https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/ Fri, 07 Aug 2026 15:09:40 +0000 MyBB https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9379 Thu, 06 Aug 2026 11:29:11 +0000 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9379 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9378 Wed, 05 Aug 2026 15:03:38 +0000 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9378 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9377 Tue, 04 Aug 2026 20:53:18 +0000 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9377
This is my first post on this forum but have been looking around for a while.  We have found a local '98 that is in really good condition cosmetically and priced well.  It does have Cat 3208TA engines, and I do have some questions about them, and a bunch of other questions as well.

The boat is in great shape for its age, but I have been told that hull moisture issues can run rampant on these.  The swim platform is soft in spots, but no other soft spots that we can feel by walking around.  The broker helped the current owner find and acquire this boat a few years ago, and says that there was minor moisture issues here and there at the time, but the swim platform was soft then too.  

Have any of you repaired a soft swim platform?  How would the bottom be accessed? Is the bottom cover removable or do you have to cut it away to access the bottom?

Seems like outboard sides of the motors are pretty tight to the fuel tanks.  Anybody do their own work and can you get to what needs to be done?

Aftercooler and heat exchanger service is required every couple of years and it seems really tight to work on these motors.  Anybody have an idea of what premium i should expect to pay for this?

Is the access to the engine compartment only via the lift up seat?  Does some other hatch open for better access/engine service etc?

Beyond a thorough inspection and engine survey, is there any model specific things I should look for or pay attention to in the survey?

Sorry for the long post, but looking forward to hearing from you guys and will probably have more questions as well.

Cheers!]]>
This is my first post on this forum but have been looking around for a while.  We have found a local '98 that is in really good condition cosmetically and priced well.  It does have Cat 3208TA engines, and I do have some questions about them, and a bunch of other questions as well.

The boat is in great shape for its age, but I have been told that hull moisture issues can run rampant on these.  The swim platform is soft in spots, but no other soft spots that we can feel by walking around.  The broker helped the current owner find and acquire this boat a few years ago, and says that there was minor moisture issues here and there at the time, but the swim platform was soft then too.  

Have any of you repaired a soft swim platform?  How would the bottom be accessed? Is the bottom cover removable or do you have to cut it away to access the bottom?

Seems like outboard sides of the motors are pretty tight to the fuel tanks.  Anybody do their own work and can you get to what needs to be done?

Aftercooler and heat exchanger service is required every couple of years and it seems really tight to work on these motors.  Anybody have an idea of what premium i should expect to pay for this?

Is the access to the engine compartment only via the lift up seat?  Does some other hatch open for better access/engine service etc?

Beyond a thorough inspection and engine survey, is there any model specific things I should look for or pay attention to in the survey?

Sorry for the long post, but looking forward to hearing from you guys and will probably have more questions as well.

Cheers!]]> https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9376 Sat, 01 Aug 2026 16:52:36 +0000 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9376
Our plan is to purchase a Tiara likely a Tiara 3200 Open or a 3500 Open (based on research to date) to do more cruising, continue to freshwater fish and ultimately complete the Great Loop in a few years.

The fit, finish and quality of Tiara Boats for the cruiser and fisherman appeal to me and also satisfy my accommodation requirements for extended cruising especially as I get older.

I am a member of other forums and the knowledge, experience, ingenuity and willingness to offer support have been invaluable to me personally.  As a result I am really looking forward to the Tiara Owners Club forum!

Thank you for welcoming me into your community!]]>
Our plan is to purchase a Tiara likely a Tiara 3200 Open or a 3500 Open (based on research to date) to do more cruising, continue to freshwater fish and ultimately complete the Great Loop in a few years.

The fit, finish and quality of Tiara Boats for the cruiser and fisherman appeal to me and also satisfy my accommodation requirements for extended cruising especially as I get older.

I am a member of other forums and the knowledge, experience, ingenuity and willingness to offer support have been invaluable to me personally.  As a result I am really looking forward to the Tiara Owners Club forum!

