JimE

That isn't much of a list but it would bother me as well. A current hitting from the side can do that but it obviously wouldn't always occur on the same side. One time I knew a fellow boater that had some electronics added to their boat which required a sensor mounted on the transom (to one side). The sensor wasn't sealed properly allowing water to seep into the hull under the deck where it cannot be seen. It created a list. Have you recently had any work done involving your hull? Jim

AC generally requires the boat to be in the water to operate. The AC uses the water as a cooling medium. While there may be ACs that don't require this I believe most do. One other thing, ACs tend to require significant voltage so if you aren't plugged into shorepower you need to run the generator...which means you need to be int he water as the generator uses water for cooling as well just like the engines. Jim

I have a 2005 Monterey 322 with twin Mercruiser 350s. The engines are both about 3 years old as they are replacements of the original engines. Ever since I got the new engines the starboard engine has always had erratic RPMs. It isn't so erratic that passengers can feel it but if you are driving with your hand on the wheel and you are watching the starboard tach then you can "feel" the subtle variations in power matching the small movements of the gauge. The port tach stays dead-on whatever I set the speed at. It doesn't move a pixel. If I get up to speed and the engines are both running at about, say, 3,600 RPMs the starboard RPMs can "wander" as high as 3,700 or as low as 3,500. Again, they aren't sharp changes you would feel as a passenger. It takes seconds to occur. I use 2 mechanics...one for really big jobs, like installing these new engines, and another mechanic who does everything else from small to bigger jobs. Unfortunately, the mechanic who installed the engines passed away so my "daily" mechanic is trying to figure it out. He is a very good mechanic but hasn't figured out this conundrum yet. He has adjusted the timing (it was a little off), checked my cap and rotor, replaced the IAC valve, cleaned the throttle-body and done all of the regular maintenance. The issue still occurs. The mechanic says the (pardon me while I butcher this) that the caps/rotors on that engine get dirty faster but not enough to affect performance. The engine has generally run just fine for 3 years except for this slight issue. It always runs but this slightly erratic behavior is a little unnerving . It was a "crate engine" which means parts from the old engine that were still good were put on this new engine (alternators, starters and the like). The port engine, also a crate engine, runs perfectly. My mechanic thinks that it is possibly that the engine may not be firing correctly. I saw another post on this forum from someone with a similar issue. They were told to check an oxygen sensor but my mechanic says my engines aren't new enough to have that sensor. That other post said some valves may not be "sealing correctly" but my mechanic thinks that issue would cause a much more severe problem with the engine than mild fluctuations in RPMs. I'm not mechanically inclined but pretty smart at figuring things out as I'm in IT. I'm suspicious of the throttle cable or an electrical issue. The other mechanic did put in a new wire harness and the boat is 15 years old run in salt water. Could an electrical or wire harness problem or bad connection do this? Would love to hear everyone's thought! Thanks! Jim

We keep our 322 on the Anclote River. We bought ours through O'Neill's marina near the Skyway but I don't think they are a Monterey dealer anymore.

My 322 is named MoJo after my kids MOrgan and JOrdan.

Hello! My name is Jim and I'm new to this forum. I live with my wife in Tampa, Florida. We keep our boat on the Anclote River in Tarpon Springs, Florida. That river goes straight to the Gulf of Mexico. I bought my 2005 black Monterey 322 brand new. It's a funny story how I got it. At the time, me and my wife + 2 growing kids had a 24' cruiser from another brand. We took the boat on cruises out up to a week up and down the west coast of Florida. We were clearly outgrowing that boat. I had seen the 322 and thought it was awesome but I never thought I'd be able to afford it. In 2007 we went to the Tampa boat show and went straight to the Monterey boats to see the 322's. It broke my heart when the salesman said they don't make them anymore. The replacement boat was larger and MORE expensive. It just wasn't to be. The next day the salesman called me and said that the very last brand new 322 on Planet Earth had been sitting in a showroom for 2 years in OshKosh, Wisconsin. I've never been there! Anyway, the guy gave me a ridiculously low price for it and even took my 24' in a trade-in. SOLD! We called the boat MoJo after our kids MOrgan and JOrdan. We still have the boat and really enjoy our days out on the water and the trips to Longboat Key and South Seas Resort at Captiva Island. The 322 is roomy, quick out of the hole, smooth and pretty good to look at. About 5 years ago the engines started getting old. I replaced them with crate engines salvaging the good parts from the previous. It was still being a little cranky so I implemented a new strategy for caring for it. You see, after 10 years of salt water boating you've replaced about every part at least once...some parts multiple times. Being an IT person I actually went through every single maintenance and repair receipt and loaded that into a database. I found that the part failures were quite predictable. So, I'd calculate the average age of the part, subtract 6 months and have my mechanic proactively replace that part...even if it was running well. My mechanic thought I was crazy but I've not had a mechanical failure on the water in nearly 5 years doing it that way. I track EVERYTHING...regular maintenance, batteries, water pumps, pulleys, belts, AC components, the sump pump, alternators, caps/rotors, electrical switches, rams, seals...you name it, I track it...103 individual parts in all. Again, my mechanic thinks I'm crazy but he admits he's never seen a boat run so reliably in salt water. Anyway, I am at a crossroads. I'm thinking of going a little bigger, something that can bring a jetski along with it...maybe an outboard because I hear they run more predictably. I'd love to hear from everyone else. Thanks!