" to get on plane. Most never give it a second thought, but for me it is embarrasing.

Spike, I keep my water tank full just for that reason! Dave S.helped me the most when he figured out that when coming up on plane as the bow rises and the rpm's climb, there is a sweet spot to trim the drive so that the bow actually raises up then falls over due to the weight of the bow overcoming the water being pushed by the bow. It works. I think 3600rpm for me is close to that speed 22-24 also, but I have to chase the throttle to run at that rpm. Meaning if I just left the throttle set, the boat would fall off plane.

I have a set of bravo three props that I had Murphys Propellers in Norfolk Va. modify. They repitched them to 18.5" for me, that was a low as they could get them. The boat performs as it should with them. Climbs on plane, runs nicely at all speeds, EXCEPT....I cannot use full throttle. I run out of rpms before I run out of throttle. I am very careful to not excede wide open rpms of 5000rpm. The kicker is cruise is 20-24 at 3800-3900 rpm, max speed is 35-36mph. The biggest benifit for me is I can stay on plane down to about 12 mph with the tabs down. That is how I get thru the gulf stream crossing without killing the boat in heavy seas. I slow way down and push thru the waves, or go slowly up and over.

At this point, it is what it is. I can deal with the quirks. The boat looks nice, and does what I ask it to do. Actually does more of what it was designed to do by taking me to the Bahamas! Something the designers never intended for someone to do with this boat.
 
islandhopper00 said:
Steve your welcome! Glad I could help. I enjoyed ya'lls company, and it was nice to see your wife so excited by the small stuff!

As far as the warmer water, I understand. Hot outside temperatures also contribute to the sluggishness. I've learned the quirks of this boat and accept them. I've actually learned to run this boat so as if you were riding along with me, you would not notice it's short comings. It's embarrasing when to many people want to ride and I have to ask some of them to 'go up front" to get on plane. Most never give it a second thought, but for me it is embarrasing.

Spike, I keep my water tank full just for that reason! Dave S.helped me the most when he figured out that when coming up on plane as the bow rises and the rpm's climb, there is a sweet spot to trim the drive so that the bow actually raises up then falls over due to the weight of the bow overcoming the water being pushed by the bow. It works. I think 3600rpm for me is close to that speed 22-24 also, but I have to chase the throttle to run at that rpm. Meaning if I just left the throttle set, the boat would fall off plane.

I have a set of bravo three props that I had Murphys Propellers in Norfolk Va. modify. They repitched them to 18.5" for me, that was a low as they could get them. The boat performs as it should with them. Climbs on plane, runs nicely at all speeds, EXCEPT....I cannot use full throttle. I run out of rpms before I run out of throttle. I am very careful to not excede wide open rpms of 5000rpm. The kicker is cruise is 20-24 at 3800-3900 rpm, max speed is 35-36mph. The biggest benifit for me is I can stay on plane down to about 12 mph with the tabs down. That is how I get thru the gulf stream crossing without killing the boat in heavy seas. I slow way down and push thru the waves, or go slowly up and over.

At this point, it is what it is. I can deal with the quirks. The boat looks nice, and does what I ask it to do. Actually does more of what it was designed to do by taking me to the Bahamas! Something the designers never intended for someone to do with this boat.
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I must say it sounds like you got it right on. I still have yet to push my boat to even 4500 rpms yet. No need to. Wish I could go to the Bahamas with my 240.
 
new 240 da owner here, i purchased a 2011 wl .4 hrs on it ,I sometimes have problems with the boat beginning to list hard to either side at cruising speeds and then sometimes not , cant figure it out, if it was a issue with the weight in the boat it would happen more often anyone else with this effect thanks
 
Sounds like depending on the conditions you will list. Are you using your tabs to counteract the list? The 240 is very sensitive to having a person on port or starboard side. You will need to trim the tabs out if one person moves during a trip.

Welcome aboard by the way. Where in NJ are you? By the way you must post pictures up. :)
 
searayjay said:
new 240 da owner here, i purchased a 2011 wl .4 hrs on it ,I sometimes have problems with the boat beginning to list hard to either side at cruising speeds and then sometimes not , cant figure it out, if it was a issue with the weight in the boat it would happen more often anyone else with this effect thanks
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You need to trim the drive up as you're coming up on plan, 1/4 seems to work well for me. I only use the tabs to make small adjustments side to side.

The 260 has the same issue.

http://clubsearay.com/showthread.php/11486-05-and-up-260-Sundancer-listing-problems/page2
 
thanks for the response i think i will try running with the tabs up ,give that a shot its more like a nose dive to to the port sometimes to strbd though, otherwise quite happy with purchase so far , the boat has 9 hrs on her and i m always with different amounts of people all ages also im tied up in the manasquan river which is great but can get a little crowded on weekends
 
Try leaving the tabs up, then as you're getting up on plan start to trim the drive up, 10 on the Smartcraft or ¼ on the analog gauge works for me. Just tap the switch because there’s a slight delay, The 1st time I took my 240 out I thought the boat was going to roll over, just like you said, it seems to dive to one side or the other, scared the sh!t out of my wife and me.

No problem once I learned about trimming the drive, now after 5yrs its second nature, the tabs will help with the slight lean side to side once you’re on plan, same thing, just tap them and wait a second.
At some point the boat may start to lean the opposite way, reset the trim tabs then adjust otherwise you’ll end up with both tabs down and no adjustments can be made.
 
What I find causes the listing while running is the wind or current against the hull. When the wind tries to push the bow one direction or the other you naturally steer to compensate. When you steer to compensate it's like turning, and the hull will lean into the turn. As long as the wind is constant (which it never is) you can trim to level your ride. Well the wind is variable so when you trim to adjust the wind dies down and now your trim is not set correctly, so you have to retrim to catch it.

Notice if the water is flat calm and there is no wind or wave (as in the early morning) and no wakes from other boats, your boat will run flat and level as long as the weight in the boat does not change.
Try this expermiment, run your boat in the early morning when there are no wind or waves. Run a straight line and you will see the boat is steady, and will only lean when you begin a turn, but will find level when you complete the turn. The tenderness comes in as you have to steer to compensate for wind pushing you off your intended course and you steer to compensate. I hope that makes sence and I'm not confusing the crap out of everyone. I know what I mean!! hahaha
 
I'm going to try something unconventional on my boat to help with the trimming duties. I bought some Nauticus Smart Tabs, the kind that has the shock absorbers for actuators and react automatically. Well, I intend to install them inboard of the Bennett hydraulic tabs. My thought is the Nauticus tabs will react automatically to help with getting on plane and trim set, and I can still use the bennetts to manually trim side to side as I feel necessary. Worse case they fight each other and I have to remove them. I'll post results after I install and run the boat! Wish me luck.
 
Has anyone tried to install a TV in the 240? If so where? I'd like to put a small flatscreen on the right side, against the wall of the head facing the front of the boat.

This brings up a few issues, there is no outlet there, so I would have to run a line there. Has anyone done this? how hard is it to add an outlet?

Then mounting. Can I use a standard bracket on the padded wall? How would I go about mounting to the wall of the head?

FYI I'm not planning on running any television service, just DVD's and ipad/iphone video to keep the kids busy.

any help is appreciated
 
Hello everyone, Just purchased a 240 Sundancer. Can't wait to get it out on the Barnegat Bay. I know i'll have some questions for you guys. Thanks in advance.
 
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