1997 240 Sundancer - planning the winterization

KHE

Member
Feb 28, 2012
238
West Michigan
Boat Info
1997 Sea Ray 240 Sundancer
Engines
Mercruiser 5.7L EFI alpha 1 Gen 2 drive
I am going to winterize my '97 240 Sundancer (5.7 EFI Alpha One drive) next week in preparation for indoor storage. My initial checklist is:

  • Drain freshwater tank
  • Blow out water line to sink
  • Add some RV antifreeze to the sink pump via water line and cycle pump
  • Pump out the porta-potty
  • Drain the water from the porta-potty supply tank
  • Fill the fuel tank adding stabil to the fuel
  • Change the fuel water separator filter
  • Start engine on hose muffs - let it warm up to operating temp.
  • Change engine oil and filter
  • Fog the engine
  • Drain the water from the engine block, exhaust manifolds and fuel cooler. Per the Mercruiser diagrams online, I counted 5 plastic drain plugs - one each side of the engine block, one for each exhaust manifold and one for the fuel cooler. I am thinking about replacing the o-rings on the blue plugs.
  • Disconnect four hoses at front of engine and pour RV antifreeze into the hoses until it comes out of the nipple where each hose was disconnected.
  • Clean/scrub the bilge
  • Remove the serpentine accessory belt
  • charge the batteries
  • Remove the outdrive and install a plate over the opening. That way, the bellows will be in the compressed state vs. extended state. I can't trust the storage facility to lower the drive for me or raise it in the spring when they move it out of the building when I pick it up.
  • I planned on leaving the batteries installed - they will be fully charged and I'll turn the battery switch to OFF unless it is better to remove them. The engine compartment is pretty tight and I'd rather just leave them in there.

Is there anything I have overlooked? Do I need to remove any hoses on the power steering unit to drain any water or will it empty when I remove the engine plugs? This is the first time I will be winterizing this boat and don't want to miss anything. Thanks!
 
change the oil in the drive too.
 
You certainly can do it, but removing the belt isn't really necessary. I think it's more "theory" than reality in regards to why it should be removed.

You may or may not have a 6th plug - it would be at the bottom of the block hose (big hose).

No, there's nothing else you need to do with the power steering cooler (it self drains... unless the hose orientation/routing/setup has been changed). When you pour the pink into the intake hose, it will flush out any remaining (if at all) water. That hose won't back up through the t-stat housing. Hold the hose high, fill it till it fills up (listen closely and you'll hear pink dripping on the ground outside). For good measure, I let it settle for a minute and fill again. Same goes for the exhaust hoses - hold high, fill, listen, settle, fill again.

I always prefer to take the batteries in and put them on a GOOD maintainer (not a Harbor Freight trickle charger as that can still cook a battery) for the winter. If you have an onboard charger and access to power, you could also leave the charger on all winter. The best thing you can do for your batteries is have them on a smart charger all the time (check fluid, if applicable). But if you're going to leave them in the boat with power off, disconnect the negative lead - there's still some things that draw power with your switch off.

How are you planning on fogging?
 
Dennis,

Thanks for the information. I'll probably leave the belt on - I do with the cars I store for the winter and have never had any problem. I will probably just charge the batteries and disconnect the negative leads. If they're fully charged at storage and disconnected, they should be OK until spring - I'll connect the charger and top off the charge then.

I plan to fog the engine using the fogging spray through the throttle body - since my engine is TBI, I planned on spraying it down the throttle bores while the engine is running and when it starts to billow blue smoke, have my son turn the ignition off.
 
Yup, as long as the batteries are fully charged and disconnected, there's no chance of freezing.

It's "OK" to fog that way, but realize that you do have a couple sensors that may not like the sticky fogging oil. It seems that TBI engine sensors, for whatever reason though, are a little more tolerant of the fogging oil than the MPI engine sensors (but not immune). Another way is, and you've likely read about this on here if you've done some searching, is by putting an appropriate mixture in the fuel filter.

Good luck!
 
I like the idea of using the fuel filter to be the reservoir for the pre-mix. How much oil should be added to the filter before topping it off with fuel and installing it - 3 ounces? How long should I run the engine with the cocktail before turning it off? With a quart of fuel or so in the filter, it probably won't take long to fog the engine.
 
I'm going to bust on you a little bit for this, since there's been many posts on this subject detailing it. :lol:

But the quick-n-dirty: 2 ounces oil, some stabilizer, run for 5 minutes at 1200-1300 RPM. Done.
 
I'm going to bust on you a little bit for this, since there's been many posts on this subject detailing it. :lol:

But the quick-n-dirty: 2 ounces oil, some stabilizer, run for 5 minutes at 1200-1300 RPM. Done.

Thanks! That's OK for busting me - I quickly read through a bunch of posts where Mercruiser recommended a 5 gallon can and a bunch of people arguing about it.
 
