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Malibu M5 M6 winterization


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5 minutes ago, hethj7 said:

 

He had a 2018 M6?

Haha, I almost asked you what year he had....Pretty sure it was a 2018.... It for sure was an M6 though. His had the batch of bad impellers. Smoked it at 6 hours.

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2019 was the first official year.  I am sure there was a test mule out there somewhere before that. 

And yes, so began the era of smoked impellers. 
 

 

image.thumb.png.8e510f46148d2d3248c86c2c2bd26ae4.png

 

 

  • Haha 2
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8 minutes ago, hethj7 said:

2019 was the first official year.  I am sure there was a test mule out there somewhere before that. 

And yes, so began the era of smoked impellers. 

Alright... fine... you win. It must have been a 2019. I would call and ask... but it would cause some tears as he really misses having a boat. Here is when they dragged it home on July 20,2019. We can discuss the tow vehicle in another thread... lol. :loser: But... I still say that hose should be pulled off for confirmation.

IMG_2667

 

 

Edited by BlindSquirrel
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ahopkins22LSV

Out of curiosity, I let the vdrive plug drain 100% before unscrewing that plug in ours this year and no water came out. Our boat does slope forward in the driveway so maybe that is a factor too. But IIRC I barely got water out of that plug in our vtx too. 

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After removing the vdrive water drain plug, I usually have very little or no water come out when the drain plug below the heat exchanger is removed.  I've used a short pry bar to lift up on the water hose and drain housing below the heat exchanger to make enough room to remove the blue drain plug.  I have to agree that it really isn't necessary to remove that plug.

Edited by csleaver
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50 minutes ago, csleaver said:

After removing the vdrive water drain plug, I usually have very little or no water come out when the drain plug below the heat exchanger is removed.  I've used a short pry bar to lift up on the water hose and drain housing below the heat exchanger to make enough room to remove the blue drain plug.  I have to agree that is really isn't necessary to remove that plug.

That is the endorsement that I was looking for!  Thanks.

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I'll have to test this V drive first method on my next outing.   I pull all the blue plugs and both the center and transom drain plugs before I leave the boat ramp.   That way I get uphill and downhill and lots of moving to get everything out on the way to storage.   Obviously this doesn't apply to people who don't tow.   

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16 hours ago, amartin said:

phone down there for the picture, so it is not nearly as accessible as it appears in this photo.IMG_9951.thumb.jpg.790d8bd0e88a428e1cb5333d2871a840.jpg

Mine (21 A24) was installed this way too.  Really dumb for two reasons: first, the stringer interference you noted.  Second, you can see that even when the plug is removed, the hole will be above the lowest point of the hose, so removal of the plug will still leave water in the hose).  IMHO, that tee fitting should point straight down.  So that's what I did... loosened those two hose clamps and rotated the tee to aim down (towards the bilge instead of the stringer).  Harder than it sounds because accessing those hose clamps is basically a blind job.  But once the tee points straight down, the plug can be accessed from the opposite side of the engine with an arm stretching twister move.  It still needs to be done blind, but I can get thumb and fingers on it, and there's no interference when threading/unthreading.  I usually budget 10 minutes for the first 3 plugs and 45 min, three curses and a little blood for this plug. I do get "some" water from the fitting when removed, but not too much.  Probably with the v-drive fitting removed and pointing the boat downhill would get the residual water out.  But knowing that the plug has been pulled helps me sleep a little better in January.

Edited by shawndoggy
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14 minutes ago, shawndoggy said:

Mine (21 A24) was installed this way too.  Really dumb for two reasons: first, the stringer interference you noted.  Second, you can see that even when the plug is removed, the hole will be above the lowest point of the hose, so removal of the plug will still leave water in the hose).  IMHO, that tee fitting should point straight down.  So that's what I did... loosened those two hose clamps and rotated the tee to aim down (towards the bilge instead of the stringer).  Harder than it sounds because accessing those hose clamps is basically a blind job.  But once the tee points straight down, the plug can be accessed from the opposite side of the engine with an arm stretching twister move.  It still needs to be done blind, but I can get thumb and fingers on it, and there's no interference when threading/unthreading.  I usually budget 10 minutes for the first 3 plugs and 45 min, three curses and a little blood for this plug. I do get "some" water from the fitting when removed, but not too much.  Probably with the v-drive fitting removed and pointing the boat downhill would get the residual water out.  But knowing that the plug has been pulled helps me sleep a little better in January.

Does your boat have a walkthrough tot he transom?  I think that this pushes the engine down even further and I am not sure that I would be able to reach that plug from the port side compartment.  I like the idea of turning it down though.

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31 minutes ago, amartin said:

Does your boat have a walkthrough tot he transom?  I think that this pushes the engine down even further and I am not sure that I would be able to reach that plug from the port side compartment.  I like the idea of turning it down though.

no, mine isn't a walk through.  And there's a ton of room between the "back" of the engine (serp belt side) and the transom.  Haha enough room to contort yourself down in there and balance upside down on your forehead while you pull the hose with one hand and thread the plug with the other.

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I have the walk-through and haven't had this tight of clearance on my m6.. but I could also have some of the midget hands..  I have since drilled a hole in the plug and tied fishing line through it to help prevent it falling into the abyss. 

After you all winterize, do you turn the motor or is pulling the plugs good enough?

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1 hour ago, bcoppess23 said:

After you all winterize, do you turn the motor or is pulling the plugs good enough?

I fire it for 5 to 10 seconds with plugs out. Not going to hurt anything and I am pulling the impeller to change it anyway. Impeller and housing are also still wet at that time because I warm boat on hose before winterize so I can change oil at that time too. if it had set dry for more than a week, and I didn't wet fire it first I wouldn't crank it. Would be afraid of tearing off a vein from impellor if it was dry, then fishing that out is a pain.

Edited by dalt1
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17 hours ago, dalt1 said:

 Would be afraid of tearing off a vein from impellor if it was dry, then fishing that out is a pain.

Do you leave the impeller out all winter?  How do you avoid dry firing when you start the boat in the spring?

I'm gonna confess that I ran the same impeller for the last two seasons (about 100 hrs) with no obvs ill effects.  Meant to change it but got lazy.  On my "definitely this Spring" list.

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1 hour ago, shawndoggy said:

Do you leave the impeller out all winter?  How do you avoid dry firing when you start the boat in the spring?

I'm gonna confess that I ran the same impeller for the last two seasons (about 100 hrs) with no obvs ill effects.  Meant to change it but got lazy.  On my "definitely this Spring" list.

After doing it myself at 100 hours,  I think it's more be prepared to change it if you start seeing temperature issues, vs change it at xx hours/time interval.   It all depends on your preference for level of "maintenance," but I don't like to change parts that aren't out of life yet.   I keep a spare and tools on the boat,  so am prepared at all times.   Have 242 hours currently. 

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Problem with impellers - can fail w/o warning and break in to many tiny pieces - then you spend alot of unwanted time trying to clear the debris from your cooling passages. Inexpensive part to change even if it appears fine. 

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I was on boat for two M5 failures.  There was 0 warning.  Don't remember seeing pictures of a worn/needed replacing impeller on the board.  Only ones that were changed that looked fine and descriptions of catastrophic failures.

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Opinion please.

I have done my own winterization with AF the last few years but this year for a variety of reasons just did the plugs this year.  When I got home realized that I forgot the added step of bumping the motor over necessary when doing it without AF.  Anyone willing to send me a CC to cover damage if I don't go back and turn ir over?  Figure the consensus would be that I should do it but thought would ask before driving 4 hours round trip.

 

My take on the AF vs. not is  DIY vs knowing what I am doing.  This is the first inboard that I have owned.  It is a lot cheaper to drain and then run AF in than to tow twice and pay to have it done.  Figure if I drain and then run with AF it would be for sure covered.  

Our Dealer uses the AF process.  When making my decision of AF or not it occurred to me that they could teach a journeyman mechanic how to do the AF and it would work every time, or they could pay an experienced mechanic that knew all the differences between different motors and years and be reasonably sure they managed their liability.  Since I am in the NOT master mechanic club I have always used AF.

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My first year doing plugs.  I was concerned on our M6 that the water coming from the two plugs found on the side of the block drained very slowly.  If you take the drain line off the pizza box heater it is a good length to use to blow and suck on the two side of block drains and the transmission to be sure nothing its blocked.  The  curve on the end makes it really easy to get in into those three drain ports.

Likewise I have never seen much water coming from the transmission but figured taking it out might relieve a vacuum and let water drain out somewhere else.

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6 hours ago, Surf4FamFun said:

Opinion please.

I have done my own winterization with AF the last few years but this year for a variety of reasons just did the plugs this year.  When I got home realized that I forgot the added step of bumping the motor over necessary when doing it without AF.  Anyone willing to send me a CC to cover damage if I don't go back and turn ir over?  Figure the consensus would be that I should do it but thought would ask before driving 4 hours round trip.

 

My take on the AF vs. not is  DIY vs knowing what I am doing.  This is the first inboard that I have owned.  It is a lot cheaper to drain and then run AF in than to tow twice and pay to have it done.  Figure if I drain and then run with AF it would be for sure covered.  

Our Dealer uses the AF process.  When making my decision of AF or not it occurred to me that they could teach a journeyman mechanic how to do the AF and it would work every time, or they could pay an experienced mechanic that knew all the differences between different motors and years and be reasonably sure they managed their liability.  Since I am in the NOT master mechanic club I have always used AF.

I think you are fine on the bumping motor trend. 

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23 hours ago, shawndoggy said:

Do you leave the impeller out all winter?  How do you avoid dry firing when you start the boat in the spring?

I'm gonna confess that I ran the same impeller for the last two seasons (about 100 hrs) with no obvs ill effects.  Meant to change it but got lazy.  On my "definitely this Spring" list.

Yep after last bump fire, I pull it out for winter. Put a new one in spring. New impeller gets coated with the lube that comes with them to avoid 1st dry fire. But I always fire at home on hose before first dunk in the lake so water is there also on first crank in spring. I never fire it completely dry like after setting all week. I will always hook hose up to make sure there is water in the housing for lubricant. During my winterization it has set a few weeks since running. I am going to change oil at same time so I hook the hose up and run to temp to drain oil. That leaves moisture in impeller housing for my final bump start. Had dealer dry bump start mine after starter swap. They did not hook up water. Was missing part of 1 vein that fall. Coincidence? Maybe, but I'm not firing without a wet housing!!!! :whistle:

Edited by dalt1
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