www.iFourWinns.com

Hello,
I am a new owner of a 19' 1995 FourWinns Sundowner and so far I have had pretty bad luck. After replacing many parts early this season, a bearing in the lower gear exploted the second time I took the boat out, and after getting a $4K quote for a new one, I decided to pull the boat out for now. The boatyard that looked at the boat did not put back the out drive and now I need to wintering an engine that is missing the outdrive. I am not sure how to do this or if I need to run water/antifreeze in order to properly winterize the motor. Any help/thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
PS I just purchased the repair manual but couldnt find much.

You can run the engine if the drive is off, you have to rig something up to feed water to the impeller on the engine (if it's a 95 engine/drive it should have the Volvo style pump on the engine. The basic steps are to run it till warm, change the motor oil and the filter, run it again to check for leaks, then fog the motor and drain the block (one drain on each side, low down by the starter on the starboard side and by the dipstick tube on the port side). Drain the manifolds (some have a drain plug, some use a rubber cap). Remove the big hose going to the water pump on the front of the engine (automotive style pump on the front) at the bottom and let that drain, that hose and the water pump hold a lot of water. Lastly drain the hoses going to the raw water pump on the engine (these are sometimes mounted on the crankshaft pulley, sometimes on the engine driven by a belt). Get ALL the water OUT...don't worry about Antifreeze till ALL the water is OUT. Then you can fill the engine through the big hose by re-connecting it at the bottom end, when a bit of AF comes out the drains then replace the plugs and fill the engine till AF appears at the thermo housing neck. Then re-connect the upper end of that big hose. Next fill the manifolds through the hoses that feed them from the thermo housing, same like with the block. Lastly fill the raw water pump hoses with AF as well. That's it!

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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

Thank you very much for the info, I really appreciate it.
Just a follow up question- I changed the oil/ filters in the spring
And I really only took the boat out twice- do I need to repeat this?
Thank you very much in advance

Well if the oil only has such low hours on it, maybe not, as long as you change it in the spring. Hopefully you will get the outdrive issues straightened out so you can have a good season next year.

_________________
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

Thank you again. Hoping for much better luck too.
Just need to find a rebuilt or used lower gear during winter. If you know or can suggest
Places or Internet sites, I would appreciate it.

Do you have an OMC drive (if it's a 95 engine then it's the joint venture product which is really a Volvo) or a Merc drive?

because if it's a Merc Alpha then low cost aftermarket drives are available from SEI, they come with a good warrantee, I have never used them but they have a good rep over on http://www.iboats.com...
Other vendor I have used for small parts is
http://www.dougrussell.com I have bought Cobra parts from them but never anything as expensive as a drive. If I needed a new drive I might convert my Cobra to an Alpha with the SEI kit or have my mechanic (excellent) rebuild the Cobra since it's given me great service...

the joint venture drive is a good one and parts are out there because it's Volvo but Volvo drive prices are more expensive (the SX drive is more comparable to a Merc Bravo I than an Alpha)...

_________________
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