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Winterization Modification


SunriseH2OSkier

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I thought about that for a minute too and said if I drain all the water out properly first (by releasing the quick connect on the hot line and letting the water drain into the bilge), it should be empty when I get to that step.

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  • 1 year later...

So I finally completed this mod today. It was pretty easy, other than the normal scraped knuckles & sore neck from an afternoon spent crawling around in the boat. I missed a couple of parts & pieces, so the mod isn't as complete as I'd like it to be, but I'll finish that up when I unbutton her in the spring.

Something that I thought of after the fact that relates to us wakeboard boat types: there isn't any reason that I can think of that these quick connect fittings couldn't be used on the vent lines for the ballast tanks. By doing that, you could make yourself a super-easy way of injecting a little antifreeze into the tanks in the same manner that Jerry describes for putting it into the motor. The debate over whether or not you should use a/f is a separate discussion, I just hope that if you do decide to use it that you dispose of it properly.

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  • 11 months later...

Just to confirm with a couple who have done this, heater hose lines are 3/8" diameter??? I'm four hours from my boat and the boat is a good 45 minutes the other direction from a Home Depot if I happen to buy the wrong size, hoping to do this next weekend.... Thanks in advance, great idea and writeup....

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  • 5 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Why are you guys putting A/F in the block. I can kind of see doing it in the heater core but not the block. Back in 95, 96, and 97 I worked at a Mastercraft Dealership and I must have winterized a few hundred boats. We never put A/F in anything that I can remember. Has something changed? Not trying to be an A$$ I am just kind of concerned since I just came in from draining the water out of my boat because its supposed to get cold the next couple nights.

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Why are you guys putting A/F in the block. I can kind of see doing it in the heater core but not the block. Back in 95, 96, and 97 I worked at a Mastercraft Dealership and I must have winterized a few hundred boats. We never put A/F in anything that I can remember. Has something changed? Not trying to be an A$$ I am just kind of concerned since I just came in from draining the water out of my boat because its supposed to get cold the next couple nights.
People just do it for that warm fuzzy feeling of a little extra insurance in case they didn't get all the water out.

Depending on where you live, not getting all of the water out could mean disastrous results. We had a stretch of weather up here earlier this winter that didn't get above 15 degrees for a week straight (there were areas in the region that saw lows go below 40 below zero a couple of those nights). I wouldn't have wanted to wonder through that stretch if I'd gotten all of the water out of the block. Granted, that's an extreme example, but at least where I live if I'm going to winterize, I'm going all the way.

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I am not concerned with adding anti-freeze as my boat is parked indoors. It still gets cold so I do the drain only...

Instead of the quick connects I just plumbed in a petcock in the low spot on the shower hose. I could not find quick connects at home depot or lowes so I went this route. And I don't add antifreeze. But...I wouldn't have thought of it without this thread. :biggrin:

Edited by Ruffdog
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Just make sure to never put anything in between the knock sensor and the block. The knock sensor is really important to your ignition / timing system and it can play havoc with your system because your timing will thrown out of wack.

-Paul

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Just make sure to never put anything in between the knock sensor and the block. The knock sensor is really important to your ignition / timing system and it can play havoc with your system because your timing will thrown out of wack.

-Paul

Absolutely, drain the right side of the engine by removing the knock sensor and the left by quick connect or petcock.

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  • 3 months later...

Just wondering if you used plastic or brass fittings for the splined 5/8" female and male pieces?

i've moved all of my heater and shower fittings to brass garden hose with screens.

keeps trash out of the hardware, easy to make/break.

even added a couple brass garden hose quick connects.

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  • 2 weeks later...

There are 2 hoses that are coming up and into the engine. One goes to the manifold and one goes to the water pump. I'm a suppose to put quick connects on both of these hoses? Which one is considered the low rpm fitting? The red, blue and shower hose are easy but I'm not sure if I'm suppose to put quick connects on the two heater hoses coming up to the engine. Any help greatly appreciated

Thanks

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  • 3 months later...

I have done these mods. They are fantastic and save a lot of time in the early & late season skiing when you have to drain.

Matho,

Where do I find these modifications you are speaking of?

I am new to this site, so I may be overlooking a simple link somewhere.

Thank you in Advance,

Jeepdude

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Heres another option:

I did the same mod, but instead of using the quick connect fittings, I used Prestone Flush Kit Ts in the heater hoses. The idea being that I can more easily remove the caps from the Ts than to break / reassemble the fittings one handed.... which is an issue in some of these V-drives.

Now I just remove those two caps, the heater drains into the bilge, and then out the hull drain. Done.

flushts.jpg

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't put the AF into the engine by running it - more trouble than it's worth to me. Plus it takes on the order of 5 gallons of AF to be sure you got it into the important places. But if you are going to do it that way, I'd recommend doing the engine first, then doing the shower & heater. Otherwise, some of the water that is in your engine initially can be pushed out to the heater and possibly the shower. Then you are at risk for freezing again.

I drain the engine (exhaust manifold hoses, knock sensor, hot water connection, output side of raw water pump, and the C shaped hose at the main circulation pump), then pour AF in (hoses to exhaust manifolds, and into the block via the heater supply hose). I go through 2 gallons, and that covers my shower, heater, and engine.

I drain the engine first, and while that is happening I do the shower and heater. Once they are done, I go back and reinstall all the hoses/knock sensor/etc. on the engine, then pour the AF in.

If I am still skiing, I use the pink stuff. When I put her away for the winter, I go for the full strength Sierra AF (Propylene Glycol - not Ethylene Glycol). Probably overkill, but pretty cheap insurance, and the guys at Heatercraft (makers of the heater and shower in probably most every OEM) recommend it for the best protection.

Don't have a heater on my boat, so any other ideas as to where to pour antifreeze in the block. Everything is drained and fogged, so don't want to do the fake a lake and start it.

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Don't have a heater on my boat, so any other ideas as to where to pour antifreeze in the block. Everything is drained and fogged, so don't want to do the fake a lake and start it.

Doing it this way there is a small chance that anti-freeze will not make it into certain remote areas in the engine. Being drained already there is a better than good chance that those areas don't have water in them either. You can pull the hoses to/from the thermostat, and fill'er up.

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  • 2 months later...

Heres another option:

I did the same mod, but instead of using the quick connect fittings, I used Prestone Flush Kit Ts in the heater hoses. The idea being that I can more easily remove the caps from the Ts than to break / reassemble the fittings one handed.... which is an issue in some of these V-drives.

Now I just remove those two caps, the heater drains into the bilge, and then out the hull drain. Done.

flushts.jpg

Good ideal Bill. Do you hook up a compressor to one of the fittings to blow the water out of the heater core or just let it drain.? Do you find it works adequately? Very simple install!

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Thx old skool.

This is the 2nd boat I've used this idea on, plus had a handful of friends use it too. We just use gravity, no air pressure. The core is mounted up under the dash. And these lines are down in the bilge so it's all downhill.

When we pull the boat out, I open everything up on the ramp (knock sensor, exhaust, shower & heater), bump start the engine for a second (gotta love those Globe "run-dry" impellers), then drive home. I keep the boat outside in the spring & fall when we always have those occasional cold nights, even a bit of snow once in a while. When I get home, I plug in the on-board bilge heater & battery tender, then cover it. Done.

This time of year the boat is inside an unheated or insulated storage unit. We used it for the AirSanta run, plus will have it out multiple times thru the off-season, draining everything after each use.

And have never lost a core.

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