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Wet or Dry


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I'll make it short. What is best, to drain the engine block of water and store dry? Or to run and fill with antifreeze? I believe in storing it wet. what is does most owners do? Also to fog or not? somthing to think about.

Edited by pkenney
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You'll get arguments both ways - I fill mine with ethylene glycol-based antifreeze (yellow stuff). I like the anticorrosion properties it.

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If you believe in storing WET, then drain as much as you can, then fill with 4-5 gallons of pink RV Antifreeze, unless you have some Bio-friendly way of disposing of conventional antifreeze (doubtful)....that way to de-winterize, just drop it in the lake/river, and start it up.

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I'll make it short. What is best, to drain the engine block of water and store dry? Or to run and fill with antifreeze? I believe in storing it wet. what is does most owners do? Also to fog or not? somthing to think about.

I personally don't see any benefit in storing it wet. There is no way to catch the anti freeze in the spring, and I am trying to be a good environmentalist and not pump ethelene glycol (sp?) all over my yard or lake in the spring! :-)

I just winterized yesterday (sniff...sob...). I always add fuel stabilizer and fill up the gas tank to keep condensation from forming on the inside tank walls. Then, I start the boat on the hose in the driveway, get it up to normal temp, fog the crap out of it, and then shut it down. I pull the spark plugs and put a squirt of fogging oil in each cylinder, then reinstall the spark plugs.

My boat is a 1997 Echelon LX with the Merc Magnum (carb). It has blue drain plugs to get all the water out of it. I removed all the plugs and keep them out. I make sure I run a coathanger or small screwdriver up in the drain plug holes to break up any debris that might prevent all the water from coming out. My port side lower plug hole was almost full of crud...had I not stuck a wire coat hanger in the drain, there would have been TONS of water still inside the engine. Once the water is done draining, I pull the coil wire off (so it won't actually start) and turn the engine over for a few seconds to spin the impeller and water pump to clear any little bit of water left over, and push the fogging oil up and down inside the cyliders.

I also change the engine oil and filter too as a part of my winterization process, so in the spring, I put the drain plugs back in, re-install the battery, and am ready to hit the lake!

YMMV,

-- Mike

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I always make sure both side block plugs are removed as if only one is pulled, there will be water left in the block. I also pull the impeller out for extended storage as it is compressed in the housing and rmoving it allows it to ralax a bit. Seems to help extend the life of it and it also keeps me from turning the impeller over dry in the spring. I open up all the low hanging water passages and hoses to make sure I get all the water out and also make sure to drain the heater if you have one.

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I personally don't see any benefit in storing it wet. There is no way to catch the anti freeze in the spring, and I am trying to be a good environmentalist and not pump ethelene glycol (sp?) all over my yard or lake in the spring! :-)

In spring, I put a 5-gallon bucket under each exhaust flap and catch the antifreeze. That way it does not end up in the lake or my yard. The big issue with ethylene glycol-based antifreeze is its high acute toxicity (to both animals and fish). Its biodegradability profile (which is high) is nearly identical to propylene glycol-based products (red stuff). Glycols are basically sugars - that is why it can be deadly to animals - they are attracted to it.

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Good info. We won't be storing the boat in our garage anymore so I'll have to winterize this year, and learned a few things from this thread Thumbup.gif It's pretty much what I used to do on our old boat!

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