Official 280 Sundancer Thread

rhodyboater said:
Hi Guys and girls,
This thread has gotten so long, I can't find what I'm sure must have been discussed here before (and the search feature doesn't bring anything up for some reason?):
Does anyone have the dimensions or (fingers crossed!) a template of the v berth so I can cut out a foam mattress topper for it?
My boat is not near me right now and I'd like to go to the store, get the foam and precut it for tonight......got big plans for the wife!!!
Click to expand...

Its not a easy measurement.
Remove the cushions, put your foam on the floor, put the cushions on top and use this as your guide.
 
richcam1 said:
How much play in your steering wheel do you guys have?

I have 4 to 5 inches which seems like a lot to me. My local dealer says they are all like that. Mine is a 2007 280da with the power steering...

Thanks Much,
Rich
Click to expand...

That sounds like a lot of play. There could be a few issues, one cheap and easy, the others not so. On the cheap and easy: go inspect the end of the steering cable where it meets the the power assist piston. The cable outer housing is held in place by a large cap nut (about 1.125"). This nut has to be tight. When the wheel is turned, the core of the cable moves. If the cable housing is loose, the core is able to move before it runs into resistance that then makes it push/pull the power assist piston. Think of it as the same as an adjustment on a bicycle handbrake lever. If you watch the cable housing while someone turns the wheel, the hosing should be stationary. If it moves it is a source of steering slop.

Next item is the possibility that one, or both the gimbal ring pins are gone. The gimbal ring is the part on the outer transom assembly that allows the drive to swing port/stbd. It is pinned at the top and bottom (12 & 6 o'clock). FYI the bell housing (that has the drive attached) is pinned to the gimbal ring at 3 & 9 allowing the drive to move up/down.

The pin I am talking about is a large SS bolt with a large square head. The square head sits in a square recess in the top of the ring. The top of the ring is also split and a u-blt (just like on a auto muffler) goes through the ring at the split. The pin is inserted from the bottom side of the ring at the 12 position up into the transom assembly. The u-bolt is then tightened and causes the top of the ring to contract and clamp the pin in place. Over time this u-bolt loosens, or stretches and allows the pin to move in the recess, this in turn allows the pin to beat up the aluminum ring. Because the top pin is attached to the steering lever, any looseness between the pin and the gimbal ring translates to steering slop. To check for this stand behind the boat and try to swing the drive port/stbd. As you do watch the pin and ring. If you see the drive moving before the pin does, time to break out the wrenches.

The final possibility is that the cable and/or steering hub are gone. That as I understand it is very rare,

Henry
 
Henry, thank you for the detailed answer! I will print out your answer and head down to the boat with all my wrenches.

Thanks again,
Rich
 
Rich,

Take a look at the attached link. It is a detail account by Quint4 on one of the repair approaches to the gimbal ring repair on a Bravo drive. It is not exactly the same as would be done on an Alpha, but close enough that you can get the gist of the process.

JRMarine only supplies parts for the Bravo series. But there is a similar approach used on the Alpha produced by Mercruiser.

http://clubsearay.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17425

Henry
 
Has anyone used the open space next to the water tank in the ER for storage? I was thinking I could screw down some milkcrate type crates. I don't have a genny so I have quite a bit of room. Any ideas?
 
JYurgo said:
Has anyone used the open space next to the water tank in the ER for storage? I was thinking I could screw down some milkcrate type crates. I don't have a genny so I have quite a bit of room. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Yes,

I have a small open plastic basket thing between the water tank and the holding tank for oils, antifreeze, and funnel. On the other side i put one of those 12 gallon plastic boxes with the hinged lids for paper stuff storage.

Henry
 
Thanks for the tip on the vberth measurement.
I don't know why I didn't think of doing it
like that....I was actually going to cut some
cardboard in place and use that as a template...
thinking backwards, I guess!
I'll post a PDF of the template when I'm done.
 
