Questions for '00-'03 FV 310 owners...

amajamar

I have really quickly outgrown my FV 250 and may have interest in the 310.  I see them with 5.0s and 5.7s and would tend to go with the 5.7 as I am really afraid of an underpowered boat.  What motors do you all have and are you satisfied with performance? 

Also, one feature that we would like on our next boat is the convertable mid berth, one that doubles as a seating area when not needed for sleeping.  I notice that the '00's seem to have that feature, but the '01-'03's do not.  Can you guys clarify that for me?

How much head room is in the head? What does the front berth measure?  I am just over 6' tall and am not comfortable sleeping in the front berth of the 250.  Is the 310 better?

Thanks in advance!

Dream_Inn

Well, I had owned a 2002 310 for almost 7 years.  I did a lot of looking and can tell you most of the differences between the years.  The '00 & '01 had a different dash than the '02.  I believe both '01 & '02 had the convertible in the aft cabin (which I didn't like, but each a preference - my reasoning is it was too small to sit down there & this just made it not as stable when it was a bed).  The '02 had MPI and smartcraft, which was my main reason for going to that year.  The '03 312 had a different layout below and the genny was centered in front of engine room.  This made the v-berth in the front just a bit shorter - had to loose it somewhere.  At your height, you can sleep in the font, but I will say for two it was much better sleeping in the aft cabin.  Especially since '00 - '02 had the big space taken for the tube tv (which we put a flat screen and made that our liquor cabinet)

The head should be ok for you to stand and shower as well. Oh, & I had the 5.0 MPI and the boat never ever had an issue getting on plane.  Yes, larger is better, but don't make that your top priority when looking.  The 5.0 does the job well.  The only thing I compromised was closed water cooling.  I could not find that along with a genny (yes, you will see this boat without a generator- I would always make sure to have a generator at this size). 

When you start looking, let me know.  There are just a few things to check out when buying.  Good luck!

amajamar

Thanks Dream Inn for the post!  Very informative and answered all my questions.

Lovin' the liquor cabinet idea, too!

If I go further down the road with the 310, I'll check in with you for more info!

Thanks again!

john744

I bought a 2002 FV 310 last year (March) and don't regret it at all.  It really is a great boat and I plan on having this until untill I can afford a FV 342.  I'm listing most of my "pay attention" to problems here, but I still LOVE the boat.  Got it for a GREAT price and it was such an improvement from my old clunker.

Now having said that .......... I too am 6'0" tall and my wife and I regularly sleep in the v-berth.  I have no problem up, but she still prefers the aft berth.  The boat does have a convertable mid-berth which would be suitable for kids or 1 moderate size adult.

Get rid of the Tube TV.  Go with a flat panel LCD Or Plasma.

I did NOT have my boat surveyed before I bought it.  It would have caught a few things I had to deal with later........ Toilet didn't operate, needed a new pump motor (Amazon.com had the best price by far).  Holding and fresh water tank monitor does operate. The original tank sensors are now obsolete, replaced with a new & improved (expensive) model.   Needed new trim position senders on the stern drives.  Trim Tilt was also an issue but I fixed it.

Pay particular attention to the generator.  My Kohler 5e is a PIA.  Wouldn't start. Bad fuel had varnished and it needed some TLC and cleaning.  Then I found a bad diode on the control board.  I have the engine running but still no output from the generator.  Could be bad brushes, but they cram the genny in under the port rear deck and it is impossible to work on. There is NO ROOM.  If you're not a DIYer then be prepared to pay the boat yard $$$$$ to fix these things.

The tachs can be erratic, but it's usually just a bad (oxidized) connection somewhere ..... the somewhere is the fun part, finding it!

It's impossible to find a bedspread for the irregularly shaped V-Berth, hope the original is included.

Make sure the AC runs...................... Mine did from day 1 and it's great.

 

Ian

Hi John. I Also just picked up a 310 and it has similar issues - holding tank and fresh water senders read low and trim gauges unreliable. What replacements did you use? I asume these just fit in the top ports, not yet looked to hard until it comes out of the water and I can give the bay a good clean.

I also have what appears to be a faulty port fuel tank sender as it's on E. But I am stuffed if i can see where the sender is an dthe manual isn't of great help. Any ideas?

john744

Hello Ian,   as for the port tank fuel sender, if you squeeze down into the engine compartment, look forward and to port and you can see the very tops of the fuel tanks peeking over the fiberglass bulkhead.  A contortionist can reach up there and possibly remove the sending unit.  A small mirror and flashlight will be helpful.  If so inclined, you could access the sending unit by cutting a hole in the deck above it, inside seat locker.

 I have not yet replaced my tank senders but take a look at this pdf from Xintex.......

http://www.fireboy-xintex.com/manuals/PneumaticLLMinstructions.pdf

Ian

Thanks for the info John, by the look of it I may have these sensors already. The fact that both are inoperative suggests I may need to go through the reset process at least for a start.

grinner

Resurrecting an older thread...

Dream_Inn said "When you start looking, let me know.  There are just a few things to check out when buying. "

I am looking at a 2003 late Model 310 (not 312). I would be interested in the list of things to check out. Thanks!

