www.iFourWinns.com

yes rjrose, I had the same problem. It turned out to be a loose flange on the water pump. The fresh water pump, water tank and some other fittings are all behind the wood panel at the foot of the bed. If you remove the drawer, you can reach down to the starboard side and feel the water pump. Mine was wet and water came out under the panel.

To remove this panel you must get a short phillips screwdriver. Remove drawer and reach inside. There are four screws holding the panel and a few more holding the drawer slide. The screws holding the panel can be felt by reaching in the drawer hole. They all have the heads facing the front of the boat and screw through a fiberglass bulkhead into the wood panel. Two are below the hole about halfway to the floor and two are above the drawer. Watch out the fiberglass is roughly finished and will chew up your hands. Once you get those four screws out, follow the slide rails back and you can see some screws pointing up into the bottom of the fiberglass under the bed. Remove those and the whole wood panel will pop out. It's PITA to remove this and even worse to re-install.

But now you can find your leak and fix it.

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2008 V358 Two-tone Blue V/P Dual Prop 320 HP
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

Just a thought, but when I had to service my water pump I removed molded the fiberglass under the berth where the salon table is stowed and had terrific access. It didn't seem to be the PITA that doing through the drawer is.
Will this give the access needed to deal with this issue?

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

How do you get that piece out? I thought the whole under bed fiberglass structure was one piece. I didn't see an easy way to remove it. I'm all ears because my wife is still complaining that the draw doesn't close as flush as it did before. I'm not looking forward to fiberglass knuckles again.

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2008 V358 Two-tone Blue V/P Dual Prop 320 HP
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

It is one large piece held in by a bunch of screws - as I recall you have to remove the struts that hold up the bed and have a person or two to hang on to the bed or find a way to prop it up while you're working (it's heavy). Access to the water pump, fresh water tank and, if you've got one, the bow thruster.

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

Holy Sh#!, batmen. Either way it sounds like a royal PITA! Thanx for the info. I'll take another look this weekend. Sierra - the loose flange - is that part of the pump or the mounting apparatus?

What's mystifying is the leak isn't (apparently) continuing - although I guess water could be draining into the bilge.

In retrospect, the pump does seem to be louder than before and it seems to run longer.

Too bad the designers didn't provide an access panel for maintenance!

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2006 348 Vista
"some days you're the bug and some days you're the windshield"

sorry i meant to ask jrcinn the flange question.

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2006 348 Vista
"some days you're the bug and some days you're the windshield"

Well I guess the drawer panel is the easy access. Other than the rough fiberglass it isn't that tough. It's only four screws.

The water pump has a quick connect fitting held on with a plastic clip. On mine the clip fell off.

This is the pump:

http://www.shurflo.com/pdf/Marine/produ ... 1-1201.pdf

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2008 V358 Two-tone Blue V/P Dual Prop 320 HP
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

Long time viewer of iFourWinns, just registered.

2007 Vista 358 used primarily on the Upper Chesepeake Bay - Sassafras River.

I have mysterious water inleakage into the bilge from the drain plug hole. I ensured that the drain plug was installed with thread sealant (caulk) prior to launch. I wiped down & vacuumed all water from the bilge and see minor weepage from the drain hole. Is there a cavity between the interior hole and the plug that has other sources of water input? Any other ideas?

Thanks,

Paul

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Transcendence II
2007 Vista 358

welcome! I never saw your 358, do you take it to fairlee? If one was to overtighten the drain plug at some point the sealant behind the drain plug mount could be compromised. Also, the three screws holding in that brass housing are easily overcome if you over torque the DP. I'd pull the boat and inspect the housing and be ready to re-seal it with 5K 3M sealant.

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V475
Chris Craft Catalina 23 w/ 300 G2
Previously-V338, 248 Vista, H210

Welcome Paul!

I don't have anything to suggest beyond what mkivbren said but I do know from a wet bilge. I experience water between the two primary stringers on the starboard side of my ER. It's not severe and not constant so I haven't really taken the time to nail it down. Please let us know what you find.

Of course, if you're a long-time lurker here, you know we want to see some pictures!!

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Previously:
2008 V358/Volvo 5.7 GXi Inboards

Thanks for the welcomes and suggestions. Three DP mounting screws were checked and seemed tight before launch. Not dramatic enough of a leak to pull the boat out . . . yet. Next time I'm over the side and in the water I'll check it again from the outside - carefully! If I find anything this weekend, I'll let you know.

