Is Dewinterizing absolutely necessary???

champdds

Member
Aug 17, 2008
77
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Boat Info
2006 240 Sundeck
Engines
Mercruiser 350 w Bravo III
Every season since I have owned my 240SD, I have religiously had the boat winterized in late fall (engine fogging,etc), and then in the spring, had it 'dewinterized' plus an oil change by a mechanic (not that many hours each season, but I have been told it it a good thing to change the oil annually)...I personally have done all of the water (sinks/sprayers/ head) system myself, as this is easy to do.....

I read recently, that some advocate that if you change the oil during the winterizing in the fall, that really, there is no need to 'dewinterize' and imply start up the boat and start going in the spring (with a little smoke expected from the engine at first)...and that changing the oil in the spring is better anyway, so corrosives/contaminates in the oil are cleaned out and not allowed to sit all winter in the engine....so if this is true, what exactly have I been paying for to have the boat dewinterized each spring???

Can I just winterize, plus oil change, and forego the 'dewinterizing' ??


David
 
don't know what dewinterizing is, sounds like a way to charge you for nothing... Just make sure you check and make sure all your hoses are attached. I picked up a boat in spring that I paid a marina to winterize, and the left a RW hose off and I flooded the bilge...
 
Well, I think it all depends on what you're having them do for the "summerizing". Check with them - see what you're paying for. Maybe they're doing other stuff...... maybe not.

But, the quick answer is, yes, everything can be done in the Fall. If you don't keep your battery on a constant charge over the winter (best thing you can do for a battery, by the way) then you'll need to charge it in the Spring. Maybe that's part of what you were paying? Maybe they're cleaning it? Find out and post back.
 
Most service outfits in our our area won't cover any problems resulting from a problem winterization unless they also do the dewinterizing/summarizing. If they do both, they have all liability if something goes bad. If you do the backend work (even tho its basically just checking the hoses & opening the seacocks), they are released from fault. Your winterizing outfit's policy may be different...
 
Well, I think it all depends on what you're having them do for the "summerizing". Check with them - see what you're paying for. Maybe they're doing other stuff...... maybe not.

But, the quick answer is, yes, everything can be done in the Fall. If you don't keep your battery on a constant charge over the winter (best thing you can do for a battery, by the way) then you'll need to charge it in the Spring. Maybe that's part of what you were paying? Maybe they're cleaning it? Find out and post back.


Nope, the battery is not addressed....Should I consider taking it out of the boat and leaving it at home (protected from freezing temps?)...My boat is in dry storage all winter...will taking it out and leaving it out affect the electronics for those months with no power?

Sorry, may be naive questions, but I am not that much of a boat guy...

David
 
The best thing for a battery is to keep it charged at all times - it will definitely increase it's lifespan.

The next best thing is to disconnect the negative cable for the winter and then charge it properly in the Spring. Whether you keep it in the boat or bring it home (and not charge it) won't really have much of an impact on it either way.

No, it won't affect any electronics.
 
I would not pay for "dewinterizing".

I had a 2002 240SD and my climate here in South Carolina is probably similar to yours in TN. In the fall I would have the dealer pull my outdrive, grease the splines and gimball bearing, inspect all the bellows and check the drive for proper alignment with the engine coupler. I also had them change the gear oil just to make sure that no water had gotten into the gear case. Then I did the rest of the work myself including an engine oil and filter change, replacing the fuel filter with a new one, adding STABIL to the fuel tank, then running pink antifreeze thru the engine. I emptied out my port-a-potty and cleaned it, emptied out the freshwater system and blew out the lines with compressed air. I also pulled my battery and kept it at home on a trickle charger.

In the spring I just re-installed the battery, filled up the fresh water system and I was good to go.

Dave
 
I've heard the term "dewinterizing" in reference to filling the water tank, starting the potable water system, turning on ice makers, fridges, vacuum heads and delivering the boat to a slip. I would not pay anyone to do these things as there is little value added. These are all things I want to do myself.
 
As other have pointed out there is some work to be done in the spring. Besides removing everything from the boat and all of the cushions & canvas, we do all the maintenance type stuff; wash/wax, oil changes, zincs etc in the fall. In the spring after the shrink wrap comes off, it gets washed and waxed again, the water system brought up to speed, batteries re-connected and all of the stuff put back. If needed the bottom gets a paint touch up, and any major repairs are taken care of at this time.

Henry
 
I have read that some trickle chargers are NOT good for larger batteries, such as marine grade, as they won't fully chrge them and therefore, affect the ability of the battery to maintain a full charge later on....do you have a specific brand you have used ?
 
Thatis the reply I got when I asked about the Fall-winterizing ONLY option...they said they would not be liable for any damage that could possibly occur if they did not also do the spring De-winterizing process also...
 
