Warning for Winterizing

[ralphy670]

with the do it yourself winterization kits. My dealer sold me on the idea this year so I gave it a try. I filled the bucket with 4 gallons of AF as per instructions and drained the block of all water and blew the hoses out with air. I opened the valve and started the engine and let it idle. I could see it coming out of the leg holes ok but it still was not coming out of the exhaust. The af was almost out so I turned off the engine. I then refilled the bucket a little more and started the engine again. I received the overheat alarm and immediatly shut down the engine.
I then hooked up a cold water supply immediatly and started the engine not caring about the af because I care about my engine more.

I ended up doing it the way I have always done it by pouring it down all the hoses.

I wasted 40 bucks on RV antifreeze and learned a strong lesson. I hope I didnt burn out the impeller. Will have to wait till next spring to find out.

For those of you who winterize with this kit, how much af is needed considering alot comes out the side of the muffs?

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

I haven't a clue, all I've ever done is drained the block, manifolds, and remove the hoses just like the book says, I've never performed the optional hype.
Only advise I can offer is to make darn sure the drains are all clear of mud and scale.

 

[boat127]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

jsut drain the blcok and manifolds and drive and call it a day

 

[Don S]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

Have a look at this thread, it has info on those "Kits" also.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?p=2365889#post2365889

 

[ralphy670]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

Hey Don, what are the odds my impeller is hooped?

 

[Don S]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

I'm not an odds maker, You have all winter, take it apart and replace it (no since reusing an old impeller if you go to all the work to look at it). Then you don't have to worry about it next spring when you really wanted to go boating.

 

[Squab]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

I have done it both ways and have found to use the kit, you have to use at least 6 gallons to get it to run through the transom exits. I usually open all the drain plugs and let all the h2o drain out. Then I plug them back up and run the engine with a friend ready to shut her down. I carefully watch the h20 exit and when I see pink I shut her down. Sometimes takes a while to get all the AF through. Hope this helps

 

[ziggy]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

yep, them kits are for the birds.... do it by the book.
do it with air and no water. a way better solution.


fwiw. Don S makes sense. if yer gonna go look at it (the impeller) like your supposed to do. might as well replace it for peace of mind. mine gets replaced yearly. overheats are a real drag. ever had one, i have. a real bummer. it'll cause ya a lot of preventable work. a good impeller is a great step towards no overheat imho.

 

[rodbolt]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

dunno.
I have used that kit for about 15 years and I do between 250-300 engines a year.
never had an issue come spring time.
havent bought a motor since I opened my shop here in 93.
almost did but the forklift driver saved me.
some years back I winterized a 28 carolina classic with twin 7.4 EFI engines,3cyl westerbeke genset ,shower sump,toilet,fresh water,hot water heater,twin fish box pumps,A/C system and a saltwater washdown system.
come spring commissioning everything on it was busted if it had or was raw water or fresh water.
blocks did not bust but the saltwater the manifolds leaked in destroyed them.
got on that spring and everything looked like a sprinkler system.
I just could not understand, I run A/F through ALL systems.
cometo find out that exceptionally warm christmas holiday, the mans son took it out for a week, it got placed back on the rack and no one told us to RE winterize it.
january and febuary brought some single digit nights and 28* days.
had not the forklift driver kept a log of in and out everyday I would have been toast.
but I use the bucket for engines,gensets,freshwater washdowns,saltwater washdowns, heads and all sorts of stuff.
takes common sense and an understanding of how the systems work.
take the average sedan cruiser with twin saltwater cooled 7.4s. most have a clutch cooler, an oil cooler and usually at least one power steering oil cooler. all on the seawater intake side and never accessible to drain.
so ya warm it up,change fluids as nessasary, start the fogging procedure depending on fuel induction type.
then shut it down, drain everything drainable, then hook up the A/F mixture to the seawater intake, some sterndrives I duct tape the muffs and duct tape the water pump drain holes to insure the pump primes then lift the bucket higher than the pump, fire it off finnish fogging and shut it down when the bucket is about dry.
circ pumps dont lock up and manifolds dont corrode and I have no trapped pockets of freezable water.
not in the intake side,block exhaust or mufflers. there were roughly 400 boats at a marina I worked at near here and for 6 years I was the only technician.
I got a lot of practice at it and how to get this one done and on to the next.
some of these boats will take 6 to 8 hours to wnterize.

 

[ralphy670]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

So now i have read everything about removing the drive, exactly how hard is it and do I need the cable stabilizing tool to reinstall it. I have a alpha1 gen 2 drive.

