Buying a 2400 SE - advice?

[Nimh]

Greetings -

My wife and I have been looking for a clean boat for a while now, and recently found a 2005 2400SE. It has the 5.0L MPI (claimed at 260hp) and the Bravo 3 duo-prop out drive, both with very low hours. I thought I would just see if there are any known issues with this year/model before I sign on the dotted line. I dug around here a bit but didn't find anything too notable. We're planning to do our sea-trail this Saturday and have it surveyed next week.

Other details - I've been away from boating for nearly a couple of decades, but my family had a few boats - Whalers, a Seaswirl, a Cruise-a-home (ack - my eyes!), and a aft cabin Carver 32. Dad was a navigator in the US Navy so using charts and radar was introduced to me at a pretty early age. We plan on using the boat in the Puget Sound, mostly in the San Juans, possibly the inside passage of Vancouver Island and down into South Sound. The wife and I don't have kids and most of our friends already have boats, so it's just us on overnight trips. As she's relatively new to boating we're planing to take the USCG safety course, and I'm sure the refresher wouldn't hurt me.

So, any gotcha's, things to check with this particular model, or advice?
Thanks,
Jim

[seapuppy]

Jim
Welcome to the zoo...happy to have a fellow navy brat on board....we started out with a 2455 bayliner and although it was the 5.0ltr carbed version (anemic as hell)...it was a good starter boat...however the 2400se is quite similar and the sound may beat you guys up with the short chop it can have...so..picking your days and weather is a must...

the first thing your doing is getting it surveyed...make sure they check the exhaust man/s and the risers...how many hrs on the engine and drive??...the good news is the b3 drive..but you really need to stay up on the zinc's with this drive...any kind of corrosion will cost you serious money....look up on the transom mount where the gimble is..if there is any corrosion on the drive mount...that's going to be expensive...you will need to have a few things checked...like the mercathod system and replace all zinc's...also have the impeller on the raw water pump inspected and changed....

taking the coasty course is a good thing....that will help alot...the best advice I can offer after that is "never approach the dock faster than your willing to crash into it" :mrgreen: ..

where are you going to keep the boat??...I'm in everett at dagmars landing...we just upgraded to a way bigger boat....so..if you see us out there...feel free to hail....we're heading up to nanaimo on the 2nd of july.....coming back on the 9th...

SP :hello:

[Nimh]

Thanks SP! Much appreciated.

We've looked at a couple of 2455's, all of which have the carbed 5.0L, and we're hoping the MPI version in a slightly lighter boat would have a little more power, along with duo-prop. I've heard from a few of my big boat friends that a larger boat would surely handle better in rougher water, but I really don't want tow to anything larger than this, and am not quite ready to jump into full moorage on the first boat. I'm sure that will come soon enough. :wink:

Some good friends from Bellingham that has been kind enough to lend us their smaller "second boat" the past season has also offered to let us keep our boat up at their place just a few miles from the marina. We plan on driving up with supplies from hometown M-ville, then hooking up at their place, slip the boat in the water and meeting them at their dock before departure. Nice to have good friends to bring you into a hobby like this, eh?

The boat we're looking at has a total of 50 hours. By the shape it appears it has been stored indoors most of it's life as there's no fading or discoloration of the decking/upolstery, little if any oxidation, and there's still factory plastic covering the mid-birth. It was possibly left in a salt marina last season before being winterized judging by slight browning on the bottom of the hull, but not at the water line... The engine bay is clean enough to eat out of, and I'm picky that way. We've looked at, and passed, on a number of boats already.

Good advice on the drive mount corrosion - I'll check it out. I haven't been able to find any rust in the engine bay yet, and no mildew in ANY of the interior spaces.

We're also heading out on the 2nd of July with our Bellingham friends, but into the San Juans. Enjoy Nanaimo! We haven't been up there in a few years. Beautiful area. 8)

[seapuppy]

congrats if this deal comes thru..sounds like a real cream puff....with it being stored most of it's life..the other thing I'd do is make sure the raw water impeller is replaced.....

good luck with it...if you see us steaming around...give a hollar...

SP :hello:

[Nimh]

Thanks SP, I'll do that, along with having the impeller replaced. That's a cheap enough part it sounds like it wouldn't hurt to have one as a spare, along with a few other necessities.

Hope to see you out there. Enjoy yourself.

[Nimh]

Seapuppy -

Per your lead I did some searches on Mercathode problems with the Bravo 3 system and found a ton of information out on the net. Thanks for the tip.

I do recall seeing what looked like the lightest of light gray paint spatter here and there on the drive. I scratched at it and it wasn't coming off. The zincs were also showing signs of wear, but only a bit. Looking back I'm betting it's corrosion. The drive wasn't scaling or flaking, nor were any of the fasteners covered in white-ish powder, but I plan on taking a close look this weekend.

Some of the guys I read about with Bravo 3 drives repaint them every year... Should I be re-thinking this purchase, even with a boat I don't plan on leaving in the water?

[Maxumus2400]

Hi Jim,

I have almost the same boat. Mine's an 06 but I doubt they made any real changes from 05. This will be our 3rd summer with it.
We love it! We've used it more on Lake Washington than Puget Sound. (Aside from a 2-night trip to Friday Harbor).

SP is right on the corrosion with the B3. After 4 months in the water last summer I noticed some corrosion on the fin below the prop. Zinc's are all good and the Mercathode checks out ok so it may be the extra stainless steel braces from the extended swim platform we installed.

Another comment... the trim tabs really help getting on plane when you have a full boat

I was in the same position on boat size, biggest I could tow and didn't want to commit to year round moorage yet.

Best Regards,
-Greg

[seapuppy]

well...here's a little known fact about the mercathode system..there are 2 controllers you can get..one is blue and only puts out maybe 25volts or something like that...they use it on smaller boats...the second one is red and puts out something like 3 times the wattage in the water to help the corrosion issues...this really works well....second...look at replacing the zinc's the second you get it....replace them all ..there are something like 4 on the drive alone.....when these get to looking like about 25% finished...they are really about 60% worn out...reason is you don't see the porousness of the metal ...they are the sacrificial metals to save the aluminum drive...I would only repaint if the drive is bubbling or flaking off....then sand down..prime...paint....

also....the b3 drive's are just about bullet proof...provided you stay up on the maintenance of them.....meaning ...change the oil in the drive twice a yr..spring...fall....don't care if it's not used all the time but that will help keep the oil fresh...you can do it yourself...it's not hard atall.........

and finally...if you do moore in the water and you are having a good time...there is a fish zinc you can get for a few bucks that attaches to the negative of the battery and drop it in the water.. next to your stern.....that will help protect the drive......

one other thought though...insure that the grounds attached to the drive and any hull valves are clean and getting a good connection...same thing on the zinc's...clean off the surfaces that are they are mounted and screw the mounting bolts to the drives....

hope this helps...

SP

[Nimh]

I really appreciate the responses guys. Very cool.

SP - I hadn't yet read about the two flavors of controllers. I'll check that out. Yet another upgrade possibly worth doing if it has the smaller of the two.

Sea trial tomorrow. This has been one looong week.

[seapuppy]

good luck with the seatrail!!


let us know how it goes..

SP irate:

[Nimh]

The sea trail went all too well. Looks like we own a boat! 8)

[Gazjen]

Congats on the boat it looks very nice!

Could you tell me how long that trailer is from tailboard to hitch please if you can?

[Maxumus2400]

Congrats!!

Good call getting the trailer with bunks instead of rollers

[vnar]

Congrats and welcome to the 2400se/scr family.

[seapuppy]

congrats....now the naming ceremony needs to be performed..... :hello:

which is performed in front of god and country with a grass skirt...mustard smeared all over your belly while you give praises to King Neptune and his minions.....
:mrgreen:



SP irate:

ps..I just named my new boat and no I didn't dress in a grass skirt or rub mustard all over my belly!!...but feel free to take the lead!!

[Nimh]

Originally Posted by Gazjen

Congats on the boat it looks very nice!

Could you tell me how long that trailer is from tailboard to hitch please if you can?

Apologies for the delayed response, Gaz. Non-work hours have been spent getting the boat prepped and legal for (hopefully) a short outing next weekend. It measures about 291 inches overall.

Thanks everybody. We're pretty excited to say the least. Seapuppy - THAT is some funny stuff. I may just do that!