New owner/member story & questions on 4.3GL & SX drive

[USA_boater]

Got an '04 Four Winns from a cousin who apparently didn't do very good maintenance. Boat in great shape appearance-wise, but sat for 5yrs un-used in covered storage. The water had been drained from the block/exhaust but that's about it. I sprayed seafoam deep creep into the cylinders before turning the motor over just to be sure they were not seized up.

So far I've changed the fuel filter, oil & filter, and poured 2 cans of seafoam in the gas tank and topped it off with fresh non-ethanol premium unleaded, got fresh batteries (has a dual bat switch), greased gimbal bearing zerk, topped off power steering fluid (with regular automotive fluid, hope that's okay?). He told me he changed the lower unit oil before he put it away in 2013. I confirmed it was full/clean and he gave me a left-over bottle of 75w90 Castrol gear oil; I'll probably change it out at the end of this season anyway.

I then ran it on the trailer to be sure it didn't overheat before taking it out. I've had it out for testing twice so far. The first time it ran just above half on the temp gauge and I didn't idle much. The second time out, a friend of mine who is a boat owner came out and was harder on it and we also idled much more. It heated up to over 3/4 of the gauge after running hard and then idling. He said I should change the impeller (which I'd already planned to do). However, I am also wondering if there could be rust clogging up a cooling port or even the thermostat since this thing sat for 5 yrs without being properly winterized.

The tach doesn't work and the fuel gauge works but is way inaccurate so we didn't rule out the possibility that the temp gauge may be lying too? I have a laser temp gun, would that tell me if I read the head temp while it was idling?

So now that all that background is taken care of here are my other questions:

- Can I use a regular cap/rotor for a 4.3 chevy or is there something special about marine?

- Also, same question about plug wires

- Plugs appeared to be GM platiums, can I cross those to NGK and run NGK instead?

- The drain plug is corroded in place and I've tried everything to get it loose, I think I am gonna have to replace the entire drain plug & housing...if so, where can I get one and what kind of epoxy/sealant do I use for it?

- When winterizing do you even need to drain the water from the motor if you are going to suck up the pink antifreeze method?

- What should I look for why the tach is dead?

- How do I know whether I have the fresh or sea cooling so I can get the correct thermostat?

- Is there ANY locally available trim fluid I can use or must I order the volvo to top off the trim fluid reservoir?

- Does the power steering pump take the same stuff as the trim?

- The motor sticker doesn't show anything that indicates what version of the 4.3GL this might be. How can I tell? I assume since boat made in 2003 and is a 2004 model year must be either a "C" or "D"?

- Why no "trailer-up" button on this boat? Where should trim needle be when loading/unloading...I've been careful not to start boat with trim all the way up

- Is Rotella T5 15w40 CK-4 oil okay for this flat-tappet boat engine? I almost added some STP or something to give it more ZDDP but I saw a VOA that said the rotell still had > 1000 on zinc/phosphorus levels.

I'm sure I will have more questions but this is enough to break the ice...thanks guys!!!

 

[Maclin]

Welcome Aboard! :welcome:

Good questions, others will add more and fill in some blanks for you.


- Can I use a regular cap/rotor for a 4.3 chevy or is there something special about marine?
Cap needs to be marine rated.

- Also, same question about plug wires
Plug wires from automotive applications are almost always not long enough.

- When winterizing do you even need to drain the water from the motor if you are going to suck up the pink antifreeze method?
First step even when using pink stuff is to fully drain engine block and intake and exhaust manifolds. Do this before you buy the pink stuff. Then when drained, just stop there, done.

- How do I know whether I have the fresh or sea cooling so I can get the correct thermostat?
Fresh water cooling will have a heat exchanger with an automotive-looking pressurized radiator cap.



Happy boating!

 

[Bt Doctur]

So now that all that background is taken care of here are my other questions:

- Can I use a regular cap/rotor for a 4.3 chevy or is there something special about marine?

- Also, same question about plug wires

- Plugs appeared to be GM platiums, can I cross those to NGK and run NGK instead?
Yes
Yes
Yes

- The drain plug is corroded in place and I've tried everything to get it loose, I think I am gonna have to replace the entire drain plug & housing...if so, where can I get one and what kind of epoxy/sealant do I use for it?

If you mean the hull drain plug, then use 5400 sealant on the housing with the 2 screws and 1 bolt.The bolt is used for bonding and must be connected to the engine block

- When winterizing do you even need to drain the water from the motor if you are going to suck up the pink antifreeze method?

Quickest way to installing a new motor from a cracked block

- What should I look for why the tach is dead?


Bad wire or bad tach or incorrectly wired tach

How do I know whether I have the fresh or sea cooling so I can get the correct thermostat?

Using a heat exchanger 160, no exchanger 140 in most cases, You need the oil temp hot enough to burn off any moisture

- Is there ANY locally available trim fluid I can use or must I order the volvo to top off the trim fluid reservoir?

generic power steering fluid is fine, any manufacturer

Why no "trailer-up" button on this boat? Where should trim needle be when loading/unloading...I've been careful not to start boat with trim all the way up

Should be a trailer button to raise it all the way.Ignore the gauge Drive all the way down after launch to run the motor, drive all the way up to put on trailer, Drives have a trim limit to prevent you from operating in the "full up " position. If the trim button raises it all the way, the trim limit has been by-passed

- Is Rotella T5 15w40 CK-4 oil okay for this flat-tappet boat engine? I almost added some STP or something to give it more ZDDP but I saw a VOA that said the rotell still had > 1000 on zinc/phosphorus levels.

Perfectly fine,although I personally add Marvel Mystery Oil to my oil and gas

 

[USA_boater]

Thanks guys, so far I have:

- no heat ex-changer so I guess I can safely order the sea water t-stat part number

- Did you mean if the motor is running it won't let me trim all the way up? I just have one trim button on the throttle and it goes up & down, that's it...If I have the engine off and I push it up, it will go until the sound changes and it is obviously at the top and can go up no more. It will do this with the motor off, I've never tried to do this with the motor running for fear it would hurt the CV-joint..so far I've just put the trim about 3/4 the way up to approach the trailer, then all the way up one on the trailer and motor is shut off...seems risky to allow trim up all the way if running engine can damage cv-joint/drive-line...how can I verify safely that the time will stop before full-up if motor was on???

- YES, I meant hull plug...this thing has a sump pump that automatically engages so he left the plug in all the time since the boat was covered storage...I tried heat and I think I damaged the sealant already but no way that plug will come out...the flange the plug goes into has 3 Phillips head screws, no bolt visible...not sure what you meant about connecting it to the block?

- Why the marvel mystery oil? For better startup lubricity or what? Seems like marvel would slightly make the oil viscosity thinner which not sure you want on a boat?

- SO YOU ARE SAYING NO PINK STUFF NECESSARY??? Just drain the block/exhaust brass spigots and maybe loosen the circulation pump hoses and such? What about corrosion? Thsi thing had been stored without the pink stuff its whole life and when I fired it up after 5yrs stagnant there were pieces of rust scale that came out with the hot water at the back of the boat...I can only assume it was from the cast iron exhaust manifolds from sitting with no corrosion inhibitor all winter its whole life? Can you clarify no pink stuff? If I drain the cooling system, wouldn't a dry block be hard on the sea water pump impeller before water began to lube it upon first startup next season?

Thanks again fellas!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Iboats sells garboard plugs (about $10). use 3M 5200 to seal the new garboard plug

fluid questions are answered in the manual

always always ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS drain prior to any antifreeze or you will have a busted block

follow the diagrams in the manual for the tach. most likely grey wire is disconnected somewhere

use your serial number to determine A, B, C, D....etc. (its simply the year of that particular series run)

T4 is better than the T5 for flat tappets, however your 4.3 motor is a roller, use T4, T5 or T6...

