First self-serve winterization

[Bayflite73]

Hello everyone,

I thought I'd share pics of winterizing my boat for the first time without hiring someone to come do it for me. Most of the pictures are of Kip who I owe many a thanks to! I was nervous to try it alone not wanting a 2000 pound hunk of garbage with a cracked engine block to deal with next spring but Kip showed me that it is indeed really easy to do and the Quicksilver 4 cycle oil, Quicksilver filter a filter wrench and a drip pan only cost $53 vs the $160 I paid back in 2008 the last year we needed to winterize!

Kip gets the hose ready


Oil change time


Water is bad!


Liam (my curious 4 year old and future CGOAMN member) just couldn't help himself. He had to help!

[Rich_V174SS]

I see you drained the engine block but did you also drain the exhaust manifold? There's a plug underneath the manifold directly above the one that's on the engine. It's important to drain the manifold too or else it will crack from freezing.

[Jason]

There is a 3rd plug too on the elbow of the exhaust manifold too. my drain on the bottom of the manifold is plugged every year and I need to stick a wire up there to clear the way. Knowing Kip, I am sure nothing was overlooked!

I put my CV16SS away this past weekend too. Has the same 140 you got.

I drain the lower unit gear oil every fall just to make sure no water made it past the seals. If a new seal is needed, I got all winter to do it. Engine oil gets changed. Cylinders fogged. Ready for next year!

[Bayflite73]

I see you drained the engine block but did you also drain the exhaust manifold? There's a plug underneath the manifold directly above the one that's on the engine. It's important to drain the manifold too or else it will crack from freezing.

Yep, we got that one, just not a picture to share.

[Bayflite73]

There is a 3rd plug too on the elbow of the exhaust manifold too. my drain on the bottom of the manifold is plugged every year and I need to stick a wire up there to clear the way.

We didn't do anything with that one. I'll have to take a look this weekend.

I drain the lower unit gear oil every fall just to make sure no water made it past the seals. If a new seal is needed, I got all winter to do it. Engine oil gets changed. Cylinders fogged. Ready for next year!

We did check the lower unit gear oil. It was totally clean. Changed the oil, filter, fogged it well and already can't wait for more meets next year!

[CVX Fever]

Thanks for the heads up Jason. I didn't pull the plug on the riser, should have known better as my '79 has them also.

Josh give me a call if you want help locating it. Feel bad that I missed it but glad it was caught before a hard freeze.

[Jerry]

Just to make sure everything is covered, could you put the plugs back in and run RV antifreeze through it till it's full?

[Eric_Michael]

Winterize?  Doesn't your Glastron deserve a heated garage?   

[Jason]

Thanks for the heads up Jason. I didn't pull the plug on the riser, should have known better as my '79 has them also.

Josh give me a call if you want help locating it. Feel bad that I missed it but glad it was caught before a hard freeze.

Glad to be a friendly reminder! Doran can show you a picture of what happens when you forget to remove the plug in the riser.

RV does not hurt but I have heard of opionions either way. I usually pull the big "U" hose on the front and engine and dump in a gallon or so of RV antifreeze.


DON'T FORGET THE BOUNCE DRYER SHEETS TO KEEP THE MICE OUT!

[Bayflite73]

Winterize?  Doesn't your Glastron deserve a heated garage?   

Yeah I wish! Heck as it stands I'll probably be parking my car outside all winter!

[Hyperacme]

Ya mean no one's going boating any more this year ?
I'm just gettin' my boat ready ...

Good job guys !

[76bayflite]

Dont worry Gregg, even if you're kidding, I have no intention of shutting things down just yet.  Waiting for that 60 degree november weekend.

[Jason]

My V172 is still ready to play!

[74 Carlson the II]

Doesn't anybody use marine/rv -50 degree antifreeze? Some of you I/O guys have oil, fuel, and power steering coolers also and some of the older coolers don't have a drain on them. Should always use the antifreeze to push out the remaining water and helps prevent corrosion inside the engine block and manifolds, Got an older mastercraft at work that needs the whole engine torn down and flushed out cause it's filled with rust scale's and it overheats. After talking with the customer I found out that all he did to winterize it was drain the water, fogging, and gear lube. Some people will say it's hard on the water pump but it's not that bad, your suppose to change those every 3-5 years 5 at the most. I have done well over 2000 winterizings and have never broken a block, manifolds or coolers with using rv antifreeze.                                   Just my 0.2

[Rich_V174SS]

I totally agree with that! RV antifreeze in the block and manifolds after draining to protect the inside. The cast iron will rust faster in the presence of air but not when you've got it full of RV antifreeze. It doesn't do much for the riser elbows because there's no way to keep them completely filled, it just runs down and out the exhaust pipe. But don't put it in through the water intake on the drive, pour it in through the large pipe on the front of the engine until it comes back out of the thermostat housing, then the engine is full. Fill the manifolds through the pipes from the thermostat housing that feed water to them.

[74 Carlson the II]

With the antfreeze system we have set up at work we just run them on antifreeze and wait for the antifreeze to comes out of the exhaust and then test the antifreeze that comes out of the exhaust with a refractometer. For about 35 dollars you can pick up a do-it yourself winterizer, it's a square 5 gallon container with a faucet, hose and fittings works really well.

[Rich_V174SS]

I actually disapprove of those type of antifreeze systems, I've seen too many problems, things that can go wrong. You can burn up the water pump impeller for one if you don't have enough flow. There's also a chance you won't get enough antifreeze through the block especially if the thermostat hasn't opened, and there's too much of a chance that water will remain in the block unless you've drained it first. Plus it's a waste of antifreeze. A typical 4 cylinder engine will use less than two gallons to fill the block and manifold, V6 & V8 engines need only 3 gallons. If you drain the block and manifolds completely after fogging out the engine and then manually fill the block through the water circulator hose there will be no problems and it's easier than you think, definitely easier than dealing with a 5 gallon jug and hose contraption.

[Bayflite73]

Good points one and all. I think another run to the store for a couple gallons of rv antifreeze sounds like it will be helpful and at least can't hurt! Any suggestions on where to pick up the good -50 kind here in town? I've read that most are only good to -10 and that certainly won't fly since it sits next to my garage!

[74 Carlson the II]

Mills fleet farm has it and I think it's around 2.75 a gallon.  On a standard 350 mercruiser I start out using the garden hose and water to warm up the engine to get the oil good and warm so it can be sucked out through the dip stick tube, change oil and filter, drain water from block and manifolds, run the engine on antifreeze untill it flows out the exhaust then check it with the refractometer then fog the engine, change gear lube, grease fittings. Just about all of the big name marina's and marine dealerships actually run the engine on antifreeze untill it flows out of the exhuast. I do agree that there are to many things that can go wrong but if used correctly they work awsome. The set up I use has a high flow pump to supply the antifreeze to the lower unit water pick up. I do understand that it's kind of a wast of antifreeze using up 5 gallons but it's alot cheaper than an engine block.  Sorry I'm kinda stuck on doing it that way cause I never have broken a block or manifolds but thats not to say that thats the only way to wintreize, Talk to 5 different people and they all say something different.

[74 Carlson the II]

For the do-it at home and only one boat Rich's way works very effectivly but when your doing a couple hundred boats the antifreeze machine works very well. I dont think that I mentioned that the machine I use at work has a 55 gallon drum of antifreeze attached to it and you have to roll the machine under the lower unit to recycle the antifreeze, when the refractometer doesn't read to the temp we want for protection we just add more 100% to the 55 gallon drum. Someplace's drain the antifreeze out of the block and manifolds after they are done fogging the engine and back into the machine via the boats drain hole, I guess if the inside is coated with antifreeze thats good too, better than none at all.