Engine Winterization

[Svend]

It is that time of the year... and here is some info I found on engine winterization. Would love to see if there are other important items to do

CHEAT SHEET ON HOW TO WINTERIZE YOUR BOAT
Follow our tips for winterizing, and your boat will be ready and eager to go in the spring.


Too many boats die silently in their winter beds. But follow these easy tips, and your boat will be ready and eager to go in the spring.

Fuel Treatment

Treat your boat's fuel with a stabilizer. Pennzoil Fuel Stabilizer, PRI-G and Stabil are ideal products for this job. After adding it to the fuel, run the engine for 10 minutes or so to be sure stabilized fuel circulates throughout the engine. If you don't stabilize the fuel, carburetors and fuel injectors can be clogged with varnish deposits that ruin fuel systems.

Fog the Engine Cylinders

Aerosol fogging solutions coat the inside of the engine to protect it until spring. Each engine manufacturer makes proprietary products they promote as ideal for their engines. Hook "ear muffs" and a garden hose to the engine, start it, and then spray the fogging-solution lubricant directly into the air intake until it's gone. If you don't fog the engine cylinders, corrosion can form inside the engine, covering the cylinders, pistons and rings with a patina of abrasive crud.

Drain the Engine (for inboards and stern-drives)

Locate and open the petcocks (some engines have bronze plugs similar to bilge plugs) underneath the manifolds and on the sides of the engine block. Remove the water-pump hose from the bottom of the water pump to let it drain completely. If you don't drain the engine, water in the cooling chambers can freeze, expand and crack the engine block and manifolds. Tip: Newer MerCruiser stern-drives have handy drainage systems with one drain plug near the front of the engine.

Change the Oil

Change engine oil to eliminate moisture and prevent corrosion. If you don't, moisture can cause excessive wear, which can lead to loss of power, poor fuel economy and possible engine failure. Tip: Some mechanics change the oil both in the fall and at spring breakout on the theory that the engine oil needs to be changed at the end of the summer and after suffering the ravages of winter because moisture may again accumulate in the oil.

Drain the Gear-Case Lubricant (and recycle it)

Clear, amber-colored lubricant means your gear-case seals are in good shape. Milky and sometimes lumpy oil means the seals need to be replaced. Tip: The time to do this is in the fall when marine mechanics are less busy and sometimes willing to offer special prices for winter work.

thanks

Svend

[P-Dogg]

First off, it is not that time of year! I didn't winterize until the middle January this year, when it finally was going to get and stay cold......

Regarding "draining" the engines. Another method is to pull the cooling inlet hose from the seacock and put it into a bucket full of antifreeze. Add some dish detergent. Run the engine until soap bubbles come out the exhaust. I often drain some or all the cooling system first, so as to minimize antifreeze dilution and use. At 1.5 dollars per minute, a lot of professional winterizers just skip the initial draining and go heavy on the antifreeze use.

Also, for fogging I pull the primary from the distributor and crank the engine while spraying fogging oil into the carb. Shutoff the fuel and run it until it dies first. I use a remote starter if by myself.

[prowlersfish]

First off, it is not that time of year! I didn't winterize until the middle January this year, when it finally was going to get and stay cold......

Regarding "draining" the engines. Another method is to pull the cooling inlet hose from the seacock and put it into a bucket full of antifreeze. Add some dish detergent. Run the engine until soap bubbles come out the exhaust. I often drain some or all the cooling system first, so as to minimize antifreeze dilution and use. At 1.5 dollars per minute, a lot of professional winterizers just skip the initial draining and go heavy on the antifreeze use.

Also, for fogging I pull the primary from the distributor and crank the engine while spraying fogging oil into the carb. Shutoff the fuel and run it until it dies first. I use a remote starter if by myself.

Agreed

Basically do the same when winterizing boats around here . But if its only going to be a few months fogging is optional . Drain as much water as possible . I was going to question the dish soap , but it dawned on me that's a great Idea with under water exhaust . I have never winterized my present boat as I use it year round

And yes IT IS NOT THAT TIME OF YEAR .

[Svend]

Thanks for the great ideas!

I live in Gilford NH, and our Yacht club closes at end of Oct, so that is when I must take my boat out ;-(
so for me it is only 45 days away

Thanks again for the ideas! I am new to dual V's, in the past only having a small outboard 4 stroke engine.

Svend

[Big D]

I have a problem with some of the statements made:

It is that time of the year...

NO IT"S NOT

....Fog the Engine Cylinders...

This is just a personal preference but I don't worry about it for the amount of time we're out of the water. If the plan is to stay out for an extended period then yes, fogging is important.

....Newer MerCruiser stern-drives have handy drainage systems with one drain plug near the front of the engine....

This is correct however single point drainage systems are only a means to extend your season, they are not intended to be the soul means to drain the raw water circuit when winterizing. There is so much more to it than that.

....Change engine oil to eliminate moisture....Tip: Some mechanics change the oil both in the fall and at spring breakout on the theory that the engine oil needs to be changed at the end of the summer and after suffering the ravages of winter because moisture may again accumulate in the oil.....

Moisture is burned off when you run your engine to proper temp so I don't see this as a big deal. Oil should be changed in the Fall so critical components aren't covered with corrosives in the oil as a result of combustion by-products for the duration of the winter. The reason why some go the extra step and change oil again in the Spring is more a question of mineral oil's protection qualities degrading over time. The magic number has always been 90 days for this reason.

....Drain the Gear-Case Lubricant (and recycle it).....Clear, amber-colored lubricant means your gear-case seals are in good shape.....Tip: The time to do this is in the fall when marine mechanics are less busy and sometimes willing to offer special prices for winter work....

What if it's Merc HP gear lube? That's green! The time to do it is in the Fall BECAUSE if there IS water in the gear-case, you don't want it to freeze over the winter and split your case. It helps that it might be cheaper then but that's NOT why you do it at that time! At least not in northern climates!

[Big D]

I would not simply put antifreeze through the engine without draining it first, at least not in the northern climates. You'd be surprized to find just how little water it takes to dilute it to a point where it no longer protects to spec. If you're doing it without draining and have gotten away with it in the past, it's not a matter of if, but when conditions will be just right for a failure. Couldn't get away with that up my way that's for sure.

[WayWeGo]

If you want to be sure you have enough antifreeze coming through the engine and exhaust, you might want to use a refractometer. I used to think they were very expensive, but I found this one at Amazon for $25 and it seems to be quite accurate when using reference fluids.

https://www.amazon.com/Ade-Advanced-Fah ... ractometer

[K4282]

ive winterized my own boats and many friends, ive only drained one engine block and that was because the water pump impellar was junk, I simply run antifreeze through the intake hose untill it comes out the exhaust, about 3 gallons. I fog mine with marvel mystery oil down the carburator and ive stopped using stabil and switched to Startron

[Flyboy]

Of course draining the engine only applies to raw water cooled engines. For those a of us that have fresh water cooled engines, I pull the raw water hose off the seacock and run 3-4 gals of antifreeze through the raw water cooling side. Have never had a problem.

[Svend]

Hi guys... couple more winterization questions...

I have a raw water cooling system.

1) how long can i run the Chrysler 318 engine with no water coming in, as when the boat is on the hard.
not at all,
a couple minutes?

2) any good ways to hook a hose up to water inlet on the bottom of boat when boat is on the hard and you want to run engine?

thanks!

Svend

[Svend]

as a followup to my last post above, does it make sense to add a T fitting from the seacock up to where the hose attaches to the motor, and put a water hose fitting so I can run water into the engine when I want to run engine on the hard?

thanks

Svend

[Big D]

......how long can i run the Chrysler 318 engine with no water coming in.....

Not at all, you could fry the impeller in seconds.

....any good ways to hook a hose up to water inlet on the bottom of boat when boat is on the hard and you want to run engine?

There is an item on the market for that. Looks like a toilet plunger with a hose attachment. Or you can remove the intake hose from the seacock, stick it in a 5 gallon pail of antifreeze and let the engine draw it.

...does it make sense to add a T fitting from the seacock up to where the hose attaches to the motor, and put a water hose fitting so I can run water into the engine when I want to run engine on the hard?

Yes you can. There are three way valves on the market for this very thing or you can rig up a fitting of your own. You can also use this setup as an emergency pump should you suddenly take on more water than your bilge pumps can handle. Using the engine as a bilge pump will give you more volume.

[captainmaniac]

EDIT : looks like Big D and I were typing at the same time.... so go with his comments re running dry..

There are far more knowledgeable engine guys on this forum so I will let them fine tune the answer to how long you can run without water flow, but to my mind the best answer is don't do it! How long would you run your car engine with an empty radiator? A second or two might be okay, but after a few seconds running dry the raw water pump impeller could burn up and self destruct. If its in perfect shape you might get 15-30 seconds out of it before it heats up too much, but if it is old and brittle 5 seconds dry could be too much. That's not even thinking about engine parts that would have no cooling...

As far as the 'T' goes ... the more splices or connections you have in any cooling, fuel delivery, or exhaust system, the more potential points of failure you have. If you put a T in your cooling lines below the water line, and it fails, the boat could go down.... whether you are under way or it is just sitting in your slip. If you add a T above the water line - say near intake for the thermostat - you are still not risk free. If it fails while you are at the dock, you are mostly safe (and may not know it has failed). But if you are under way and it fails, or go out after it has failed, you will be dumping water in to your bilge as long as the engine is running. Also, if you are leaking bad enough, the engine may not get enough water to cool, and you could have an overheat problem as well.

If you do go with a T solution (and I know there are factory and after market flushing kits that do this), it is something you should be inspecting as part of regular maintenance throughout the season.

[comodave]

We are just winterizing our President with 225 Lehmans. I used a Sea Flush adapter that replaces the top of the strainer temporarily. It worked great. I put 5 gallons of -100 degree antifreeze through the first engine and we got antifreeze coming out of the exhaust. Checked the freeze protection with a reflectometer and it was only 0 degrees. I kept adding antifreeze until I got it to -30 degrees, it took a total of 10 gallons per engine, probably due to the size of the mufflers. I was really surprised how much it took to bring the protection to -30. Now I just have to winterize the generator, the A/Cs, both heads, anchor washdown and drains. I had already done the fresh water system before we hauled the boat.

As Big D said, just seeing antifreeze come out of the exhaust would not have worked out for us since we usually get well below 0. I did not want to drain the engines before adding antifreeze so I had to use quite a bit extra to get the proper temperature coverage.

[The Dog House]

I put 5 gallons of -100 degree antifreeze through the first engine and we got antifreeze coming out of the exhaust. Checked the freeze protection with a reflectometer and it was only 0 degrees. I kept adding antifreeze until I got it to -30 degrees, it took a total of 10 gallons per engine, probably due to the size of the mufflers. I was really surprised how much it took to bring the protection to -30.

As Big D said, just seeing antifreeze come out of the exhaust would not have worked out for us since we usually get well below 0. I did not want to drain the engines before adding antifreeze so I had to use quite a bit extra to get the proper temperature coverage.

I've always run 10 gallons of antifreeze through my engine and I've never had a problem. You can see pink coming out of the exhaust after 5 gallons, but I always said antifreeze is cheap, engines are expensive. It's nice to know I wasn't wasting my time/money.