www.iFourWinns.com

Just bought 2003 214 Funship with 197 hours on her 5.0 Volvo/Penta.
Sat in dry dock storage most of her life on freash water river, a shame really.
Had a Seadoo Challenger and wanted something bigger/more space and boy does this boat have it.
Bringing her home this afternoon to clean her up, you wouldn't believe the amount of dust on her from sitting. Actually most of the boats in dry dock there looked new just dusty. The guy there says people buy them, stick them in here and forget about them. He showed me a 10 year old Aquasport docked nest to my Four Winns that had 8 Hours on her timer...
The marina is finishing the maintenance (tune up/oil change, lubrication etc.) before I take it.
Really looking forward to it.
I'm in Central Florida so our boating season is pretty much wide open.....
I really enjoy being on forums like this as I did with my Seadoo. You learn allot from actual owners with similar boats. I'm sure I'll have questions soon....

Terry
2003 Four Winns Funship 5.0 Volvo/Penta

Congrats on the purchase and welcome!

Ask away!!

Erik

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2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

Okay, just took delivery...
2003 Four Winns Funship 5.0 Volvo/Penta GXi

- Manual tachometer is not reading, digital portion is reading
Question: I assume its an internal tach issue since the digital portion is reading, thoughts?

- Trim gauge is reading either all the way up or all the way down. As soon as you lower the trim from all the way up it shows down.
Question: are there adjustments for this?

- Power steering fluid low, pump cavitation at idle. Shakes the whole motor unless you bring RPM's up. Will fill and check when I take it back out.
Question: what type of power steering fluid to use?

Thanks!

Terry

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on the purchase.

Your logic seems correct. If it's a faria gauge, they have very good customer service.


There is some adjustment, but if yours jumps from all the way up to all the way down, then it is not the adjustment. 99% likely to be your sending unit under the transom bracket. They don't tend to last long.


I've never heard of one shaking the whole engine. Usually just whines when the fluid is low because air bubbles get pumped in with the ps fluid. The pump is a standard General Motors power steering pump. AC Delco Power Steering fluid can be used, or Dextron Transmission fluid. If you have to replace the pump, it is OK to use an automotive one...nothing marine about the PS pump.

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

In addition to Ray's comments - the trim fluid reservoir takes the same thing as the p/s pump FYI. Four Winns has a nasty habit of not topping off the p/s pump after bleeding at the factory, so there's a chance it's been low for a long time. I have a feeling that's unrelated to the shaking, unfortunately. A tuneup may be in order. And if you don't have concrete proof of when the raw water impeller was last changed, you should have that done.

Assuming your trim sender is original, VP has changed the design of the replacement part. It's supposedly more reliable, but it's also more expensive.

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

Update :

-- Confirmed stuck tach needle (internal issue). Faria wanted $100 to rebuild, found NOS on ebay for $114, will be here Friday.

-- Ordered new tilt/trim sender, be here Friday.

-- The power steering fluid was VERY low. The previous owner had the marina were he kept it at perform service (oil change, filter, new fuel pump, fuel filter, outdrive oil, spark plugs, new belt ,new batteries and raw water pump) before I bought it. Not sure if they pulled the P/S fluid out and forgot to fill it up or didn't work all of the air out?? The shaking wasn't the engine it was the steering unit (rack) moving 3-4 inches back and forth rapidly as the pump was searching for fluid. I filled the P/S fluid and installed P/S fluid conditioner. Ran in driveway (with muffs) and bleed all the air out. Could not find any leaks lock to lock and steered good, no more noise or vibration. Hoping......

Will take it to the river this weekend if the Hurricane stays away!

Thanks!
Terry

2003 Four Winns 214 Funship

Sounds like you're on your way!

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

congratulations.

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2011 SL242 5.7 VP GXi - 320 HP Dual Prop

Okay, not so funny story at the time.....I have to share....

Got the Funship all fixed up and took the fam out for a day on the river...
Everything is great , we get 2 hours up the river and power down for lunch, smoke fills the engine bay.......
Check gauges and everything checks out, water temp, oil pressure etc. Shut her down and pull her over.
Smoke clears and I see the dreaded power steering fluid in the bilge. Check the freshly put in power steering pump and its nearly dry. Start the motor and turning the wheel shows steering fluid pushing out of the dreaded steering actuator. I can see the seal on the lower piston is pushed out. I find fluid at the local marina and pour some in, it instantly squirts out so I make a decision to get lunch then Uber to get the truck and trailer.
Dock the boat at the closest ramp, not far away, smoking with every turn, should have seen the looks we were getting. Of course there was a bass fishing tournament based at the ramp so there were 40 plus boats and twice as many people there.
Get the truck and trailer back to the ramp were we left the boat. Turn boat on and try and work it around to the trailer awaiting in the water at the ramp. My forward and reverse start acting crazy, cant get it into forward then it slams into reverse without my input, I back the boat into the river bank then ram it into the side of the dock, disaster...... WTF. Shut it off and hit the water to walk it/swim it to the trailer.

