Winterize....

[Slayer]

WTH, I'll throw in my 2 cents too! Regardless, I think you got it covered.

At this time, my engine is warm has been fogged & stabilized, oil is draining, and the engine will not be run again until next season.

Starboard side: I remove the drain plug on the side of the engine. I remove and drain the hose going from the impellar to the transcooler, at the transcooler. Clean the screen. I then remove and drain the hose going to the manifold at the manifold. I reattach hoses and leave the plug out.

Front: I remove the large hose that goes to the pulley, at the end just under the oil dipstick and drain that.

Port side: I remove the drain plug on the side of the engine. I remove and drain the hose going to the manifold at the manifold. The raw water hose is already disconnected from me putting a hose in it, I drain that too. I reattach hoses and leave the plug out.

At this point all hoses are connected and 2 plugs are out. I diconnect the large hose on the front of the engine at the point just above the oil dipstick (almost on the top of the engine). I pour antifreeze in until it comes out of the 2 plugs. I then re-install the plugs. I then continue pouring antifreeze in the same hose until it comes out of the exhaust.

Reattach hoses and that's it. I am on the fence as to whether it's really worth it to bother with the antifreeze. I have never done it before with any other boat, and only started doing it with this one cuz some people said to. Then when pulling my thermostat there was a TON of corrosion inside, so I do feel better with the antifreeze hoping it well head off some corrosion. So bottom line I'm sure you are OK.

Edit: I use 4.5 gallons of AF before it comes out of the exhaust.

Thanks. The only thing that I didn't to is tank the hoses off that feed the manifolds when I drained it. Otherwise I did everything that you did with the exception of running the engine to cycle antifreeze through it. I fogged it while running the last gallon of antifreeze through.

[Sixball]

"I use 4.5 gallons of AF before it comes out of the exhaust. " I am in the 4 to 4.5 gal also.

[DONTW8]

What if ?

My good friend opened the freeze plug drains on each side of the block and drained out the water.

He closed the drains.

He added one gallon of RV antifreeze to the engine by disconnecting each hose near the traditional plate where the thermostat would be on a car.

This antifreeze ran down the hose through the exhaust manifolds into the block.

He reattached those hoses from the exhaust manifold back to the top of the engine.

He did no other winterizing.

The boat is a 1991 Sunsetter DD with the carb engine.

( I suspect he has a cooling water line to the tranny)

Will this be sufficient ?

[Lakenut]

Someone correct me, but the t-stat controls water leaving the block.

[BREZ]

Last year was my first year winterizing my boat and I worried about it all winter long. It was fine in the spring. I am sure I will worry about it again while I am sitting on the lake ice fishing and seeing the boat in the driveway tucked away for the winter. I followed the same procedure as you, & it will probably take me a few years to get comfortable if I winterized it correctly.

For those that leave hoses disconnected have you ever had a problem with mice? I have gotten 7 of those bastards in my garage in traps & I don't bait the traps. I have only had one hard frost so the mice are still on the move until winter sets in.

[Sliderfiii]

Last year was my first year winterizing my boat and I worried about it all winter long. It was fine in the spring. I am sure I will worry about it again while I am sitting on the lake ice fishing and seeing the boat in the driveway tucked away for the winter. I followed the same procedure as you, & it will probably take me a few years to get comfortable if I winterized it correctly.

For those that leave hoses disconnected have you ever had a problem with mice? I have gotten 7 of those bastards in my garage in traps & I don't bait the traps. I have only had one hard frost so the mice are still on the move until winter sets in.

try "Bounce" dryer sheets and moth balls ...mice hate em both

[Michigan boarder]

What if ?

My good friend opened the freeze plug drains on each side of the block and drained out the water.

He closed the drains.

He added one gallon of RV antifreeze to the engine by disconnecting each hose near the traditional plate where the thermostat would be on a car.

This antifreeze ran down the hose through the exhaust manifolds into the block.

He reattached those hoses from the exhaust manifold back to the top of the engine.

He did no other winterizing.

The boat is a 1991 Sunsetter DD with the carb engine.

( I suspect he has a cooling water line to the tranny)

Will this be sufficient ?

I'd say that guy is in trouble. Just draining from the engine drains will still leave a lot of lake water in the system. I'd say I get less than a gallon out of mine (both sides combined). That means he's diluted the 1 gallon of AF that he put in substantially.

Edited October 26, 2011 by Michigan boarder

[vette-ski]

I'd say that guy is in trouble. Just draining from the engine drains will still leave a lot of lake water in the system. I'd say I get less than a gallon out of mine (both sides combined). That means he's diluted the 1 gallon of AF that he put in substantially.

I agree. I can't see a motor from '91 being any different from today, but I know on mine that there is no physical connection between water in the manifolds and the block. So draining the block did not drain the manifolds. Adding a/f to the manifolds did not fill the block. The block may be ok because it was drained. But the manifolds are going to be diluted a/f. Worst case....cracked manifolds.

And I agree with Lakenut too....it is my understanding that the t-stat controls water coming out of the block. Just like a car motor, with the exception of the bypass t-stat housing. The raw pump feeds water to the engine circ pump and to the exhaust. When the stat is closed, the circ pump doesn't do anything because there is no flow out. All water is bypassed through the manifolds and out the exhaust. When the t-stat opens, water leaves the motor, goes through the manifolds and out the exhaust. At least that's what my memory says....it's been many years since I had all of this stuff apart.

[Sliderfiii]

another question on winterizing.....I have a 99 Sportster and decided to disconnect the 2 speedo hoses under dash were are connected to the 1600 Box ...is this sufficient?...I left the transom senders still hooked up. I did not blow them out with air as I don't have electricity near were the boat is stored to operate a compressor. What do you guys do if anything?

[Slayer]

another question on winterizing.....I have a 99 Sportster and decided to disconnect the 2 speedo hoses under dash were are connected to the 1600 Box ...is this sufficient?...I left the transom senders still hooked up. I did not blow them out with air as I don't have electricity near were the boat is stored to operate a compressor. What do you guys do if anything?

This is what I had planned to do however I was going to use the aerosol spray used to dust electronic equipment to blow out the speedo hoses. I'm not sure if the pressure of compressed air is strong enough to cause any problems with that, so the aerosol spray made sense to me.....FWIW.

In considering lakenut and vette-ski's comments about the stat, I'm a bit more confident that I'll be ok with how I did my boat as it seemed that I didn't see any a/f coming out of the exhaust until I consumed about 4 gallons or so.

[Michigan boarder]

This is what I had planned to do however I was going to use the aerosol spray used to dust electronic equipment to blow out the speedo hoses. I'm not sure if the pressure of compressed air is strong enough to cause any problems with that, so the aerosol spray made sense to me.....FWIW.

Hey, that's smart! Please let me know if that works OK, my boat is in a building where getting compressed air to it would be difficult.

[Sixball]

On a DD the trans is cooled with a heat exchanger on the return water hose. The trans oil is fed to the heat exchanger and back to the trans for cooling so no water is in the cooling lines just trans fluid.

I believe the V drives use water to the V drive but the trans would be cooled the same as a DD but I have not looked at a Bu setup on a V drive.

[Sliderfiii]

This is what I had planned to do however I was going to use the aerosol spray used to dust electronic equipment to blow out the speedo hoses. I'm not sure if the pressure of compressed air is strong enough to cause any problems with that, so the aerosol spray made sense to me.....FWIW.

In considering lakenut and vette-ski's comments about the stat, I'm a bit more confident that I'll be ok with how I did my boat as it seemed that I didn't see any a/f coming out of the exhaust until I consumed about 4 gallons or so.

Good idea on the computer air spray....I have can of that at the cottage .

When winterizing my 99 Sportster I drained the water from block, hoses with quick disconnect from manifolds as well as the large hoses near water pump and tranny cooler.Then I re installed everything.

As I preventative measure , I disconnected the water intake hose from the hull and poured 3 gallons of plumbing antifreeze with a funnel while the engine was running until the antifreeze ran out the exhaust. Then disconnected everything again and drained the antifreeze and left the block ,hoses etc open. By the way I did not run the engine at operating temp and both sides of the block drained antifreeze. As I said this was preventative and fllushed out any residual water from the first drain. For the cost of the 3 gallons of antifreeze it is cheap insurance .

edit : I also removed the impeller for the winter and intend to replace it in the spring

Edited October 26, 2011 by Sliderfiii

[Slayer]

Good idea on the computer air spray....I have can of that at the cottage .

When winterizing my 99 Sportster I drained the water from block, hoses with quick disconnect from manifolds as well as the large hoses near water pump and tranny cooler.Then I re installed everything.

As I preventative measure , I disconnected the water intake hose from the hull and poured 3 gallons of plumbing antifreeze with a funnel while the engine was running until the antifreeze ran out the exhaust. Then disconnected everything again and drained the antifreeze and left the block ,hoses etc open. By the way I did not run the engine at operating temp and both sides of the block drained antifreeze. As I said this was preventative and fllushed out any residual water from the first drain. For the cost of the 3 gallons of antifreeze it is cheap insurance .

edit : I also removed the impeller for the winter and intend to replace it in the spring

I'm adding these to my boat. I have the older style with the manifold plugs and they are a PITA! For $40 from Bakes, this is a good thing to have for sure.

