www.iFourWinns.com

I am planning to splash my new V278 tomorrow and in preparation for that I filled the fresh water tank and began the process of eliminating all of the antifreeze in the system. I have come up with a question that I can't seem to find the answer to. My fresh water tank and pump work fine and I went through the process of priming the system at least four different times. Nothing I do is getting the dock water system to work. I read in the manual that this can be a problem with air in the system but honestly after at least four or five tries I can't get it to run on the dock water supply no matter what I do. According to the manual I should be able to hook this system up then I will no longer need to use my pump and the fresh water in the tank. What am I missing? Is there a valve I should be looking for? I've traced lines, looked at the blueprints that came with the boat and tried calling the dealer but they are closed

Any ideas are greatly appreciated? Am I'm overlooking the obvious switch or valve because I'm not familiar with this new boat?

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2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

Try turning off the fresh water pump. Om my 378 Vista, the city water presuure has to be great enough to overcome the pressure of the pump (somewhere around 35 psi). If the pump is off, the water goes right into the system with no problem.

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Jerry
2004 378 Vista "Escapade", T-Mercruiser 8.1 SHO
2003 Maxum 3300SE
1987 Wellcraft San Tropez
1991 Chaparral 2550SX
1987 Bayliner 2150
!967 Caravelle 1751

I've done that. In fact several times. My city water pressure is very good. The boat is sitting in the driveway right now but will be in the slip in the morning. There are several people on the dock who might be able to help but at this point I can't help but wondering if it came from the factory with a bad pressure regulator.

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2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

Isn't there also an on/off valve in the city warer circuit? There is on my 248, may want to make sure that hasn't gotten turned off.

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Brett DiMichele

There must be but I havn't found it yet. Where is it located at on your 248? I've searched pretty hard but your post will make me pull the drawings out again. I sure don't recall the dealer pointing it out to me.

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2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

There's no on/off valve for a 348's shore water hookup. Generally you have to turn off the fresh water pump's breaker. Otherwise the two work against each other. Our dock pressure is high enough to win but I have been to slips that were a bit weak.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Flyer,

On my 248 it's in front of the pottable water holding tank which is to the starboard side. It's a small white valve with a knurled knob on top that says city water on/off or something to that effect. You might want to look at your schematic in the owners manual. Your model may or may not have it.

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Brett DiMichele

On our vista there is no valve for the city water hook up, it is only a check valve at the conection.

If you have a check valve, does it work??? Maybe it wont let water flow either direction???

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2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
Videos

Powell,

Why would my 248 have a valve and yours would not? (check the plumbing schematic, it shows the valve in the circuit) and yes there is also a check valve.

I'm curious why I would have an on/off valve but someone else with the same boat does not. That's got my curiosity peaked!

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Brett DiMichele

Brett,

My Vista (2000) doesn't have a shut-off either. Your boat is a 2006, Four Winns makes changes every model year perhaps this was changed in 06. I use a shut-off valve on my water hook-up, it's just a common shut-off valve for a garden hose. It's easy to open and close since it's outside the boat, can you open and close yours without lifting the engine hatch?

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Fred 248Vista
So much water so little time!

Mine has one as well. It is right in front of the water tank in the bilge.

Heh, me too. I picked up a 45 degree shut-off valve (garden hose threaded male-<valve>-female). I then also use a brass quick disconnect fitting. So when I get back to our home port I only need to click the fitting onto the one in the transom fitting. When I leave I only have to twist that shut-off. It's generally a REALLY BAD IDEA to leave a direct shore water connection plugged into your boat. Should a hose fail you're then pumping water at city pressure straight into your bilge. Worst case, the leak bursts near electrical gear that shorts out your batteries and the bilge pumps fail. Sunk at the dock in no time.

I believe one of our fellow members also sells a flow counter valve. Might be a good idea to consider one as well.

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

OK, here’s my update. The good news is I launched the boat in cool weather and mist. Everything went fine with the exception of the spare tire on the trailer would not clear the transition from level to the down slope of the ramp. We took the tire off and everything went smoothly from there.

The water situation is as follows. In an effort to see if I had flow I found the check valve and it had a quick release on both ends. I took the line apart and there was flow coming from the line however nothing would go through the check valve. I had a suspicion that the check valve might have been installed backward so I reversed it and the dock water worked fine. However the next problem I encountered was the fresh water pump now no longer pumped water. I suspect the check valve is bad and I'm going to call the dealer in the morning and see what they think.

Brett, I couldn't find a shutoff valve on my boat so they have either redesigned that or it was a feature on the 248 that they didn't put on the 278.

Other than that we had a pretty good day. Got situated in the slip the first time pretty easily but a second attempt later in the day was more difficult. I back into the slip and this boat certainly seems difficult to control in reverse. I can tell there's lots of horsepower behind me when I push the throttle forward. I've been advised not to exceed 3800 rpm until I get to ten hours and I was showing about 42 mph at that power setting. I'll take my GPS along next weekend and get more accurate data.

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2008 Vista 278 Volvo Penta 8.1 Gi 375 hp
1999 Horizon 220 5.7 GSi

Brett,
Did you buy your boat new or used, did someone add this on (previous owner or dealer??) as mentioned before, factory makes changes every model year and sometimes right in the middle of a model year (whenever they want, with or without docs.)
Boat and RV manufactures are notorious for this.

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2000 248 5.7L DP
'92, '94 SXI 750, '08 STX 15F, '12 Ultra LX 300
Videos

Four Winns current manuals and diagrams are pretty accurate. I've yet to find anything in the boat that's not clearly laid out that way in the manual. They do change things, that's true, but thus far I've not found undocumented changes.

Also note, if you're doing something complicated and ask the factory directly they often send you a PDF attachment with the engineering diagrams for that area. When I had to replace the hot water heater they sent PDFs of the removable decking area above it. Helped quite a bit.

This reminds me, I have to keep a log book of work done so the next owner won't be confused...

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-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista