Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

irish1985

Seaman
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Sep 3, 2012
Messages
60
Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

Not just charged, but fully charged with all cells in good condition.

I even tested it with a different, 3 month old battery... same deal. Had me stumped... then again, that doesn't make much.
 

dmoriarty51

Petty Officer 1st Class
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May 4, 2010
Messages
305
Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

is the gear shift in neutral?
 

irish1985

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Messages
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Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

is the gear shift in neutral?

Yes it is, but I'm going to give it another go today and "play around" with the shift... this morning I was reading about the possibility of a safety switch being hit, and general shifting issues that may be causing the problem i.e. not actually being in neutral, even though it appears I'm in neutral. I'm going to disable the alarm while I troubleshoot too...maybe the manufacturer put that in there so you would give up quicker and have them handle any problems haha :frusty:
 

dmoriarty51

Petty Officer 1st Class
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May 4, 2010
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305
Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

safety lanyard attached?
 

CC245

Petty Officer 2nd Class
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Jun 8, 2010
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Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

^^ Safety Lanyard!! Probably got knocked loose while you were cleaning the interior.
 

pckeen

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Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

Congrats on the purchase. Keep us posted!
 

irish1985

Seaman
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Sep 3, 2012
Messages
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Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

safety lanyard was already attached... dang! was crossing my fingers it would be something this stupid. i'll try taking a video in a few minutes... not sure it'll help but worth a shot.

safety-lanyard_zpscc7d9169.jpg
 

irish1985

Seaman
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Sep 3, 2012
Messages
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Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

Congrats on the purchase. Keep us posted!

Thanks!!

Right now I feel like a kid with a toy that he's only allowed to look at. Video forthcoming
 

irish1985

Seaman
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Sep 3, 2012
Messages
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Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?


clicks when i turn the key. sorry about the alarm, haven't figured out how to disable that yet.
 

roffey

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Nov 22, 2012
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Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

I can't view the vid as I am at work.. LOL. You have my luck. I wanted a boat all my adult life and finally purchased as small cruiser. I had to store it for the winter and just dream about cruising up and down the river. When I finally got the boat out I had to replace most of the wiring, trim tabs would not work, motor over heated.. I broke the post on the trailer at the boat ramp with the boat still in the water. After putting about 5-10 hours on the boat I smoked the motor,,, in the drive way, LOL. so... I sold it for a slightly newer and much smaller boat and have racked up the hours since... so, don't get to frustrated. The boat looks great, here in Ontario, Canada you would pay 10k for the year and that condition.
 

AChotrod

Petty Officer 1st Class
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Aug 25, 2013
Messages
382
Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

Starter solenoid? See if you can jump the starter directly from the battery. If you can its a easy fix.
 

irish1985

Seaman
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Sep 3, 2012
Messages
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Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

I can't view the vid as I am at work.. LOL. You have my luck. I wanted a boat all my adult life and finally purchased as small cruiser. I had to store it for the winter and just dream about cruising up and down the river. When I finally got the boat out I had to replace most of the wiring, trim tabs would not work, motor over heated.. I broke the post on the trailer at the boat ramp with the boat still in the water. After putting about 5-10 hours on the boat I smoked the motor,,, in the drive way, LOL. so... I sold it for a slightly newer and much smaller boat and have racked up the hours since... so, don't get to frustrated. The boat looks great, here in Ontario, Canada you would pay 10k for the year and that condition.

your story about the old cruiser made me feel much better! i ended up replacing the starter... was full of water apparently. wasn't planning on dumping money into it before winter storage, but hey, i guess these things are gonna happen when you own a boat... better to accept it and try not to get too frustrated!
 

irish1985

Seaman
Joined
Sep 3, 2012
Messages
60
Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

some pics from after i cleaned it up. i used warm water and a soft brush only - no chemicals. cleaned the entire engine bay too. used a tooth brush to get into a lot of the nooks and crannies

IMG_1373_zpscefcb385.jpg


IMG_1375_zpsf5deda43.jpg


IMG_1376_zps3de93c1d.jpg


IMG_1371_zps140d51a9.jpg


IMG_1377_zps49e6e331.jpg


IMG_1366_zpse2aca8c6.jpg
 

crabby captain john

Lieutenant Commander
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Aug 6, 2011
Messages
1,823
Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

Looks good if you have some time and want a little job I have a 21'er you can clean....
 

roffey

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Messages
2,206
Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

... now that is a beautiful boat,, and for what you got it for,,, that's a deal. A starter can't be that much
 

irish1985

Seaman
Joined
Sep 3, 2012
Messages
60
Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

... now that is a beautiful boat,, and for what you got it for,,, that's a deal. A starter can't be that much

thanks, and yeah, starter's not going to break the bank thankfully
 

Maclin

Admiral
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May 27, 2007
Messages
6,761
Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

How did perform with the sea trial? Did it start right up then?

As you found out, the safety lanyard will not keep the engine from turning over with the key, it just kills the spark. That click is pretty loud, so seems like good currrent is available. It could be the starter only. It could also be deeper than that, so hopefully you have not just found out why it was such a bargain to you.
 

Maclin

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May 27, 2007
Messages
6,761
Re: Four Winns owners... I'm looking at a 2004 Horizon 17. Good idea?

Meant to ask , have you tried to turn the engine manually since this starter issue appeared?
 
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