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Winterization Caution


iliketoski

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I've been winterizing my inboards for over 30 years the same way all along, (so maybe I've been lucky?).  The boats have been stored in an insulated garage, but with no heat. 

I warm the engine, drain the engine block, drain the exhaust manifolds, pull the hose from the lake pickup and then suck 3 gal of antifreeze and fog the engine at the same time, killing the engine when the bucket is empty.

HOWEVER, this year, after winterizing I decided to replace the knock sensor since it was pretty corroded when I drained the block, (I had lots of trouble getting it to thread back in).

When I pulled the knock sensor to replace it, antifreeze obviously came out of the block from being winterized.  I was very surprised how diluted the antifreeze was, it was only faintly pink.  I had always thought that 3 gal of antifreeze would be sufficient knowing there was still water in hoses and other places that would dilute it slightly.  It ends up it was more diluted than I thought.   I've kept a container of the solution to see what temp its going to freeze at.

So to address this, I'm re-draining the block, taking the thermostat out and manually filling the block from the top housing.

'ski  

 

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28 minutes ago, iliketoski said:

I've been winterizing my inboards for over 30 years the same way all along, (so maybe I've been lucky?).  The boats have been stored in an insulated garage, but with no heat. 

I warm the engine, drain the engine block, drain the exhaust manifolds, pull the hose from the lake pickup and then suck 3 gal of antifreeze and fog the engine at the same time, killing the engine when the bucket is empty.

HOWEVER, this year, after winterizing I decided to replace the knock sensor since it was pretty corroded when I drained the block, (I had lots of trouble getting it to thread back in).

When I pulled the knock sensor to replace it, antifreeze obviously came out of the block from being winterized.  I was very surprised how diluted the antifreeze was, it was only faintly pink.  I had always thought that 3 gal of antifreeze would be sufficient knowing there was still water in hoses and other places that would dilute it slightly.  It ends up it was more diluted than I thought.   I've kept a container of the solution to see what temp its going to freeze at.

So to address this, I'm re-draining the block, taking the thermostat out and manually filling the block from the top housing.

'ski  

 

No need to remove the thermostat.  Just pull the upper connection off the J pipe and pour it in there.  If you have a heater make sure to also pour in from the upper heater hose - assuming you have already blown the water out while draining.

I will say that you are missing a couple things in your draining procedure

Remove the J hose

Remove the hose/tube between the trans cooler and the raw water pump

Those areas both hold water even after you pull the block drains.  Also make sure to stab into the block drains to make sure they are not plugged with debris

Edited by oldjeep
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I just vacuum the engine dry, leave it that way, and never had a problem. 50 years and salt water operation too. Seen -30 degree temps too.

Edited by electricjohn
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8 hours ago, electricjohn said:

I just vacuum the engine dry, leave it that way, and never had a problem. 50 years and salt water operation too. Seen -30 degree temps too.

wet vacs are awesome wake boat tools, i vacuum my forward bilge and the under cabin cushion starboard drain channel, the residual sac water after lifting and draining sacs into drain hose, residual water in bow sac vent and fill lines (boy does that stink after just one day of brack water sitting), i also wet vac the thru hulls at least once a month to get residual water and any trash out of ballast and bilge pumps ( i believe this helps maintain the pumps as i have had zero issues in 6 years other than dependence on gravity which means lifting sacs to drain fully)

after draining sacs fully  i jack up the bow with trailer jack and run rear locker and bow drain pumps (again you wouldn’t believe the stink after just 1/2 to one day sitting with brack water) 

Edited by granddaddy55
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I vac the drain holes, then the exhaust manifold crossover hose. I follow that with blowing air into the inlet side of the tranny cooler. I get perhaps 2  additional qts. of water out doing this.

Edited by electricjohn
  • Like 1
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