As part of the drain process, remove the lower end of the big hose and drain the water. While it is off, remove the engine hoses to the hot water heater if you have one and blow them out. While the blue plugs are out, I use 1 gallon of pink via the bucket method to flush the sea water pump, but this mainly applies to Bravo drives - might not be bad for an Alpha either. After all that, plugs get put back in and I pour in antifreeze like you. It gives me a bit of peace of mind.
 
I quickly read through a bunch of posts where Mercruiser recommended a 5 gallon can and a bunch of people arguing about it.

There's more than one way to successfully fog. Mixing up the proper fogging "cocktail" mixture in a portable fuel tank and running that through the engine is one way. Doing it via the fuel filter method is another. As long as it's done properly, either way is just as good.
 
do you do any thing for moisture and mildew prevention in the cabin when it's buttoned up.

I plan on taking the cushions out of the cabin and mid cabin and store them in my basement. Is there anything you recommend?
 
You may or may not have a 6th plug - it would be at the bottom of the block hose (big hose).

No, there's nothing else you need to do with the power steering cooler (it self drains... unless the hose orientation/routing/setup has been changed). When you pour the pink into the intake hose, it will flush out any remaining (if at all) water. That hose won't back up through the t-stat housing. Hold the hose high, fill it till it fills up (listen closely and you'll hear pink dripping on the ground outside). For good measure, I let it settle for a minute and fill again. Same goes for the exhaust hoses - hold high, fill, listen, settle, fill again.

I plan to fog the engine and drain the block tomorrow - I got the oil changed this evening.

The smaller hoses on the thermostat housing go to each exhaust manifold. Are the intake hoses you refer to the other two hoses that are larger in diameter? I just don't want to miss anything.

The drain on the fuel cooler looks like a fun one to access....
 
How many TOTAL hoses are on your t-stat housing?

Edit: Got bumped off before I could finish...

I would expect to see a total of (4) hoses, but there could be (6). Either way... the biggest one you're good with. Then there will be either (1) or (2) hoses going to each manifold. That leaves one more lonely hose, all by itself. Follow this one (it's on the port side of the t-stat housing) and you'll see it dive down behind the serpentine belt and then heads back to the fuel cooler. So... you reach in and grab that fuel cooler's blue plug (by feel only, of course), or you can remove that lonely hose and snake it down to the bottom of the bilge and empty the fuel cooler that way. Obviously, don't crease the hose too much or nothing will drain out. It's possible that there could be a tiny amount of water left in there, but when you come back and pour AF into that hose, it'll totally flush anything out - especially if you pour AF twice into that hose.
 
Last edited:
Dennis,

Thanks for the information! I have four hoses at the thermostat housing and one hose goes to the port exhaust manifold and one goes to the starboard exhaust manifold. With your explanation above, I will be able to be sure I have drained all the water.

The blue plug on the fuel cooler could be such a PITA to access that I will probably just pull the hose like you described.
 
The blue plug on the fuel cooler could be such a PITA to access that I will probably just pull the hose like you described.

Yeah, you kinda have to get your hips/legs on the "shelf" next to the engine, then your shoulder goes down to the bilge floor in front of the engine, and then you disconnect your elbow and reach back, and with just your finger tips, loosen the blue plug.
 
Yeah, you kinda have to get your hips/legs on the "shelf" next to the engine, then your shoulder goes down to the bilge floor in front of the engine, and then you disconnect your elbow and reach back, and with just your finger tips, loosen the blue plug.

I thought about finding an orangutan to open the drain on the fuel cooler... but I was suprised that I was actually able to reach it.:grin:

I was surprised that there was not a blue drain valve on the large hose from the water pump to the thermostat housing though.

I decided to let it drain overnight - I need to clean the bilge, install the antifreeze, charge the batteries. Thanks for all the help and advice!
 
Your welcome - glad you got it done! To clean under the engine, tape a stick to the handle of a medium sized brush (a "wheel and tire" brush from Autozone, for example) to make the handle about a 2 or 3 feet long. Keep the bow nice and high during this so the water continually drains out quickly. Don't forget to shoot some soap and water under the gas tank (bow down for this) and let it sit a bit and then rinse (bow up again) many times with the hose - otherwise every time water that's in the bilge goes forward, it will bring dirt and crud back with it from under the tank... which would negate all the cleaning you did.
 
I thought about finding an orangutan to open the drain on the fuel cooler... but I was suprised that I was actually able to reach it.:grin:

I was surprised that there was not a blue drain valve on the large hose from the water pump to the thermostat housing though.

I decided to let it drain overnight - I need to clean the bilge, install the antifreeze, charge the batteries. Thanks for all the help and advice!

the cool fuel plugs are a joke. You should see the space we have in our boat with two of these engines. I cut a slot in an old socket with my dremel to make it easier to loosen that initial turn so they easily come out.
 
Yeah - Those blue plastic plugs are a joke - I broke two of them and didn't even crank them down hard - once I felt the o-ring starting to compress, they broke. They get brittle with age/heat. $6.00 each for those things seemed pretty expensive to me for what they are.

It's too bad there isn't a brass equivalent out there.
 

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