Grinner

Dream_Inn

Well, let's see.  Some items I saw when I was first looking for my 310 were cracks in the lower part of the arches.  This was due to water leaking into the arch (something installed on arch not sealed) & then freezing in the winter.  Keeping things sealed, as well as drilling some holes in the bottom of arch are some of the things done.  Another is the water heaters rusting out.  They are hidden on the stbd side, under the helm area.  Access is thru the mid-cabin, stbd side, remove cushion, & to the rear is a round access panel.  Have a flashlight to take a good look.  While you are there take a look under the cushions and access the panels underneath to the few area to see the bilge/hull.  This can give you signs of stagnant water or leaks coming from other places as well as if maintenance has been done (like where the shower pump is).  There are also 2 seacocks in the one area, one is for toilet water and the other for air conditioning pump.  Make sure they work properly (in that little area, you'd be suprised how many owners didn't know they are there and do move them once in a while).

Carpet areas.  Make sure there are no water stains.  They can be signs of leaks from rub rails (very common, I saw on several 310s when I was looking) or from port windows.  Around the V-berth could be from the ac unit which is underneath the v-berth.  Take a look under there also to make sure the A/C is not rusted out.  The bottom pan on it is metal and easily rusts, especially if the drain does not work well or is clogged.

Just more info, great storage is under the cockpit sink area, accessible thru the trash can (some people remove the panel on the inside for the door underneath the sink.  (newer models take up more space with a fridge there).

Engine room, water would sometimes sit on stbd side in the back.  Trying to remember what was there, if anything that it mattered....(just holding tank in front of it I guess). 

That's a good start.  I will say we loved our 310 and it was a fantastic boat!  we had the MPI 5.0s and never an issue getting on plane, even full tanks and gear for 10 days.  If you go with a 2002 model, make sure you have MPI, so you can get the smartcraft if you ever want to connect.  2001 did not have that ability.

 

grinner

Thanks Dream Inn. I have noted all of the above. I'm looking at 2 boats. Both 2003. Though one is a 310 and the other a 312. One is down the road in Florida, the other is out of state and winterized... 

I understand that they are similar yet slightly different. TBH, I like the look of the 312 better but I would prefer to sleep on the centerline in the V a la 310. Also, the TV placement in the 312 looks awkward. I wonder if the wiring is an easy run to the old position, as I really liked your mod with the articulating mount on the V berth. However, the 312 has the additional fridge in the cockpit, which is a nice to have. Noting your comment about great storage, I'm wondering if I could still fit a grill in there with it.

Cheers.

:-??

Dream_Inn

I agree there are some nice things with the 312 over the 310, but the TV placement and v-berth was not the best. The berth I believe allowed the generator to be moved forward of the engines, instead of to the side. Definitely a nice thing, but did remove some cabin space (I hope I'm not getting boats confused here - I think it was 312 and not 320). Additional fridge can be nice, but I don't think a complete necessity. (although now that I have one on our 400, we do love it) Good luck and let us know how things go. Enjoy the boat shopping! It can be very fun if you don't let it get stressful! Definitely a market for buyers.

Capt Ron

DI you are correct. The 320 has the genny moved to the side. I also have 5.0L in my 320 and no problem with power at all... What I liked about these boats were the size of the beams...lots of room for storage as well as less movement at anchor.. Good luck with your purchase grinner. Make sure you get your own survey, don't accept one from someone you don't know and make sure it has a genny or you will be kicking your own butt later. Cheers, Ron

FlyingBlind310

I have an '01 310 w/ 5.0 EFI's and I have no problem. I thought about doing a B3 upgrade, but really like how the B2's handle around the dock and are a breeze to get up on plane...as others have said, def. get a survey done or at the very least have a mechanic take a look at the engines/drives.

Good luck with the search and I would look for FWC engines....my 2 cents

grinner

Thanks for all the responses. Both boats I'm looking at are FWC, and have the 5.0L MPI with B3s. Both have hours in the 400s. One had new manifolds and risers 8/2011 and I haven't got that info back from the broker yet on the other. Both boats have generators. Both look very clean and well looked after.

The 310 has the Smartcraft gauges, the 312 does not. The 312 has brand new full camper canvas, a hush box for the gen, Flat screen TV/DVD, extended swim platform, new carpet in cabin and cockpit, cockpit fridge and new Garmin GPS chartplotter. The 310 does not.

I will get a survey on either boat, for sure. I am just not decided on the best way to deal with the out of state boat. I can get a pre-purchase survey done which isn't a full survey. It's specifically for out of state/country buyers. Presumably, it's to tell them whether or not to bother flying in to see it. They then refund 50% of that price if you go for the full blown survey. Alternatively, I have been boating for 20 years and this will be my 4th cabin cruiser. I could fly up and give it my inspection, which will find about 50% of what may be wrong, but hopefully the main things. I would like to do both my inspection and a survey before I make an offer.

Thoughts on that, please?

Dream_Inn

Where is the out of state one? it's possible someone here can take a look at it for you as well.

grinner

That's a thought, DI. The boat is on Long Island, NY. Cold up there right now, I guess...

FlyingBlind310

it is extremely cold up here...

hop

So where is the shower pump on the 320?

Serenity

The shower pump is in the aft cabin under the cushions. Pull the cushions up and the compartment is about behind the stairs. The a/c pump and filter, shower sump pump and seacocks are located in here.