www.iFourWinns.com

Figured I'd share my 2012 woes in case it helps anyone else. The year began great with a trip off Quonset Pt. RI to watch the Thunderbirds airshow from the boat (yes, salt water! *gasp* I'm bad that way) - the F16s flew RIGHT over the boat, maybe 50-100 feet off the deck, flames screaming out the engine. The kids went nuts and I was #1 Dad in the world (worth the salt water). P.S. airshow from a boat and no traffic jams with ecstatic kids = priceless.

Then back to the lake and trouble....the engine wouldn't turn past 1500-1800 rpm. Just hung there. If I played with the throttle, eventually it would come up. But if I was pulling a tube or a wakeboarder, forget it. Then the alt. belt snapped. So - I figure the alternator belt is a tad old (I've only had the boat since Sept 2010) and the pulleys have rust. Clean them, paint them, clean the rubber dust out of the flame arrester. Clean out the carburator for good measure.

Next time on the lake, fine. Time after that, happens again. Pull the boat to the shop and there is a 7-week wait for repairs (!!!!!). Summer in New England is measured in about 8 weeks.....there go July and August.....

Turns out, the exhaust manifold was leaking water waaaay in the back, only at higher throttle (which I don't do a lot of since the kids are little and get nervous at anything about 15-20 mph). This convienently sprayed some nice water to the back of the engine. Alternator having trouble putting out power, starter going bad, distributer in need of help - basically, all electrical things). So my cylinders weren't getting consistent sparks.

All fixed now and running fine again. But lesson learned. Watch the back of the engine compartment every now and then when running the boat.....
Spraying water is bad. But sometimes you need to run the boat at speed and open the compartment to see what is going on.

But, I highly recommend airshows from the boat if you live in such an area with that as an option.

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1994 Horizon 190
5.0L V8
SX/Cobra

I had a bit of salt water drip from the stbd side manifold drain right on the starter solenoid.... Rusted that up so bad I had to cut off the wires, put on a new solenoid and re-terminate the wires. Now I coat the threads of the drain plugs with gasket sealer so no drips.....

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I had a similar issue with my previous boat. My manifolds were leaking water onto my plugs and causing the spark to jump to the head instead of down the plug. Dielectric grease on the plug boots was the short term fix. Long term fix was buy a 3 y/o boat and sell the 24 y/o boat.

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Louisville KY
IROC-SEA
2008 Four Winns Horizon 220
300HP 5.7Gi Volvo Penta SX drive