www.iFourWinns.com

Hello.

I have a 2013 H22 Four Winns Funship that I bought new from the dealer. We have only used it a dozen times of which half the time we have encounter an engine issue.

Once we leave the marina and begin to accelerate to 15 - 20 mph, the engine status light comes on along with a loud beeping noise. In order to make it stop, we have to turn the boat off then restart it. I'm told this occurs as a precautionary measure to prevent the engine from overheating.

The dealer has taken the boat to his shop and cleared the intake lines as well as serviced the engine. One person suggested there may be some corrosion so we made sure to check this when being serviced.

Last week, the boat was fine. Last night, the engine light came on three times and we only went a half mile.

Some notes:

Temp = 175
Oil Pressure = 60
Feels like I'm dragging something but we only had four people onboard
Noticed our fuel doesn't seem to last very long (had full tank last weekend, went a couple of miles now it's 2/3

I called the dealer again and they're trying to trouble shoot. His first thought is electrical.

This is my first boat and we bought new to avoid problems. We love having it but this has been nothing but trouble. Has anyone experienced similar problems or have any suggestions?

Thank you.

Which engine is it?

Volvo Penta

How is the boat stored? Inside or out? Covered? A boat that sits for extended periods, especially outside, can develop corrosion in/on electrical connections. Your boat has lots of sensors that measure temperatures and pressures and send that information to various components on the boat. If they aren't working correctly because of corrosion on their connectors, intermittent issues may result.

Volvo Penta makes a lot of different engines. Is it a GXi-, GL- ?

And I hate to tell you this, but one of the best maintenance items you can do to a boat is use it regularly. Keeps gas fresh and systems exercised.

Thank you for your response.

The boat is winterized, covered and stored outside at our local marina. During the summer, it's moored at the same marina and we try to use it weekly but sometimes it sits in the water for weeks.

It's a Volvo Penta V8 300

My local dealer suggested flushing the engine. I tried it and it worked much better. Since I only use the boat once every two weeks, I plan to flush it before each use. Does that seem excessive?

Best

I'm not familiar with how Volvo's engine warning system works, but I agree with the comment about corrosion. My boat sits on a salt water mooring and I have to clean certain terminals and use anti corrosion spray every so often. One reason why I like having a simple boat with a carburetor and no electronic controls is that you have less intermittent issues like that. I'd start with the basics (battery terminals, clean and tight), starter terminals on the solenoid, battery grounds, etc. Sometimes it helps to remove the connector for each sensor and reinstall, this can remove corrosion on the contacts.

_________________
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

Good suggestions, thank you very much.

I'm not understanding the rationale of flushing the engine before use....Is it to clear the cooling system?

After using in salt water, sure flush well - but if it lives in the salt water, flushing isn't going to do much. Maybe if you have a flush port, you could at least flush the engine block.

_________________
2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

+1. I have no idea how flushing the engine could make anything work better, and in any case, yes, flushing before every use shouldn't be necessary at all (flushing after use to get rid of salt water is a good thing though). Your sense of dragging something (I'm assuming here that you know what that would feel like) along with what sounds like dramatically excessive fuel consumption is intriguing. What range of speeds & RPM's are you in during these short runs prior to the beeps? Has the dealer verified that the temperature at the sender actually matches the gauge? Have they verified thermostat and impeller function? Have they checked for a spun or damaged prop/hub? Checked exhaust tubes for obstructions?

Electrical corrosion is certainly something you have to stay ahead of with a boat, but I don't think that's the problem here unless it's with a sender connection (or sender).

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

I had the same issue a couple of years back. I had my boat docked nose in on a moving stream in a canal. While in that position the water was pretty much stagnant around the boat. There were around 30 boats to the left and right of me. Come to find out the zebra muscles were in the area and climbed into my water intake. Since I only went out maybe two to three weeks at a time, they grew in there and clogged the intake to the point the engine alarm kept going on. The outdrive had to be removed and torn down to get rid of them all. It was quite a head scratcher for a whole season and a half. Frequent use is the ticket.

_________________
Alexj



1995 Four Winns Horizon 190
OMC 5.0 RL