Engine Winterization - What's the best method?

[skiguy]

Crew,

In the past on a different boat (I/O) I would winterize the engine (per the manual) by opening all the petcocks in the block and exhaust manifold to drain the water. Remove the hoses at the water pump and drain and then fill the block with an anti-freeze mixture through one of the hoses and then reconnect. I lived in a much cooler climate then and never had any issue with freezing. However, I understand there are some folks who use a winterization kit to suck in the anti-freeze through the raw water intake and don't bother draining the block and manifolds. It sure beats having to remove hoses.

What is your preferred method of winterizing the engine and why?

[Bozboat]

1) Q: Full winterization or winterization light: I Follow the manual and do it correctly.

2) Why: $5,000 to $7,000 for a new longblock.

[Bill_AirJunky]

Your going to get 100 different methods on what everyone considers the "best method" is. And all this information is written in a 100 other threads on this site.... use the search engine & you'll find them.

I live in the Pacific NW, less than 100 miles from the Canadian border. We'll see temps well under 0 most every winter. Temps will be under freezing at night as early as October and as late as April. We still like to ride in a lot of those months, including our annual Christmas eve AirSanta run.

When I first started riding, I hung out with a handful of the old timers who ran HO Sports. They used & taught me a method of draining the engine, heater, shower, etc. so that the boat would be effectively winterized but could still be used without any kind of "summerizing" routine.

I installed a pair of Prestone radiator flush Ts in the heater lines down in the bilge. There is also a How-to in the DIY section of this site on how to use garden hose quick connects. Either method allows you to open the heater lines to drain, which is also hooked up to the engines water pump. Then open the shower hoses, and remove the knock sensor.

I have a Globe Run-dry impeller installed in the boat (search for the group buy on this site). So when everything is drained, I bump start the engine to blow the last bit out. This whole process takes like 3 or 4 minutes & is usually done at the boat ramp.

Then when I get home I plug in the on-board bilge heater & the on-board battery charger. Then cover the boat. Done.

When I was in Seattle I kept the boat outside with a dozen others that winterized the same way. We never had problems & used the boats almost year round for a lot of years. Now that I'm in the Spokane area, the boat is stored in a storage unit out of the ice & snow.

[Indyxc]

In texas you can probably get away with the anti-freeze method, but it's a risk. Again, anti-freeze will freeze, especially if diluted with water.

If you drain the block, there is nothing to freeze.

It all comes down to do it right, and have little risk, or do it quickly, and take a risk.

[Slayer]

This thread has recently been bumped with very good information.

[Catfish]

When I lived in Mississippi, we would ski on "warm" winter days then pull the boat out and on the ramp pull the freeze plugs in the block and exhaust manifolds, let it drain then reinstall them. You are now good to go unless a hard freeze is coming, and the boat is still ready to use right away. If you are worried about it, stick a drop light under the motor box near the block. The heat from the bulb will keep it above freezing in there. Just remember to check the bulb periodically to make sure it doesn't burn out and only use incandescents not those CFL crap bulbs.

Of course the best technique is to move to Central FL where we don't winterize the boat........but the bad news is I don't winterize my lawnmower either.

Edited September 20, 2011 by Catfish

[nyryan2001]

Every March-May folks jump on these sites with horror stories about cracked blocks....ususally those folks are in the warmer climates who thought they could get away without doing, or did it improperly doing a "partial" ... and a couple time folks have ran into issues with they "thought" their dealer did it and it was never done...

dont be a statistic, take your winterization seriously, and avoid the $5k lesson, and loss of your boat for 2-3 months next spring fighting with a dealer trying to get that mess fixed.