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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    For sure your Jeep is a better tow car than the Elgrand I use. Yes head gaskets, in fact all water gaskets including the water ports on the inlet manifold, various gaskets around the water pump area and the water pump itself are all concerns if using chemicals in the cooling system. I don't...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    I remember you mentioned tapping the stat housing earlier in the thread but I was expecting a problem with the seal around the stat. How long before the rust flakes stop being a problem? I wondered if there was anything I could put in the cooling system to get rid of the rust without damaging...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Did a little on the boat today. Recap - the tacho was reading double actual rpm and the engine was running too cool. Today the gizmo I ordered from Ebay (that I've mentioned earlier on thread) that converts tacho pulses from any engine to suit any tacho arrived and I fitted it. It wires to...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Thanks Lou. I haven't tested the stat but it is new. I might refit the old stat before further testing. Me and a friend pulled the boat out of the river today but had a little ride of around 8 miles on it first, the gauge on the dash never moved above 120F even when I gave it some stick and...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    I haven't used sealant on the housing to block gasket, just used a bare gasket because it's easier to disassemble while I'm trying to fix the cold running issue but it doesn't leak. I didn't have a spare gasket last time I had it apart so made one from gasket paper, it was an easy gasket to make...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    I put the boat back in the river on Saturday, took my sister for a ride who hasn't been on the river since our mid teens around 40 years ago, she loved it. The boat is still on a mooring on the river. Still haven't done a radio check. Was surprised that with the engine running there's ignition...
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    Process for changing boat trailers?

    Stating the obvious, an easy way to swap trailers is have a friend tow the new empty trailer to the water and tow the old trailer back home lol.
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    Process for changing boat trailers?

    Hitch extension might work or for a longer extension you could just use a length of chain or rope. On shallow slips my dad used to chock the trailer wheels, unhitch it, connect some chain between the tow hitch and trailer, pull the boat forward ro remove the chocks, reverse and the trailer...
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    Why is finding information on boats so difficult?

    When I first got my boat last year I didn't know much more than it had a Ford engine, didn't know anything about the drive etc but people on this forum helped me ID it, It turned out to be a setup only made for a few years with the Ford engine mated to a Volvo SX drive and called the OMC Cobra...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    I haven't read through the info my friend sent me yet. The radio shows GPS on screen but I left it turned on for an hour and it only read 999.999.999, are we saying the GPS function won't read my location on screen unless I get it set up so it can transmit my coordinates to the coast guard? I...
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    Ford 302 issues

    I have a 96 Four Winns with Ford 302. When I bought the boat the owner sent me a video of how to start the engine, had to flick an accessories switch on the dash or it wouldn't crank. I thought someone had fitted an immobiliser but when I dug into it I found there was only 9v at the coil from...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Thanks for the tips about the trailer, I'll keep in mind what you said and see if I can adjust it. Does the radio need something else plugged in (like a GPS aerial) for the GPS to work? I used to be familiar with use of marine VHF because dad had boats when I was growing up. My friend has a...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Trailer pics Don't like the way the bow U bolt has to ride over the lower roller Front keel roller doesn't even contact the boat There are no other rollers, the boat just sits on the bunks The VHF seems to work, haven't tried talking to anyone on it yet but it powers up and I can...
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    GMAIL issue !

    A few weeks ago my daughter, son in law and grand kids went hiking. They'd told son in law's dad they'd call him at a certain time but had no phone signal at that time. Then son in law had to return to work (he's a truck driver) leaving daughter and grand kids to do a few more miles hiking in a...
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    GMAIL issue !

    I was surprised the first time I was emailed my Google timeline years ago, showing everywhere I'd been for the past month on a map and info about the places/businesses/attractions I'd visited.. Big brother is watching and I don't remember signing up for it but probably did in some small print...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    I meant to take pics of the boat on the trailer today but didn't get around to it, I'll do that over the next few days but will be tied up with work Monday and Tuesday. It's a bunk trailer with just a few rollers, the front roller is a doubled up (2 rollers) design that pivots so both rollers...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    Pulled the boat out of the little river today but before I did we went for another short ride on it. And before that I removed the thermostat top housing to see if there was any debris seeming to hold the stat open. there was but I didn't have the right tools to remove the debris so just...
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    trim pump issues.....

    I'm not posting to try to advise people on this thread who I know have more experience than me... But if the pump is broken internally is it worth taking a look inside and see if it's something that could be fixed? My OMC Cobra (Volvo Penta SX) trim pump had a broken internal seal that allowed...
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    1996 Four Winns Sundowner with 5.0 Cobra engine and drive

    As you know, all the gauges on my dash including the fuel gauge didn't work when I first got the boat last year, then this year after rebuilding the engine I fixed all the gauges and fitted a new straight up/down reed switch type fuel level sender. Before fitting this sender I wired it in and...
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