 

[USA_boater]

WOW, I had no idea this carbed 4.3 is roller? if so that is good news!

Thanks for the tip on the "gardboard" plug...I have mechanical ability, grew up with outboard bass boats as a kid, but this is my first "real" boat to own other than my 2-man pond hopper LOL...I have a lot to learn about boats and especially inboard/outboard boats...thanks for the welcome and good treatment for the newbie guys.

I can see why it is addicting, I've tinkered with lots of other stuff, and am already eyeing K&N flame arrestor, edelbrock intake/carb, etc...I'd like to get an accel ignition, or at least high output coil if I knew it was marine-safe!?!

Also, I chose the 15w40 syn-blend as an alternative to the OEM full-syn 30wt...I read somewhere Volvo stopped making their own brand 30wt synthetic and there was a bulletin to change to 10w40, 15w40, or straight 40wt...??? Do I need to run FULL synthetic because if so, Sierra seems to be the only full-syn 30wt marine oil available and if I went full-syn I'd prob just got with Mobil-1 15w50...any comments?

 

[Scott Danforth]

WOW, I had no idea this carbed 4.3 is roller? if so that is good news!

here is some reading on the 4.3 https://forums.iboats.com/forum/eng...history-of-the-4-3-liter-with-casting-numbers

I can see why it is addicting, I've tinkered with lots of other stuff, and am already eyeing K&N flame arrestor, edelbrock intake/carb, etc...I'd like to get an accel ignition, or at least high output coil if I knew it was marine-safe!?!

dont even waste money... all that will do is cost you about $600 and gain you nothing. absolutely nothing. did I mention it wont gain you a thing.

the same spark arrestor is used on 7.4 liters as 4.3, so your not going to gain air flow
if you want a 4-barrel carb, then look for a marine intake, or invest in a heat exchanger. aluminum intakes tend to corrode (more in salt, however also in fresh water). the 4 barrel intake is good for 20hp at most
the coil wont gain you anything. stock $20 coils already have more voltage than needed to fire off a spark plug

Also, I chose the 15w40 syn-blend as an alternative to the OEM full-syn 30wt...I read somewhere Volvo stopped making their own brand 30wt synthetic and there was a bulletin to change to 10w40, 15w40, or straight 40wt...??? Do I need to run FULL synthetic because if so, Sierra seems to be the only full-syn 30wt marine oil available and if I went full-syn I'd prob just got with Mobil-1 15w50...any comments?

yes/no/maybe/blue/33/punt..... pick your answer, they all will work. way too many oil threads to say anything else. run what you want. Mobil 1 is way too high priced

I (as well as many others) run Rotella T4 15w-40 in my boat because it exceeds the needs of the boat and because its $11 a gallon on amazon and sometimes I can find it for under $8 a gallon. I also run it in all my L&G equipment. (I think bondo gets it in 55 gallon drums)

I used to also run it in the old truck, old daily driver, etc. however those are gone and the new replacements have DI engines running 5w20 synthetic

FWIW, Rotella T6 full syn is like $15 a gallon if you watch the ads

 

[USA_boater]

Thanks, I use the T5 in my lawn tractor and my generator so it just made sense to stock/run the same in as much equipment as I can...The T6 is alluring since it is full-syn but since this stuff is mainly run in warmer months, I prefer an oil with less viscosity improvers anyway. I saw Edelbrock makes the MARINE-specific carb/intake but for only 20hp AND NOT KNOWING IF I NEED TO REJET the new carb, I might not mess with it...On my jet ski(s), aftermarket flame arrestors did seem to make a difference but they are 2 strokes. Thanks again for all the info, it is rough being capable yet ignorant of specific information when you first get into a new hobby!

 

[Scott Danforth]

the marine specific manifolds have dual alloy castings. bronze lined water ports and the rest is aluminum.

Buddy Barr foundry (Barr marine) is the casting house for Edelbrock......and PCM.......and Volvo Penta......and Ilmore.....and you get the picture.