www.iFourWinns.com

Hey everyone, I just purchased my first boat. 1988 Four Winns 200 Horizon 4.3 Liter. Great story behind this boat. It was my childhood boat, my mother and father purchased this boat new, and raised 3 sons on it. My dad sold it when his youngest son went off to his first year of college (Me). The guy who purchased it from my parents is a family friend who put 30 less hours on it then we did in 15 years totaling 400 currently.
A little history of the boat. The boat was only outside when in the water, was washed every time after use inside and out. At the age of 7 I was on a creeper waxing the bottom because I was the only one who fit up to the axle of the trailer. My dad worked hard for everything he owned especially the only thing he every bought new, the family boat.

26 years later the youngest son has the captains chair. The boat resembles the same care and love it got from our family. Still only outside when in use the boat is in mint condition inside and out.
The family friend I bought it from had it professionally winterized and summerized at the beginning and end of each season. With his family all grown up and gone the boat hasn't seen water in 4 years. He would get it out and have it summerized and winterized each summer and still never used it. He told me that he has never had to do anything mechanical to the boat other than the above maintainance. He did have to put in a new radio. And the gimble bearings were aligned every other season like my dad did. And were aligned after the last season it was used.

With that explanation said. Any suggestions on what routine maintainance I should perform to get this thing ready mechanically other then checking gas, summerizing, checking all hoses, and belts. I am also going to install new plugs, cap, rotor, points, water filter, condenser, and impeller before use.

Any suggestions on other maintainance is much appreciated.

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That is a great story...very happy for you!

I was lucky enough to have my childhood boat for 3+ decades...a 1969 small ski-boat that my brother (14) and I bought when I was 12. That was 1976. It was 7 years old, and we bought it for $700. I sold that boat 6 years ago after 3 engines, 32 years and near 2000 hours. For quite a while I had two boats, but finally had to resign myself to sell the little ski-boat, but I still miss it.

The only thing I think you should worry about is your exhaust manifolds, because it cause very serious damage to the engine if the rust through internally. You can change them out yourself for less than $700 parts. Besides belts and hoses, all the other important stuff was probably taken care of during the winterizations.

Best of luck with your "new" boat

_________________

"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

The manifolds look good on the outside, but that probably isn't an accurate description of what they look like on the inside. Any suggestion how to check them? Thanks for the input!

Salt or fresh water use? You can buy an infared thermometer and run her and check the temp of the exhaust manifolds...the temps should be around 120 to 140. May not be exactly same. Way hot means they may be blocked or corroded.

You should be able to place hand on them for little while.

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http://i1339.photobucket.com/albums/o71 ... wqm355.jpg


08' H210SS
VP 5.7Gi

What they look like on the outside doesn't matter. Rusting through at the inner gasket surface is the usual problem.

If they run too hot to keep your hand on the top while cruising, then they are probably bad (or your impeller is bad). But they could be rusting through even if they do not run hot.

Fortunately, it sounds like you have access to the maintenance history of your boat. In fresh water, if the manifolds are 13-14 years old, I would replace them. If they are 6 years old in salt water use, I would replace them.

Search "Exhaust Manifold" in this forum for a lot more information, including how to remove the riser to inspect.

_________________

"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

Nice story I have the same boat, mine was not kept up and I restored everything but the original engine and OMC Cobra outdrive. Is yours an OMC or Merc?
If its an OMC you can't get those one piece manifolds any more but there are conversion kits to a 2 piece design. I would have the gas tank drained the impeller changed and before trying to start make sure the drive oil is full. Was it winterize before being stored?
That hull design is a very safe and stable design and it's worth keeping for a long time.

If it is an OMC I can tell you how to take off the one piece manifolds and check them. It's east because OMC used studs and nuts that don't corrode instead of bolts into the cyl head.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Yes, great story.

As Lou said, if you have the 4.7 OMC, it had the 1 piece "Bat Wing" style manifolds. Good design but not available anymore. To replace, you need to convert to 2 piece setup. There are a few companies that have kits with all the needed parts. http://www.marinepartsexpress.com and http://www.ebasicpower.com come to mind.

The most simple check you can do to get some kind of idea of their condition:
- Loosen the hose clamps on the rubber boots at the back of the manifolds
- Slide the boots down away from the manifold
- take pictures up inside the manifold outlet.
- post pictures here for opinions on condition
Of course they will look rusty inside, but the important thing to look at is the 4 water slots that are a couple inches up the elbow. When new, they were about 1/4" x 3/4". Are any rusted shut or nearly so?

For further checking, the next step would be to remove them from the engine, as Lou said.

_________________

"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

4.3 OMC. The boat was winterized and always stored inside. The engine compartment looks nearly new. 400 total hours on boat.

There is a lot of information out there on these drives (Cobra) and when you are starting to do work to it yourself post up what you are doing if you need any technical information....

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Hopefully it is in great condition. I am just anal about the exhaust manifolds, because I lost the engine in my 1987 Chaparal due to bad manifolds filling a couple cylinders with water. The manifolds were about 15 years old in mixed salt/fresh usage. Well, technically the engine was rebuildable, but I decided to sell As-Is, and get my Four Winns.

_________________

"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

My engine is original at 26 years old, at least half of that is in salt water. When I got it, (2002 when it was 14 years old) it had the original manifolds (I could tell because they had the 4.3 stickers on them). I had them replaced in 2004, then ran those till 2010 and installed the 3rd set on it then, which are still on it now. I've never had water in a cylinder ever, I like the one piece design and wish I could still get them. Hi Tek Marine in Australia makes stainless steel one piece manifolds for both the V8 and the V6 but they are very pricey. However, since they would probably last twice as long in salt water they might be worth it....

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Last year Alan at Hi Tek offered me a price of $2000 for their SST manifolds (regular $2500). Great looking product, weighs less, flows better, and probably last 3 times as long. Unfortunately I couldn't spring for that price tag, so I settled with a $600 cast iron set.

_________________

"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings