I recently purchased a 2006 46 MY and evaluating tender lift options for my Highfield 310 FCT. The "Dingy Butler" seems like a good option for my configuration. Has anyone installed a Dingy Butler? I think I will need to drill 6" inspection holes to install the backing plates to the underside of the swim platform deck. I assume the swim platform is hollow?

Anyone using another dingy lift they like thats reasonably priced?

Hi everyone,

I have a 1996 325 with twin crusaders. Last season, the oil pressure was reading low on the port engine, but still within spec. I asked my marina to take a look at it and then said they would when we launched this spring.

They said when they launched, the port engine fired up fine and oil pressure was within spec when they first checked it, but then they moved the boat, checked it again, and it was reading zero.

They said they pulled the gauge and put in a manual gauge to make sure it wasn’t a gauge issue, and it was still zero.

They did some further testing this week and said that the oil pump and pickup need to be replaced. Since it is on the bottom of the engine, they said they will need to pull the engine to replace it. They quoted me $10,000. I’d imagine this is mostly labor.

I knew if the oil pump needed to be replaced they would need to pull the engine so I was expecting a big bill, but this was still a shock. Does $10k sound reasonable?

Also, while the engine is pulled, is there any other preventative maintenance we should do in order to make sure we don’t have another huge repair bill in the future?

They said that there wasn’t any blow by, but I’m a bit worried if the oil pump was failing that there could be some excessive engine wear. Would it be worthwhile to get a compression test?

Both engines were replaced in 2021 which was a big selling point for this boat. I was hoping we’d be able to avoid major engine repairs. However, my understanding the previous owner replaced both of the blocks and reused some original engine components so I’m sure the oil pump was original.

Any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Afternoon everyone

Hope everyone is enjoying the boating season

My oil pressure gauge (port) keeps jumping up and down which makes me think its the oil pressure sensor. I can't seem to find the part number in any of my manuals.

I tried calling Diesel Parts Direct and gave them my engine serial number but no luck.

Anyone know know where or how to get the part number?

Thanks
Kuya

A friend has a 2005, 360 Searay. Lost all power to 12 volt gauges (amps, fuel, temperature etc.) Has power to engines, windless, engine hatch. Seems as though he has power to electrical distribution center input but nothing coming out. Anyone experience this and is there a replacement part?

First, I want to give credit to my wife who found a Facebook post where someone with a 444 did this repair/replacement. I do not have FB so there's no way I would have ever seen this.

Also, this may not the only way to do this, but it definitely worked great for me and was overall a pretty easy job. A little convoluted, but it seems most boat jobs are!

I just wanted to document it and put it out there for others and also get into a little more detail than the original FB post.

So the first thing I did was remove the seating on the flybridge over the sliding salon door. The backs of the seating just slide upward and out. No screws or hardware to deal with.

Sharing my learnings and solution to recent refer issue:
I bought a battery power supply/inverter:


After running the refer from the "pure sine wave" AC output for a day or so, i returned to shore power. No issues until a day or so later..
The refer died, would not run off AC power, shore or from the inverter. Coincidence? Im not sure if the inverter caused the issue, but fair enough warning to those who may try this.
Troubleshooting showed no output from AC power supply and the refer ran fine when i put 12VDC to the input wires to the DC power supply.



So now i could use the battery pack to power the refer DC side. For shore AC power, got a $20 120W converter. The refer uses ~ 48 watts, so the converter is plenty. The power pack is rated @ 296 Wh, so i should get ~ 6+ hours of refer time on the hook.

The AC power supply on the refer is discontinued and hard to get. Best internet searches including Ebay showed about $180+ for a replacement.



Turns out that the refer AC power supply outputs 35-47 VDC, so i came up with a creative installation and it works quite well.

I connected both the battery pack DC output and the converter DC output to the wires of the refer's DC power supply.
I added diodes to each of the wires to prevent backward energizing.

The operation now is seamless....on shore power, the refer runs from the converter; disconnect shore power, and the power pack takes over. Return to shore power, the power pack charges and goes to zero output. Couldn't ask for a better result. For about the same cost of a replacement part, I now have power on the hook, and it all fits on the shelf in the cabinet below the bar.

The transom door has a latch built into the rail - a round plastic block with a bolt thumb guide and a pin that slides into a recess in the stbd aft rail. The system was damaged beyond repair and I am looking for a replacement door rail with this slide latch. From the parts list I believe the P/N is 6796108. I could replace with an external bolt or hook latch but would like to find a replacement first. Any source suggestions? Thank You.

Good Day All,

Hope this note finds everyone well and healthy.

Fuel injected 350 Crusader XL

Getting ready to put in for the season. Noticed during engine run up, that we have what appears to be air bubbles in the Racor filter. I changed the fuel line, tank fittings, O-rings on intake side of filter. Removed and replaced the feed line from the inside of fuel tank. Switched the lines to the opposite filter for the other engine, issue still present. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to look next? I cannot think of anything else that could be causing this. Perhaps it may be normal, but never noticed before and the second engine is not producing any bubbles at filter. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Hi everyone.
I forgot to get a before and after pic, and started with the worst seat.
Still requires a few more coats, then onto the captain's chair, then the lounge.
I used this on my Zodiac tender seats years ago, and they still look great.

Once painted, I recommend a vinyl treatment followed by a vinyl sealer.
Being in the flooring industry, I use flooring products, and they seem to work well.

Has anyone repowered their boat with a larger engine/ hp?

I have a 89 Carver Montego that I have been restoring. \
The boat sat in a farmers field for over 7 years.

I put it in the water once 2 years ago, then the original Mercrusier 260 5.0 died.
One Mechanic told me it was a cracked block.
It didn't even turn when wrenching it... so it is completely seized.

Its taken me some time to find an engine.

I found a 7.4L 310/330 hp for a great price.
I have not been able to find a 260. and to be honest I wanted to put something in with a little more HP

From my understanding this larger engine was an option engine on these boats in the late 80s early 90s.

Has anyone put one of these into their Carvers?

What challenges did you incur ?

Im told the engine will or should drop right in on existing mounts because it was an option engine