www.iFourWinns.com

The problem I am having is the ski locker located in the center of the boat doesn't drain worth beans. It appears to be draining but like an ounce a minute. I tried flushing it with a hose from inside the locker in the drain hole towards the stern with no luck. I tried fishing it with a snake and the snake only went in less than a foot and it dead ended against a wall. I have the 230 tilted up in the front on the trailer so the pitch is certainly no problem. Anyone know what the issue could be. Mike thought it might be a shifted gas tank??

thanks mucho

jeff

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2005 Horizon 230 5.7 GI/DP 280-HP
2005 Suburban "The Battlewagon"

I recall reading about this, the issue was that the gas tank shifted slightly and blocked the drain....the tabs to secure the plastic tank may have to be replaced or re-mounted...the old aluminum tank in my 88 has welded on tabs that mount to the stringers. TThe pic I saw of how the tanks are mounted on the newer FWs didn't look all that secure to me...the old system of alu tank with tabs seems more secure..but I'm sure there is a way of fixing it properly.

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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

I had the same problem!! What is happening is the fuel tank on mine moved forward about a 1/2" and blocking the drain. So i ran the tank almost dry and moved the rear support panel to the other side of the brackets. Which should give you about a 1/2" of extra room. Then i took a piece of 2" neoprene the width of the tank and put it between the bulkhead and tank. This solved my drain problem, but on mine the drain tube had a bad seal so the bulkhead filled with water. Once i re-caulked it everything has been fine. DREW

Hey Drew, that sounds like what I need to do, can I ask for some more detail on the procedure please.

How exactly does the shifting of the tank forward block the flow from the ski locker?
Did you have to completely remove the tank to do the repair?
When you say buklhead do you mean the wall in front of the tank towards the bow?
Did you have to remove the large access panel over the tank to do the work?

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2005 Horizon 230 5.7 GI/DP 280-HP
2005 Suburban "The Battlewagon"

I had the same problem on my 2007 H220. Basically the drain tube goes through the bulkhead (horizontal). The tank was pushed up tight against the bulkhead which was blocking flow. I had to remove many of the boards and panels starting in front of the engine and working back to where I could could get at the hole in the bulkhead. Slide the fuel tank back an inch or two from the bulkhead and water flows freely. Put some foam or rubber in between the bulkhead and tank, taking care to ensure it can't fall down to block the drain tube in the bulkhead.
I suspect there are many Four Winns boats out there with this problem due to the design. Four Winns should be installing a spacer to prevent this from happening.

I think it took most of an afternoon to complete this, have various short, long screwdrivers handy, as well as a small cordless drill. Make sure your gas tank is near empty, and take other precautions since you are working near fuel, no smoking, set up a fan blowing etc.

If it is still under warranty and you have a good dealer I would take it in to them. I did mine myself since I wanted to understand what the problem was and fix it, and I figured it would take longer to schedule a drop off and pick up from the dealer than to just do it myself and we didn't want the boat sitting at the dealer during sumer.

Let us know what you do, take pictures

Good Luck
Doug

Blueman,
It is pretty much like doug said and yes you do have to remove the large access door. Once you do this you will see what i am talking about as far as the rear panel and brackets. You do not have to remove the tank!! The bulkhead is the wall in front of the tank. That bulkhead is full of foam. I could never get at the drain from the rear, without pulling the tank. But everything is draining fine. Drew

I removed the big access panel over the gas tank and I can see the tank, hoses, etc.

I am kind of baffled. The front of the gas tank is snug against the rear of the ski locker wall (bulkhead). The rear of the tank is snug against the rear PVC support plate that is held in with 2 aluminum L brackets. It looks like there is no room for it to move forward or back, so I am not sure how it may have moved forward.

So, I am assuming my next step is to drain the gas, remove the rear support plate and brackets, and then simply slide the tank back. Insert a spacer to stop the tank from moving forward, etc.

My question is, what exactly is the drain from the ski locker?? Is it simply a drain hole that empties into the bilge under the gas tank or is there a hose?

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2005 Horizon 230 5.7 GI/DP 280-HP
2005 Suburban "The Battlewagon"

Hey Jeff,
It is just a tube that drains into the bilge and under the tank. Now see the rear panel? All i did was put it on the other side (or rear)of the brackets. This will only give you about 3/4". This so far has worked well for me. Any more questions feel free to ask!!! Drew

Yes I forgot to mention that I had to move the rear bracket back a bit and redrill the holes to hold the rear bracket in place. Sorry.
I seem to remember something about being careful and worried about drilling the new screw holes.

Doug

OK, so this is what I did:
1. I took a utility knife and cut the silicon seal around the large hatch that is directly above the gas tank and removed the 6 screws, the hatch came right off.
2. The gas tank appears to be right against the bukhead wall towards the bow. I bought a 3/8 Polyethelyne hose 25' long and put it into the vent tube at the front of th tank and syphoned out most of the gas, probably left 10 gallons in there. I also removed the 4 screws holding on the L brackets holding the white plastic support at the rear of the tank accessible from the engine compartment.
3. My son and I pushed with our feet on the gas tank and it slid easily backward exposing the drain hole that connects from the ski locker. To my suprize there is a small 1" by 18" plastic bar a few inches off the floor near the drain that looks possibly factory installed to keep the tank spaced off bulkhead.
4. No for the silly part. I had already tried to flush out the drain hole with high pressure water from the ski locker and tried to fish it with a wire, but when I did it now a big clump of crap came out into the gas tank bilge area, voila problem solved! I tested the fix several times by putting the tank back in place and flooding the ski locker with water and it drained every time quickly so I guess that was the issue. I have to put the cover back on and Silicon it shut.
4. I am in the process of creating some kind of drain screen cover so that I never have to go through all that to simply clear a clogged drain hole. that's it!

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2005 Horizon 230 5.7 GI/DP 280-HP
2005 Suburban "The Battlewagon"

Bluesman, What does the drain look like on the other side of the bulkhead? Is there a hose attached to that fitting you see in the locker? Where do you think the blockage was??

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2004 230 Horizon
5.7GI/SX
Towed by a 2000 Expedition

Nope, no hose just a hole, the blockage was leaves and crap in a pretty solid ball that was so big that the small gap on the gas tank side would not let it flow out even under garden hose pressure into the gas tank bilge. I think next time if it got clogged I would try harder with a coat hanger and some long needlenose pliers to pull it back out through the ski locker opening.

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2005 Horizon 230 5.7 GI/DP 280-HP
2005 Suburban "The Battlewagon"

I ran into the same problem with my Sundowner. The front of the tank can be seen from inside the cuddy. I found a candy wrapper blocking my drain hole. Lucky the tank was almost empty when I moved the tank foward 1".

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97 205 Sundowner

In our 2005 230 we had the same problem. Our dealer had to move the gas tank back about an inch and it solved the issue. I guess the factory is pushing them too far forward and when the tank is full, it bows just enough to block the tiny channel to drain back to the bilge.

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Jnizi

2007 Vista 338 "Better Yet"
Previously:
2007 Vista 258 " Just Right"
2005 Horizon 230