When using the "cross over" switch to give an extra boost to one of the batteries...is there a proper order of operation??
This past weekend my port engine needed a little extra to get started, so I pressed the cross over switch then pressed the port ignition and the ignition breaker (near the batt switches) kicked off. FYI - the starboard was not running when I did this...I wasn't interested in shorting something out, so we started the genny and let the batts charge that way...and we were off. Does anyone know...did I do something wrong or is there a problem with the cross over switch on our boat??
Thanks for the help!
 
Mfortune said:
When using the "cross over" switch to give an extra boost to one of the batteries...is there a proper order of operation??
This past weekend my port engine needed a little extra to get started, so I pressed the cross over switch then pressed the port ignition and the ignition breaker (near the batt switches) kicked off. FYI - the starboard was not running when I did this...I wasn't interested in shorting something out, so we started the genny and let the batts charge that way...and we were off. Does anyone know...did I do something wrong or is there a problem with the cross over switch on our boat??
Thanks for the help!
Click to expand...

I have the exact same problem with my cross over switch. When I hit the cross over then the ignition switch, the breaker trips. I'll be watching to see what the solution is.
 
Its funny this subject came up. I recently replaced all my batteries, and because 1 did not seem to be charging, I figured I had a bad charger. Yesterday, when installing the new charger, I decided I wanted to label the charger outputs. So truning one "Batt Charger" breaker on at a time, I started labelingthe wires where they connect to the charger, so they would be consistent. Well, I could not get voltage on #3. After pulling the "Main DC Breaker panel" out, I found that the "Batt Charger #3 was not connected to anything. I connected it to the line side of the switch that was missing a charger output. Seemed logical to me. Well, when I was done, I went to start both engines (4.3's). Port fired right up. Starboard would not do anything. When turningthe ignition switch on, the gauges would respond, but no buzzer and nothing when the starter was depressed, evenn with the "emergency Start" button. I have printed out blow ups of the diagrams and hopefully will go trace out wires tonight. Hopefully all 3 batteries will be fully charged now also. I just don't understand why hooking up that one wire would stop the starting of the starboard engine. I had just started it fine minutes before.
 
Mike,

Of the top of my head, I can't remember which one it was, but it was one of the breakers next to the battery switches on the port side breaker box. I have tried this 2 or 3 times since I owned the boat and it never works. Maybe I am not using the cross over switch correctly. I hold down the cross over switch then hit the ignition of the engine with a dead battery and thats when the breaker blows.
 
John,

It sounds like we have the same thing going on..

Mike,

The breaker that trips on mine is the ignition breaker in the compartment over the bat switches...
 
Lope, I know I have been using my "emergency" switch almost every time i let the boat sit a week. In tracing out the batt cables, I have found that the port battery switch only feeds the port ignition, not port starting. I had bought 2 type 25's and one type 27. I had planned on using the Type 27 as the house battery, but things do not seem to be wired that way. hopefully I can get down there tonight and do some comparisons with the schematics.
Mike
 
As far as the procedure goes, I had a dead starboard battery this spring so I started the port engine first then held the crossover switch down and fired up the starboard engine.
 
Well, my problem turned out to be a loose wire somewhere near the starter. The starboard would only click, now buzzer or crank. Switched fuses and relays with port side, same thing. Had voltage on yellow coming from rocker on dash. Ended up finding loose wire on accident when I was reaching around the back of the motor near the starter, all of a sudden the buzzer sounded. Those annoying things come in handy once in a while. Took her out, ran great. Now, to try to find the loose wire so it does not happen again could be interesting. I am presuming it is either the batt cable or ignition wire on the starter, but need a better flashlight to check for sure.
Thanks everyone,
Mike
 
My rear transom door, when up on plane, loves to vibrate the latch loose and bang closed on every wave. Dose anyone have a good fix for this?

Thanks in advance,
Rich
 
Just checking to see if anyone has had any problems with their front hatch leaking water. Also i just replaced my starboard thermostat and the gauge still reads 110 degrees at any thing under 2,000 rpm's normal over.im thinking the sensor is bad.
 
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