New purchase - 2003 Sanger V210 - questions
 

New to the site - great info so far, did a lot of my research before buying this boat on this site. Just got a 2003 Sanger V210 which had some flooding (water went about 1/2 up on the engine), so doing some diagnosis and repair .. figured you guys may have some insight and experience with some things! Sanger evidently is crap when it comes to manuals and the guy I've emailed at Sanger is even less help ..

Steering: the steering is pretty stiff. Research says the steering cables get corroded, etc and need to be replaced or lubricated. Is there any particular grease you've used that is better to lubricate with? If that fails, anyone know the part number or where to get a steering cable for this boat?

Vent Blower: not coming on -- and I haven't even been able to locate it yet! I assume it's on the back wall of the engine compartment somewhere (probably low and got covered with water). Anyone dealt with replacing this, and may know the location and part number for this also?

Ballast pump/system: The pump is bad, so I've ordered a new one. I've never dealt with a ballast system before, however -- how does it actually work? This is the single tank in the middle/back of the boat, with a reversible pump and two hoses attached..one going to a valve, and one just ending in the bottom of the compartment where the valve is located. It looks like any water pumped in through the valve just goes in the bottom of the boat..is this correct? And then it just pumps the water back through the valve to empty the boat?

Thanks for the time guys - I'm sure I'll have some more questions/comments as I go .. Thanks again!

If the cables corroded, there is no grease that you can pump all the way through that will uncorrode and save it. Best to replace it entirely. I do grease for a living, so I'm not just making **** up.

new steering cable
vent blower is likely a fuse or corroded wiring. jump +/- wires to test unit
test pump before you... nvmd. some pumps are reversible. yes, it would fill and drain through the same thru-hull and valve, if it is in fact reversible

Sanger does not make your engine. Why would you ask for an engine manual from a boat builder?? go to the engine maker for engine manual!

Yeah, I realize that if it's corroded no grease will clean it, but I'm not sure that it is .. it's just stiff. When flooded, the grease could have been washed off, or muddy water could have seeped in a bit. Anyway, just thought it'd be a smarter option to spend $10 on grease first before $150 on a cable. I'd also read that maybe it should it be 'oiled', not 'greased' -- just wondering what others may have used?

For the blower, it's not blowing the fuse, it just doesn't come on -- so not sure if jumping the wires will prove anything .. was told it was working fine before the flood.

The ballast pump was tested, tripped the fuse and is bad. What caught my attention is that the drain doesn't go into any valve - the end of the hose just rests on the floor in the cavity below the deck -- I assume that is considered the ballast tank?

And yes, I realize Sanger doesn't make the engine -- I wasn't asking for an engine manual (I've found the Mercruiser one online). I have to admit I haven't looked through it all yet, but I didn't figure the ballast or steering systems would be included under the engine umbrella. I'll be sure to check..

Thanks!

you definitely should not have a hose coming off a ballast bag and not going into anything.

the cable's old anyway. likely time to replace. Marine grease if you want to try that first.

You have several small problems. But, sounds like it will take you a while to figure it all out.

First thing you want to do with steering cable is unhook it from the rudder. Unhook from rudder and then turn wheel to see if steering is still stiff. You could also have a rudder issue if water sat in bilge for awhile and cable is actually fine. Eliminate rudder issue before replacing cable. Grease might work but unlikely if cable is old and was sitting in water. Also check the block the cable runs through for damage or corrosion. Should be about 1 1/2' before connection to rudder. Dig around and inspect everything. Have someone turn wheel while you look at everything moving. You can get cable part number directly off cable. Look up under dash behind steering wheel and then find online.
You don't necessarily need the exact factory replacement for blower just one similar in size. Look online at different options and then go find it in engine compartment. Could either be on stern wall or mounted low on one side of engine. Follow vent tube from rear vent to blower. Should be really easy to find. Probably a couple open ended vent tubes and one hooked to blower. They are really cheap and easy to replace. Once they get wet the old ones usually corrode and rust pretty fast.

Before I spent a wad on sacs we wouldn't run the bilge pump all day. but no, the hull of your boat (bilge) is not a fat sac

Thanks Bagar - good info and ideas.

As for the ballast tanks Nacho and Ian, this boat doesn't have sacs .. at least, not right now! Maybe it did and someone removed it .. that's what I'm trying to figure out. I've read where Sanger had some boats with stock factory 'hard ballast tanks' -- I figure that's what I've got, but still not sure if it's set up right? Hoping someone else with a stock boat has somewhat of the same setup and can guide me in the right direction..

Pretty sure they didn't do factory rear ballast for the V210 in 03, just a floor sack in the front

I built tanks for mine to go in the rear, they are around 350 pounds full I think. The passenger one has a 10" sub in corner by the back seat. I just used ply and water proofed them with bitumen. 14 years later still going strong.

Common for Sangers to eventually need a new steering cable. I replaced mine at one point.

On the pumps...pull it out and completey disassemble the whole housing and assembly to clean. Once you get the hoses off, there are a few screws to yank the pump housing off (assuming they are not rusted/frozen/stripped).

While I have replaced a few over the years, often there is just something clogged that can easily be cleaned out by pulling it all apart. If it is tripping the fuse that is actually a good sign that it is just clogged and needs to be pulled apart. Motor is overheating the circuit cuz it can't spin. If the motor was dead you would just have zero response.

mine came with hard tanks in back and sac in belly. but its a 2006 v230 so likely different than yours.

OP post some pics.

The boxes look great ralph! When you say a sac 'in the front', are you talking the section of the boat say just left of the steering wheel (sorta middle of the boat) or somewhere up under the bow seats? I'm beginning to wonder if a sac was in that compartment where the valve is (about middle of the boat) and had been removed. And thanks for the info on the ballast pump Shawn -- I'll give it a look .. could save me a few bucks!

sounds like PO pulled sac. yes, there should be a sac in the ski locker. you'll also likely want to add a sac in the walkway (the part between the wheel and the observer's seat) depending on what you're doing. couple hundred pounds of lead under the front seats help as well.

how will you be using the boat? wake, surf?