1998 355AC

[tomschauer]

Hello all, I am new to the forum, so I would appreciate any help offered.
The wife and I are in the process of purchasing a 1998 355 pending survey. This boat has the merc 7.4's with only 235 hours.
We are moving from a series of express cruisers. We greatly enjoyed our Carver 2757 even with the 3.7 lx motors and have just sold our 05 crownline 29cr with 350 mags. I will miss the speed and handling of the express, but we will not miss crawling out of the aft cabin in the morning and the cramped quarters when the grandkids are along for the weekend.

OK, enough rambling, I was just wondering If those with the same or similar boats can give me some things to look for. as far as potential issues, and ideas to avoid them, and ideas to make the boat function and / or perform a bit better.

I believe this is a solid well build boat in good shape, but it is 18 years old, so I would appreciate any input from those of you that have had experience with this boat.

Thanks
Tom

[mjk1040]

Just bought the same year and model last summer, with 7.4 crusaders and 535hrs. haven't run into any big issues yet, keep in touch. check all bilge pumps, if you had a survey, double check any issues listed. Throttle bodies and air intake screen filters may need cleaning, carb cleaner and a tooth brush. I had to vacuum around engine, carpet fibers get in there and plug air intakes. I'm a DIY kind of guy, so I explore all areas to familiar myself with things. Good luck and enjoy, we do.
Feel free to give us a shout if you have and issue, this is the place to get some answers for sure. Mike

[TK1970]

I have the same model and year. Overall very happy with it. This model does have an issue with water coming into the rear cabin closet after a hard rain. We fixed the issue with fresh sealant up top. Also the center rear tank is common to get a hole rubbed into it and leak. I think you will be able to find more about this in the forum pages. Ours was pulled, and made smaller by only a few gallons, and then coated in plastic nylon. Will be happy to answer any other questions or concerns. Jerry

[tomschauer]

MJK, thank you. Good tip on the air filter, I never considered carpet restricting air flow! I will reach out if needed.

[tomschauer]

TK, can you tell me where you had to seal to prevent the water in the closet. This boat doesn't show any signs, but I would like to stay ahead of it. Once water gets in the wife will be eternally paranoid, and I will be looking for leaks that don't yet exist, thus cutting into my evening beer tasting time.

Thanks
Tom

[tomschauer]

Hey guys, can you give me a few pointers on performance? With 1/2 plus fuel and light people load about where will this boat plane? Also do you know what has been your most economical cruise speed / rpm ?

[g36]

i have a 405 which is the next size up from your 355 but looks pretty similar. i really enjoy my boat you will too. if it has the dock box mounted on the swim platform i would carefully check around it for any moisture concerns. cracking or dead spots when having it surveyed. carver appartently didnt bed these very well (and its 18yrs old) with sealant. found this on the different carver forums etc and checked mine i also had some problems but luckily wasnt bad at all yet! i epoxied and redrilled mine. if you do purchase i would remove the box inspect each hole and either epoxy them and redrill and reseal or what ever you perfer to avoid having issues later that would really cause you some hard ache. good luck with your purchawe

[tomschauer]

Thanks for the tip. I will remove the box and reseal it.

[TK1970]

Sorry for the delay in replying. I re-caulked the base of the ice maker, and the left wall seam between the ice maker. It's been 10 months and no further issues.
Jerry

[tomschauer]

Thanks Jerry.