Thank you for welcoming me into your community!]]> https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9375 Tue, 28 Jul 2026 12:28:11 +0000 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9375
I recently purchased a 2005 3600 Sovran with twin 6CTA8.3L-480CE turbo diesels. 970 hours on port engine, 1011 on the starboard. Survey was clean, 3 years of maintenance records suggested all was well cared for (no earlier records were available) and engines ran great on 5 hour trip home from Harbor Springs, MI to our home port of the Les Cheneaux Islands of Michigan's UP. Spent a few weeks rigging her out along with a few 1 hour cocktail cruises through the islands (usually running around 900rpm most of the time). Then set out for a 10 day trip into the North Channel of Lake Huron. Day 1: Ran approx 5-1/2 hours to our first stop (Gore Bay) keeping the engines at 2200rpm (73%) for most of that run. Dsy 2: Fueled-up and made a 2 hour run at 2000-2200 rpm to the Benjamin Islands where we dropped anchor for the night. Day 3: We headed out for a north coast cruise of the North Channel. We ran about 1-1/2 hours without issue and decided to stop at the small Blind River marina to top off the tanks. Engines ran smooth. Shut them down at the marina. Temperature gages were in normal range and no alarms or faults presented. Topped the tanks and started engines back up. Port engine started as smooth as butter. Starboard engine took a couple seconds to fire up and immediately gave out a rhythmic "steel-on-steel" CLING, CLING, CLING, CLING. Immediately shut down the engine and checked gages. Then tried restarting with same result. 

Learned that the starboard engine controls the hydraulic steering steering, so with only a port engine the boat would only turn clockwise circles. Got a towed back to a good marina in the states and had a Cummins mechanic drive up to investigate. Within an hour, the engine dress was stripped off and we found (3) symptoms:
1.  Cylinder #3 valve seat on cylinder head was fractured with debris lodged onto the piston
2. One of the two thermostats was broken in half
3. The small brass coolant check valve was broken.

Cummins suggests teplacing the following parts: cylinder head assembly, piston, piston sleeve, piston bearing, thermostas check valve, and completing a 1000 hr tune-up on both engines. (We checked North America and there are no Cummins head assemblies available. They are made to order with a 12 week lead time and 24 currently on back order. Boat is already pulled and in storage building awaiting parts. -Lost the season-  

I'm currently concerned about going through this repair process only to have a similar issue on the port engine next year.

Questions:
1. Has anyone experienced this or similar on a Cummins 6CTA8.3L-480CE? (I expected 5000 hours before something like this)
2. I would tend to believe that excessive heat would be the root cause of a valve seat failure. And cylinder #3 is fairly close to the broken thermostat and check valve. Is it plausible these part failures  created the valve seat failure?
3. Anyone with thermostat failure experience?
4. I did notice a considerable amount of heat coming from the engine room when I opened the hatch. Mechanic said the engine room should never be more than 30 degrees above ambient. I would guess it was at least 40 degrees delta. Did Tiara design-in enough air flow in the engine room on the 2005 3600 Sovran to handle these monster turbo diesels?

All insight appreciated.]]>
I recently purchased a 2005 3600 Sovran with twin 6CTA8.3L-480CE turbo diesels. 970 hours on port engine, 1011 on the starboard. Survey was clean, 3 years of maintenance records suggested all was well cared for (no earlier records were available) and engines ran great on 5 hour trip home from Harbor Springs, MI to our home port of the Les Cheneaux Islands of Michigan's UP. Spent a few weeks rigging her out along with a few 1 hour cocktail cruises through the islands (usually running around 900rpm most of the time). Then set out for a 10 day trip into the North Channel of Lake Huron. Day 1: Ran approx 5-1/2 hours to our first stop (Gore Bay) keeping the engines at 2200rpm (73%) for most of that run. Dsy 2: Fueled-up and made a 2 hour run at 2000-2200 rpm to the Benjamin Islands where we dropped anchor for the night. Day 3: We headed out for a north coast cruise of the North Channel. We ran about 1-1/2 hours without issue and decided to stop at the small Blind River marina to top off the tanks. Engines ran smooth. Shut them down at the marina. Temperature gages were in normal range and no alarms or faults presented. Topped the tanks and started engines back up. Port engine started as smooth as butter. Starboard engine took a couple seconds to fire up and immediately gave out a rhythmic "steel-on-steel" CLING, CLING, CLING, CLING. Immediately shut down the engine and checked gages. Then tried restarting with same result. 