Get it on the trailer finally by hand .... We get about 20 minutes down the road and blow a trailer tire, ugh.... Get the spare on and we get 8 miles from home and blow a second trailer tire...Are you freaking kidding me, at this point its just funny, but the wife isn't amused... Drop trailer and run to Walmart and get a cheap trailer tire/wheel combo installed and make it home ... FINALLY.. What a day!!

Solutions:
Ordered every power steering component actuator, cooler, hoses etc.
I found the shift cable lock down bolt at the outdrive were the hold down is was loose and pushed out allowing the cable to flop all over. The cable looks fairly new. I applied Loctite , tightened the bolt and ran it through the gears , everything looks fine.
Order all new radial trailer tires and a new spare.

Looking forward to a problem free outing in the very near future.....
Positive note, it ran good with no issues and my new stereo system sounded and worked great!!

Terry
2003 FourWinns Funship 214
5.0 GXi SXM

Well, I've had pretty much all of those things happen, but not all on the same trip!

Sorry that you had to go through it all, but on the bright side you'll know your boat and trailer inside and out (literally) in no time....

Maybe take a couple of shakedown trips with buddies, and leave the fam at home, once you get the current set of issues resolved?

Good luck - glad the stereo sounded good!

Erik

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2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

Welcome to boat ownership, especially used boat ownership. But don't let it get you down. As long as the boat and motor are solid, you'll most likely be ok after weathering a few headaches. I had several small issues with mine for the first couple of years after I bought her. Fortunately nothing serious and she never stranded me. But minor headaches none the less. Mine sat for a couple of years before I bought it. It sounds like yours sat for quite some time. Sitting dry is just as hard on boats, if not harder, than over use. Just keep learning about your boat and you'll start to figure out how to stay ahead of the headaches. And don't be afraid to keep asking questions. There are some great resources on this board that have helped me on more occasions than I can count. Most of all, have fun and be safe!

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2005 FW Horizon 250
8.1L VP DP

Sheesh, what a nightmare.

Look at it this way: every single day of boating for the rest of your life will be better than that day.

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

I did it!!

I replaced the power steering pump, all the lines, the oil cooler and the dreaded actuator (that is not fun!)

The new radial tires are on and I manually repacked all of the hub bearings. Good thing, as I cracked the hub cap on one hub and about a half gallon of water ran out. I replaced the bearings in that hub and all are ready to go.

I found NOS shower heads for the front and rear on ebay and replaced those. The rear one would stick open.

Up next:
Mount spare tire, clean the bilge (pretty nasty from the P/S overhaul), drain and refill outdrive oil (maintenance),grease prop and done. I found a used prop matching the one I have on ebay and ordered that for my spare. Putting together a on the water minor repair kit.

I'm thinking about replacing the starter, in working on the P/S I could see its the original (still painted red). I've had one time starting it in the driveway were it didn't crank over right away.

Terry
'03 Funship 214

Great job! On the hub with new bearings, did you also replace the races? On the new pump did you bleed all the air out? Even if you did, I'd take along a bottle of fluid on the first trip and check it a few times.

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

Update:
I replaced the ignition switch ,(the sierra 4 post is the exact replacement) because I found the old one leaking some kind of fluid...?? Haven't had a problem in delayed starting since. I also replaced the 20amp circuit breaker as I broke the old one taking the dash piece out.
I checked the temp on the trailer hubs once I got to the dock (20 miles or so) , they were all within a couple of degrees of each other and the new tires road great!(Goodyear Marathon ST's)

Ran the boat 2 hours up the river, I checked the P/S fluid twice to ensure everything was good. (I brought fluid with me just in case!) Everything did great! BTW I used Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF and it stayed very cool even after 2 hours of running. Saved $1000 doing it myself , Yes!!

Put 6 hrs on the boat and no issues, whew!! I think I'm getting ahead of things after fixing issues , making the boat my own and learning a lot from top to bottom. The boat didn't get used much by the past owner. Love the size of the boat and looking forward to many years of enjoyment!!

Thanks for everyone's help and encouragement.
Terry
2003 Funship 214