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1985 ocean 38

Discussion in 'Ocean Yacht' started by grady, Jul 11, 2009.

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  1. grady, Jul 11, 2009
    #1
    grady

    grady New Member

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    I am considering purchase of a 1985 38SS and am looking for any insiight on what to look out for. I keep hearing abou this flexible flyer refernce on "earlier" Oceans, but not if 1985 is in that class. As I have been a small boat owner unitl now ( 24Ft Grady ) I could use some insight.

    Thanks
  2. Capt J, Jul 11, 2009
    #2
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I managed a 1987 63' Ocean for about 7 years until the owner sold it earlier this year. The owner owned it from 1988- 2009. He had it all over the east coast, central america and carribbean and never had any structural issues with it. The boat is laid up light, when they'd sling the boat to haul it out of the water the gunnels would press in 6" where the slings where and it didn't do any damage, but you could definately see it. Other than that the boat was built fairly well and most stuff was accessible and it rode pretty good. It did lose a lot of speed over the years. New it would cruise at 28 knots, then 26 knots after the first year, then it dropped down to 21-22knots at cruise from a year or two after that and stayed there. Even after the 12v92's were majored, the speed never came back.
  3. grady, Jul 11, 2009
    #3
    grady

    grady New Member

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    Thx Capt J

    I appreciate the input. The boat I am looking at had repower with CAT 3208AT 375HP in 04 and now has approx 800hrs. I went on test ride and boat seemed to run well although just light chop. One thing I noticed was that during docking as owner was taking in and out of gear at idle we would get low pressure alarms ( looked like the High Presure gauges (Transmission?) would drop off to zero as soon as kicked in gear. He said that boat always did that ( he bought in 04 right after the repower). ANy thoughts?

    Thanks
  4. K1W1, Jul 12, 2009
    #4
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    CAT Tranny Alarms when manouvering.

    There are a couple of things that can cause this.

    Adjust the delay for alarm to 10 secs and check that the gearbox isn't filled with heavy gear oil when it should have a 30 or 40wt lubricant

    I surveyed a vessel with Reintjes WAV 647 Gearboxes that had done that since new, didn't take long to find out that the Gearboxes were filled with OMALA 150 ( Chief Engineer had made a label which was stuck on next to Oil Filler saying what it took) instead of Rimula 30 and there was no time delay in the alarm value setting.
  5. Capt Fred, Jul 12, 2009
    #5
    Capt Fred

    Capt Fred Senior Member

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    Location:
    Long Beach CA
    38 Ocean SS

    I have a friend with an '85 Ocean 38 SS and have been fishing with him several times. He has 3208 Cats and no alarms at all so something is not right. I have been on his boat several times making 22 knts 60 off the Virginia Capes and always felt the boat to be fairly solid. I personally like Oceans and Cats and if I was looking for a 38 SF this would be a top candidate. If you can private message me your email I will send to him to see if he would be willing to provide his insight to you directly.
  6. grady, Jul 12, 2009
    #6
    grady

    grady New Member

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    Thanks K1W1

    I'll ask about the lube type. As far as the 10 Sec time delay, is it normal for pressure to drop all the way to zero even for a second or so?

    Since the folks on this forum seem to be very helpful ( and I appreciate it as a novice)

    2 addt'l question I had are:
    - What should the typical engine oil pressure and tranny oil pressure range should be.
    - When engine was started from cold there was almost no smoke. After moving through marina and into open channel temps came up(about 165 or so) and then we accelerated to 2500RPM. Boat planed out nicely with some brownish/ black smoke then dropping RPM back to 2100-2200 we ran with reduced smoke, but there was always a slight brownish smke that would pretty quickly dissipate in the wake. Is this normal?

    Thanks
  7. grady, Jul 12, 2009
    #7
    grady

    grady New Member

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    FOrgot to mention that after we were running the temps did come up to about 185- 190.
  8. Capt J, Jul 12, 2009
    #8
    Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    Yes, I have seen some transmissions where the pressure gauge dropped to zero when it was put into gear and then jumped up to 250lbs. I have seen ZFs do this. They may have not changed the pressure senders when they swapped out the detroits.

    185-190 degrees sounds normal for 3208's depending on what thermostats they have in there.

    It would be wise to get a survey done on the boat.
  9. Rbldr, Sep 8, 2009
    #9
    Rbldr

    Rbldr New Member

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    I bought an 1984 Ocean 38SS and rebuilt it down from a gutted condition. After beginning of the gutting, I learnt that the salon windows have leaked for many years, and as a result, rotted away at the walls and floor of the salon.
  10. grady, Sep 20, 2009
    #10
    grady

    grady New Member

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    Rbldr

    Thanks for reponse. The boat I was looking at got sold, so I am back to my search,

    Thx