www.iFourWinns.com

Hello all, got the boat out on Monday and al is great. We had no problems and it was a beautiful day. Ive got a couple questions though.

1.) When first accelerating, the boat pulls and leans to the left, even when all weight in boat is evenly distributed. Once up to plane, if I trim up a little bit the boat straightens out and drives straight. Is this normal?

2.) Also, while we were out a little bit of water got put into the bilge from Im not sure where, I greased the gimble bearing and u joint a month ago, maybe from the seal. Anyways, I turned the bilge on just before ramping and no water came out, but while pulling the boat out, water came flying out of the bilge for a few seconds. Not much water, but some. So my question is, is there an automatic bilge pump or something? I was thinking that maybe while ramping it, the little water that was in there rushed to the back triggering the automatic pump?

Thanks

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1990 Horizon 200
5.7L OMC Cobra 260HP

That's not uncommon in an IO, for me trim up to near the stops is the norm.... runs smooth as glass once you get the bow off the water!



I don't think that's an unusual amount. I had the same thing this year. Pay attention if you have it in the water overnight especially. If you are accumulating, then get checked. Otherwise, I would assume water getting out of it's winter hiding places.

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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.

I don't think that's an unusual amount. I had the same thing this year. Pay attention if you have it in the water overnight especially. If you are accumulating, then get checked. Otherwise, I would assume water getting out of it's winter hiding places.[/quote]


Soo is there an automatic bilge?

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1990 Horizon 200
5.7L OMC Cobra 260HP

Do you mean automatic bilge pump? If so, your boat probably had one originally but whether it's still there or functional is hard to tell from a distance. If it doesn't have a good working one, then it should be added.

As to the pulling and leaning, to me that doesn't sound normal, but I'm not sure what would explain it. How hard is it pulling? Does it pull the same direction and with the same force regardless of whether you're going with or against the current/wind? This size of recreational I/O powered boat normally "wanders" at idle speed, but they typically wander in both directions, and leaning (listing actually) shouldn't be noticeable if weight is distributed reasonably. Think about how your boat is built - does it have a bunch of stuff causing a lot more weight to be on one side? As an example of what I mean, many of the 2004-2008 (give or take) 230/240's with dual batteries had a starboard list because both batteries were mounted in the far back corner of the starboard side (the farther back in the boat, the greater the effect weight has on balance since these boats have a fairly steep deadrise). Add the fact that the fresh water tank, a Corian countertop, and a captain are all on the same side, with almost nothing of substantial weight on the port side, and it was easy to see why they listed. Moving the batteries over to port solved the problem in every case I'm aware of.

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

Yes. I'm sure that's what happen. For those of us that keep our boats in the water all season they're a necessity. Keeps the bilge empty when we're not around.

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2010 H190 4.3VP
Tow Vehicle:
2007 F150
Previous boats:
2009 H180 3.0VP
1996 Horizon QX 3.0VP

It does sound like the angle of the boat brought all the water to the back and triggered the float-switch on your bilge pump.
If you open up your engine cover and look for your bilge pump, you may see an external float-switch which you can lift and trigger by hand to verify it's working. On some pumps, it is integrated in to the housing.

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2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe