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DonkeyPuncher

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I have a 08 VTX and Ive been trying to get it in to have it winterized. My question is what happens if I dont get it winterized? It sits in a heated shop all year round, and only used it for 3.5 hours this past summer. Ive been traveling and its getting harder to get it to my dealer. What could happen if it doesnt get done

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I have a 08 VTX and Ive been trying to get it in to have it winterized. My question is what happens if I dont get it winterized? It sits in a heated shop all year round, and only used it for 3.5 hours this past summer. Ive been traveling and its getting harder to get it to my dealer. What could happen if it doesnt get done

Worst case is your heat goes out in your garage and you crack the block. Really easy to just drain the water out of the block, takes about 10 min. I would just do that at a minimum.

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What about the gas and and do they still fog the motors?

You don't absolutely have to fog the motor if you don't want to. Put marine blend stabil in the gas and call it good. What motor do you have?

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But is it necessary if it sits inside all winter in a 65 degree shop?

The answer to that question totally depends on how much risk you are willing to accept. If you want zero risk you should winterize it.

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I keep mine in a heated shop too, but I still drain the block and then fill it with RV antifreeze. I also fog and use stabil for added protection. As mentioned, it is just cheap insurance if the power fails and the temp in the shop drops. It is a lot cheaper to do that than to buy a new block.

Where do you live? Do you have harsh winters?

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But is it necessary if it sits inside all winter in a 65 degree shop?

The gas will still separate (go bad) in a heated shop and the cylinder walls will be unprotected if you don't fog them. A clogged fuel system from bad gas is an immediate pain in the arse and premature wear of your cylinder walls and piston rings is a long term pain. Easier just to do it right.

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Where are you geographically? When winter sets in is it freezing all winter?

A direct answer to your question is no, you do not have to winterize the engine. If your indoor storage looses heat and you get a good freeze indoors you will wish you had winterized.

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This won't be the popular response, but....

With my prior boat ('89 Four Winns Freedom 170 I/O) I hardly did anything to it. No fogging ever. Usually I put stabil in, but not always. Sometimes I stored it inside a heated warehouse (I'm in logistics), sometimes not (out of space). Never had a problem with the boat, it fired right up in the spring every year for 13 years, and it was 6 years old when I bought it. I just never took the time, and after all it was only a $3,500 boat. But I always drained the water. Things get rusty and I just hated the thought of water sitting up against the fittings, gaskets, plugs, etc. all winter long. If you drain it after it sits for 6 months you'll find some rusty water coming out.

Now, with my current $11,500 - $12k boat I wax it a lot, and follow the book on winterization. With your boat, valued at triple mine, I would not hesistate to do it right, you've got way too much into it. Corrosion, bad gas, rusy cylinders, etc. It would bother me all winter long knowing that those things are going on with an expensive machine.

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I keep mine in a heated shop too, but I still drain the block and then fill it with RV antifreeze. I also fog and use stabil for added protection. As mentioned, it is just cheap insurance if the power fails and the temp in the shop drops. It is a lot cheaper to do that than to buy a new block.

Where do you live? Do you have harsh winters?

Totally off topic...like the Chappelle avatar redrum ! That skit is soooo funny !

Steve B.

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Living in WI definitely drain the water and use stabil or like product for the gas. Personally if I knew I wasn’t going to use the boat for long extended periods of time I’d fog the cylinders. I wouldn’t bother if it was a short time say a month, but WI temps in winter are enough to make me want to drain the block and be prepared for the worst. It doesn’t cost any money to do yet costly if not done..

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This is extent of my winterization.

Add Stabil

Top off with Gas

Drain block

Plug in battery charger and pick her up next spring.

I have all the fluids changed every April. And she always fires right up. While I understand and appriciate MB post comment about a more expensive boat, outside of any warranty period I still don't think my proceedure would change. My personal opinion is that the effects of not winterizing are exaggerated. While not winterizing could likely be a contributing factor to permature mechanical issues, they are in all likelyhood never the singular reason.

But I live in Houston winter is like a week and half long. The only reason we don't go year round is we are usually to busy from November to April to find time to go wih work holidays & famlily events during those months.

IMO, bottom line drain the block put additive in the block and you'll be fine as long as the power dosen't shut off.

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