Official 330 Sundancer Thread

Geowh said:
I'm looking to transport a '99 330 Sundancer from Moneta, VA to Vermilion, OH. Does anyone know if the arch needs removed when transported? Any transporting company recommendations?
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I've had my 330 transported twice, neither time the arch removed. The transport company claimed they got a permit for over width and height. It made, but neither company would I recommend. My boat was poorly handled, imo, but that is another story.


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Thanks Guys. I have another question on a potential 99 330 Dancer with twin 7.4 MPIs. I thought I read in one of the forums about a water ingestion problem in the 330s. Is it true, and if so, what years were involved. More specifically was it the 99 that Im looking at?
 
Geowh said:
Do you know if horizon engines were installed on 99 330 Dancers?
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THey were not in 1997. Carb 310hp or MPI 340hp Mercrusier only. THe Horizons would be labelled as such on the top of the engine cover.
 
Geowh said:
Do you know if horizon engines were installed on 99 330 Dancers?
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I have a 99 and they are not Horizon engines they are only 310 hp. I had Horizons in two other boats that were 380hp. The problem comes from the cam shaft design on the higher hp engines
 
Thanks again. What I'm trying to find out is whether there were water ingestion/intrusion problems on '99 330 Dancers. If so, were they specific to a particular engine model? What model(s)?
 
Found out that this 99 330 Sundancer does have the horizon 380s. How do I check for potential problems?
 
First question does the boat have v drives or I/O. I/O did not have the problem. If v drive look at the exhaust. If it come off the risers straight back to a collector that is horizontal that is what is called the log muffler and that set up is the old set up that led to issues. They initially addressed it by raising the elbow with a spacer a few inches so the exhaust water flowed down and there was some up hill resistance to water coming back the might be ingested into the engine. The new system has the exhaust running back and taking a 90 degree bend into a collector that is the water lift muffler and that is the new exhaust system that prevents water ingestion. I think if you google that you can find a picture. Good luck! There is a lot to like on the 99.

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Alegria said:
First question does the boat have v drives or I/O. I/O did not have the problem. If v drive look at the exhaust. If it come off the risers straight back to a collector that is horizontal that is what is called the log muffler and that set up is the old set up that led to issues. They initially addressed it by raising the elbow with a spacer a few inches so the exhaust water flowed down and there was some up hill resistance to water coming back the might be ingested into the engine. The new system has the exhaust running back and taking a 90 degree bend into a collector that is the water lift muffler and that is the new exhaust system that prevents water ingestion. I think if you google that you can find a picture. Good luck! There is a lot to like on the 99.

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Tom is absolutely correct! We just sold our 98 330 that had the Horizon 380hp motors, we owned ours for almost 12 years, it did have ALL the exhaust updates prior to us buying the boat and this configuration did work well, the only weak spot is the the same of all Merc engines and this is the elbow gaskets failing. If the boat you are looking at has the updates make sure you have a compression test performed, this will give you quick insight into the engine condition.
 
Hi all,
first I world like to introduce myself. I live in the western Sweden and use my boat on the west coast which has a very nice granite archipelago. We therefore spend about two thirds of our boat nights at small rocky islands witout electricity. I'm at the moment modifying the boat by installing a gas stove, a 140 w solar panel and six 85 Ah batteries in order to not be dependent on shore power.

Wien I bought the boat in august it leaked water from the large skylight which I have re-sealed. There is however still a slight smell of mold which I'm going to get rid of.
My plan now is to clean all reachable surfaces with a blend of house hold bleach and TBT according to a recepy I found here:
http://www.goodoldboat.com/reader_services/articles/mildewwars.php
Now to my question, I would like to use a mild solution of the brew above on the carpets. Since it says clearly to flush the areas with a lot of fresh water, is it possible to hose down the carpets after saturating them with "the brew"?
Does all the water drain all the way back down to the pumps just infront of the transom?
I'm going to shop vac the two "boxes" hidden in the floor and the sump for the shower and AC drain.

After this I plan to put a electric heater and my two dehumidifyers on full power for as long as it takes to dry it all out again.
After that I'm going to give it a burst from a ozon generator.

Cheers/
Niclas
 
If you are talking about inside the cabin I would caution against "hosing it down". I'm not sure what a bleach solution would do to the color fastness of your carpets but I wouldn't do that on my boat either. I had a carpet cleaning company come out with a truck mounted steam extraction system to clean & deodorize my carpets.

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Ok guys, its down to decision time. I'm having a compression test/leak down test to check for any water ingestion/intrusion problems on this 99 330 with the twin Horizon 380s this week. If everything is ok I'm going forward with a survey and sea trial. Is there anything anyone can think of I should be aware of on this boat to keep me from going thru with the purchase ? Are these engines the "wrong size" for this boat? If anyone has these engines in their 330, I would especially like to hear from you.
 