Learned that the starboard engine controls the hydraulic steering steering, so with only a port engine the boat would only turn clockwise circles. Got a towed back to a good marina in the states and had a Cummins mechanic drive up to investigate. Within an hour, the engine dress was stripped off and we found (3) symptoms:
1.  Cylinder #3 valve seat on cylinder head was fractured with debris lodged onto the piston
2. One of the two thermostats was broken in half
3. The small brass coolant check valve was broken.

Cummins suggests teplacing the following parts: cylinder head assembly, piston, piston sleeve, piston bearing, thermostas check valve, and completing a 1000 hr tune-up on both engines. (We checked North America and there are no Cummins head assemblies available. They are made to order with a 12 week lead time and 24 currently on back order. Boat is already pulled and in storage building awaiting parts. -Lost the season-  

I'm currently concerned about going through this repair process only to have a similar issue on the port engine next year.

Questions:
1. Has anyone experienced this or similar on a Cummins 6CTA8.3L-480CE? (I expected 5000 hours before something like this)
2. I would tend to believe that excessive heat would be the root cause of a valve seat failure. And cylinder #3 is fairly close to the broken thermostat and check valve. Is it plausible these part failures  created the valve seat failure?
3. Anyone with thermostat failure experience?
4. I did notice a considerable amount of heat coming from the engine room when I opened the hatch. Mechanic said the engine room should never be more than 30 degrees above ambient. I would guess it was at least 40 degrees delta. Did Tiara design-in enough air flow in the engine room on the 2005 3600 Sovran to handle these monster turbo diesels?

All insight appreciated.]]> https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9374 Tue, 28 Jul 2026 11:28:07 +0000 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9374
I suspect the problem is the switch, as I hear nothing when pressing it to close.  Thanks in advance.]]>
I suspect the problem is the switch, as I hear nothing when pressing it to close.  Thanks in advance.]]> https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9373 Sat, 25 Jul 2026 14:15:52 +0000 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9373 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9372 Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:00:53 +0000 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9372 Hi all — looking at two boats and hoping to hear from owners before I go see them:

• 2019 38 LS — triple Yamaha F350s, low hours (~321)
• 2020 38 LX — triple Mercury 400 Verados, ~280 hours, loaded (Seakeeper, genset)

My main use would be running from the Fairfield/Westport CT area out to Montauk — roughly 55–60 nm each way across Long Island Sound, including through The Race or Plum Gut — plus general Sound cruising and entertaining at anchor. Mostly summer, usually a handful of people aboard.

Questions for anyone who’s owned or spent real time on either:

- LS vs LX — for this kind of run and use, how do the two layouts compare in real life? Leaning toward the open LS cockpit but curious what owners think. Resale given this LX discontinued?
- The Sound-to-Montauk run — comfortable cruise speed you actually hold in typical 1–3 ft chop? How’s it feel coming home into an afternoon southwest breeze?


- Triple F350s vs triple 400 Verados — any strong opinions between the two engine packages?]]> Hi all — looking at two boats and hoping to hear from owners before I go see them:

• 2019 38 LS — triple Yamaha F350s, low hours (~321)
• 2020 38 LX — triple Mercury 400 Verados, ~280 hours, loaded (Seakeeper, genset)

My main use would be running from the Fairfield/Westport CT area out to Montauk — roughly 55–60 nm each way across Long Island Sound, including through The Race or Plum Gut — plus general Sound cruising and entertaining at anchor. Mostly summer, usually a handful of people aboard.

Questions for anyone who’s owned or spent real time on either:

- LS vs LX — for this kind of run and use, how do the two layouts compare in real life? Leaning toward the open LS cockpit but curious what owners think. Resale given this LX discontinued?
- The Sound-to-Montauk run — comfortable cruise speed you actually hold in typical 1–3 ft chop? How’s it feel coming home into an afternoon southwest breeze?


- Triple F350s vs triple 400 Verados — any strong opinions between the two engine packages?]]> https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9371 Sun, 19 Jul 2026 19:41:43 +0000 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9371 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9370 Fri, 17 Jul 2026 18:48:56 +0000 https://www.tiaraownersclub.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=9370 .
How do you take the handle off of the door?]]> .
How do you take the handle off of the door?]]>