 

[Bt Doctur]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

"exactly how hard is it and do I need the cable stabilizing tool to reinstall it. I have a alpha1 gen 2 drive. "

shift into fwd, 6 nuts, pull off.Just what is this stabilizing tool you mention?

 

[ralphy670]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

"exactly how hard is it and do I need the cable stabilizing tool to reinstall it. I have a alpha1 gen 2 drive. "

shift into fwd, 6 nuts, pull off.Just what is this stabilizing tool you mention?

I saw it in the Mercruiser manual. It holds the shift cable in the right position so you can get it aligned correctly. I take it you dont need it then.

 

[Alpheus]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

shift into fwd, 6 nuts, pull off.

2 C-clips, Pitot hose then pull off.

You dont need the special tool to hold nothing. Just put a bunch of grease on it and it will stay put.

The one tool you do need is an alignment tool that is used before you reinstall the drive. No ifs,ands or buts about it if you want to do it right...

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=436175&highlight=proper+alignment

 

[skargo]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

I made my own kit out of a 5 gallon bucket and a fitting and some hose.
I have FWC. I have a t-fitting right by my engine mounted sea pump. I block off my thru hull water pickup, hook the bucket up to the t-fitting, and fill the bucket with AF, Start her up and start fogging the engine, then when the bucket is nearly empty, I stall the engine. This clears out my entire raw water side with no issues.

Not sure how the kits work with raw water cooled boats, but they would seem to work fine on FWC boats from my experience.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

then shut it down, drain everything drainable, then hook up the A/F mixture to the seawater intake, some sterndrives I duct tape the muffs and duct tape the water pump drain holes to insure the pump primes then lift the bucket higher than the pump, fire it off finnish fogging and shut it down when the bucket is about dry.
circ pumps dont lock up and manifolds dont corrode and I have no trapped pockets of freezable water.
not in the intake side,block exhaust or mufflers. there were roughly 400 boats at a marina I worked at near here and for 6 years I was the only technician.
I got a lot of practice at it and how to get this one done and on to the next.
some of these boats will take 6 to 8 hours to wnterize.

See this is the key point, if you drain the block first, (including pulling off the big hose from the thermo housing to the circulating pump on the front of the engine which holds a lot of water) you could do it this way, as long as your impeller is good enough to pull in the AF (remember that AF is more dense than water and you don't have a water hose pushing it in). What I did as an experiment is hooked up a livewell pump to the tank that came with the kit, with this to prime the pump it would work. Otherwise it's just a gravity feed and if the muffs don't fit well it may pull in air and then you will toast the impeller
However, if I have to drain the block first, then for me it's just easier to back fill because I can get at all the drains on a simple boat like this anyway.


BTW took that kit and the livewell pump and turned it into a flusher for my trailer brakes

 

[86 century]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

For what it is worth I do the fogging on the muffs then drain block and manifold (s) pull the drive(a good time to look at ujoints,gimbal Bering,bellows,check alignment and all related seals) pull thermostat housing and pour the af into the intake and hoses. This is a good time to replace the t stat($15 worth of insurance) the drive goes in the basement after an oil change.

 

[lynnboy021]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

do you really have to take the outdrive off and put it away cuz i never take mine off wel just to check if there is anything to be replace but then i put it back winteriz it and call it a day..

 

[John_S]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

2 C-clips, Pitot hose then pull off.

You dont need the special tool to hold nothing. Just put a bunch of grease on it and it will stay put.

The one tool you do need is an alignment tool that is used before you reinstall the drive. No ifs,ands or buts about it if you want to do it right...

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=436175&highlight=proper+alignment

Agreed. After 4 seasons of pulling drive, I have not needed that cable tool. The grease holds it fine, just watch it as you slide the drive back on.

While you have the drive off, you can inspect the u-joint bellows carefully for any early cracking or water intrusion. Also a good time to clean, prep, and paint drive.


I have never used the bucket method. After fogging, I carefully drain all the water out, and then reattach hoses and plugs. I fill it slowly via hose attached to water input connection on thermostat housing. It is easy to keep track of how much AF is used.

 

[86 century]

Re: Warning for Winterizing

do you really have to take the outdrive off and put it away cuz i never take mine off wel just to check if there is anything to be replace but then i put it back winteriz it and call it a day..

No you don't have to. Just my way I would rather replace a Gimbel Bering and a bellows or two if some how water gets in there and freezes.

When I do some one else's I put the drive back on and cover all the opening if it is stored out side.