www.iFourWinns.com

2005 268 Vista, VP 8.1l Gi-F, 120 hours, stored inside

The problem I am having is usually the first time I take the boat out on the weekend, once I leave the marina and start to get on plane the boat is obviously lacking power. Once I get onto plane, for the first 20-30 seconds I can feel an intermittent "hesitation" then power comes right back up. The most extreme case of this was last weekend when it felt like the motor actually died for a couple seconds, then it came back to full strength. After the first 2-3 minutes the boat runs like normal and will for the rest of the weekend, even the first time out the next day it seems to be fine.

I plan on checking (in this order) 1) Fuel Filter, 2) Plugs, 3) Injectors, 4) ?

The odd part to me is why it only does it the first time out and after that it runs like normal.

Any ideas on what this could be to help me out or probable contributing problems?

_________________
2005, 268 Vista, Table Rock Lake "Choices II"

I have a friend with a 268 Vista that just had a similar problem. Apparently the ECU stored codes that were related to a bad temperature sensor, not the one that supplies data to the gauge but rather the one that sent data to the ECU.

Most Volvo Penta mechanics have the scan tool to read the ECU.

_________________
1997 Four Winns Vista 278
T - 4.3l EFI
Kohler 4esz Genset
379 hours as of 8/8/21

Interesting, do you know the details of his boat/motor (year and size). I wondered if I should have them check for codes first to see if that might point me in a direction, but was not sure if that was a possibility

_________________
2005, 268 Vista, Table Rock Lake "Choices II"

Update: To close this out, hopefully. Shop called today and said they found no signs of water intrusion...good for me. They pulled the plugs and said they looked like the motor had been running a little rich. Changed them out and did a compression check, which turned out fine. They took it out and ran it and said they did not have any problems with it. Hopefully everything is good now. Will be down there this weekend to give it the once over and final stamp of approval myself. For now, looks like it was just the plugs. I also found out I should be running at least 89 octane. I had been switching back and forth from 87 at 89 so that probably attributed to my issues.
Thanks for the help.

_________________
2005, 268 Vista, Table Rock Lake "Choices II"

Choices,

Just curious who you use for a shop? Local or someone down at TLR? Is it a FW dealer or just a Volvo servicer? I'm using Village Marina at LOTO, but I always like to have a list in case I need to make a change.

Good luck this weekend!

We should get together with 230Mike and have a KC FW owner's rally.

_________________
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)

I leave the boat at TRL so I have two choices really; Village Marina and Sport Boats USA at TRL. Sport Boats is a Cobalt dealer, but they are Volvo Mechanics and I will go go them as a last resort. I have had too many problems with them in the past. I prefer to go to Village, because I think they do better work but to make that happen I have to drive 3.5 hours to TRL to get the boat and 3 more hours to LOTO to drop it off, and they are really proud of their work when they give you the bill. Village worked out a deal with Four Winns that said we will be the exclusive dealer for Four Winns and service all of them around if you don't let anybody else sell them in Missouri. It sucks because they can jack the price of their boats up and you have to pay it. There is a dealer on the KS side, The Boat House, where 230 Mike got his, but they don't sell crusiers and I would probably have to tell them I boated in KS if I wanted ot buy a Horizon or something. Mike can attest to the price diff. I hear their service is pretty good, but same driving deal as going to LOTO for me.

The only trouble I have had with my boat was the Sirius radio quit working. I called Lakeport Marina (where I bought it from and is now Marine Max, Village took their Four Winns business over) and they mailed me a new radio and I put it in. And the recent spark plug issue, which I took to the Volvo dealer.

Long winded, but that is my service plan. I try to do as much myself as I can.

_________________
2005, 268 Vista, Table Rock Lake "Choices II"

Ya, I knew there was a dealer in Topeka. I go to Pomme de Terre, so it is a little closer for me, but I too would like to avoid the dealer and do it myself whenever possible and reasonable. Any warranty work I'll let the dealer do, though. Still, it is almost a 2 hour drive to go get it, then another hour to get it to LOTO.

I've not had much service experience with Village, but I've come to learn that my sales guy was completely incompetent. Counting me and my brother's 220H that he sold us, he sold 5 boats in about 8 months. I've found that he was the reason for the complete lack of communication, as he kept telling his own bosses that he had been in contact with FW in MI and with us to let us know what was going on when our delivery was delayed. He never did either, and wouldn't return our calls. So, he painted me/my brother as biotchy customers with no patience to his bosses while we were waiting for our boats to be delivered. I was advised last week that he was terminated when I called to ask a question about a replacement cushion he was supposed to have ordered in May when we found a stain/defect at delivery time. He never ordered it.

Service guys say they have now ordered it and are taking care of it. I hope like crazy that their service department gives me a better vibe than the sales department did. I've been dealing with David in service over there at Village. He seems to be on top of things. Any suggestion on someone I should deal with over there from your experience?

Thanks!

_________________
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)

Sales, Matt Hambly. Top notch guy with us. We bought our 268 from him and almost a 318. he knows his stuff and is a good guy to deal with. Still a salesman, but a good guy.

_________________
2005, 268 Vista, Table Rock Lake "Choices II"