Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Bump start when winterizing


wakeboarder3780

Recommended Posts

Title says it all, but I've heard multiple people say you'll get more water out of the system after you do your preliminary drain by bump starting the engine. Do you guys remove the safety leash and then just crank the engine for a few seconds or do you actually fire the engine up for just a few seconds and then shut it off?

Link to comment

Title says it all, but I've heard multiple people say you'll get more water out of the system after you do your preliminary drain by bump starting the engine. Do you guys remove the safety leash and then just crank the engine for a few seconds or do you actually fire the engine up for just a few seconds and then shut it off?

If you take the impeller out like the directions say, starting the engine will do (almost) nothing. There will be no water movement except for in the exhaust which shouldn't be a problem if you drain that.

If you fog, that will be the last you use the engine/starter.

Link to comment

ok so perhaps I need to explain more, I'm talking about a mild winterization procedure that you do in the northern part of the country where it drops below freezing even though you're riding in the day time. This can go on for months at a time so you can't afford to fully winterize every time.

The process is as follows:

1) Remove drain plugs (knock sensors on my 06 LSV)

2) Disconnect manifold hoses

3) allow to drain

4) bump start (question here)

5) disconnect lines on both ends of vdrive cooler to verify it's empty

6) disconnect hose at output end of raw water impeller housing to verify there is no water sitting in the hose (this hose is vertical with impeller being at bottom so water could gather and hold there).

So my question was just simply if you fire up the engine for a few seconds or if you just let it crank for a few seconds?

Link to comment

I actually fire the engine up for a second. Get the Globe run dry impeller from this site's group buy & there is no issue with dry starting it with the impeller in place. I do it all the time. And lets face it, it's not REALLY dry when you do this after pulling it from the lake & draining everything as you described. There is still water in there. And starting it for a second will blow a lot of that out.

A few yrs ago I had a neighbor who cracked a muffler due to his winterization process. Never has happened to me.

I used to do this with the old Johnsons too & never lost one. I replace the impeller every 2 yrs.... or probably between 160 - 200 hrs. Last Globe I pulled out last year looked fine & had almost 200 hrs on it. It's now my reserve.

Link to comment

awesome, thank you for the clarification. Just looked over the block so my winterization last year looks like it worked just fine - that's a load off. The first year is always the scariest. I will be using the bump start method on the cold parts of the season. Thanks bill

Link to comment

I don't see where "bumping" the engine is going to do much good. After disconnecting all the hoses you stated all that would be left to complete a full winterization would be removing the impeller and fogging the engine (not in this order). At this point you have already drained all the water out. About the only place left to hold water would be between the impeller fins where there isn't an opening.

Link to comment

I don't see where "bumping" the engine is going to do much good. After disconnecting all the hoses you stated all that would be left to complete a full winterization would be removing the impeller and fogging the engine (not in this order). At this point you have already drained all the water out. About the only place left to hold water would be between the impeller fins where there isn't an opening.

Have you ever tried it? After draining the engine, shower & heater, bump start the engine & let me know if you see anything come out of the exhaust.

Believe me, just opening everything up does not allow everything to completely drain. There is still water in there. Which is EXACTLY why most people use anti-freeze. But if your using your boat in the off-season, then a full winterization with anti-freeze & fogging solution is just not practical. Setting everything up so you can drain it quickly & easily, bump starting the engine, and using a bilge heater is more practical.

If your not using the boat in the off-season then there is no point in winterizing like this. We've already been out riding a couple times. It's over 50 today. And will be under 30 tonite. Thats why I do it this way.

Link to comment

Have you ever tried it? After draining the engine, shower & heater, bump start the engine & let me know if you see anything come out of the exhaust.

Believe me, just opening everything up does not allow everything to completely drain. There is still water in there. Which is EXACTLY why most people use anti-freeze. But if your using your boat in the off-season, then a full winterization with anti-freeze & fogging solution is just not practical. Setting everything up so you can drain it quickly & easily, bump starting the engine, and using a bilge heater is more practical.

If your not using the boat in the off-season then there is no point in winterizing like this. We've already been out riding a couple times. It's over 50 today. And will be under 30 tonite. Thats why I do it this way.

No, have never tried it but I also don't have a shower or heater so I can see where the more you have to more water there will be. I wasn't thinking of all those other add-on items. When I look at my engine configuration I'm sure I get enough water out that I don't have to worry about it. I little water won't hurt as long as there's an air space for freeze expansion. If it works though, go for it. :)

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

If your not using the boat in the off-season then there is no point in winterizing like this. We've already been out riding a couple times. It's over 50 today. And will be under 30 tonite. Thats why I do it this way.

+1 I do the whole antifreeze thing over the hard winter season. This is just for the cold parts of the season. I probably should invest in a bilge heater for a little peace of mind, but for now I'm just doing the bump start. I actually decided not to do the last 2 steps I listed, I just ended after bump starting. Had it run for 2 seconds and shut it off and watched the extra water that was in the hoses drain down through the manifold lines. Then had the wife start it up for an additional 2-3 more seconds until the rate of water looked really slow and kept it off. I think this will be perfect for our purposes.

Bill you stated that you simply drop the drain plugs, drop the manifold lines, and bump start right? That's what I did last week and I'm assuming I'll be fine. My only creeping fear is that the v-drive cooler might have a little pooled water and could possibly crack the cooler case.

Link to comment

Bill you stated that you simply drop the drain plugs, drop the manifold lines, and bump start right? That's what I did last week and I'm assuming I'll be fine. My only creeping fear is that the v-drive cooler might have a little pooled water and could possibly crack the cooler case.

I'll have to take another look at it. But as I recall, if your intake valve is open, and you pull the hose on the far side of the v-drive, there isn't really any way for water to sit in there.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...