Geowh said:
Ok guys, its down to decision time. I'm having a compression test/leak down test to check for any water ingestion/intrusion problems on this 99 330 with the twin Horizon 380s this week. If everything is ok I'm going forward with a survey and sea trial. Is there anything anyone can think of I should be aware of on this boat to keep me from going thru with the purchase ? Are these engines the "wrong size" for this boat? If anyone has these engines in their 330, I would especially like to hear from you.
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Engines are not in my opinion the "wrong size" since they are physically the same size and weight as the engines in my boat and many other 330's. only difference is that you have the optional higher horsepower version which is a good thing. Only concerns I would have for this model would be moisture issues. They seem to have problems with hatch leaks, windshield base leaks, and swim platform leaks. I'm referring to these areas leaking and causing the balsa core to rot if not addressed in time. Often times when these areas leak it can go unnoticed until it's too late. Also take a good look at the radar arch to see if there,s any paint blistering. These arches are aluminum with I believe to be a powder coat finish. If the paint is blistering the area needs to be ground down to remove the corrosion under the paint and then refinished. Good luck with your survey. Mark
 
Geowh said:
Ok guys, its down to decision time. I'm having a compression test/leak down test to check for any water ingestion/intrusion problems on this 99 330 with the twin Horizon 380s this week. If everything is ok I'm going forward with a survey and sea trial. Is there anything anyone can think of I should be aware of on this boat to keep me from going thru with the purchase ? Are these engines the "wrong size" for this boat? If anyone has these engines in their 330, I would especially like to hear from you.
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I would think those engines would be great if they check out. Just make sure you check for moisture in the deck as others have said. And check that EVERYTHING is functioning properly. To avoid surprises, make yourself a very comprehensive list of things to check that way you won't forget. Test all the functions of everything. There are lots of systems that are expensive to replace. Here is a list off the top of my head starting from the bow:

1. Remote spot light - check that it works, rotates properly, moves up and down and the bulbs are not burnt.
2. Windlass - check function with the helm switch and the foot pedals on the bow. Look in the anchor locker and make sure that the wiring and control unit is mounted tight to the deck and wiring is in place. Make sure that the windlass is tight and sealed to the deck and there are no soft spots in teh deck around the windlass. Check that the chain tension arm on the windlass is not broken and is working to push against the chain. Those arms are not readily available any more and if its broken, your windlass wont work well and may need to be replaced.
3. Check that the wipers are working properly.
4. Check that both shore power inlets work and power things properly.
5. Check that the TV antenae works althougn if it still has the original tube tv you probably will replace all anyway.
6. Check that the fridge works properly on both 12v and 110v.
7. Check that the AC is working on both heat and AC settings.
8. Check the stereo and all speakers and amps are working.
9. Check that the shower sump is working (its located in the rear floor hatch in the cabin).
10. Check for water or dampness (or water stains) anywhere in the interior. There is no good reason for any water, dampness or staining in the cabin on these boats.
11. Check that all electronics are working properly. GPS fix comes in fast, depth working, VHF working on both send and receive (you can request a coast guard radio check while you are out on the sea trial)
12. Check if the cockpit heater is working (if yours has that option). A lot of them are bypassed because they were not winterized properly and leak. Mine was, but I knew that when I bought it. Some day I will get around to fixing it.
13. Check that the water heater works propely.
14. Check that the head vacuflush is working. After a flush the pump should stop and it should not run until the next flush. If it runs and starts and stops, there is a problem.
15. Check the battery acid levels and check the age (the date should be on them). Any older than 5 yrs and they need to be replaced.
16. Check that the battery charger is working. When it is on on shorepower, the power panel in the cabin should show 14-ish volts. If it is the originial Promariner big black box, you probably will want to replace it anyway with a new smart charger.
17. Make sure the water system pump works and stops once it pressurizes. If it runs, then stops, and runs again, you may have a hidden leak somewhere in the lines.
18. I won't go into the engine , since your surveyor and sea trial will take care of that I presume, including condition of manifolds, compression testing etc.
19. Check the trim tab function. Make sure they run fully up and fully down. Look for oil leaks inside and outside on the rams. There should be no oil.
20 Check the transmission oil. It should be clean and not smell burnt. The transmissions should shift smoothly with no loud clunking or anything like that.

That's my brain dump for now. Others will pile on I am sure.
 
tdschafer said:
If you are talking about inside the cabin I would caution against "hosing it down". I'm not sure what a bleach solution would do to the color fastness of your carpets but I wouldn't do that on my boat either. I had a carpet cleaning company come out with a truck mounted steam extraction system to clean & deodorize my carpets.

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Yes I'm talking about inside the cabin. It might sound a bit tough but it's basically the same as the carpet cleaning machines does exept that they do the wet cleaning and the vacuuming within seconds instead of minutes.
Yesterday I found the source of the smell, it was the sound insultion foam around the AC. The interior carpets are OK.

Anyway I still wonder if water can run all the way back to the engine compartment?
I would like to make sure that there is no pond of water and 20 years of derbris gulping around down there...
I haven't found any hatch where I can inspect the bilge.

Cheers/
Niclas
 
Got results back from compression test. Readings averaged around 160 -150lbs per cylinder. There were a couple cylinders on each engine that were in 134-135lbs.
Should I be concerned? The engines haven't been run for while. The mechanic seems to feel that they should equalize themselves after running for awhile.
Thoughts?
 
Here are the compression test results:
Port: 160-160-145-142-130-150-155-155
Stbd: 160-160-155-135-135-145-150-155
The mechanic said he wasn't concerned about the variance in the numbers. The test was done on cold engines that also hadn't been run in awhile. Ive read that the variance should not exceed 15%. But I also saw a bulletin from Merc saying no greater than 30%. Any advice, ideas? Mechanics?
 
morning all,

I got a new glowmex antenna and started installing it. has anyone ran wires from the arch to the cabin? was thinking of going down port side arch? has anyone had success?

saverio
 
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