Seacore - what is your experience maintenance wise?

[kaz911]

Hi,

I have "bought" (pending survey) a 310 with 350MAG B3 DTS Seacore - and would like to hear from owners about what they think of Seacore/Fresh Water cooling?

So have you changed Risers/Manifolds? If so - after how many years/hours? And how did they look?

Have you changed Heat exchangers? And if so - why?

Did you flush with freshwater after each outing? Did you use salt-away or similar?

Did you see any evidence of corrosion?

The boat I'm "buying" is a 2008 with 239 hours on it. I looked at another 2008 with 640 hours on it where the owner said he had the Risers/Manifolds checked - and they had not shown any degradation. So he was still on the original ones.

And if you have Horizon engines - feel free to give your opinion as well

 

[JV II]

Greetings to the UAE! I have a 2008 with 205 hours on DTS Sea Core BIIIs in Salt. The exteriors have had no problems. The internals have not been checked, but I'm anticipating that trouble may develop in the risers and manifolds somewhere between 500 and 1000 hours. The heat exchangers are fine and not a big concern. The engine temps have been fine and the replacement is pretty easy if ever needed. I do not flush with fresh water or use salt away. It is a bit of a chore to do that and salt water will make its way back in. There is no evidence of corrosion.

Impellers have been replaced once. Keep your boat away from the sandy bottom as sucking in sand will wear down your water pumps, not just the impeller, but also the housing.

My boat comes out of the water for 6 months of the year for our winter season, so probably that helps to keep corrosion problems to a minimum. The drives are pulled, inspected, and lubed every year before winter lay-up.

You should be fine. Congrats on the new boat. You have a great place to use it!

 

[kaz911]

Hi JV thanks. Survey is tomorrow morning - and after that I might be a boat owner again.

I look forward to having Seacore - but I do hope other will post their experiences.

I'm in Abu Dhabi - close to the F1 circuit - so no V-Drives here. To much sand around - and not up to date maps.... So I'll have pumps as a "steady expense" .... I know most of the waters by heart now - but there still might be a few places where one can get brush off. (Latest G2 Vision maps - are in my estimate about 8 years behind how it really looks - so navigation is based on GPS maps + paper maps (not better) + google maps on iPad where you can see the dredge tracks.

 

[JV II]

Wow. At least you wont hit anything hard. You must have some beautiful waterways there. If you do frequently ingest sand, you should also have your heat exchangers flushed. Good luck!

 

[kaz911]

I don't brush the sand very often. But it can happen where the current builds up a wall - or if I go somewhere new.

and some places are beautiful - other are just "sand dunes with roads on top" But a lot of wildlife from Dolphins, Turtle, all kinds of fish - and all kinds of birds are here. In the winter time we occasionally get whale sharks as well. It is unfortunately a side to the UAE most people never see.