anyone got a winterizing tip??

[Jack Frost]

just wanted to start a thread to get the winterizing tips posted up


anyone???

[El Bandido]

Replace all water with Mescal, and switch your "training beer" foam to "pink styrofoam" insulation to keep the beer cold, but not frozen.

[David Ochs]

Send your boat to one of the sunbelt states for the winter. They really don't like all that snow and ice.

[txtaz]

Well, for me, I wash, wax, change oil, fill with fuel and stabalizer, cover and put away. Then I look for something to keep myself occupied over the winter.
Hope this helps,
Wes

[Lenny]

Wes, you don't have "winter" :rolleyes:

:D

[DickB]

How do you clean/wax those parts of the hull that are sitting on the trailer bunkers?

[Jack Frost]

el bandido good tip! :sombrero:
well enjoy the last few days of boating ,
cause i'm in a foul mood and I wil be giving everyone this year the cold shoulder!!!
and you floridians don't throw the plywood out you might need it for fire wood , I'll start up north and then work my way south :chillpill:

Jack

[RedDog]

Well, for me, I wash, wax, change oil, fill with fuel and stabalizer, cover and put away. Then I look for something to keep myself occupied over the winter.
Hope this helps,
Wes

Wes - do you get freezes in your area? I know TX is milder than TN, but it seems I recall seeing snow down there before.

Better drain the block. I fill mine with antifreeze.

Also good to fog the engine internals.

[RedDog]

Winter Shutdown
• Grease gimbal
• Grease steering cable
• Change oil
• Change outdrive lube
• Add Sta-bil at the last outing
• Warm up and fog if carbed
• Put 2 cycle oil in fuel separator if injected, warm up but don’t burn off all of the oil
• Drain fuel bowl if carbed
• Loosen belts (tighten in spring)
• Spray engine with CRC 656 (clean and re-spray in Spring)
• Drain manifolds, block (drain each side), oil cooler, seawater pump, fuel cooler (Merc MPI)
• Remove drain screw on drive water pump (OMC). Blow out hoses with air.
• Remove large hose on engine water pump and drain.
• Put drain plugs back in
• With full strength antifreeze, fill block, oil & power steering cooler, manifolds and risers through hoses at thermostat housing (antifreeze will run out of tail pipes). Drain and save in spring for the next season.
• Remove interior seats and carpet and store indoors
• Remove batteries and store indoors – not on concrete floor
• Store with the bow UP and the drive down. Do not cover the whole boat - water will condense under the cover. I construct a tent-like cover that allows air to circulate

Damn – I better get started. This will take a while

[txtaz]

Lenny, Too funny. Brrrrrrr, it's 73.8 and we have already broken out the jackets. LOL
RedDog, Thanks for the tip. Actually we do freeze here but only for a few hours over night. Last year we had snow stick to the ground and Jennifer built a snowman. I think I will drain the block just to be safe and do many of the other things you suggest. What does the 2 cycle oil do for injected motors?
Thanks for the tips.
Wes

[Ranman]

Put 2 cycle oil in fuel separator if injected, warm up but don’t burn off all of the oil


Is this the recommended procedure in place of fogging? Do you fill the entire seperator like priming an oil filter? Is there any data supporting this practice? SOunds like a good idea, but is it really? Is that oil OK for the injectors? Sorry for all the questions, but would like to see some clarification to this point.

[RedDog]

Here are the fogging instructions as published in my "Clymer" manual for 1998 - 2001 Mercruisers

[Pismo]

The Mercruiser owners manual for the 1996 502 MPI says to fog "put an ounce of 2 cycle oil in the VST (if you have one), shut off fuel supply, and run until it stalls"

PS - You don't need to put antifreeze in a drained engine. Even the Mercruiser manual says it is not necessary. The water system is well designed and drains completely very easily simply by removing the plugs and a few hoses.


See
http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=28523


Cheers,
SL

[Sam]

Pismo, there are bennifits to adding antifreeze to a basicaly dry block. The biggest one is it will help prevent any corrosion that my ocur during layup, trust my I have seen the difference.

Sam :yes:

[MOP]

Sam I am glad you jumped on the keeping the iron wet thing, cast iron will last a very long time if kept wet. It is hard to believe that Merc and a few others recommend just draining, I guess the figure you will just throw it away one day and buy a nice brandy new one from them. Many years back I was digging out some bottom debris so we could set some pilings for a batter board by the inlet, the water was about 20 feet deep. One of the things I pulled up was an old marine engine that the cylinders looked like two big bulbs, we figured it had to be 50 years old and it looked damn decent even had quite a bit of paint left. I set it aside and called a buddy that fooled with antique engines, he stopped by about a week later when we walked over to check it out it was literally stating to explode big chunks off. He was super upset saying it was a rare one and why the hell didn't I put it back in the water, said it would have been a snap to save it. He left with just the brass engine plaque and carb cussing!!!!

So boys don't believe the OEM bastards keep your iron WET!!!

A P.S. Anyone how has run a high and dry operation along with docked boats will tell you the H&D boats go through risers a hell of a lot quicker than boats left in the water, because the damn things get to dry out in the rack where as docked boats keep good moist air in the passages. Even my local Merc dealer Charlie thinks draining dry is total Bull **** and anti freezes all of his customers.

[Pismo]

My 1957 Lyman has never seen antifreeze and still has the original manifolds, block, heads, everything. Same with my 1979 Mercruiser. Antifreeze is simply not needed. Those marinas in the north that winterize and store hundreds of boats each winter, do you really think they waste the time and money to fill each of those hundreds of engines with anti freeze, they don't, you don't need to either.

If you do use antifreeze, make sure you remove the plugs, hoses and drain all the water first, just circulating anti freeze around will not mix out all the water which will then freeze and crack things up.

If salt, flush, flush, flush.

From my many marina years seeing and doing hundreds of winterizations, I have never seen a cracked block or manifold in a fully drained engine but I have seen several in antifreeze filled engines.

All the best,
SL

[rickrsbro]

i run the boat up the road on the trailer with the drains open to get all ( or what i think is all) the water out.

do NOT use pure antifreeze.

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF6/images/680.jpg

[MOP]

Fresh water yeah you guys may get away with draining with minimul to no damage, that even depends on where you boat. I have two close buds on the St. Lawrence they only get about 8-10 years on risers and manifolds, the blocks must suffer also. Polutants more than likely play a role in their stuff breaking down. For $8-10 bucks worth of anti freeze and maybe 1/2 hour extra work why would anyone be foolish and take the chance. In salt the block will be shot in no time. Anyone who drains an engine that has had salt run through it better change his boats like he changes his socks. To me it boils down to being cheap and lazy!


MOP

[Rootsy]

My 1957 Lyman has never seen antifreeze and still has the original manifolds, block, heads, everything. Same with my 1979 Mercruiser. Antifreeze is simply not needed. Those marinas in the north that winterize and store hundreds of boats each winter, do you really think they waste the time and money to fill each of those hundreds of engines with anti freeze, they don't, you don't need to either.

If you do use antifreeze, make sure you remove the plugs, hoses and drain all the water first, just circulating anti freeze around will not mix out all the water which will then freeze and crack things up.

If salt, flush, flush, flush.

From my many marina years seeing and doing hundreds of winterizations, I have never seen a cracked block or manifold in a fully drained engine but I have seen several in antifreeze filled engines.

All the best,
SL

Lets see here... i worked for one of those LARGE NORTHERN marinas for 3 seasons when i was in college. I was a mechanic from february until december as well as a fork truck operator when required... we racked something like 300 boats total.. anywhere from the smallest of boston whalers all of the way to a 42 fountain... EVERY SINGLE ONE WAS WINTERIZED WITH ANTIFREEZE eitehr by us or by the owner or another marina when the boat was taken out. if not.. well i've seen what happens first hand.. many times... FWIW, i worked with 2 mercruiser certified technicians... one had a master certification....

Propylene glycol was and still is the antifreeze of choice due to the toxicity to the environment when commissioning in the spring...

we had 3 50 gallon tanks that ytou dropped the sterndrive down into.. with a pump hooked to the ear muffs. drain the block and manifolds into the bilge for later dumping NOT in the antifreeze tank... run the motor on the glycol til she is hot to verify that the thermostat is open and then fog her out with fogging oil... EFI fogging is a bit different.

i run my motor until she is hot, the thermostat is open then i shut down and drain the block and manifolds. I have my antifreeze mixed and warmed up with a sump pump on the ear muffs... i also direct from the exhaust back into my bucket... i circulate until she runs for 5 minutes at 160 which is the thermostat opening.

i do not care what block it is... short of designed specifically that way, which the sbc is not... there will be pockets of water trapped that cannot get out. i don't care if it is a pocket.. ice expands 3 dimensionally... exerting pressure on the surrounding cast iron and it can and WILL crack. i might even have a few examples sitting in the corner somehwere... my 1938 John Deere L's original motor comes to mind... not a boat but same principle.. empty block, safe? i think NOT.. oooops cracked...

for me.. better safe than sorry... and anywhere that is left damp all winter since it won't dry out with our cold temperatures and humidity up here in the winter, it will rust from the inside... not only does antifreeze keep things liquid it also contains anti-corrosives.

i have way too much coin invested in my mouse NOT to spend 5 bucks on antifreeze and fogging oil...

JR - not quite yet winterized ;)

[mattyboy]

well alot of great info here:) but what i really need to know is when do you guys put on socks, and is it really uncool to wear white after labor day??
expansion is the real problem, and if the plugs are in pressure builds and good things don't happen,
leave a beer can in the freezer closed and one open and let me know what happens
and speaking of beer when is the politically correct time to switch from summer ale to ocktoberfest :beer:

[Ed Donnelly]

Mattyboy; White is okay until mid september,,but,,
Blue and Green should never be seen...Ed

[boxy]

well alot of great info here:) but what i really need to know is when is the politically correct time to switch from summer ale to ocktoberfest :beer:

Matty I've always used this as more of a guideline than an iron clad rule, but I usually switch from lager or a ale to something a little heavier when the change in beer temperature, expressed as a percentage, from when it is opened till when it is finished, while drinking outside, is less than 15%.

IE: I crack a beer today, the beer is 40 F, the ambient outside temperature is 58 F, by the time I finish the beer, it's temperature is 44 F, therefore we have a 4 F change in temperature, resulting in 10% temperature change over the life of said beer, therefore it is time for a stout, or a bock.

As I stated previously this is more of a guideline than an ironclad rule.

[RedDog]

Mattyboy; White is okay until mid september,,but,,
Blue and Green should never be seen...Ed

Ed – that is Canadian think – any proper Southern girl will tell you that white is not proper after Labor Day.

Matty – recognizing your NJ roots, I forgive you of this ignorance…

[ToonaFish]

A Vols fan knows this?

Bunches,

Celene 'but when does one wear pearls?'

[RedDog]

...'but when does one wear pearls?'

Pleaaaase - when ever a girl wants to...

I'm sooo sensitive tonight....

[MOP]

Toona pearls can be worn with most anything, one of the best is jeans and a T color of choice. That is one of Bonnies favorites, she says no matter pearls just make her feel good and are meant to enjoy with what ever she wears!

MOP

[mattyboy]

Ed – that is Canadian think – any proper Southern girl will tell you that white is not proper after Labor Day.

Matty – recognizing your NJ roots, I forgive you of this ignorance…



Joisey my roots ain't from joisey!
I'm a nu yorka,so I wear WTF I wanna wear when ever I wanna wear it ;)
and we luv dem proper soudern goils, what do u call em peaches??? as long as they're fuzzy :p :odie:

[ToonaFish]

Still waiting on the correct answer...

(And, no, Slick, that's not right either...)

[roadtrip se]

Well the Redwood Brewrey in Flint has just released their Red Ale on 10/5 for competition at the Great American Beer Festival. Billed as very hoppy and tasty, by the barkeep.

The Octoberfest hits on 10/11 and they won't sell it by the keg, because it will be gone in the first week!

Jill will be there on Wednesday evening with the growlers, one for Red, and one for October. I sure do love that woman!

Now what the heck do I do with all of this Dry Belgian Wheat I have on tap? It is a nice summer brew, but she has got to go!

Thanks to this thread I now know, pour a glass, head to the barn, and start winterizing the boat! Perfect, the beer will be gone, the pain of winterizing the boat will be less, and it just might start in the springtime!

What would I do without this board?

Todd
"What the hell is this pink stuff in my pint glass?"

:beer: :beer: :beer:

[roadtrip se]

and thank God for the hot tub!

One more tip that I haven't seen posted here yet..

Check your motor mounts and snug'em down.

Mine needed it.

Todd