www.iFourWinns.com

Hi All,

I am a newbie with a '01 180 horizon. This boat maintenance free, and I have done only the usual oil changes. The boat just reached the 100 hour mark this last week. In the past 2 hours of engine use, at low rpms the engine oil light comes on the VDO dash and makes a loud beep. I checked the oil level, it was fine and clear as it only has on about 8 hours since the oil was changed at the beginning of the year. Again, the oil icon and beeping only come on at low rmp, and it is usually after we have been crusing at 3K rmp or more for some bit of time. If I shut off the engine for a few minutes, the oil light is off and no beeping. But it seems it can come back 5 minutes or 2 hours later.

Any suggestions?

The dealership is about 30 miles away from my house, but do to traffic will take me about 1-1.5 hours to get there.

All aspects of this boat have been kept in great condition (Hull, engine, out unit...). I just don’t want to get bent over by the dealership, as I haven't been there before and I have no idea how severe this problem is.

Could be a bad oil pressure sensor or connection with that sensor, or a ground issue with the VDO dash. It's a common problem with them.

Oh. And "maintenance free boat" - good luck with that.

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

Thanks Mike. That is good info to know.

Yes, I know. The happiest day for a boat owner is when you buy your boat, the second happiest is when you sell it.

-CBW

I did mean to say, though, welcome to the board! That problem shouldn't be too difficult for a decent shop to figure out, but it might be time for a visit.

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

My 99 Vista with the same VDO dash and the 5.7L engine has done the same thing since I bought it. I replaced the sending unit 2 years ago to no avail. I use 30w Amsoil heavy duty synthetic oil. My mechanic said anything over 5 or so lbs of oil pressure at hot idle is acceptable, I hooked up a manual gauge and had 15-16lbs of oil psi at hot idle. I think the VDO dash is just a POS!!

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

Thanks Dolphin, I have oned this boat for 3 years now and never had a problem with it.
I am taking it to the dealer this weekend, so I am hoping it will be an easy fix. I totally agree that the VDO is a POS, looks retarted to boot.

Greetings to all:

I have an 01 180 LE with the POS VDO gauges, anybody have an idea on how much to replace the POS gauges?

Thanks in advance....

Those things have been so problematic that FW has a factory replacement (or they did, I'm going on the assumption that they still have it), and I'm thinking the price was around $700 complete (not installed). That's just from memory, though.

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

You can buy a lot of gas for $700! I'll just wait until it serious, like the tach won't work. knock on wood, cause everything seems to be working still! Tach, speedo, temp and oil pressure plus depth and clock.... Maybe I got the one made on Wednesday v. Monday! ha....

Rich

Please note that I could be way off on that price, that was just from memory. Don't make a buying decision based on it, and also keep in mind that I don't know if they'll have them forever.

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

I paid $516 thru my dealer for mine. I replaced it myself, took about 15 minutes.

In the 4 years I had it, the VDO pack in my '99 Sundowner was more reliable than the Faria ones I have now in my '04 Sundowner! The only problem I had was that due to the earlier deep set dash design, I couldn't see them when I was standing up ( keeping an eye out for lobster pots). So maybe all sorts of things were going on with the dash I was unaware of!

My Faria tach pegs at various rpm sometimes, (50 mph at 3000 rpm, I don't think so!), my fuel gauge oscillates, and the speedo doesn't start working until about 20 mph. The VDO speedo, being electronic and with a paddle wheel sensor, was very accurate from standstill.

joet,
As a matter of interest, when you replaced the VDO pack with the FW replacement gauges, which look like they are Faria ones, did it still use the paddle wheel sensor, or did a pitot tube have to be installed?

Graham

I missed this string when you posted it so I'm a bit late on this reply. There is a FW service bulletin for the oil sender unit. As pointed out in one posting, the guage reads lower than actual. If you want to rid yourself of the beep, install a bias resister from the top of the oil sender unit to ground. If I remember correctly I used an 1.5k ohm. (You can buy both the resistor and some wire and terminals at Radio Shack or similar). You might want to check with your dealer if you have one who is helpful, and I'm sure he can tell you what resistor to use. My dealer did so and even provided the resistor by mail since I live some 150 miles away. I have since replaced the VDO dash and am enjoying the boat a lot more now. By the way to Graham's question, there is no change to any sensor required when swapping out the old VDO dash. The paddle wheel stays. You do lose water and air temp reporting however.

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"No Losses"

THANK YOU for this information. I am going to radio shack tomorrow. The low oil PSI buzzer drives me insane and is embarrassing when guests (especially mechanically inclined ones) are on board. I really appreciate this info....

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

I had the oil changed by the four winns dealer. Turns out the wakeboard shop (sells MB, Moomba, and others) put 10-30 in during the oil change. That was unknown to me. I assumed they put in volvo specified 30W. With the new oil change and the proper weight, no buzzer. Even had it loaded down with 7 adults during a weekend house boating trip. Never a problem. Hope that is helpful info for others.