New vista 238 owner

crenche · **Joined:** Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:04 pm **Posts:** 18

Hello all. I am the new owner of a 1995 Four Winns Vista 238. I have had boats all growing up and ran across this beautiful vista on Craigslist. The price was too good to be true. Apparently the boat was a trade in for a motorcycle. The motorcycle shop didn't realize what they had and priced it low. I quickly acted and placed a down payment on it. The next day I picked it up. I bought her for the amazing price of 5000 dollars including tax, title, and transfer fees. The bad was that I believe it had been sitting in salt water for a while and didn't change out the anodes. So there are quite a bit of pitting on the omc cobra/sx out drive. I checked the outdrive oil and is full and clean. Nothing electrical worked on the boat but with a new battery and some scanning it turns out that almost everything works. Very excited about the find. I'm loving the extra room and having a blast.
I have been lurking for a while now and reading about potential problems which is great to know what to look for.

crenche · **Joined:** Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:04 pm **Posts:** 18

I also wanted to mention a few of the repairs I have done to the boat so far. The in dash Lowrance LSA-1 depth finder was intermittently working and now has completely stopped working. I wend ahead and bought a new depth finder by hawkeye. The new depth finder is much nicer than the previous and has many new functions to it such as water and air temp and low depth alarm.
As you guys may or may not know my dash has all of the dials all in one piece. I wanted to place the new depth finder in a similar place as the old one instead of drilling a entirely new hole. So I used my dremel tool and cut out the old display and made room for the new. It took a little manufacturing but I made it fit. Love it now.

I would try to post a picture but am having trouble posting pics. Can anyone help with that?

crenche · **Joined:** Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:04 pm **Posts:** 18

Also one more thing.
Since having this boat I have noticed that the performance of the boat is a little sluggish. At least it feels this way. It does take a while to get out of the hole. I seem to plow in the hole for a while. This was helped by the addition of a cavitation plate fin but seems to still be a little slow. Is this the nature of the boat or is there something I am missing to help the power?
Any help would be appreciated.

LVChris · **Posted:** Wed Jun 03, 2015 11:52 pm

Crenche, welcome to the family! We need pictures. As for the sluggish-ness, what prop are you running?

DougT01 · **Joined:** Wed May 20, 2015 6:44 pm **Posts:** 121

I think on the forum home page there is a category named Forum Help. It has a tutorial on how to post pictures.
The pictures have to be sized correctly and then placed on Photo Bucket website or similar URL.
Then you click on the Img icon in your thread and insert the web address of your pictures.

Doug

crenche · **Joined:** Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:04 pm **Posts:** 18

LVChris wrote:

Crenche, welcome to the family! We need pictures. As for the sluggish-ness, what prop are you running?

My prop is the original measurement 14.5 x 19 pitch.
As far as pictures I'm trying to figure out how to post. I'm mainly using my phone. I'll post some just as soon as I can.

GottWhat · **Posted:** Thu Jun 04, 2015 8:34 am

Congrats and welcome to the forum!

I know all about pitted outdrives. My cousin just refinished mine, looks much better now. It is something you should take care of sooner rather than later. Did you install new/correct anodes?

LVChris · **Posted:** Thu Jun 04, 2015 10:13 am

crenche wrote:

LVChris wrote:

Crenche, welcome to the family! We need pictures. As for the sluggish-ness, what prop are you running?

My prop is the original measurement 14.5 x 19 pitch.
As far as pictures I'm trying to figure out how to post. I'm mainly using my phone. I'll post some just as soon as I can.

crenche I think it's your prop. Mine came with a 15x17 ran fine but it was stainless and that's dangerous around here. So I bought an aluminum 14.5x19 thinking I should go with original specs. Boat ran horrible..almost a full minute to get on plane. Swapped that with a 15x17 aluminum and it ran well again.

http://www.smwebhead.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13827

crenche · **Joined:** Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:04 pm **Posts:** 18

LVChris wrote:

crenche wrote:

LVChris wrote:

Crenche, welcome to the family! We need pictures. As for the sluggish-ness, what prop are you running?

My prop is the original measurement 14.5 x 19 pitch.
As far as pictures I'm trying to figure out how to post. I'm mainly using my phone. I'll post some just as soon as I can.

crenche I think it's your prop. Mine came with a 15x17 ran fine but it was stainless and that's dangerous around here. So I bought an aluminum 14.5x19 thinking I should go with original specs. Boat ran horrible..almost a full minute to get on plane. Swapped that with a 15x17 aluminum and it ran well again.

http://www.smwebhead.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13827

Good to know about the different prop. Maybe when I get some extra money I'll invest in a new prop. Too bad there is no one around here that will allow to try out a new prop. Thanks for the info LVCHRIS

GottWhat · **Posted:** Thu Jun 04, 2015 12:48 pm

If you search craigslist and ebay, you can typically find a good used prop. If it doesn't work out, you can sell it for what you paid for it.

crenche · **Joined:** Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:04 pm **Posts:** 18

I think I finally figured out the picture posting

crenche · **Joined:** Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:04 pm **Posts:** 18

crenche · **Joined:** Wed Jun 03, 2015 9:04 pm **Posts:** 18

LouC · **Posted:** Thu Jun 04, 2015 4:07 pm

The drive doesn't look bad for salt use but the trailer looks bent and in need of replacement. If the manifolds and risers have not been replaced in the last few years better check them or else it could cause problems (hydro lock)

rpengr · **Posted:** Thu Jun 04, 2015 4:50 pm

Looks like you got a steel!

But like Lou said, the first thing I would check is the Exhaust Manifolds and Risers. They might be overdue for changing and badly corroded (which can leak water into your cylinders). You can purchase a whole set for about $650 from http://www.ebasicpower.com or http://www.marinepartsexpress.com

The trailer looks like it is a little bent in the photos, but that might be an illusion. It looks like the frame members are undersized for a Vista, but at least it is a galvanized trailer.

www.iFourWinns.com

New vista 238 owner

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