www.iFourWinns.com

"If I'm reading this" he jokes
The E80 will be bringing you basic engine data out of the box, although what beyond RPM's I'd only be speculating. I'm sure someone who has one (with Volvos) can sound off. I'm adding Ray's ST70 to give me an extra display for data I want up all the time (depth, RPM's) that I don't want relegated onto the top of the E80 display. Once I add fuel senders the info will be on the network and therefore on both displays.

On the props - The SS props are standard on the stern-drives so perhaps there was some confusion on your spec sheet. Nibral, which is standard on the inboards, is a high-strength bronze alloy made of nickel, bronze and aluminum.

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

LOL ... I had a feeling you'd be reading it ... what are "fuel senders" and how do you add them? Can you point me to a link on the web that explains a little about them?

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"Foursome Fun" 2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards
Lake Erie - Ohio

Previous Boat:
2003 Sea Ray 280 Sundancer

Guppy,
Your props are the alloy Nibral, which is a combination of nickle, brass and aluminum. This is standard on the 358 when ordered with V-drives.

Since you have Volvo-Penta engines, you will likely be able to intergrate some engine monitoring with the Raymarine E-80 if it isn't already done so. There are modules you can add that would be compatible to your configuration.

According to my dealer, Raymarine and Mercruiser are not compatible so I went after market with Mercruiser SC1000 displays to gain missing data that FW has not included such as fuel burn, speedo, etc.

Hope this clears stuff up for you!

Steven

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

OOPS! Didn't see we had a page 2 and your questions were answered. Sorry for the redundancy!

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

Thanks for the comments ... I'm going to call the service department today at the dealer, my sales guy is quite new and doesn't know too much. Like you, I'm looking to add fuel burn, speedo etc. I'll post what I find out for the benefit of others.

I understand NiBrAl now to be a Bronze alloy ... I wonder why it is preferred over SS with inboards? It seems to be the best of the options ... and with SS so prevelant in I/Os I just wonder why its not used with I/Bs.

Thanks again for the good info ....

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"Foursome Fun" 2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards
Lake Erie - Ohio

Previous Boat:
2003 Sea Ray 280 Sundancer

I picked this up off another board and it seems to sum up what I have heard before:
"Nibral is a softer material, therefore if you hit something it will act as a failure point protecting your drive shaft and transmission. Nibral is easily rebuilt even with a fair amount of damage.
Stainless is a more rigid material, it will offer better performance and less flex under load than Nibral. Because of its strength, a hit to the prop can reverbarate (sp) up the drive shaft and to the tranny.
The performance benefit of stainless is marginal at best, the saftey of nibral is worth it. At least for me."

For the fuel info on the displays, I'm still leaning exactly how it will be done, but essentially, a probe will be installed that measure the fuel flow rate and communicate the info in NMEA 2000 protocol which is readable by the Raymarine gear. Wow, that sounded techie. Oh - you'll have speedo info from the GPS on the E80 or any other display you may add to the network as I'm doing.

Bill K - having put in a Lowrance monitor, can you offer some of the basics? Is the probe installed right in the fuel line? Did you also install a gas tank level monitor?

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

Hey all, My dealer wants me to close on my new 358 before he even preps it and I sea trial it and make sure that all the options I ordered are on it. How have you guys gone through the process?

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2008.Fourwinns V358
1999 SeaRay340 Sundancer
1989 SeaRay 260 Cuddy

Installing the fuel flow senders is easy. I opted for the gauge for several reasons. One being you need the gauge to set up the senders. That and the fuel management software on them is handy. It tracks consumption per trip, per season, etc. This isn't something you get on the chartplotter. The last reason is readability. There's just not enough room on a C/E-80 display to show everything. Using a separate gauge keeps the info visible without compromising what you see on the main chartplotter.

The only place I found that works for the gauge is the starboard side of the helm console. And only the 2" gauge will fit. The port side of the helm is already occupied (autopilot, etc). But even if it were empty you can't see the gauge very well from the helm position. I seriously considered rearranging my helm layout but dropped the idea when I actually tried a gauge placed over there. The LCD display just isn't properly visible at that far an angle.

As for networking, if you're not going to integrate it with the chartplotter you'll need to add a GPS source for it so it can calculate MPG and show speed. I added the LGC-2000 GPS antenna and tied it into the chartplotter.

I discovered that Raymarine defaults to using an NMEA2k-connected source over the factory one on SeaTalk (and gives you no option to control this). Not a big deal though. If one should fail it's easy to unplug it and the chartplotter (and fuel gauge) will automatically use the other.

Tying into the chartplotter is easy enough, just make a splice from the SeaTalk2 (now called Seatalk NG) to the NMEA2k wiring. Or get a pre-made coupler cable. They weren't available last year so I just spliced my own.

