www.iFourWinns.com

205 SUNDOWNER, Volvo Penta I/O, 225HP....

Everything starts just fine, rpms fine, idle fine -- but when putting load on the engine coming out of the hole, there is a loud squeaking that comes from the engine. I throttle back, then try again, but slower. No squeak. I plane out and continue my journey.

Belts are almost new. I *did* have my alternator replaced (rebuilt) about a month ago.

Anyone have a guess?

I will wd-40 the flywheels today. See if that helps. Will report back.

Thanks,

Mark

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Four Winns 1996 Sundowner 205
5.0fi/SX engine (Volvo Penta)

WD40 won't help anything, and could hurt. My guess is the alternator pulley isn't co-planar with the other pulley(s) that belt rides on.

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

This might be really dumb, but could it be the prop hub spinning under the load? I had a similar problem and it's shaping up to look like it was a spun prop. Let us know what you find out.

PAC Winn
268 vista

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Pac Winn

First Boat:
2000 Vista 268

Make sure it's from the engine. Have someone looking at the engine when you crank it up to get on plane. That should help pinpoint the source of the noise. No other way to really know, without at least getting the source of the sound localized.

WD40 is not a lubricant! It's a water deterrent (thus the WD part of the name). Too many people use it for all the wrong situations. Nor should you ever use any sort of lubricant on the belts. That would just encourage them to slip. They're supposed to be making a reasonably tight connection to the pulleys. Too tight and you risk burning out the bearings of the devices on the belt's loop. Too loose and the belt likely slips and squeals in the process.

Look for signs of worn off rubber near the belts. Like a black dust on the pulleys or in-line with how the belt spins. Like parts getting thrown off the belt down to the bilge or onto other surfaces. If you see signs of that it may mean there's a belt alignment issue, or that the wrong size belt was used.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Try rubbing a little soap on the belts - it'll certainly confirm which is the culprit.

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Alec

2006 Horizon 190
VP 4.3GL/SX, Sunsport

Alternator belt. You can take the belt off and clean/rough up the pulley with some sand paper. Been there done that on my boat.

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1981 Columbia 8.7
2015 Yamaha FZR - 87mph - sold
2006 Yamaha GP1300R - sold
2003 Chaparral 215 SSI - sold
2009 Stingray 195CS - sold
2000 Four Winns H180 - sold
1976 O'day Daysailer II - sold
Rick's Four Winns H180 Mods/Upgrade Thread

Good advice I will keep in mind if I have a similar problem.

It's probably the a belt as already stated. Either the tension is too lose or your belt is bad. My crank pulley would eat though the alt belt pretty quick. If you have rust spots on it they are probably slowly eating away at your belt. Clean it up with a wire wheel and some sand paper and it will help allot.

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99 Horizon 190 - Volvo 5.7
06 Sea Doo RXP (79 GPS) / 05 Sea Doo GTX Limited (74 GPS)

FINAL REPORT (albeit 10 months later).

I could never isolate the squeal, as it was intermittent. Happened mostly as I put a load on the engine (out of hole, etc). It happened again while in the San Juan Islands last August. I was alone on a morning run to the mainland. I smelled *burning* this time. I thought I had something on fire! I shut down and inspected the engine and bilge: nothing. I continued the journey (slow acceleration) and arrived at mainland with no further incident. Upon taking the boat to my mechanic he finally noticed that, yes, the belts had become worn (ric, Jordan, everyone else -- spot on) and was about to go. Why it made that shrill noise or why it smelled like smoke was beyond me. And I am lucky it didn't break apart when I was in the middle of nowhere heading for the mainland.

The boat is about to go into the water for the first time this year. I'm sure I'll have another issue to share and ask advice on later this season.

Happy boating all.

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Four Winns 1996 Sundowner 205
5.0fi/SX engine (Volvo Penta)

Hopefully you don't wait almost 2 years to get back to us.....

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

The shrill noise and smoke smell usually indicates something seizing up. With the belt off spin your pulleys by hand to check for any resistance, excessive play, or noise. Also check that the belt tensioner is returning properly. The belt could very well be the effect of a failed component and not the cause.

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Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

We ran into the same situation down in Florida year before last in the ICW. We were heading into a channel leading to a marina.... It started raining so hard that we couldn't see and drifted out of the channel... Next thing ya know, we got stuck on a sand barge.... I tried to power out of it, but the props just weren't able to cut through.... once we go towed off, we noticed a squeak from the engine compartment when the motors were under a load. It only happened at a low RPM and only when the props were engaged.... and the squeak/whistle died off as the boat came up on plane.

It turns out that one of the props/shafts were bumped about a quarter of a degree off center alignment..... it was a simple repair, but not one we could have diagnosed nor repaired ourselves.