www.iFourWinns.com

Hey everyone,

Newbie here! I was recently given a 1995 258 Vista (Yes, given!) and my wife and I are super excited to get it in the water. The boat worked fine when taken out of water the last time. Unfortunately, that was about a year and a half ago. New Upholstry uptop, Penta Lower end is less than two years old, so its a great boat. Getting ready to start the procss of getting it ready to go back in the water and wanted some advice of what I should tackle. Im putting in all new fluids, filters and plugs. OMC 5.8L motor is what she has in her. Any tips on what I should making sure I take care of?

Also, on a side note, what are acceptable compression readings for this motor?

Thanks! And I hope to see you all on the water!

_________________
Pastor Bryon

1995 Four Winns 258 Vista
"Blessed & Highly Favored"

Welcome! You will get lots of help around here. As far as compression reading go not sure about the actual values but they should all be roughly around the same #.
Oh and as everyone always says, It's a requirement to post pics!! Enjoy.

_________________
2001 328 Vista "Nauta Dream 2"
AB Inflatable 10AL "Little Dreamer"
2000 248 Vista
1997 225 Sundowner


Mike

Welcome to the forum Pastorbryon! It sound like you have a good handle on what needs to be done. I would also recommend a new thermostat and raw water impeller, but honestly I would run the motor first if you haven't already just to be sure it was put away properly a few years ago. I don't see in your post where your from so I'm not sure if you have to contend with freezing winter temps of not.

As far as the compression test I believe you should see numbers between 115psi and 150psi...hopefully closer to the 150, but like a/cguy stated just as important is having the numbers within 10% of each other. If you havent turned this engine over yet I would consider shooting a little rust penetrent into the cylinders to sit overnight to prevent any ring damage caused by rust in the cylinders. Then let it idle on the water muffs at operating temp for a bit before you compression test the motor to make sure everything is moving,seated,and sealed properly. Good luck and welcome to the forum!

P.S. Pics Please

_________________
Our Boating Blog: http://ben-dana.blogspot.com/

2005 268 Vista "Sea Pickle II"
1979 AMF Alcort Puffer
Previous:
2003 FW190 Horizon
1973 Startcraft 18ft "Sea Pickle"

For a trouble free (relatively) season, the boat should be gone through and all the maintenance done.
I'd want to pull off the drive, check the bellows. gimble bearing and ujoints, and lube the gimble, ujoints and driveshaft splines. Check the gear oil in the drive for water (remove the drain plug briefly and see if water comes out first, or if the oil that comes out is milky colored, if so it needs to be pressure checked and re-sealed.
Once you get the drive back on, I'd replace the raw water impeller and look at the thermostat (check it in boiling water to see if it opens at the usual 160*) and cooling system hoses (check for condition and good clamps). After doing that, I'd take a look at the sparkplugs and replace if needed, same with the dist cap and rotor. I'd also remove the fuel filter and pour out the gas that was in there and let it sit in a glass jar, and look for water on the bottom, if not, then put on a new filter. If you found water I'd have the gas tank cleaned. Then you can start it up on the water muffs, make sure the impeller is sucking water and water is coming out the transom mount exhaust area. Look to see if oil press, volts and water temp are normal. Also look at the hoses for leaks, and the sides of the engine and heads for any water leaks that could indicate leaky freeze plugs that need replacing...
After you warm it up, you can check compression. I don't know the exact specs for the Ford 5.8 but they should be from 130-175 or so for most engines. If you have a low one it may be an exhaust valve with a rusty stem that is getting sticky. Finally look at the joint between the risers and manifolds, if you see rust tracks, then the risers should be removed and the gaskets replaced (very important to inspect the area where the gasket seals, if that is corroded they might not seal and then you can get water down in the cylinder when you shut off the engine (which rusts exhaust valves). If there is much corrosion the manifolds and risers may need to be replaced.

When it's running on the water muffs, with the prop removed, make sure it shifts into fwd, neutral and rev like it should. You don't want to find out it won't go into neutral or rev when you are heading toward the dock (like my Cobra did when I first had it, fixed that real fast!).....
After running it on the water hose, I'd change the motor oil, filter and the gear oil in the drive.....I do this every year at winterization and if I use the boat a alot, I do one motor oil change in the middle of the season...
Also look at the anodes on the drive and transom shield, replace if more than 1/2 deteriorated....
I know this sounds like a lot.... but.....keep in mind that this boat is going on 16 years old so there are a lot of things that should be checked for a trouble free season. I do all of this to our old boat (some during winterizing, some in spring) every year and that's what kept it reliable for this long...

_________________
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

Welcome Pastor. You will find a lot of helpful Four Winns owners eager to lend a hand. There are some great points. In addition, check anything rubber (e.g., hoses, belts, etc). Also, make sure you linkage is lubed. Nothing worse than trying to shift and notta.....

Welcome to the family and we need a picture!

_________________
-Tony
2016 Robalo R200 w/Yahama 200!

Previous boats:
2003 Four Winns 248 Vista - sold
1994 Sunbird Corsair 200 - sold
1980 Checkmate Predictor - sold

Like the name! perhaps when the season is upon us you can favor the seafarers on this forum with a blessing!

_________________
Michael Bova


"Swept Aweigh"
2003 Four Winns 328 Vista

Previous Boat
2003 Crownline 230CCR

Thanks for all the great tips everyone!

Sorry, it took me a little while to get the pic up! I'll have better pics up later!

Bryon <><

_________________
Pastor Bryon

1995 Four Winns 258 Vista
"Blessed & Highly Favored"

If the lower unit was replaced / rebuilt two years ago, they probably put new bellows in. Might want to check. You can run up an expensive repair if you get water into the u-joints and gimbal. I'd also put new gear oil if its been sitting.

IMPELLER! Don't even risk it. Replace it every spring starting now.

New Anodes. Magnesium of fresh water, Zinc if salt.

Fuel filter. I change mine every second fill up. Most consider that extreme. But it's cheap and easy and I have more peace of mind than they do.

Craig C.

_________________

2003 Vista 248, VP 5.0 GXi-C, DP

Welcome to the forum!!

It's hard to add from all of the very good past postings.

Since your boating in the ocean, I would take a boating course. Also, install a GPS & VHF radio too. Being in the fog is no fun. I have seen boaters without a GPS, drop anchor and wait out the fog. When they do that in the middle of the channel. They found out that it was not the smartest thing to do.

GPS, VHF, and Upgraded Sound system are all on the list. I really appreciate all the great information!

_________________
Pastor Bryon

1995 Four Winns 258 Vista
"Blessed & Highly Favored"