[vette-ski]

another question on winterizing.....I have a 99 Sportster and decided to disconnect the 2 speedo hoses under dash were are connected to the 1600 Box ...is this sufficient?...I left the transom senders still hooked up. I did not blow them out with air as I don't have electricity near were the boat is stored to operate a compressor. What do you guys do if anything?

I thought I was the only one to do this. But I learned the hard way. The speedo tubes aren't supposes to have water in them. Pretty sure the box works off of air pressure from water moving across the pitot on the back of the boat. BUT...if you have a leak of any kind up at the box, water will force the air out and you will get water in the box. This happened to me a couple of years ago, and my first spring outing I found my box cracked open after freezing. I think the fitting where the hose connects to the box was loose, but I don't know for sure. Anyway, I pull the tubes off at the box and just blow through them by mouth. Mine are long enough to reach up under the dash and pull them out a bit. Then I just re-connect them. Any water left in the pitot should already be drained out by gravity anyway. If you do find water in the tubes, you better check the box out for a loose fitting or small crack.

[vette-ski]

On a DD the trans is cooled with a heat exchanger on the return water hose. The trans oil is fed to the heat exchanger and back to the trans for cooling so no water is in the cooling lines just trans fluid.

I believe the V drives use water to the V drive but the trans would be cooled the same as a DD but I have not looked at a Bu setup on a V drive.

My '01 has a heat exchanger between the raw pump and t-stat (this is where weeds or impeller blades get caught). No water to the transmission.

[Sliderfiii]

I thought I was the only one to do this. But I learned the hard way. The speedo tubes aren't supposes to have water in them. Pretty sure the box works off of air pressure from water moving across the pitot on the back of the boat. BUT...if you have a leak of any kind up at the box, water will force the air out and you will get water in the box. This happened to me a couple of years ago, and my first spring outing I found my box cracked open after freezing. I think the fitting where the hose connects to the box was loose, but I don't know for sure. Anyway, I pull the tubes off at the box and just blow through them by mouth. Mine are long enough to reach up under the dash and pull them out a bit. Then I just re-connect them. Any water left in the pitot should already be drained out by gravity anyway. If you do find water in the tubes, you better check the box out for a loose fitting or small crack.

Thanks......I had my 1600 box fail this summer and replaced it, I actually opened up the old one and it was dry inside

[Nitrousbird]

Just winterized mine. Closed cooling, so no lake water in the block or heater. Hooked the Fake-A-Lake up to a bucket of RV Antifreeze. Started the motor, and after about a gallon it was spewing out the exhaust. My boat tends to self drain a lot, so a lot of the a/f drained back out over the next 1/2 hour from sitting there.

[AxisA22]

Just a quick question. When you put the batterie in the basement, do you put it on a intelligent charger or just charge it before the use in May?

Thanks

[Soon2BV]

Just a quick question. When you put the batterie in the basement, do you put it on a intelligent charger or just charge it before the use in May?

Thanks

I have an older, non-intelligent charger. I just put mine on a slow charge for a few days two or three times during the winter. It usually ends up being on the holidays, when I have free time and remember to do it, and then late in February when I am ready for spring.

[Bill_AirJunky]

I bought one of these Guest dual bank chargers a couple years ago. It's installed in the boat, right next to the batteries. I pull an extension cord out to the boat & plug this baby in. Done.

We'll see how well it works when the batteries are a few yrs old.

Edited October 31, 2011 by Bill_AirJunky

[SFD]

I see the benefit of both methods, really. I guess the question I have for you, Sixball, is how can I tell if I did it correctly?

My steps exactly were as follows:

1. Start the boat and let it warm up. - OK
   
2. Idle around the lake - With Stabilor Seafoam in the gas?
   
3. Did a couple of hot laps at various speeds - OK
   
4. Pulled the boat out of the water - OK
   
5. Drained and changed engine oil and transmission fluid - OK
   
6. Ran the boat at idle speed on the hose for about 20 minutes. Fog it down if you want ( opinionated with EFI & EXT )
   
7. Drained the block - OK
   
8. After water stopped draining from the block and exhaust manifolds, pull the thermostat, if the thermostst is in you are only filling the water pump system, trans cooler & exhaust.
   1.5 hours -
   Pull the water pump.
   Pull the thermostat
   Drain the block & tranny cooler - blow the water out with your shop vac if your anal or scared.
   Fill untili it comes out the lowest drain plug in pink, then close, remember a heater is in the middle level of the cooling system, drop the upper manifold line until you see pink out of a heater hose, fill until it comes out the exhaust drains then close, top off and close all hoses. pull the coil wire.
   Shoot the cylinders with fog, snug up the old plugs, crank engine a few turns to let the water pump chrun the antifreeze and spread the fog inthe cylinders.
   Prep the rest of the boat & trailer.
   The antifreeze is serving a couple purposes - antifreeze when done correctly and it also inhibits rust & corrosion, ie a heater core, some like to dry store it but probably have alot of rusty cooling channels in the engine, ie - possible problems next season.
   Your replacing the thremostat and plugs next season, run the antifreeze out in the spring bypassing the pump, burn off the fog, replace the plugs, thermostat & oil, check and install the water pump, check all fittings / clamps.
   Good luck on a V-Drive.
   IMO
   

The strange thing is that I ran it on the hose for as long as I did and it never got to 160*. It only got to about 150*. From my experience with this particular boat since I bought it, the only time I have seen 160* on the gauge is after a hot lap or after pulling a skier. Within a few seconds, it goes back down to about 150*. Considering that I have never seen greater than 150* at idle in this boat, I assumed that the engine was hot enough to have the stat open up when I cycled antifreeze.

So again, did I do it correctly given the above and the route of putting antifreeze in from your experience, Sixball? Just curious. I'm not here to debate the good and bad about either method, but more interested to see if what I did was appropriate or if the "safe" thing to do is drain it.

[cowwboy]

What is the best way to set the boat up for quick draining? Here in oklahoma we have very wide weather swings so might have a weekend we can ride followed by sub freezing weather.

I don't trust a heater so would rather have a quick way to drain the motor as quickly as it takes to wipe it down.

Pulling the exhaust cross-over, knock sensor, and plug is easy.

How do I quickly and efficiently take care of the raw water pump, coolers, and water neck?

I don't have a heater or shower so that makes it easier.

I though of just pulling the water inlet hose filling it with a/f and firing it up to suck it up into the lines.

How does this sound or does anyone have a better plan for prepping those portions without having to pull the lines all off?

[SC LSV]

Sorry, Good point on the verbiage. Sad to see all the posts advocating an unnecessary and potentially harmful step in winterizing.

yes the plug on the cooler line needs to be removed and the hose to the thermostat as well as the plugs on the back of the exhaust manifold, or connecting hose depending on your configuration, and the knock sensor on one side of the block and the drain on the other side of the block. If you have a heater, you will need to take those hoses off the block as well and blow them out to remove the water, ditto for a shower. I don't have ballast tanks so I will not comment on those. If in doubt disconnect the hose and blow the water out, Open everything up. I like to take a zip lock bag and put all the clamps and plugs in the bag and then poke a hole in it and put it on the throttle lever for the spring. I lose stuff pretty easy and that is fool proof even for me.

I also remove the spark plugs and shoot some fogging oil in each one and then put them back in, not much and then turn it over with the coil wire removed so it won't start. If you have cat converter I don't think you should do that. I also depressurize the fuel system as a last step, may be a waste but in only takes 30 second and does not cost anything. Just remove the cap on the fuel rail line and press on it with rag to release the pressure. And finally I take the battery out and put it in the basement.

The problem with putting anti freeze in there is even when you drain the block there is still some water left in there. It is not a problem if everything is open but it can be a problem if it is all closed up and the antifreeze gets diluted with that water and it minimized the effect of the antifreeze and actually freezes. Then you have a closed system and when it expands something gives. If the entire system is open what little water left has room to evaporate or expand and nothing breaks.

How do you know if the Thermostat is open or closed? Is the temp gauge the only way to know??

[bretski75]

This thread started a bit feisty didn't it.

I follow the stupid and unnecessary step of filling and leaving antifreeze in mine mostly because of the corrosion resistance. Like Sixball has said. I have been doing it this way for a long time, I have had zero issues and my motor still looks and run like new. It may be wasting money, but if you do it right there is no downside. Except obviously the cost of the antifreeze.

I use a product similiar to this. Its blue in color

AntiFreeze

From Merc's site.

"Do I need to put antifreeze into the raw-water/seawater section of the cooling system after draining?

MerCruiser requires the use of propylene glycol antifreeze (with a rust inhibitor for marine engines) in the seawater section of the cooling system. Damage caused by freezing or improper winterization is not covered by the limited factory warranty. "