H200 Engine Access

Poco · **Joined:** Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:45 pm **Posts:** 7

I have recently purchased a 1998 FW H200 with the VP 5.0Gi. Its a great boat and was well maintained. We have been enjoying it all summer. I do my own maintenance and I am looking ahead to routine engine maintenance at the end of the season. This is the sport model with the bench seat. I see I will have to remove the seat to access the engine. Can anyone give me the quick course on how to do that? I see lots of screws and brackets but I am not sure which need to be removed.

My son has a 2006 FW H200 and the engine is very easy to access and work on. It is not the sport seating so quick removal of the engine cover allows access to everything. Of course it has a relocated oil filter and a crankshaft driven raw water pump.

I am new to the forum and have been enjoying reading all the posts. I have spent most of my time on the VP forum learning about I/O drives and proper maintenance.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

captkevin · **Posted:** Mon Aug 22, 2016 9:30 pm

Had a 1999 200 with the sport interior & i feel your pain. Start with removing the top piece. There are a couple screws at the end & a few across the top. Then start unscrewing The back. Unfortunately you have to take out all the screws. It is a little overwhelming the 1st time but just takes a little time. Once unscrewed the whole white piece pulls out. Access is pretty good then. Wish i took pictures for you.

rpengr · **Posted:** Tue Aug 23, 2016 1:31 pm

captkevin wrote:

Had a 1999 200 with the sport interior & i feel your pain. Start with removing the top piece. There are a couple screws at the end & a few across the top. Then start unscrewing The back. Unfortunately you have to take out all the screws. It is a little overwhelming the 1st time but just takes a little time. Once unscrewed the whole white piece pulls out. Access is pretty good then. Wish i took pictures for you.

Here is a photo of how good the access can be when the entire rear bench is removed, from my similar year H240.
captkevin gives a good description.

I remember taking the shoulder bolts out that hold the bench seat (folding futon) to the base box, and removing the seat bottom and back together (hinges still attached). Then removing all the nuts that hold the headrest bar...two or three at each end under the gunnels (the hardest part), and several across the back. Then removing the starboard support box from the floor. I lifted the whole white starboard box out in one piece with a helper because it's very heavy.

Finding the nuts under the gunnels was best done with a cell phone camera, then reaching under "in the blind" to remove them. I have only done this once so far in 4 years. Other times I just contort around the engine.

Ray

LouC · **Posted:** Tue Aug 23, 2016 8:25 pm

About 10 years ago I replaced the deck and re did the interior in mine. At that time I decided to make it easier to work on by dividing the rear bulkhead behind the seats in half with a hinge in the middle that comes apart. I used seating for pontoon boat for the rear seat (2-36" benches). So I can take which ever one I need to take out one at a time...

Graham R · **Posted:** Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:16 pm

If it's anything like a 1999 Sundowner I had, the rear seat and engine compartment sub structures are made of "Starboard" (polyethylene I think, but maybe PP, no matter). Expect the screws to remove a coil of starboard as they are removed. easily rectified, put in some stainless pronged tees which allow machine screws to be used instead of the normal screws; never a problem again. Once everything above the floor around the engine is removed, superb access.

Jdpber · **Posted:** Wed Aug 24, 2016 3:26 pm

this is my 1993 with the seat slid forward. If you need more room then either the engine needs to be removed or you should not be working on it yourself.

TX H210SS · **Joined:** Thu May 27, 2010 9:10 am **Posts:** 1488

If you don't have the remote oil filter then I would seriously consider adding one while you have the seat removed. Not having it will make you dread the oil changes.

For years I suffered without one on my prior boats....my current boat came with it and oil changes are now a simple beer sipping event. All it is really is a bolt on adapter at the filter fitting that has two lines that leads to new mount location on top end of motor. That and a manual vacuum oil pump to drain oil makes life way easier.

Poco · **Joined:** Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:45 pm **Posts:** 7

After reading the posts and suggestions I went out and looked at mine again. I think 98 and 99 are different. I see that my "futon" will come out easily by removing the four plastic toggle nuts and bolts. It looks like I can then remove the whole bench box by removing 9 screws. Yes it's a lot. Three on each side of the box going into the floor and one each on each engine side panel and front brace. These 3 are in brackets. The box then should move forward and out leaving the engine side panels and top head rest in place. This should give adequate access to the front.

It looks like some thought was given to making this doable but seems like if could be easier. I'll give it a try next week and see if it works.

jontmiller · **Joined:** Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:16 am **Posts:** 296

If your doing any kind of routine MX I would suggest removing the whole setup. (from the sounds of it its the same as mine)

At the end of the season I remove the bench (the one that turns into a bed/futon) the sun pad, then its pretty easy to scope out the brackets and bench parts that hold it all together. While the individual parts are heavy its really nowhere near as complex as say a late model automobile interior.

For the first two seasons I did all the Mx on the boat without removing the seats, and found myself upside down more often than not, with grease grime and cus words all over the seats. Now in about 15 minutes everything is put in the basement and leaves a more civilized work place for the engine. just a thought. While I have room in my basement for everything, there is plenty of room to leave them apart in the boat for winter storage as well. Makes it a bit easier for cleanup as well.

Poco · **Joined:** Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:45 pm **Posts:** 7

Thanks Jon. Sounds like they are the same except mine is the 5.0L and yours is the 4.3L. Same problem. I agree with what you said. Except the sun deck just hinges in the back and is well out of the way. Did you actually remove it? I found that removing the driver seat made it easier to get the whole bench out. I left the head rest in. There were 3 bolts from it into the bench that easily pulled out as I lifted and removed the bench. It doesn't really interfere and a previous owner had modified the end attachment so I didn't want to mess with it.

Once out it made access doable. I don't think its possible to access the raw water pump with the bench in. Easy with the bench out. I agree standing on your head is not fun.

My thought is to cut a hole in the back of the bench to make access easier. The engine side panels have big cutouts that are covered with a snap in cover/pouch so that access to the side of the engine is easier. It could be covered back several ways to maintain the strength. It would not be as good as total bench removal but might work. Any thoughts along that line? I am still pondering that solution.
Mike

jontmiller · **Joined:** Thu Jul 26, 2012 8:16 am **Posts:** 296

Typing on an iPad ...

If I were doing mid season repairs I would leave the sun pad on like you but for winter storage it has nothing to rest on while closed with the bench removed.....those supports ( engine access panels ) and such all come out and go in easy ( carpet marks make reassembly a snap) and it's all just help with screws, drill driver and its out on a few minutes.

If I was just doing an oil change or tightening belts I wouldn't take it out...but that water pump could go either way. I replaced the impeller without removing the interior and it wasn't that bad....just much easier with it removed in hindsight..

The swivel front chairs are the first to come out in this process....much more room that way

Just re-read your post.....in my slow haphazard fashion I could remove the bench and reinstall in less time than I could dig up a drill and saw blade cut a hole. that said I don't think it would cause problems cutting an access hole....just not worth it IMO

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H200 Engine Access

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