Official 330 Express Cruiser / 340 Amberjack 1997-2003 Thread

frosh coach said:
First of all let me say this model has my attention. I've been thinking about moving up from my 94 300 Sundancer. I have twin 5.7 350/260 alpha Gen II I/O's and really want to go to inboards. I have to run the boat at 3700 to keep from squatting (even with larger tabs) Most of the models I see have 7.4's, but have stumbled on to a few with 8.1's. Would you guys mind sharing what you cruise at (RPM and speed) as well as GPH. I would think the 8.1's push the boat pretty good. Thanks in advance Chris
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It really is a great boat. We've only had ours a month but we do not regret the decision to go with this boat one bit. You'll love it. As far as engine options go, the 330s have the 7.4 and the 340 has the 8.1. In my searching I found that the 340s with the 8.1s cost a lot more than the 330s. My cruise speed is about 25mph which is 3450rpm, give or take. I'm not the type of guy that wants a boat that is a dog getting out of the hole and I'm happy to inform you that the 7.4s get her out of the hole very quickly. For gas burn, check out this cool calculator (remember you are running 2 engines):

http://www.boat-fuel-economy.com/mercury-mercruiser-454-7.4-fuel-consumption-us-gallons
 
Sea Ray 340's started out the 2001 model year with 7.4's but changed to 8.1's about half way through. I like my 8.1's but they are a bit more complex which can work against you in the maintenance department. As far as performance, my bottom paint is in need of stripping and is in fairly rough shape (but it still works and I'm not that into speed) so I might gain a knot by spending thousands but…

My typical sweet cruising spot is 3400RPM and nets about 28-29MPH (gps speed over ground). Here's a photo showing my speed on the plotter and Tachs above. 3400 RPM @ 26.4 MPH. As is the case in much of my cruising area, there is a current of about 3-4kts in this area just north of the Bluewater Bridge which I'm fighting. The further I get into the lake, the less the current. Also, you'll note my fuel tanks are 3/4 full, and the dinghy on the stern, + what you can't see is my water tank is 3/4 full.

At this cruising speed, she'll burn about 30Gal/hr.




 
frosh coach said:
Great info, Thx guys. I saw a 97 that was reported with 8.1s. Both of yours seem to run better than my 300.
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I'll also add that this boat has an incredible range of "on plane" speeds.

With all the boat traffic on the holiday weekend things were pretty choppy under that bridge so it was so nice to slow down to 2100 RPM with full trim tabs down and travel at 12 MPH without dropping off plane. OK, it throws one huge wake and eats lots of fuel at that speed but it sure is fun to sit back and relax while everyone else (other than the really big boys) is slamming through all that cross chop, hanging on for dear life! All this without the bow high attitude that you experience.

If you feel the need to move fast, she'll top out at 38-39 MPH WOT. I've had 4 other boats and none of them have the useable range that this one has!
 
38-39 mph at wot?! I can't break 32! But anyway. I have the 7.4s my typical cruise Speed is at 3450 pushing me at 27.5 mph burning roughly 34 gph. .79 mpg. Jim is spot on with the ability to stay on plane at low speeds. My lowest was 14 mph little tab, but never tried to go slower. Dock manuverability is amazing, her beam is just awesome, the engine room is a dream to work in and the mid engine straight shaft design keeps bow rise and plane time to a bate minimum. You give up some sleeping space but that's fine with me. She's a beast when it comes to taking big seas and due to her hull design (slight keel) she runs straight and predictable. My ONLY issue with the design is she's a pretty wet ride with a bit of a chop.
 
Guys thank you for the info......
GrimmSpeed - you are correct this is a re-power with too
Xplicitlnck - your boat runs better than my 300 with 5.7's. I have to push it to stay on plan at 3700.
The low speed you can run at and stay on plane are nice. Are the tabs large on these boats?
 
how do you get to the light bulbs it the three lights over the galley ? I dont want to force anything open, was changing all the lights over to leds
 
joeyleggz said:
how do you get to the light bulbs it the three lights over the galley ? I dont want to force anything open, was changing all the lights over to leds
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You turn the gold trim piece counter clockwise. The trim pieces might be a bit stuck on to the vinyl but they will come. The light is a two piece component, 1 being the gold cover and the 2nd being the bulb housing/wiring.
 
my engine room lift rams are so slow I was told there are grease fittings on the ram/motors I looked everywhere on them and didn't find one .any ideas?
 
frosh coach said:
Guys thank you for the info......
GrimmSpeed - you are correct this is a re-power with too
Xplicitlnck - your boat runs better than my 300 with 5.7's. I have to push it to stay on plan at 3700.
The low speed you can run at and stay on plane are nice. Are the tabs large on these boats?
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The tabs are going to be larger simply due to the size difference of the boat, but the real reason for the low planning speeds have more to do with the design of the boat. It is a very wide boat for it's length and weight. The engines are located mid ship which centers all that weight. These two things really help this boat to get up and stay up on plane at lower speeds.
 
joeyleggz said:
my engine room lift rams are so slow I was told there are grease fittings on the ram/motors I looked everywhere on them and didn't find one .any ideas?
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I don't have any grease fittings on mine either, but have applied some "Slick 50" oil spray where the clear stainless rod meets the black ram (with the floor up high), lower the floor a bit, apply some more oil, and continue this until its back down. Next, I just raise and lower it a couple of times to work in the oil.

