www.iFourWinns.com

Hey all.

Just found this forum, looks like a great site. I own a 1990 Four Winns 170 freedom with the OMC Cobra (4 cyl) engine in it...Why do I own such an old boat?? well, I've taken great care of her, and she's never let me down, and still runs like a champ to this day.

Anyway, my Power Tilt stopped working at the end of this season. My boat is currently on it's trailer in my garage, and I'd like to get it in to my four winns mechanic to fix the Power Tilt issue. I understand that there is a screw or something located on the pump motor that you can turn either clockwise, or counter clockwise, and be able to raise the stern drive manually. I need to do this, so I can trailer my boat into town with out the drive dragging on the pavement.

Hoping someone here could point out how to exactly raise my unit up manually????

Thanks for any help.

Dan

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1990 Four Winns 170 Freedom, 3.0 OMC Cobra 4 cyl.

Welcome to the forum. Lot's of useful information here.

I had a 1987 4.3L Cobra on my previous boat. Yes, there is a screw (valve) that can release the hydraulics so you can raise the leg with a jack (or your linebacker friend), then tighten the screw and it will stay up. I don't have the manuals with me. and don't remember the location of the screw, but see the picture below. I think it is one of the small items next to where the hoses attach. Might be an hex key screw (aka Allen wrench). It is NOT the big slotted screw up on the plastic upper portion...that is the fill port. Must follow the instructions when filling. I think it get's filled up to that port with the cylinders extended.

Many times a failure of a Cobra Trim pump is just a failure of one of the two relays, or a blown 50amp fuse. Do you get any clicking? Will it move one direction?

After checking the fuse (one of the two mounted at the back of the engine), then check the connection of the connector cable near the fuses. The next thing to try is tapping on the relays with the handle end of a screwdriver, while your helper activates the trim up (or down) switch. If that works, then replace the relays...they don't cost much.

Ray

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"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

Ray

Wow..it's been a while since I've been here. Thanks for that info. Anyway...the first few times i pushed the up/down button on the throttle I heard a clicking noise..but no movement of the lower unit...then I tried it one more time and the clicking stopped, so now it doesn't click at all.

I did find the screw that releases pressure, so I could lift the lower unit up..I turned the screw back in and it stayed up..so good to go. Now, I'll be getting the boat out of storage soon, and working on this problem. So with NO clicking sound and I tried pressing the circuit breaker "reset" button the tilt/trim relay, but it doesn't seem to do anything.

I do actually have an extra tilt/trim relay, pump assembly here in my garage, so a swap out will be easy, just don't want to do it, if I don't have to

Any thoughts???

Dan

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1990 Four Winns 170 Freedom, 3.0 OMC Cobra 4 cyl.

here is photo of my tilt/trim relay pump

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1990 Four Winns 170 Freedom, 3.0 OMC Cobra 4 cyl.

Well your setup is different than mine was. I had never seen one with the relays and breaker attached to the pump unit.

I would try to get a wiring diagram for your boat. Without one, I can give you the following educated guesses that you can check with an electric meter:

Your white connector with the large Red and Black wires is the power feed from the battery, and should always have battery voltage regardless of trim switch position. Check the mating connector to make sure you have 12 volts across those two. If not, you have a connection problem somewhere between there and the battery.

The Black round connector goes to the helm trim switch, and has three connectors. Most likely, one of them is 12V+ which feeds the switches, and the other two are the up and down signals coming back from the trim switch.

With the White Connector Connected (so you have battery power), and the Black connector disconnected, you can check with your electric meter, each of the three wires reference to battery ground. If one of them is 12V, then now you know which one feeds up to the trim switch. If you use a wire to jumper from this wire to one of the other two, then it should actuate a relay (and the pump). ...and the other one should actuate the other relay. If the relays work with this jumper test, then you have a problem between this connector and your trim switches at the helm.

Corrosion on these connectors themselves is often the problem. Wire brush them (with the battery disconnected), and spray them with a corrosion inhibitor spray such as T-9 or similar.

Ray

_________________

"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

thanks...I'll give that a go and see what I find.

And, while I am at it...maybe you know the answer to this. I'd like to replace my back to back lounge seats in the boat. Probably going to have to go with aftermarket. Now, my boat, from the looks of it, has built in pedestals the seats sit on..the new aftermarket seats all come with pedestals...should I just mount a pedestal on top of the boat pedestal or ????? also, do you know what size aftermarket will fit in the same spot the originals were in?

thanks again
Dan

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1990 Four Winns 170 Freedom, 3.0 OMC Cobra 4 cyl.

Also sometimes the actual trim switch and the wiring as it passes through the control unit is the problem, in that the wires can break, or the switch's contacts can get corroded, or not make good contact. On the control, the blue wire is up, green is down, make sure you are actually getting voltage at those solenoids. If not then you have take the control handle off and check the switch and wires.

As far as the seats, if it was set up with the back to back seats mounted on wood box mounts, if you want to change to the bucket style seat with pedestal mounts, I think you'll have to remove the boxes, or at least make the pedestals very short. In a small boat the pedestal seats give you more room to move around and are more flexible in that they can move forward and back on the pedestal mounts like auto seats.
If you want to stick with the back to back style, make sure the ones you buy are the same size measuring the width and height of the seat backs.

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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

I would not try to stack on top of the old boxes. Chances are the wood is rotten or week in the old boxes.

However, I do not like how short most back to back seats are. On my previous cuddy cabin boat, I rebuild the back to back seats by replacing all the plywood in them. I replaced the riser box with a new one I made with plywood and vinyl covering. I made the new box about 8" higher than the original! The original was not tall enough for the passenger to see out above the cuddy cabin. It was much more comfortable when taller, and I put a hatch in the side of the box so it could be used as storage area.

Going with aftermarket back-to-back seats is the cheapest way to go, but I don't know what size you need. You just need to measure what you have and what a company like http://www.overtons.com sells. I would go bigger and taller than the original if possible.

Or as LouC said, a lot of people convert over to Pedestal Seating, so the boat has more stand-up/walking room. Just a matter of preference, but pedestal seating does require a good solid attachment to the floor (any spongy wood will not do the job). Back to back seats are more forgiving of a bad floor. Either way, you want to seal all your screw holes to prevent water intrusion into the wood (use 3m 5200 or 3m 4200 or silicone-RTV or similar)

Ray

_________________

"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

I like the IDEA of the pedestal seats "room wise" but I like the looks and function of the back to backs. When I drive the boat now, I ALWAYS sit on the "back" of the seat anyway, and never IN the actual seat..just easier to see on a busy river. So maybe if I went with back to backs that come with a pedestal, and MOUNT them ON the boats built in pedestals, they MAY be just high enough for me to sit in the actual seat comfortable. The wood underdeck, I am not worried about..solid as ever...no give, or spongyness to it. The boat has always been stored inside, or with covers on..so there has been very little water ever in on the flooring. So it's solid.

If I get the measurements, can you guys help point me to some seats that would work???

Thanks much

Dan

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1990 Four Winns 170 Freedom, 3.0 OMC Cobra 4 cyl.

I always ended up sitting on the backs of mine as well, but according to the reg. in TN anyone not seated while underway can get ticketed so I didn't want to risk it so I went with a pedestal mount. I am much happier with that than I was with the back to back.

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1990 Four Winns Horizon 200
2005 GMC Sierra

well I went on over to Overton's website and started checking out their back to back "lounge seats"...and the have some nice ones, that aren't really pricey. So I saw that you can download a PDF of their instructions.....looks like the seats come UNATTACHED from the bases, and that you actually have to assemble the bases, before you can mount the seats to them. This makes it SUPER easy...I COULD mount the new seats directly to my built in bases in the boat, OR, if I want the seats up a little higher, I could actually cut the new wood bases down and mount them on top of the built in bases and then mount the seats....Looks like there will be a few options even with new seats.

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1990 Four Winns 170 Freedom, 3.0 OMC Cobra 4 cyl.

Sound good. Looking forward to Pictures.

_________________

"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

I had a similar problem on my 89 Horizon, it ended up being the whole trim unit, it cost me $180 and I was able to fit and replace myself.

also -

I have an OEM four winns captains chair from this era of boat, that needs to be redone, if you would prefer to chase the OEM look. I utilized one of the pair I found and had it reupholstered and it looks amazing, and fits the OEM interior color scheme.




Best of luck with your interior project!

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Rob

Present: 1999 Formula 280SS
Past: 1989 180 Horizon

http://www.robcamerondesign.com

thanks for the info. my seats are the lounge style, and are the red/grey/white version.

I still have to get the boat out of winter storage, so I can start working on it.

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1990 Four Winns 170 Freedom, 3.0 OMC Cobra 4 cyl.

Well, I am going to start working on the tilt/trim relay today, see If I can get it up and going. I did find a full replacement unit on Ebay if needed....anyway, does the lower unit need to be in the full UP, trim pistons extended BEFORE I loosen them from the pump for removal?? I would assume so.

Thanks
Dan

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1990 Four Winns 170 Freedom, 3.0 OMC Cobra 4 cyl.