Thatis the reply I got when I asked about the Fall-winterizing ONLY option...they said they would not be liable for any damage that could possibly occur if they did not also do the spring De-winterizing process also...

Something sounds strange here. Can you expand on what they are doing for W and De-W? Are they saying that if they don't do the De-W, then they are not responsible for a cracked block? I think there's more to this - ask for a specific breakdown of services that are being performed. Outside of that, we are just guessing.
 
I have read that some trickle chargers are NOT good for larger batteries, such as marine grade, as they won't fully chrge them and therefore, affect the ability of the battery to maintain a full charge later on....do you have a specific brand you have used ?

Well, some "trickle chargers" are just plain crap. Some are very good. Something as simple as a Battery Minder will work and work very well.
 
Something sounds strange here. Can you expand on what they are doing for W and De-W? Are they saying that if they don't do the De-W, then they are not responsible for a cracked block? I think there's more to this - ask for a specific breakdown of services that are being performed. Outside of that, we are just guessing.

Here is what I was emailed:


[FONT=Arial,sans-serif]I believe our service techs are required by management to leave the boat to where it “has to be” de-winterized unless they are instructed otherwise. If we leave the boat to where all you have to do is drop in the water and start it, then we cannot be responsible if the boat were to freeze and bust.. The reason for this is that a long time ago a customer told us that we did not tell him he could not use the boat after we winterized it. A pretty day came along in December and the guy took his boat for a ride put it back in storage and came back in the spring to find that he had a busted engine. He made us replace his engine at our expense because we did not tell him he could not take the boat out after we winterized it. Sooo that is pretty much when we made the rule “disable the engine” to where a customer can’t start it unless we de-winterize it.[/FONT]
 
Here is what I was emailed:


I believe our service techs are required by management to leave the boat to where it “has to be” de-winterized unless they are instructed otherwise. If we leave the boat to where all you have to do is drop in the water and start it, then we cannot be responsible if the boat were to freeze and bust.. The reason for this is that a long time ago a customer told us that we did not tell him he could not use the boat after we winterized it. A pretty day came along in December and the guy took his boat for a ride put it back in storage and came back in the spring to find that he had a busted engine. He made us replace his engine at our expense because we did not tell him he could not take the boat out after we winterized it. Sooo that is pretty much when we made the rule “disable the engine” to where a customer can’t start it unless we de-winterize it.

IF there is nothing more to this...

I'm calling BS on their logic. If that is truly their reasoning for wanting the boat back to "dewinterize", simply having the customer sign a piece of paper, warning of the dangers, would be sufficient.

If they truly wanted to make the boat "unusable" they could simply pull a fuse. When the customer brings the boat back in for dewinterizing, they reinstall the fuse. It would take them about 2 minutes and there would be no reason to charge anything for that dewinterization.

Besides... Why did that customer bring the boat in for winterization in the first place?
 
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Well, I was able to tell them to WINTERIZE only (with oil change), and that I would take care of any battery charging,etc. for myself for the DEWINTERIZING step....They said they will leave the freeze plugs in a ziplock bag attached to the steering wheel for me to install back in the spring...so, now my question is....is there a handy diagram somewhere that will show me where they need to go back to ?

David
 
Well, I was able to tell them to WINTERIZE only (with oil change), and that I would take care of any battery charging,etc. for myself for the DEWINTERIZING step....They said they will leave the freeze plugs in a ziplock bag attached to the steering wheel for me to install back in the spring...so, now my question is....is there a handy diagram somewhere that will show me where they need to go back to ?

David

Those "freeze" plugs are not really freeze plugs. They are blue colored, drain plugs. THEY SHOULD NOT BE LEFT OUT FOR THE WINTER. Marine antifreeze should be put into the engine and the plugs stay in place to keep it there. With no antifreeze in the block/manifold you will get interior corrosion and rust.

Yes, there are diagrams available in a service manual - sometimes you find them online. I could likely tell you where they go, but it's kind of hard to tell from your signature, what engine you have. You have it listed as "Engine: One". The reason that information is asked of you is for a case just like this.
 
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I may have misunderstood what plugs he was referring to...I just assumed freeze plugs, but maybe that is not the correct term...Would he be referring to another type of plug ?

The engine (I am pretty sure) is a Mercruiser 350

David
 
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No, I would "assume" he is referring to the blue drain plugs. Pulling "freeze" plugs is not done - or at least not that I'm aware. It wouldn't make sense to take those out.

OK, you'll have to do a little homework to double check me on this (look at your engine). But, I think what you have (it has changed slightly over the years) will be a blue plug on your t-stat housing, one in your water distribution housing (although you may have a blue-handled plug that serves the same purpose) and then two in your raw water pump. You may have two more in the fuel pump/filter box.
 

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