Sad, Sad Day

[Ajskier]

Hello All,

 

It is that time of the year here in Ohio, time to put the boat away for the winter. I have winterized outboards before, but I have never done a ski boat before, let alone a boat with EFI, so I just want to make sure that I have all the of steps down and that I am not missing anything. I am doing this on an 2001 Nautique with the GT-40, no heater or hot water shower.

 

1) Warm the boat up to running temp, then drain and change oil and filter.

2) After oil has been changed, start the boat back up to circulate new oil through out the engine.

3) Shut boat down, then pull all drain plugs from motor. I think there are 5 total. Is that correct?

4) After water has been drained, replace all of the plugs and tighten to torque specs. Do you have to put some anti-seeze on the plugs when you are putting them back in?

5) After plugs have been put back in, I am going to hook up the 5 gallon bucket fake a lake set up that I have and then add 5 gallons of anti-freeze to the bucket, fire up the boat and let the anti-freeze be pulled into the motor. Once the anit-freeze starts to come out of the exhaust, shut the motor down.

6) Crack a beer and shed a tear because the season is over.

 

I do have a couple questions and wanted to get everyone's thoughts.

1) The Nautique Manual says to pull the spark plugs and add roughly a teaspoon of preservative oil to each cylinder. Do people do this or do they use fogging oil? I have heard that you are not suppose to fog EFI motors.

2) Above I mentioned, pulling the 5 drain plugs on the motor, but is there a drain plug for the tranny cooler or is there anything special I need to do with the tranny cooler?

3) Is there anything I am missing or do I have any steps out of order?

 

I really appreciate everyone's help and feedback.

 

 

[Razorskier1]

I'm familiar with step 6, but the rest is a mystery to me.

[A_B]

Not sure about starting up after oil change. I think they say to just change and not to run. Any amount of run time creates reaction in the oil and corrode faster.

 

So what I do is to change oil after I pull antifreeze through the engine, which I do after it warms up to running temp in the driveway. I disconnect the water pickup line and attach a 3 foot extension with a coupling. Put this in a 5-gal bucket and run with garden hose for water first to warm up and then when hot, I shut motor down and fill 5 gallon bucket with AF/H2O mix, and pull into engine, and shower if you have one (just leave it on and hanging over the side). I also clean the water strainer before any of the above. I then let the oil drain out, sometimes for a the rest of the day if I don't have time to complete. Fill the new oil filter up with as much oil as you can before installing (so it isn't a dry for restart). I don't start when oil is put in. Pull battery and store in basement.

[Ajskier]

@A_B, I was planning on using RV/Marine anti-freeze, do you still have to mix that with water?

[A_B]

No. I use that straight.

[Ajskier]

@A_B, thank you so much.

 

[Chris Taylor]

I follow your steps with the following changes. What ever gas I have in the tank I put in fuel stabilizer (Marvel Mystery oil) and make sure I run the boat a good 10-15 min to get the treated gas through the system.

Change Trans fluid

after oil and trans change I take it out for a spin and check oil and trans levels

pull drain plugs to engine and drain water, reinstall

use 5 gallon bucket method, however I use 6-7 gallons of RV antifreeze and use it all. Usually I can see the antifreeze exit the exhaust before but I run it all through anyway.

remove plugs and fog each cylinder, reinstall plugs and after I have done all cylinders I will bump the starter a couple times to get the fogging oil spread.

pull batteries and connect to tender.

[Ajskier]

@Chris Taylor, thank you for reminding me of the stabilizer. I had that in my head when I was walking through my steps but forgot to include it in my write up.

[Ski_Dad]

i feel ya, i put my boat away the other day. I always get a little "misty"

[markn]

Did you also drain the water intake strainer housing?

[Ajskier]

@markn, thank you for that one. See this is why I come to you guys for your knowledge because I knew I would forget something. Let me ask you question though, once you add the anti-freeze to the system do you drain the strainer housing or just leave it full of anti-freeze? I was just reading somewhere else and they said to drain it. Any thoughts on that?

 

@Chris Taylor mentioned that after he fills the motor with anti-freeze that he pulls the plugs. Does that defeat the purpose of adding anti-freeze to the motor? Also, is there any harm in leaving it full of anti-freeze as long as I drained the water prior to adding it?

[Chris Taylor]

@Ajskier , I was talking about spark plugs there and spray the fogging oil into the cylinder.

Correct after you run the RV antifreeze through leave the drain plugs for engine in, this will help preserve the engine from corrosion and sitting dry.

I guess I should mention the first run in the spring, burning the fogging oil out it will stink! lol

[Ajskier]

@Chris Taylor thank you for the clarification. I think spraying the oil into each cylinder head is the route that I am going to take. Don't want to take any chances with screwing up any sensors.

[A_B]

Chris, some will say to just put a large breaker bar on the front crank nut and turn over by hand without the plugs put in. Cranking with the plugs in and added heavy fogging oil could build too much compression and cause head issues. I don't know from any experience, but when I fogged an efi boat, I hand turned it. On my old carb engine, I shot anti fouling oil in the carb until the engine about died, timing it with the antifreeze in the bucket running out.

[Chris Taylor]

@A_B , that works also. I have a carb and figure just bumping the starter isn't building up pressure since I just want the pistons to move a little. Not nearly enough to start.

[Ajskier]

What is everyone's thoughts on changing the tranny fluid. Does anyone do that as part of their winterization process? If so, how hard is it to do? Anyone have a good process for that?

