www.iFourWinns.com

We have water coming in the cabin on the under the first step. We removed the vent that is on the step and noticed that the wires behind the vent were wet from moisturer. The water comes in and soaks the step and goes to the floor of the cabin to the door near the bathroom.

Any suggestions would be appreciated?

We thought maybe it was the plug under the aft bed but we put teflon tape on the plug but no water came in there.

Thanks

When you say the first step, do you mean the top step? On mine the top tread is removeable and thats where I store my tools, the fresh water plumbing is routed through the top step into the under sink storage cupboard, you may have a leak under there.

_________________
Regards
Beyond the Blue

"If we improve with age I'm now excellent"


Ex 1998 238 Vista 5.0Gi SX DP
Lexus RX300

I can see the water lines through the vent. I don't believe our tread is removable we have carpet underneath. We didn't use the fresh water this last trip or any water to see if that made a difference it didn't. I will have to check and see if we were to lift the carpet we could get underneath and have a better look.

> ... We didn't use the fresh water this last trip or any water to see if that made a difference...

Did you lose water pressure over that period? I.e., pressurize the system, turn the pump off, listen for hissing and/or and wait a day. If you've lost pressure, you have a plumbing leak, or a leaking spigot, check or pump valve. A plumbing leak behind the galley, obviously, might be the source.

_________________
Tom
Cape Coral

'99 Four Winns 258 Vista
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bowcam
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cape-coral-marine-radio VHF
http://67.207.143.181/vlf9.m3u VLF: Lightning, spherics

The same thing happened to me early this springtime......What happened was water filled up the anchor locker at the bow--the drain hole was plugged w/ debris, and somehow the water enterd the cabin, somewhere downbelow, as it did,nt come in aournd the mirror at the fore of thie cabin...anyway, there must be a trough running through the keel area below the floor and the water seeped up into the cabin floor--about 3 inches!! I used my shopvac to get the water out, the a lot of fan to dry it out and sprayed lysol all over for days after......

_________________
"For My 50th"
1996 238 Vista
5.7VolvoGL DP
Previous boats; 91 Cobia 19' Cuddy, 87 Starcraft 16' BR,
67 Winner BR, 65 Arrow 14'

The same thing happened to me early this springtime......What happened was water filled up the anchor locker at the bow--the drain hole was plugged w/ debris, and somehow the water enterd the cabin, somewhere downbelow, as it did,nt come in aournd the mirror at the fore of thie cabin...anyway, there must be a trough running through the keel area below the floor and the water seeped up into the cabin floor--about 3 inches!! I used my shopvac to get the water out, the a lot of fan to dry it out and sprayed lysol all over for days after......

_________________
"For My 50th"
1996 238 Vista
5.7VolvoGL DP
Previous boats; 91 Cobia 19' Cuddy, 87 Starcraft 16' BR,
67 Winner BR, 65 Arrow 14'

Thank you for all your help once we figure it out we will post what we found out. Very helpful hints on what to try. Now just have to have a few moments to check it out. Work kind of seems to get in the way of just being able to be on the boat 24/7.

We think we may have located where we have a problem with our water lines but it is really hard to get at this location. We believe that we have a leak somewhere between the engine compartment and the lines that go to the galley sink. We pulled out the life jackets that we had that were stored in the compartment with the aft bed and they were wet. And the insulation around this area in the engine compartment was wet as well (on that side only) Does anyone know how to get to those lines so we can figure out where the water is leaking or is this something we need to take to the Four Winns dealer and have them fix?

If it is similar to my '99 258v, there is a strip of carpeted board that's screwed down on a diagonal to the floor, leaning against the hull. Under it are the water lines and a wiring harness. It sounds like you have a compartment at the berth foot that might complicate access. The wall of that compartment, though, can be removed with several screws and some hammering from the inside to drive it lose.

It is less likely that a line has split, though, than it is you've developed a leaking fitting. I'd look first at the galley sink fittings, particularly the stainless braided hose to plastic line adapters. Perhaps the leak is running down the water line from there.

_________________
Tom
Cape Coral

'99 Four Winns 258 Vista
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bowcam
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cape-coral-marine-radio VHF
http://67.207.143.181/vlf9.m3u VLF: Lightning, spherics

Another thought: according to the owner's manual, you have a sump under the galley sink. Is its pump working? http://assets3.fourwinnsmarketing.com/p ... ystems.pdf

_________________
Tom
Cape Coral

'99 Four Winns 258 Vista
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bowcam
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/cape-coral-marine-radio VHF
http://67.207.143.181/vlf9.m3u VLF: Lightning, spherics

We were able to get a good visual on our lines. We do not see a leak from the lines. We are just baffled because when we come back from a weekend on the water the step and landing at the base of the steps is soaked. We do bot have a sump pimp under our sink. I guess we will have totake the boat out with the step and part from storage by bead off so we can see what happens. We do not see any damage on the boat that would cause water to come in. This is a lot of water that we have. We have checked the holes where the anchot is they are not plugged, we have put teflon tape o plug at bottom of steps and now no water leaks seen on lines.

Can you give some more details.
Is the water clean?
Do you boat in salt water?
Is the water fresh or salty?
Normally the 238 galley sink discharges overboard, does yours?
Have you been using the shower when this happens?
Is it only when you have been out on the boat when it gets wet?
Is the boat kept in the water or trailered?

_________________
Regards
Beyond the Blue

"If we improve with age I'm now excellent"


Ex 1998 238 Vista 5.0Gi SX DP
Lexus RX300

As far as we can tell its clean water. We are in fresh water. No we haven't used the shower only once and that was abot a month ago. We trailer the boat. Yes our sink discharges out the side

Its got to be a leak from the fresh water system. My guess is that the system is leaking in the corner of the engine compartment behind the batteries, it is running through the storage compartment at the bottom of the bed and into the void under the top step and out from there. As said by others the way to check is to listen for the fresh water pump kicking in for a second or two every 10 minutes or so without turning on the taps (fawcets)

_________________
Regards
Beyond the Blue

"If we improve with age I'm now excellent"


Ex 1998 238 Vista 5.0Gi SX DP
Lexus RX300

Well we finally had good weather plus a few hours to take the boat out. All weekend we kept checking the water lines no leak and water pump didn't turn on when we had the fresh water switch on but kept the faucets off. So we do not think it is leaking through the fresh water lines. I had asked my husband ealier doesn't the rub rail seem to far away in a certain section? So we took the boat out and turned the water on and flushed the toilet while we were out on Lake Michigan some what rough out but not to bad. Still no leak from the lines. So frustrating that you can see you have lots of water on the floor of your cabin at times and the water soaks the aft bed on the corner close to the steps but can't figure it out. So while we started to head back in we caught some waves that came up along the side of the boat and shortly after that my husband said oh my goodness there is water just coming in. The water doesn't appear to hit the little porthole windows and it isn't wet anywhere areound them. The water is coming in that we can see behind the cabinet where the switches are for all the electrical and where the radio is. We do not see the water until it gets to where the step would normally be. (My husband had removed it so we had a clear visual of the water lines.) And that is where the rub rail seems to be away from the fiberglass of the boat. Is it possible that is where our problem is?