www.iFourWinns.com

Spent the V-day weekend on the boat with the wife... Great cruise on Friday, a nice dinner downtown, crashed out on the boat in the slip, and a hell of an adventure into Puget Sound and into 3-5 foot February swells on Sunday morning...

Everything flawless all weekend long -- except -- we just came back into Lake Union from the Locks and the wife wanted to heat something with the microwave so I fired the generator right up. We were idling along. Let the generator warm up for a minute or so before engaging the AC circuit... microwave fired right up and pow - 30 seconds into the microwave the generator shuts off completely.

Uh oh. Popped up the engine hatch only to see the 'LOC' warning light -- Loss of coolant. OH SHIT. Something happened I'm thinking. coolant? which coolant? fresh water? antifreeze? I shut the switch off to turn off the generator and start sleuthing. I check the sea strainer and fresh water pickup -- clear. Fine. Not a spec of anything in the sea strainer and I even closed the valve, popped off the feed line from the through hull, and opened the valve to make sure water was getting through the hull just fine. I let the generator cool down and pop the coolant lid - yep - there's plenty of coolant.

WTF is the issue? I turn it back on and try to fire it up. Not a chance. After about 5 different times of varing error codes - nothing. she fires, sputters, and dies. She's got to be getting fuel ( haven't touched the supply lines and I checked). Nothing that I can tell is blocking freshwater?

What's the scoop? Anyone have issues like this? Is there a super-secret reset switch somewhere?

Help!

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

Hey cougar

Wonder if there is a problem with the raw water pump?... That would allow the genny to overheat and maybe throw a code?

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Jeff

'14 Cruisers 380 Express "Simon Sez"
Merc 8.2 Mag MPI 380
DTS B3X, (x2) Axius Premier


(SOLD)
'08 V318
Merc 350 Mag MPI 300
DTS Seacore, B3 (x2)

Sounds like the raw water impeller to me. I'll guess it's a Kohler. The impellers seem to be a weak point. If they start to come apart it doesn't take much for the pieces to clog enough of the passage for the cooling water for the unit to overheat.

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Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

I know impellars are usually a maintenance item - but am I unrealistic to expect that a generator with under 2 hours and is brand new shouldn't toss an impeller?

This should be covered under warranty, right?

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

I'll have to chime in +1 on the impeller. In all likelihood, fresh water flow was impeded long enough to throw the code (debris blocking the intake etc). While water was able to ultimately work its way back into the system, repeated attempts to start the genny likely broke apart an already compromised impeller. And now it's throwing all kinds of codes because the whole chain of operation is challenged. The only way to reset codes is to turn the genny off and then back to auto or to discontinue battery power (from your battery switch is the easiest way) and then restore it. But if codes persist, there is a problem the system is protecting and in this case it is likely the impeller. All of this is based on my similar experience last summer (also my genny's first season - a problem like this has no correlation with hours of use).

The big lesson from all of this is if the generator shuts down and fails to restart after throwing a code, DO NOT continuously attempt to restart it unless you are certain you have corrected the problem and are sure it is not the impeller. Repeated attempts to start with a compromised impeller will lead to further destruction of the impeller causing lots of small pieces to get sucked through the guts of the genny and cause more problems down the road.

If it turns out to be the impeller it is not a warranty item. I now always keep a spare on board. Good luck & let us know...

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

Sierra -- I did shut the generator down (by moving the switch from auto to off). I followed the manual to the T.

I verified that there was no blockage to the water lines at the time of the shut down. The strainer was full and the thru hull was great.

It's a non issue about there being not enough water flow because the lake I was on is a no-wake zone lake... There should have been no issues here.

I did verify with my pals (thanks Ryan @ Winnisquam) - that this will definitely be covered under warranty if I don't want to work through it myself.

Considering I already have to have the "galvonic isolator monitoring system" checked out/fixed - this is just another item on the punch list.

I'm going to drop the boat off and say "fix it, it's broke". It's a good test for the new Four Winns dealer here in Seattle who is right on Lake Union about a 4 minute boat ride from my slip.

We'll see how far out they are booked when I schedule an appointment tomorrow.

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

That's good to hear Cougar. It does not take much to block water flow long enough to blow the impeller - a bag getting snagged on the intake can do it and if the 'evidence' of blockage then drifts away water can still charge the system with what's left of the impeller which explains water in the strainer (I had the same thing happen) and makes these things hard to diagnose. When this happens (and it can happen the first time a brand new genny is running) it is not considered a warranty item as it is not the result of an equipment defect or failure, so I'm glad they're willing to service it as a warranty fix. I never pursued mine through the dealer because it happened while I was traveling, it's a cheap part and was much quicker to swap out the impeller myself (meaning have my mechanically inclined boating friend do it).

