www.iFourWinns.com

My boat stinks..... I am thinking something crawled in and died over the winter, but there are no telltale signs either (nesting/droppings etc) last place I need to look is the fuel tank compt which involves pulling more of the boat apart than I want while its on the water. Considering filling it up with water/simple green mixture driving it around on the lake then pumping it over with the bilge pump. (Its got a bit of scuzzy water in there now) I need to pull the boat in a couple weeks for Lake George trip but trying to avoid getting it out early.

no access to a hose on the dock, was thinking probably foolishly of removing a freeze plug or water hose and running the motor to let water in. Not comfortable pulling the plug on the water but I did think about it.

Any other opinions. (besides the correct idea of pulling the boat and doing it the right way )

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Jon Miller
1998 four Winns Horizon H200
Volvo Penta 4.3 GL
Newtown, CT

untitled-545 by millerjont, on Flickr

On mine during the season when it rains I always get a bit of water in the ski locker but not to the point where it stinks. Winter storage I use a cover that's pretty water proof.
Does yours have a hatch over the gas tank hatch? Mine does, the rear seats have to come out to remove it but I did this once with it in the water to check out what I thought was a fuel smell. Good idea to check all the hose clamps and the gasket for the fuel sending unit anyway. Do you fish? A bit of old bait will stink like nothing else. Happend once and only once lol.

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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

no fishing, I have had mice in the fuel locker area but since taping it up last few winters no issues....suspect that is where the problem is, I can pull the rear seat out on a matter of minutes but I don't really want to be 'that guy' at the dock or piss off the management too much....not to mention the heat advisory for next two days in our neck of the woods.

what do you think of pulling a freeze plug and running the engine to get water into the boat? Last time I pulled a hose while running water came out at an alarming rate .....I do have one of those cheap scopes I am going to fish into the fuel tank area and see if it sees anything.

_________________
Jon Miller
1998 four Winns Horizon H200
Volvo Penta 4.3 GL
Newtown, CT

untitled-545 by millerjont, on Flickr

Pulling a freeze plug is something I would not do. What if you can't easily get it back in? Is there a hose at the dock? Just do it real early in the morning when there is no one around. Our dock has a hose I've used a few times. I keep my boat on a mooring so I can do stuff there all the time. I've changed thermostats, points, plugs, check the tank connections, etc over the years. If no hose pick up a garden sprayer and fill it with water and dawn dish soap. I used a garden sprayer to clean the bird crap off. But I would not under any circumstances pull a freeze plug or even a drain plug. You drop it, it disappears in the murky bilge water. Not a fun time!

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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

HA.....your correct but I did it anyway. It actually worked pretty well, freeze plug lets about as much water in as a hose, pulled the bilge pump fuse, ran the motor 10 minutes and filled it up a few inches, re-installed...dumped in a half gallon of simple green in, went for a ride to shake it all up then let the pump send it overboard. At least now it smells like home cleaner instead:) Time will tell if I solved the problem, will get a better look in a few weeks either way.

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Jon Miller
1998 four Winns Horizon H200
Volvo Penta 4.3 GL
Newtown, CT

untitled-545 by millerjont, on Flickr

You’re a brave man lol. Here in the salt pond the last thing you want is salt water spraying out of anything in the bilge. But a garden sprayer is a nice thing to keep on the boat to clean things.

_________________
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

I think a couple scoops with a 5-gallonbucket would have been a safer option, but glad it worked out for you and hopefully the smell is gone.

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1999 180 Horizon OB Fisherman Pkg
San Antonio, TX

Choice of tow vehicle:
'93 Explorer 4x4 (sold)
'05 Grand Cherokee 4x4 w/ 5.7 Hemi (member of the 240k+ mile club!)

Yea this wouldn’t have been attempted without a worst case scenario plan in place…..drive up and freeze plug out it just trickles in….just a short paddle to ramp to trailer boat home…just avoiding the drama of possibly having my 16 year old volvoxc90 make its last pull out of the water…she only has a few left I fear

_________________
Jon Miller
1998 four Winns Horizon H200
Volvo Penta 4.3 GL
Newtown, CT

untitled-545 by millerjont, on Flickr