Official 280 Sundancer Thread

MichaelRaasch said:
My starboard engine is smoking during warmup. Definitely appears to be excess fuel during warmup causing the smoke. It is also idling ruff during warmup. Any ideas what could cause this? I replaced the fuel filter and IAC filter and that did not resolve the issue. Its a 2005 280 with twin 5.0's. After it warms up it clears up and idles fine. I'm thinking the choke mechanism is malfunctioning but not sure.
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White or blue smoke? Have you changed your plugs, plug cables, caps and rotors recently?
 
That's 1 of the symptoms of a plugged fuel pressure regulator from paint chips from the cf3. Check your fuel pressure at the rail, if its high that's your issue. Normal is 43
 
Been having some DC electrical demons show up. The boat does fine, put it up for the week, turn batteries off and leave on shore power at the dock. Get back to the boat and turn batteries on and the left switch pad seems dead. Right pad works fine. Wait 30 to 45 minutes and the left pad, ( blower, Trim tabs ) comes to life and works fine all weekend as long as the batteries are left on. This has happened 2 weeks in a row. Never had this happen before. Any suggestions?
 
Tonka Boater said:
I had this same exact issue and symptoms last season on my Cobalt with a 5.7 and it turned out to be the head gasket. I sold this boat to a friend this spring when I got my current Cobalt and the boat died on his second trip out this year. When he brought it to the shop they got it running and it was smoking until it warmed up then the smoke stopped...just as you described and just as it did for me last season. They did a compression test and found poor compression all around. They replaced the head gaskets ($1000) and it has been running great since and no smoke at all.

Not sure if it's the same issue for you but might be worth looking into.
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I hope its not the head gasket. But I will keep that in mind.
 
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jason78 said:
White or blue smoke? Have you changed your plugs, plug cables, caps and rotors recently?
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I'm not sure if its white or blue smoke. I have a hard time telling the difference. I know it smells like fuel and not oil though. I have not change plugs or plug wires.
 
scoflaw said:
That's 1 of the symptoms of a plugged fuel pressure regulator from paint chips from the cf3. Check your fuel pressure at the rail, if its high that's your issue. Normal is 43
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Thanks. I have a lot of tools but I don't have a fuel pressure gauge. If its easy to clean the fuel pressure regulator then maybe I can do that.
 
Autozone will loan u 1 for nothing. If that is your issue it will get more involved than just cleaning the FPR. You'll have to take the cover off the CF3 and bead blast all the loose chips that are clinging to it.
 
scoflaw said:
Autozone will loan u 1 for nothing. If that is your issue it will get more involved than just cleaning the FPR. You'll have to take the cover off the CF3 and bead blast all the loose chips that are clinging to it.
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Ok thank you. What does CF3 mean?
 
MichaelRaasch said:
Ok thank you. What does CF3 mean?
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CF3=Cool Fuel 3. It is the 3rd Generation fuel cooling system used to help prevent vaporlock. You probably have it as it was phased in during the 2005 MY. For some reason, the insides are painted and under some circumstances (like using ethanol fuel) the paint will break down and cause all kinds of problems.
 
MichaelRaasch said:
My starboard engine is smoking during warmup. Definitely appears to be excess fuel during warmup causing the smoke. It is also idling ruff during warmup. Any ideas what could cause this? I replaced the fuel filter and IAC filter and that did not resolve the issue. Its a 2005 280 with twin 5.0's. After it warms up it clears up and idles fine. I'm thinking the choke mechanism is malfunctioning but not sure.
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Now I'm wondering if my problem is the IAC Valve. I replaced the IAC Filter but not the Valve. My symptoms are ruff idle and smoke during engine warmup.
 
MichaelRaasch said:
Now I'm wondering if my problem is the IAC Valve. I replaced the IAC Filter but not the Valve. My symptoms are ruff idle and smoke during engine warmup.
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I doubt it is the IAC but anything is possible. The normal symptom for IAC failure is the engine will die at idle and not start unless the throttle is advanced. It will usually also trigger a smartctaft alarm. Never heard of a bad IAC causing an engine to smoke.
 
jason78 said:
I doubt it is the IAC but anything is possible. The normal symptom for IAC failure is the engine will die at idle and not start unless the throttle is advanced. It will usually also trigger a smartctaft alarm. Never heard of a bad IAC causing an engine to smoke.
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I will know soon enough because I bought a IAC from O'reilly today and will install it soon.

Here are some reasons it could be the IAC...It has a rough idle, this engine has had the stalling after the initial starting of the motor and then I was having to give it some throttle to start it. But it only does that occasionally.
I think the smoke is from the IAC starving the engine from air and thus not burning all the fuel. The smoke has heavy fuel smell.

I got the BWD 50558 IAC. Supposedly its interchangeable.
 
DMarcel said:
Has anyone replaced their engine hatch hydraulic cylinder assists? If so where did you find the replacement cylinders? I have the 2003 280DA, without the motor assist, it' manually operated.
Thanks!
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This is what you need:

Attwood Sl34-120-5 Ni-Slide 8X18 E-20" C-12" S-8" P-120

BTW, it's recommended you replace both.
 
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Was running ~ 3600RPM / 24mph for roughly 20 minutes. Had to come off plane as approaching a wake from a large boat crossing our path. As I went to give more throttle, the port engine increased quickly in RPMs to cause smartcraft alarm to sound for overspeed. It sounded as though the engine went into neutral and revs at extreme RPMs without any power or increased thrust. Temperatures were fine. It runs fine up until roughly 2500RPM, then increases quickly in RPMs without an increase in throttle and has no additional thrust. Luckily we were just outside the marina and returning for the end of the weekend. Was able to cruise on to the slip and finish a successful weekend on the water. Thoughts on the described problem?

 
Danny Troy said:
This is what you need:

Attwood Sl34-120-5 Ni-Slide 8X18 E-20" C-12" S-8" P-120

BTW, it's recommended you replace both.
Click to expand...

I would also recommend you check the mounting points and possibly reinforce them with some ss washers or a piece of ss metal across the bracket.
 
Twin 4.3 MerCruiser MPI. Read more on the spun prop and the description sounds spot on for what I experienced yesterday. Thanks for the info........now for the mechanic to take a look. Typical cost associated? I'm in a lake slip, so I assume we will have to pull out for this repair?
 
Was a spun prop. Part was less than $60 and labor ~ 1-1.5 hour. Was generally painless and was able to keep in the water. Thanks again, alwhite00! The boating season continues!!!
 
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