www.iFourWinns.com

Everytime I take my 268 out for the day and return home I pull the drain plug and 5-8 litres of water comes out(salt water) I always park the boat bow up with the drain plug when not in use(live on a hill so its not difficult) so Im confident its not rain water or anything like that getting in,The onlt thing I can think of would be the speedo,its never worked since I got the boat and I havent got around to sorting it out yet,do the speedos have the capilary tube that has water flow through it? if it was broken or damaged it could be the problem? or does my boat have the electric type speedo.any other ideas guys? thanks in advance,Mike(Ive only had the boat in the water 5 times since I bought it and I like things to be correct,I know water in the bilge needs to be sorted out asap!)

My first thought is that possibly your bellows are leaking and allowing water in.

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Current Boat:
2004 Sea Ray 320 Sundancer "Nauti Luvin'"

Previous Boats:
1999 298 Vista "Seas The Day"
2008 H200SS "Nauti Luv"
2006 Tahoe Q4

Thanks I wondered the same.I was thinking nextime I take her out for a run I will close off the seacocks to the a/c and toilet,so it eliminate the possibility of either of those having a leak somewhere among the pipework etc,if water still gets in,then bellows,speedo pipe? anything else?? if no water then I will go over the toilet pipework etc from the pick up(seacock) right to the other end,and then the a/c pipework from the pick(seacock) through the whole lot.If anyone has any suggestions please let me know ,or If Ive missed something! lol ,thanks ,Mike

take a look also at the cooling water pump in the engine compartment: when the engine runs the pump sprays a good amount of water around, this water at the end falls at the bottom of the bilge. This means it's the time to change the cooling water pump or for manteinance. It's an easy check because the pump is around the upper front port side of the engine (roughly above the bilge pump). Turn on the engine and check with the hand.

Hi.

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2006-288 Vista
"Drogue One" - a starboard story -
2 x Volvo Penta D3 - 160 HP

previous boats:
2001 -FW 268 Vista
1998 FW 258 Vista
2003 Saver 690 Cabin Sport

This is something you want to find out about soon. If you have salt water leaking from the cooling system, it's going to corrode things VERY fast. I had a small leak from an exhaust manifold drain and it rusted the terminals on the starter solenoid to the point where the wires had to be cut off.
The bellows has to be checked, have the drive removed and see if salt water is in there, if so the gimble bearing and u-joints may have to be replaced soon. Check all the cooling hoses, drain plugs, freeze (core) plugs and the impeller and circulating pump, all these can leak water.

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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

right! i did not consider this point for two main reason:

1) he just got the boat from the dealer (if i am not wrong) and i think that the dealer would have fixed by himself seeing corrosion around, so it can be that the cooling system started leaking recently: thus i suggest him to make the check of the pump a.s.a.p. before corrosion starts.

2) I am a lake boater and here corrosion and rust is almost unknown to me

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2006-288 Vista
"Drogue One" - a starboard story -
2 x Volvo Penta D3 - 160 HP

previous boats:
2001 -FW 268 Vista
1998 FW 258 Vista
2003 Saver 690 Cabin Sport

Ah, I read seawater and when I see that I think of salt water because that's what we have here...

_________________
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

everyone has what they deserve!!!

_________________
2006-288 Vista
"Drogue One" - a starboard story -
2 x Volvo Penta D3 - 160 HP

previous boats:
2001 -FW 268 Vista
1998 FW 258 Vista
2003 Saver 690 Cabin Sport

thanks Guys ,I took the garden hose out yesterday and had my friend spray water up into the a/c pick up on the underside of the boat,immediatly I could see water dripping out of the hose connections on either side of the a/c strainer,on closer inspection I found the ends which thread into the strainer itself were also loose.I removed the strainer and stripped /cleaned it,removed the threaded fitting on either ends and re-applied new thread tape(plenty of it too!) then reassembled the ends and covered over the ends with 3m to be sure there is no chance of it leaking ever again! ,when it had time to cure I will put it back in the boat with new hose clips,have already checked the hoses and they are perfect,so heres hoping that was the leak! I would imagine while underway the amount of water being forced into there would be a hell of alot more than just the ol garden hose,lol.will take her out for a good run and see how she goes,I had a good look with the engine running on the hose and there was no sign of water spraying around anywhere,so looks promising,will still get the bellows checked and replaced as well to be safe,cheers!

still leaking after all ,had a really good look and turns out the bellows are split,getting new bellows ,u joints and gimbal bearings while shes in bits,is there anything else that needs to be looked at while the outdrive if off? thanks in advance,Mike

What type of engine and drive do you have?

26' Four Winns 268 Vista Cruiser
•Year: 2001
5.7L VP with DPS Drive

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One of 4 Previous (Sold) Boats:
2000 Four Winns 268 Vista

Current Boat: 2004 Chaparral 235 ssi cuddy

thats right my engine is the gsx 5.7 vp with duoprop,seems Im also now up for a new shift cable as the existing one was rotten,nows the time to replace things like this!

well shes all fixed ,took her out twice this weekend and have left her in the marina for 3 nights now and no water in the bilge,thank god.I also replaced the riser connectors(cant remember the correct name for them) but you know, the rubber ones? cheers guys