Still Pond, Fairlee, Rock Hall & Baltimore Inner Harbor are some of our favorites. Planning a 10 day cruise to Washington, DC (National Marina), Herrington Harbor South and Balt. Inner Harbor at the end of June. Marina's with Pools and shore-side showers keep the wife and kids happy! We hang on the hook on weekends.

Will work on the pictures!!

Thanks again.

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Transcendence II
2007 Vista 358

Hi Everyone,
I want to replace my house battery which I believe is going bad. What is the group number of the one I already have as standard equipment on my 2008 V358 and can I put a larger group battery in there without affecting the charger from doing its job? At this time I am not interested in adding an additional battery just a swap out will do for now. I believe my start batteries are Gel types, what type do you recommend for the house battery. I think mine is a regular lead acid one now. Can i mix and match and not confuse the charger?

Second topic. Does the V358 have an amp for the stereo in the cockpit or is it just the 4x52 watts of the Sony stereo?

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2008 Four Winns V358 (T 6.2L Merc Bravo III's with DTS and SeaCore)
2006 Sea Ray 340DA
2006 Sea Ray 320DA
2005 Maxum 3100 SE

You can charge pretty much any size battery with your charger, I would put the biggest that will physically fit. I don't have the charger manual handy but I'm pretty sure it will support different types of batteries, as long as you don't mix them on the same output.

You should have an amplifier for the cockpit stereo behind the cabin couch. Remove the back cushion nearest the stereos, its just velco. The cabin stereo has no amp, is uses the amplfier built into the stereo.

While we are on the stereo subject:

Does any one know if the 6 CD changer can read MP3? The Sony head units do, but it doesn't seem like the changer does.

Does any one else have a problem turning the cockpit stereo on after it has been off? Sometimes at night the displays bug me so I turn them off by pressing the off button till they are dark. Then the cockpit unit will not come back on, the cabin unit does. I have to turn off and on the main cabin breaker to get the cockpit stereo to come on again.

Finally, where are the Sirius receivers, anyone know?

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2008 V358 Two-tone Blue V/P Dual Prop 320 HP
Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

Could be several things, but I'd start with water coming down in around the washdown hose. We've had a lot of rain and that gets into the shore power locker (where the hose is located). That drains directly down into the bilge and runs, more or less, to the area between the two engine stringers. Trouble is the limber holes between the stringers and the center bilge are just a bit too high up. This leaves a gallon or so water in the stringer area. It's a bit annoying. Enough that I may add a drain in that locker. I added one to the aft seat locker and plumbed it's hose into the same one draining the swim platform lockers. I'd probably tie into that one, or drop a hose down into the center bilge.

Second thing to check is the tubing fittings. The shore water line comes into a tee with one end leading to the cockpit sink and the other up to the head/galley. If they're not securely connected they can weep a bit of water, but usually only when the pressure changes (like when start/stopping a spigot). When I added a water filter I didn't reconnect one of mine securely and had that happen. The tee is up above the outside starboard stringer area (mine's got inboard engines) and drips from just about the same point as the shower hose hole.

Third, could be a leaking water heater. Mine developed a split and leaked probably around a cup of water per hour, really barely a trickle. But it saturated the insulation around the internal, spherical shaped, chamber. I really don't like anything electric getting wet. Replacing the heater solved this. I determined this was leaking by putting a bunch of dry paper towels down along the outside stringer edge and watching to see what got wet. Took a bit of time as the leak was slow and a bit inconsistent.

Fourth, and this would be worse, would be the main seacock. Again, the paper towel trick can help with the detection. But if this were leaking the water in the bilge would be a bit nasty. A fresh water leak from the plumbing or rain water would leave the bilge wet but the water clear.

I'd start by trying to figure out if it was fresh or salt water collecting there.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Yep, that whole front piece IS the access panel.

I pull the drawer (which is a bit of a hassle since we have the forward stateroom option) and then use a right-angle dewalt cordless drill to remove the screws. Then a shorty philips screwdriver to remove the four screws into the front panel. Then the whole panel, with the drawer slide box, comes off. Allows lots of access to the tank and the pump. Given that neither are considered regular maintenance items this isn't too much of a procedure to access them. But yes, the inside edges of that area are rough and I hate the itchy fiberglass feeling it leaves.

Perhaps the top panel (under the mattress) is different on the newer units. But on my 348 there is no way to easily remove it. I wish they'd used this area more effectively. It'd make a great place to stow both the salon and the cockpit tables. This would probably require using a smaller water tank, but I'd be willing to make that trade-off.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista