www.iFourWinns.com

Well, I seem to have encountered my first issue that will be beyond my ability to diagnose and fix outside of warranty. This happened the other day and then again yesterday. Immediately after pulling the boat off the trailer the alarm beep that I assume is the ECM alarm went off. The first time I simply shut it down, restarted and all was fine. Yesterday, I tried that several times and it kept coming on. This limits it to 2000 rpms until corrected.

My understanding is that it can be a low oil, overheat or low voltage issue. One of the 3. Are there other reasons?

My inspection revealed that oil level was fine and pressure seemed normal. Temp could not be over heating because I just started it. It never went above about 155 when it did warm up. But interestingly I noticed my exhaust manifolds at different temps. One was pretty darn hot to the touch and the other wasn't. Is that normal?

So, my thought is that this may be a low voltage issue? Does that mean its batteries that are low or is there a short or problem with my alternator or something else?

Any thoughts? Interestingly, after about 5 minutes of floating and checking all of this it worked perfectly fine the rest of the day. What gives?

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Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

Manifolds (edit: I meant to say risers) can be different temps but I wouldn't expect them to be extremely different. As new as the boat is, I'd think (of the 3 things you name - I don't know if there are other possibilities) it's a voltage issue. Check the water level in your batteries?

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I'm assuming you mean the risers coming up off the manifolds? Those should get pretty warm, but nowhere near as hot as the manifolds themselves. If a riser is getting hot it usually means it's blocked, often due to rusting out. They do rust out eventually, some sooner than others. But I wouldn't expect a 2006 to have this problem yet. It's possible, just unlikely.

How about the impellers, are they original? Might be that one engine is getting less water pulled into it. I can't recall if those engines have a specific way to recommission the cooling system, usually to avoid air bubbles in it. But if the impeller throws a chunk it can get stuck further upstream in the engine and eventually risers.

For voltage just use a cheapie voltmeter to measure it. Analog dash gauges (all of them) are notoriously inaccurate as a means to diagnose an actual problem.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

The risers on my '04 5.7 have always run at different temperatures; I put it down to the port side one having more cooling water flow due to the extra raw water hose connected directly to it; the starboard one only has the cooling water that comes in from the manifold.

Graham

I probably mispoke. I'm referring to the black portion that connects to my exhaust where you can see the Corsa thru hull tubes. You can see my oil filter mounted to the one. I assume those are the risers? That side was a lot hotter then the other.

I'm concerned about some blockage but I just changed my impeller. Only to follow that by dragging through some mud at a nasty ramp. I flushed it on the muffs as soon as I got home. Any way to see of there are areas clogged up?



Even so, the motor wasn't even warm when the alarm started going off so I doubt its a heat issue. I'm going to hook up my voltmeter to the alternator. I'm not sure if I will understand the significance of the reading though!

_________________
Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

Should be easy enough to charge up your battery (or batteries) with a battery charger, and if the battery (ies) are not maintenance free you could check the charge each cell holds with one of those floating ball dealies. This would help isolate any electrical issue between the batteries and alternator. I believe that you want to see voltage off the alternator at 13.6 volts, not less (this can be measured at the battery terminals, no need to hook up direct to the alternator).

Since it worked the rest of the day, my guess is either the battery was topped off by the alternator, or something like a loose + or - connection was nudged into place.

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2007 Horizon 200
4.3L GXi/ SX 225 HP

Well, this continues to be a problem. Still alarming at initial launch. But then operating fine. Took the batteries out and tested at autozone and they said they were ok. going to take it to the dealer to have them look at it.

_________________
Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

My money's on a bad sensor or sensor connection.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Given what you just posted... check your voltage with the boat at idle right after starting, and then again running above 1500 rpm. Your alt may not be putting out adequate voltage to flash the field below a certain RPM. My Maxum did the same thing when starting. Just nudge the throttle above 1500, then back to idle, and it was fine. Could be the alt getting flaky.

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Walt B
"Debt-Charged"
Black '07 H210SS
6.2L Bravo One turning a 21P HIFive
Wakeboard Tower with Perfect Pass Stargazer version
Missouri River; Kansas City, Mo.

Well, how much money did you bet?? You may be a winner. Here's an update. Took the boat in and was told that a pin in a harness was bad/loose or something. Supposedly, fixed. Took the boat to Lake Cumberland and was flawless all weekend. 2 minutes before loading and heading home the alarm goes off!!

I'm not told the following in an email:

"As to the alarm. They (volvo) is 100 % sure you have a throttle position control sensor going out.We could not duplicate the problem. (um, isn't that what was fixed and i paid for?) Volvo had us do some diagnostics and reset,ck. voltage and let you go. The alarm is storing a diagnostic code. You will be fine as long as you do not show overheat and have good oil pressure. We know the alarm is annoying. We have ordered the part you will need and as of today it is on back order without an eta. The price for the part is $199.00 and there will be an hour labor charge also."

The problem here is that when the alarm goes off I'm in safe mode and can't get above 2000 rpms. I wouldn't think I should have to pay for additional labor when they didn't fix the right thing in the first place. To me, that sounds like operating on the wrong knee!

Any thoughts? Anyone have a source for this part? Is it something I can change?

_________________
Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

I wouldn't think it's a hard part to change, but I'm not 100% certain. My bigger concern is that your boat is awfully new for that to be the problem IMO. I wonder if you don't just have an intermittent connection there.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I'm going to pull into the driveway tonight and see if I can recreate the problem then maybe poke around to see what if anything resolves it. Could this be something that some electrical contact spray cleaner might help? I need to see what it looks like.

What's the website everyone uses for Volvo parts?

_________________
Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags

dougrussell.com or marinepartsexpress.com

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

What 8.1 do you have?

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Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

Thanks Mike. I have the 8.1Gi-G

I'm having trouble finding the right part that my dealer gave me a number for. Doesn't seem to match up with a sensor part. # 3817845

_________________
Former owner of:
1996 Four Winns Horizon 200 5.8L VP
2006 Four Winns Horizon 260 8.1L VP
2007 Sea Ray 290 Sundancer

Current boat
2004 Sea Ray 290 Sun Sport Twin 350 Mags