I hope the new dealer works out well - how great that they're so close! I am in a dealer dead zone so I don't have the luxury of the quick drop-off. But add the spare genny impeller to your parts collection in any event as well as a fuel pump relay or two (the other thing that fried on my boat inexplicably last season).

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

Hey Couger,

I raised this question about 318 Genset Impeller replacement a few weeks ago on a different thread and I did not get any replies.

If it happens to be the Impeller could you tell me any tricks after you replace yours. It seems the sound shield is a real pain to remove on the 318 installation.
I need to change mine this spring and just looking for advice

Thanks
Jeff

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Bridgewater, PA
2008 Vista 318

I don't know the orientation of the genset in a 318, but on a 348 the soundshield doesn't get in the way. It's the end plate that needs to come off, not the larger side panels. Once off it's just a couple of bolts to get to the impeller (10 or 12mm IIRC). I keep TWO OF THE ONBOARD. I had one crap out with about 12 hours on the genset. They're cheap enough, buy two. I also carry two main engine impellers.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I am going to dig into the impeller on Saturday morning and see if it's a simple swap out...

Wish me luck. If it's not - then the call to the Kohler warranty team.

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

Cougar:

Let me know how Sport Boat treats you. I hear John is a good guy...

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Optimus Prime
Now: 2007 Horizon 260, (2007/08 brochure boat)
Previous: 1995 Sea Ray Signature Select 220
Tow: '07 Avalanche LTZ
Seattle and Chelan, WA

I called the dealer and talked to the service manager, Alan. He took some notes down and I'm waiting for a call back.

It's been a couple days now.

I'm working on backup plans to get these issues resolved without Sportboat. I'll give Alan a call next week again to see if they have an update.

So far, they didn't seem too interested in my service work - as it sounds like they are pretty focused on delivering boat show sales and they are down a mechanic right now.

We'll see.

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

Interesting that they are "down a mechanic". One would think they could easily pick up Art from Olympic or someone equally as good right now. If you are interested, I can get in touch with Art and see if he's willing to do a side job or two. He's really good and trust worthy...

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Optimus Prime
Now: 2007 Horizon 260, (2007/08 brochure boat)
Previous: 1995 Sea Ray Signature Select 220
Tow: '07 Avalanche LTZ
Seattle and Chelan, WA

Thanks for the offer...

I'm mechanically inclined when it comes to swapping out parts -- but I don't have the computers and diagnostics equipment that is sometimes needed.

We'll see how things shake out after the weekend. I hope to know on Saturday if my generator issues are due to an impeller or if there is something else going on.

Apparently - even many of the dealers will call a Kohler service company rather than do the work themselves. If I bypass the dealer and they'll come straight to my slip, that's a win win for me.

Now - my galvonic isolator monitoring system issues are another story. But, that's a lower on the priority list right now. Sportboat should be able to tackle that - no problem.

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA

An eventful day which resulted in a single accomplishment... I put up my Washington state registration stickers.

However -- I went out to the boat today with one project in mind -- figure out that dang generator.

Got to the boat... got out some tools - and didn't relize how much of a pain in the ass I was looking at.

I popped open the engine hatch and realised... SH&T - I can't get to water pump on the side of the generator. The genny is nicely tucked into the engine well. There is a small access hatch in the floor of the port storage. Yes, you can disassemble the benches and flooring in the event that a motor needs to be pulled -- but to access the seewater impeller? Are you kidding me?



Here is the generator all nicely tucked in.




The port bench actually disassembles and the floor lifts up to expose more of the port motor. It's a major pain, but I was sick of trying to a contortionist. A couple dabs of silicon had to be "busted", but once I got the floor up -- I could access just about anything in the engine compartment!

Holy cow it made all the difference!

With everything open:





Next I got the hoses off the water pump and unbolted it. The hour and a half I spend disassembling made this a cake walk.




Turns out the impeller was great. No issues.





Now, I am sad because it's not an easy fix. The generator still won't start. It cranks and fires up and sputters, then dies. I did a visual check of the fuel lines -- there is no shutoff, no leaks, and I followed the line from the tank, through the filter, and down to the genny.

I checked all fuses. I checked all battery connections just to be sure.

So - it's not the impeller. It's not a fuse. It's not anything that I can find.

Kohler is sending a tech out on Wed, March 4th to take a stab at it. We'll see what they dig up.

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2008 318 Vista -SOLD, but I am still around!
All Night Long, Seattle WA