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I have a FourWinns 200 Horizon 1990 with a I/O OMC Cobra with a 351 and have been having several problems. I don't know if they are connected or have several things to deal with. The first thing that it is doing is stalling and sputtering on hard excelleration like when pulling up a skier. If I slowly go to full trottle i have no problem but when I go from neutral to drive and then slam the throttle it almost always dies. The second problem is that my shifter is not very smooth going in and out of gear. Its not too bad starting out but after running it hard it becomes very hard to get in and out of gear. The third issue is I have had several episodes of the motor stalling and having a hard time starting it again. It seems to do this when it is really hot. It will not start unless I put some choke on and then when I shift it back into gear or neutral it will die. The other day I ran it for 45 minutes straight at Lake Shasta and then turned it off for 30 minutes and spent 15 minutes trying to get it started. Finally after I got it started I went back to the boat slip and it died approaching my slip and was unable to get it started again. The next morning it started just fine and ran up to speed no problem. I have had it into two different shops three times for the past three years with no change. They keep telling me that its most likely water in the fuel and to change the fuel filter. I have done this four times. I poured the contents of the fuel filter in a bowel like they told me to see if there was any water in it and didn't see any. They adjusted the electronic shift assist with no luck and adjusted the shift cables with little difference. I am not exactly sure what the temp gauge is reading when the stalling occurs, but a little high in the area of 175 f. Which makes me think it is a vapor lock, but unsure why it is doing it. My gauge is not really finely numbered. I have done some research and haven't found a really solid answer. If anyone could help me I would be very appreciative.

First off, welcome to the board.

There are several possibilities (which I'm sure you already realize) so it is tough to even guess without some more information. As very general suggestions, I would check all the electrical components (cap, rotor, wires, plugs) and I would also consider having the carb rebuilt. Your acceleration issue sounds like a carb problem to me. Are you having ANY problems at all when running at cruising speed, or are they all starting/idling related? Give us some more info if you can.

I once had a bad coil that would give me trouble starting when hot. It would take awhile to get it started again, my theory was that the time to try to start it allowed it to cool down just enough to run again. A cracked distributor cap has also given me baffling performance problems in the past.

Pretty weird that 2 separate shops haven't figured it out. Since you're new, may I suggest that you also post this under the Engine forum rather than the Horizon forum? You'll get a lot more reads. I personally never read the forums for any of the other boat models because I don't own one of the others and know nothing about them. I do read the general, engine, accessories, and trailering forums regularly though. I suspect there are others who do the same.

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Paul
2007 Four Winns Horizon 220
Mercruiser 350 Mag MPI w/ Bravo III Drive
2004 Ford Explorer Limited (V8-AWD)
Pomme de Terre Lake (Southwest Missouri)

Thanks for the tips. I will try these. I actually took the cap and rotor off last year going to get a new one and the shop I took it to said there was nothing wrong with it so I put it back on. Maybe I should just get a new one anyway. I also tried some of that carb cleaner last season thinking that it might help, but it didn't. Maybe I should go for the rebuild. Thanks for the quick response!

It is fairly comon to have the stalling problem in hot weather after running awhile it is usually caused by a vapor lock situation. You can try running your bilge blower when this happens and see if it improves. The blower will help remove the hot air that gets trapped in the tight and not well vented engine compartment. It works for me every time. You could also try running with the engine cover open (be careful of moving parts while open) If you notice a good improvement you may want to add some more engine compartment vents