375 Freedom Issue / Question

[Legend]

A friend of friend recently bought a new 2016 375 Freedom and he was not happy with the way the boat handled. The dealer had Grady White come out to look at the boat and their suggestion/fix was to add 150 pounds of lead inside the hull. The owner was not happy and wanted a new boat which GW denied. He is now in the process of legal action. Something does not sound right anyone ever heard of a situation like this

 

[Parthery]

What is the issue?

Did he water test the boat?

Has he run another 375 to see if the issue is specific to his hull(hook or other deformaties) or if its a characteristic of all 375s.

Probably need more info before folks can chime in.....

 

[Legend]

The issue was the boat steering. It was impossible to keep the boat on a straight track. Lots of drifting. The dealer could not explain it thus calling GW.

 

[g0tagrip]

I had that problem years ago on a previous boat. The motor was mounted too low. Can't imagine GW not wanting to help. Strange.

 

[Legend]

My thoughts exactly about GW service as I have always found GW to be over the top service oriented. Thought I read somewhere that the Freedom 375 is a 650K boat and you would expect that the package would be perfect. Always two sides to a story too.

 

[Oreste Cirillo]

The issue was the boat steering. It was impossible to keep the boat on a straight track. Lots of drifting. The dealer could not explain it thus calling GW.

Hi. I'm reviving this old post because I'm having the same problem with a 2017 GW375... can I get some information on the situation with that 2016 GW375? Thanks.

 

[Sardinia306Canyon]

It would be interesting to know:

• at what speed this happen
• what sea conditions and do they influence this behaviour
• where the 150 lbs of lead GW recommended should be positioned

You may do a test having more people in bow area and then more in the rear cockpit to simulate what GW said back then.
The freedom with it's lounges in bow area occupied by people may become too bow heavy and start to bow steer, or with no people it becomes the opposite and the sharp bow keel is too high to act as "rudder" to stabilze the boat on low speed.

Chris

 

[jlflynn1]

Hi. I'm reviving this old post because I'm having the same problem with a 2017 GW375... can I get some information on the situation with that 2016 GW375? Thanks.

I recently bought a 2016 375 in August of this year. I am not experiencing any bow steering or issues keeping the boat straight. I’ve put about 75 hours on the boat in 2 months. Been in all type of sea conditions from glass to 4’ chop on top of swells. Boat is a beast maintaining 30 MPH in poor sea conditions. The only steering issue I had was with the auto pilot aggressively over steering back and forth when I was taking on a cross wind. I made an adjustment to my auto pilot and it was fine. I’ve also experienced two other issues - 1. while on plane I hear a harmonic sound coming from the engines. My mechanic thinks it’s coming from the exhaust. When we lower the engines the sound is less. 2. While fishing and drifting for an hour or so, engines off, electronics fully on, when I fired up the engines and took off right away, the boat stopped accelerating while i was planing off. Almost like the digital controls lost connection. I put the boat back to neutral, waited a few minutes at idle and everything was fine when I took off. Not sure if it was a voltage thing. Have you experienced any other issues with your boat?

 

[Sardinia306Canyon]

When you lower the engines trimmed up to max before they start to loose grip it's normal that the sound changes
Sounds as a low voltage problem to me.
How is your battery setup? Stbd and house together on 2 batteries in parallel and and port engine on it's own?
Chris

 

[jlflynn1]

When you lower the engines trimmed up to max before they start to loose grip it's normal that the sound changes
Sounds as a low voltage problem to me.
How is your battery setup? Stbd and house together on 2 batteries in parallel and and port engine on it's own?
Chris

Bank 1 is two batteries in parallel for starboard engine and house. Bank 2 is the other two batteries in parallel that handles the port engine. I’m still not sure what battery bank handles the middle engine.

 

[Sardinia306Canyon]

Bank 1 is two batteries in parallel for starboard engine and house.

This is like most GW's are wired and i find that subpar as long use of electronics with engines off may lower engine battery voltage to a critical level and modern outboards are picky with voltage.
So i changed it to 3 single batteries, stbd and port engine battery and one single 140Ah LiFePo only for house.
What i don't know how it would be for 3 outboards, logic tells me 3 engine batteries and a 4th for house, but that is probably a space issue to accommodate the extra battery and battery switch.
You should figure out on what battery the center engine is connected, in any case as this is important to know.

You may start with disconnecting all battery cables ad give them a nice clean, corrosion and/or loose connections is the main reason for electrical problems.

Almost like the digital controls lost connection.

Do you know if all 3 engines had a problem, or just one of them?
Could you see the instruments blacking out?

Chris

 

[jlflynn1]

This is like most GW's are wired and i find that subpar as long use of electronics with engines off may lower engine battery voltage to a critical level and modern outboards are picky with voltage.
So i changed it to 3 single batteries, stbd and port engine battery and one single 140Ah LiFePo only for house.
What i don't know how it would be for 3 outboards, logic tells me 3 engine batteries and a 4th for house, but that is probably a space issue to accommodate the extra battery and battery switch.
You should figure out on what battery the center engine is connected, in any case as this is important to know.

You may start with disconnecting all battery cables ad give them a nice clean, corrosion and/or loose connections is the main reason for electrical problems.



Do you know if all 3 engines had a problem, or just one of them?
Could you see the instruments blacking out?

Chris

I could not tell which engine stopped accelerating. All the gauges remained on with no warnings. Not sure if it was all 3 motors at the same time or just the stbd. Hard to tell when you have 3 engines and dual controls. I’m not even sure what control throttle controls the middle engine. My mechanic thinks it was more of a fuel/vapor lock and not electrical. We just change all 3 VST filers last week and each VST filter housing was loaded with salt. He explained that if the VST cooling passages are not cooling the fuel properly after running, then sitting off, engine still hot, then taking off again without giving the engine time to cool the fuel, could lead to some air in the fuel. With the VST housing clogged up, he thinks this is what it was. I had no codes, no errors on the computer.
FYI - I agree with you 100%. I never understood why Grady does not have a separate house battery dedicated to electronics. That is how my 307 was wired as well and I hated it.

 

[Sardinia306Canyon]

We just change all 3 VST filers last week and each VST filter housing was loaded with salt.

The VST cooling housing or inside the VST?

Yes, your mechanic is correct, if the fuel cooler is clogged/restricted he does not cool enough and create problems.
It seems that clogged fuel and rectifier coolers happen mostly on Yamaha outboards and also on outboards owner claims that he flushed the engines religiously after every use. The clogging of some outboards is a bit wired as there are much more outboards who get flushed only after the season because they are moored or in a marina without fresh water and they don't clog the coolers.
One thing i believe can be counterproductive is flushing with very freshwater with a high mineral content as they may deposit and once deposited they will stay there while salt will dissolve at next use.

However, i wish you good luck and that this never happen again.

Chris

 

[Ekea]

i know what im going to refer to is 9 years old, but bear with me...

how in the world would 150 lbs of ballast even come close to making a difference on a 37 ft boat? on my 27, the difference between a full tank and a near empty tank is about 1000 lbs. there is no way that 150 lbs would change the way a 37' rides. thats one person (not even a big one) sitting in a different seat. something seems way off with the OP