[markn]

If the strainer bowl is empty with no water in it, there is nothing to freeze. You are good to go. If there are a few drops of water still left, there is plenty of room for expansion. Living outside of Orlando, IF we get a freeze warning, I just drain the block, trans-cooler line, freeze plugs, water line to impeller and strainer. I have never done the anti-freeze protocol.....it always warms up in 2 or 3 days and we are skiing again!

 

Based on the above sequence, it appears Chris is "flushing" the engine block with the anti-freeze solution, then draining that solution. Once the engine has been rinsed with the solution, you can drain it, then put the plugs back in.

If the block is drained and all points are properly drained, there is nothing left in the engine to freeze. I suppose if it gets cold enough, (below the freeze point of the anti-freeze/water solution) that could freeze. If there is no liquid in the block, there is nothing to freeze.

[A_B]

Sounds good @Chris Taylor, some motor guys like @Jody_Seal may elaborate on evils of cranking with oil in cylinder, but bumping is probably ok.

 

Regarding tranny oil, I don't change every year, but only put 50 hours or so on it. The best way is to get a pump with small diameter hose to stick in the fill tube. There are several articles on it. The hose has to be about the diameter of the dip stick, as it really narrows down inside the tube. Usually it requires repositioning the hose a few times to make sure you have most of it out.

 

 

[Texas6]

What is a winterize? We haven't heard that word down here?

[TallSkinnyGuy]

I put anti-seize on all my drain plugs except for the knock sensor (which on my engine is one of the drain plugs). I don't use antifreeze but rather just drain the block and hoses, but I live in an area that doesn't have many days that get below 25 degrees or so. I leave my block dry because I figure the boat and engine will die of something else long before the block ever rusts through (and the rust just gets flushed out the exhaust when I run the boat).

 

I think the idea of using antifreeze even if you then drain the block afterward is that the block never gets fully drained. So, if you live in a very cold place you want any pockets of fluid left in your block to be a fluid that won't freeze and cause pressure in the block. Some people leave the antifreeze in to reduce corrosion, which it probably does, and I've heard there may be benefits to having fluid in the rubber hoses to keep them from "drying out" but I'm not sure if I believe that one.

[brettmainer]

This might be the best part of being on a promo team. Substitute "Sell boat" for Steps 1-5 and go directly to Step 6.

[Dacon62]

Yeah...can relate to the sadness. Located in southern BC, Canada...Went for the last ski of the year today. Was awesome, sunny, air 73, water 55. All rain and cold moving forward. Sad...very sad...till spring.

[GAJ0004]

I have to sink the slalom course on Lake Latonka today, tomorrow or Tuesday. My boat gets put away next weekend. Ordered new skins for the coaming pads, and engine cover. If they arrive in time they will be installed by spring, and the boat will look new again. You can spray fogging oil into the cylinders. I also take the tension out of the belts, remove the impeller from the water pump and store it in a small jar of antifreeze(pink RV type). I reassemble the water pump without the impeller in it, and reinstall it in the spring if it does not need to be replaced. If you see the beginnings of a crack or tear in the impeller, get a new one. I also remove the battery, and put it on the charger once a month during the winter. @Ajskier, you have all the bases covered..

[6balls]

Since 87 for my buddies mc 190 no issues. Heat up, change oil, suck in 50-50 mix antifreeze n water. Beer.

That's a lot of mn winters survived without incident.

 

 

[The_MS]

We pulled the buoys out and the boat is in the garage. @thager will keep his boat out for a few more weeks so hope for N wind and sunshine.

[GAJ0004]

My boat hit the 1800 hour mark. Just sunk the course for the winter. May get snow tonight in PA. Boat gets pulled tomorrow and winterized..

[Ajskier]

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for you insight and advice. Got the boat all cleaned up and winterized over the weekend. Everything went pretty smooth.

[thager]

I got a nice set in tonight. Water is still 60 plus.

[Ajskier]

@thager, just rub some more salt in the wound why don't you.

[thager]

@Ajskier Watch the forecasts and adjust accordingly. Gotta do what you have to do!

[Ajskier]

@thager, I am not sure where you are located, but we had some spitting of snow this past weekend and our lake temp was down into the low 50's already.

[thager]

Ouch!!

 

[A_B]

Our buoys got a reprieve. Boat battery was DOA.

 

Come on El Niño !

[thager]

@MS and I got some ski time in last night in MN. Water temp 60 and air same.

[sunperch]

Still skiing in Kansas...that is when we are not watching the Royals.

[swardco]

Got out on Saturday here in Colorado. Pulled the boat home, washed the carpet, put stabilizer in, and filled with fuel. Haven't actually winterized yet, but I think Saturday was it for the year. :-(

[colo_skier]

@swardco Trying to get to Dec down in Pueblo. As you know the first cold weather is getting here this week so we will see how quickly the water temp drops. Always welcome to get a set or 2 in down here.

[skosney]

A couple other steps I do (in addition to most of the above)

 

1. Remove the rubber impellor from the raw water (secondary) pump. Inspect and store for reinstall next spring.

2. Loosen tension on belt(s).

 

Rather than going through the effort of drawing antifreeze through by running the engine, I have always just poured it in through the hose that feeds raw water (from the pump) into the top of the engine.

[thager]

Took a look at the 10 day forecast and decided to do my final ski of tha year. Put the boat on the trailer followed by winterizing. Boat now is in shed. Other stuff to get ready for now like snow and the snowmobiles! Looking forward to riding my new to me Arctic Cat F1000! Snow baby snow!!!!!

[skosney]

Couldn't agree more @thager , I only managed two days of riding last year (due to lack of snow) ... so glad I didn't pull the trigger on an new M8000 last year ... that would have been painful!