The only tricky part of the installation was getting the wire up along the inside of the starboard gunwale from the engine compartment up to the helm. The only way to do this easily is to use some fiberglass extension rods and feed them down from behind the helm to the engine room. Going the other way doesn't work. Trust me on this. I mounted the T-junctions for the senders to the side of the starboard fuel tank enclosure. The tank is surrounded by a box made of Starboard. The T-junctions have screw holes through them. There's three of them, one for each sender and one to run a line up to the helm. There's a fourth line that leads up the radar arch to the Lowrance GPS unit (which you can omit if tying into the chartplotter). The row of these fits nicely at the top edge of the tank box.

I 'cheated' and did not install fuel filters ahead of these senders. I'll be adding some this season. My plan is to install a couple of Racor filters, the kind with a tap on the bottom to make it easier to extract any collected water. I'd have done this last year but frankly just ran out of time and patience. I suppose I really should just install a couple of cheapie inline filters.

But be prepared for a shock when you see just how many gallon per hour those engines will consume at full throttle. YIKES!

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I'm sure they're looking to get it off floor plan asap. We have been on ours and will close before getting it in the water. I'm comfortable with that but I'm not sure I would be real comfortable with closing without seeing it and confirming it is as ordered. I wouldn't be afraid to push back on the close ... worst they can say is that you would lose the terms of the financing they've arranged for you (if they arranged it) and you can argue that. I did. They called and told me I needed to close by March 20th or something in order to get the promotional rate they arranged and I told them that I was never told that and had I known, I would have considered other financing options. They said they would pursue an "extension" for me on the rate and I agreed to close the first week of April. Don't be afraid to push back on them on close.

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"Foursome Fun" 2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards
Lake Erie - Ohio

Previous Boat:
2003 Sea Ray 280 Sundancer

Thanks for the comments. I am definitely going to push since I am paying cash for the balance over my trade in.

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2008.Fourwinns V358
1999 SeaRay340 Sundancer
1989 SeaRay 260 Cuddy

My Contract was written "subject to Sea Trial" I tried it, I liked it, I bought it! Now I am hoping they have incentive to get moving on prepping it and installing my extras since the closing is no longer motivating them. I am pretty sure I will be in the water within 10 days to 2 weeks time.

My first cruiser was a Maxum and they wanted to close prior to delivery, I was also leary of this but found out it is quite common an occurance in the boating industry. If you trust your dealership, nothing to worry about... Dealers know that boaters talk and usually don't want to tarnish their reputations, especially at this price point.

Steven

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

Guys - have any of you made a decision on extended warranty options? In general, I tend to stay away from them but what my dealer is offering seems awfully good. They're offer a Liberty Protection Plan option which appears to cover the engines and most other stuff on the boat (aside from hull/structural) for $3800 for 7 years. I don't know much about the specifics, I'm going to call them today and get more information. Have any of you been through it or have a strong opinion?

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"Foursome Fun" 2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards
Lake Erie - Ohio

Previous Boat:
2003 Sea Ray 280 Sundancer

What is the warranty you are starting out with? My dealer extended the warranty to six years as part of the deal. I generally believe that the "right" extended warranty makes sense for a new boat and can make yours more appealing than a comparable boat for resale. Most extended warranties I have investigated allow you to put it in place any time within the initial warranty period. If that's the case in this situation, I would suggest waiting and doing some shopping around. I was going to add an extended warranty to my Sea Ray when I bought it thinking I'd have the boat for a few years, at least. I traded it in less than a year later before the factory warranty expired so I'm glad I didn't rush to do it, and my dealer wasn't putting any pressure on me with a price that would go away if I didn't do it "today." It is a little different than when you buy a $30 item at Circuit City and they want to sell you a $50 extended warranty Man, I hate that.

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

I just confirmed that I have 2 years on Volvos, 2 years on ships systems (stem to stern), 5 years on osmotic blistering and lifetime on structural/hull.

The warranty above kicks in after year 2 and covers seemingly everything for a $25 deductible for $3,800. I'm just concerned that when you get into dealing with them, getting them to pay a claim would be like extracting a molar. Your advice of waiting and shopping around is probably sound ... I'd have two years I guess.

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"Foursome Fun" 2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards
Lake Erie - Ohio

Previous Boat:
2003 Sea Ray 280 Sundancer

And that should never be the case. When I was looking into the warranty for the Sea Ray, it was clear which programs were accustomed to dealing with SR and Merc and could be counted on for appropriate reaction to a warranty claim. I haven't looked into it with Four Winns or Volvo, but I assume they have partnerships - perhaps even under Genmar (and perhaps this was what your dealer was trying to sell you). When it comes time to start looking, I'm sure there are FW members on the board with experience to share in this area.

Remind me - when do you splash?

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards