Re: $100 Winterization Special
When I had my SeaRay I/O I liked the anti-freeze as I would use it to ensure all the water was out. I'd open up everything and pour it in the top of the cooling system at various places (as in highest points), waiting to see pink run out of the manifolds, thermostat housing, outdrive, etc. I knew when I saw lots of pink, the water had to be gone or sufficiently diluted.
Whether ultimately you leave the engine empty or not seems to be a matter of choice. I always left the motor full of antifreeze where I could because the manual suggested it. I'm sure it would have probably been fine without, assuming all water was gone.
But, yeah -- I'd have some questions for that guy on CL. Like, what do you mean "add lower unit oil if needed"...If by "need" you mean it's full of water, then just adding oil again isn't going to fix the issue. If he means change it as a matter of course, I'd say yes, I guess you need it...
Ambiguity like this drives me nuts and makes me worry about the standard of the overall work.
My other pet peeve is no-one ever mentions replacing the gaskets on the two drain screws unless I ask specifically. And I always get the sense they were not going to touch them until I brought it up.
I even had one place forget the bottom gasket altogether. When doing a pre-departure walk around after putting the boat on the trailer one day early in the season I happened to notice the bottom screw was countersunk much further than I had previously seen it. I unscrewed it and the drive was full of milky oil and there was no gasket.
Needless to say I do as much of my own work as possible now. The standard overall I'd say is poor out there which is too bad because I know there are good, competent people in the industry (and on this board). I just seem to have a hard time finding them where I usually boat...