The same thing is done with the windshield vent window ram.
 
ok got the slick 50 first put it on the window ram.......worked so good the freaking window almost flew away next did the er room rams for what I would say 25% better up speed though I still think this is very slow but def better overall thanks!

nless rod meets the black ram (with the floor up high), lower the floor a bit, apply some more oil, and continue this until its back down. Next, I just raise and lower it a couple of times to work in the oil.

The same thing is done with the windshield vent window ram.[/QUOTE]
 
ok tried today and no luck even tried with channel locks and just scrapped the gold paint ill try with rubber pad to get a better grip tomorrow


GrimmSpeed said:
You turn the gold trim piece counter clockwise. The trim pieces might be a bit stuck on to the vinyl but they will come. The light is a two piece component, 1 being the gold cover and the 2nd being the bulb housing/wiring.
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joeyleggz said:
ok tried today and no luck even tried with channel locks and just scrapped the gold paint ill try with rubber pad to get a better grip tomorrow
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Hmm, that is really weird. I just took another one of them off today because I was trying new LED pucks, just a quick turn counterclockwise and it came off. If you are replacing the whole puck you could probably just break the cover off by prying it off.
 
Those ram lifts are actually screws that rotate inside the stainless cylinder so you're trying to get oil/grease onto the threads and also the worm gear at the bottom.

We were out Sunday and with 6 people 3/4 fuel we ran 30mph on the gps at 4000rpm. About what I expected.

Changed my stb seawater pump Friday. Thanks to the info on this site, it made it easy and overall took 2 hours including 3 trips in and out of the bilge to get tools and to replace the pulley on the housing. You need a puller for this. I can see where it would only take an hour to replace impellers. I had a small drip every couple minutes and thought it was the hose behind the housing. Turned out the bearings were shot and the belt fell off, lucky for me only on a weeknight cruise about a mile from home. A couple things I noticed is that the port seawater pump must have already been replaced as it is bronze colored, not factory black. Both impellers were replaced before we bought the boat, but whoever replaced them left a chunk of the of the old impeller lodged in the pump. Scary, but engine temp. ran about 160 so must not have affected anything. Got the pump(front housing only) from Michigan Motorz for about $200 shipped and it included the impeller and o-ring. The hardest part was getting to the hose clamps, so when I re-installed it I tried to leave them aligned to make it easy to get nutdrivers in there for the next time.
Nothing is easy but compared to working in the bilge of my last boat, a Pursuit 3000 Express, this is a dream!
 
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Well just finished changing my t stats. Star motor runs a little hotter then port and when I come off plane star motor jumps up to about 180 185 then comes back to just below 170. Port does not move off just below 170. Even after Changing t stat it still does it. The only difference is star motor will go no further then 180 then back to 170 after a minute or so.

While I was finalizing that job I noticed what seemed to sound like a knock. Followed it to the trans. Port side. In neutral sounds like some kind of knock. No pattern very random but very often. I just got back from a 2 hour run after changing the t stats so the trans performs what seems perfectly but the sound is disturbing. Can one of u guys stick your head in your er next time your by your boat and tell me if yours has the sane sound? I know it's a reverse gear trans so wondering if it's normal? Praying it's normal? . It also has a louder clunk when going into gear then the very smooth port side but I was told this is normal due to reverse gearing. . Oil is clean smells good and at proper level..
 
Alright guys, I encountered a weird problem this weekend that I have not fixed yet. To give you some background, we mostly go out on Friday and won't return to the marina until Sunday evening so we are running on batteries most of the weekend. We usually stay in one spot so we aren't running the engines at all once we get to where we are beached/anchored. With that scenario in mind, I have been experiencing low battery power on the starboard side come Sunday morning. Starboard battery bank usually falls down around 10 volts on the panel read out. Up until this weekend it hasn't been a problem because I just hit the emergency start button to start up the starboard engine and it works just fine. Now come this weekend, in the middle of the night the fridge and the water system shut down. I checked the battery volt read out on the panel, port bank was fine around 12.5 but starboard was all the way down at 8 volts!! I started up the honda 2000 generator and began charging up the batteries. Ran it for about an hour and got starboard bank back up around 12 volts or so. Fridge is now working and so is water...that is good. However, now I see that I can't turn the stereo on. What the hell! I figure that maybe the readout on the panel for the voltage is a bit off and the starboard bank is still too low to play the stereo. Once I get back to the marina I plug her in and let her charge for a few hours....still no damn stereo.

So, with that all said:

What does the port bank of batteries run and what does the starboard bank of batteries run?
Has anyone experienced this loss of power to the stereo?
Where is the fuse/switch for the stereo? I looked under the stairs but that only has a "stereo memory" fuse and it wasn't popped (althought I found that the blower #2 was popped to off which I turned back on).

Any help would be appreciated guys, thank you!
 
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