www.iFourWinns.com

Hi everyone, nice site, enjoyed looking thru the Horizon posts so now its time to put questions here.

I am looking at purchasing 1985 190 Horizon. So far I have taken it to the "lake" had some fun, found trim guage does not appear to work, gas guage does not work, volt meter started at 8 but tapped on it and it went to 13, oil pressure started at 45 jumped up while I was tapping on volt meter then settled down to under 20, water temp not working but feeling engine no indication of over heating. Fans work and friend said he heard bilge pump running when switched on. Engine is 350 Chevy, seemed a little sluggish til warmed up then ran fine, topped out at 37 according to speedo which is fast enuff for me. Hull appears solid, usual scrapes and decal peeling, over all nice in appearance, a little scrape on the bottom but thinking some gel coat will fix. Is there a hull check? Was told to tap with some kind of metal object and listen for solid sounds to detect delamintain. Throttle has an odd way of decelerating, it comes back so far then the rpms drop like a rock and the boat settles into "off plane", a detectable clunk when going from reverse to neutral then ino forward, probably there to when going into forward but didn't notice or forgot, hey I'm older, lol. A little water in bottom of engine compartment, pulled bilge plug and about 2+ gallons of old funky water left, forgot to look in the engine comp to see if it was dry. I know nothing of these boats and the mercruiser set up, says 260 on the engine, can't be HP is it? Ok then, any of you here who can advise me I would be very greatful, have not put a deposit or made an offer yet. Thanks. Tom L

Ok took the first step, 1985 FW 190H Open....I own it! Now let the fun and leanring begin..hope the learning curve isn't to big lol Tom

I'm definitely not the resident mechanic, but a 350 of that year should be 260 h.p.
Speedo might be off, I bet it goes faster than 37.
The throttle can be adjusted some how. Try to find a repair manual for that year engine.
That will cover a lot of questions.
Any pics ?

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2002 Horizon 190 5.0gl

19' with a 350 should do alot more than 37 - mine will hit 50 in a 20'

yea....

I would agree with everyone. I have a 195 Horizon cuddy with the 170 4 cylinder and that will do about 38 with 3 people in it.

I would have the bellows all checked, etc. You want to be sure that the mechanicals are perfect (or at least operational) before going too far.

Find a good mechanic that you trust and go from there.

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Don't forget the plug....
.......Don't ever forget the plug......

Hello again, Yes I now know 37 is wrong. I tracked down one of the previous owners and he had it checked with a GPS and told me he had it up to 55.

The instuments are crapola tho, oil prssure guage all over, volt meter needle fell off, gas guage stuck on full, speedo takes fits and stays on 0 sometimes, trim works if you tap on the face. Water temp I do believe is working proper but have to tap it now and then. I am going to mount an extra set; oil/water/volts later.
The previous owner said 4-5 hours on a tank of gas pulling skier/tube not wot all the time, 1 gal per hour just lazee cruising. In thinking tho 4-5 hours is a lot of time on water, so the gas guage will have to wait.

Thanks for the replys. Tom L

How does one go about putting a pic on this site? I will get some when we're on the water. TL

Well I have enjoyed my Horizon but decided to take it to an authorized Mercruiser repair shop....water pump check and the mechanic suggested letting him pull the lower drive and gave a $ quote. Today I got the call..the kind probably no one wants..gimble bearing bad and that part of the unit has water in it! No further damage he says but requested I come look before making repairs, which he had a $ quote ready. I would like to hear from anyone who has had these kind of repairs as a price comparison, ball park is fine. My estimate is $1200.00. TL

I had the bellows replaced with the gimble a few years ago and it cost about a grand if I remember right but the mechanic may have done a few other things at the same time...
That's why I pull off the drive after each season....to make sure there is no water in the bellows....

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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

Thanks Lou. I went down to the boat shop and took a look at repairs in progress as the Mechanic asked of me. I am pleased with his thoroghness and gave the go ahead to repair. Just the gimbal bearing, shift linkage, bellows and related soft parts plus new water pump. I asked about labor and was, as I supected, told it is quite "labor intense" to make these fixes. Luckily nothing else damaged, u-joints are solid/tight too. Since I bought this boat used and prior owners never mentioned any of these type inspections I am not suprised, but it will be right now. Tom