De-winterizing inquiry

[Victor M]

Hi, my parents own a 19 SPX with an inboard Mercury MerCruiser 4.3L. Last fall my dad got it winterized and I'm looking to take it out, but I've run into an issue. Upon asking him how to go about de-winterizing (he's working out-of state), he told me to just check a few things and run it with engine muffs and it should be good to go. When calling the marina that winterized the boat, however, they informed me that doing this could hurt the engine and/or the boat. My dad does not remember what they did to winterize it and the marina has been unresponsive thus far. Is de-winterizing something I could do myself or is the marina correct in telling me I could essentially ruin the boat? Any steps or links would be helpful; most everything I've read here suggests that I could do it but this marina has me second guessing myself. Thanks!

 

[yobub]

Unless they left something taken apart, you should just be able to hook up the battery and start it. If you are on land run water through the muffs. If you are in the water the antifreeze will get discharged into the lake, so hopefully it is non-toxic antifreeze. If you are in the water make sure you out the drain plug in first.

 

[yobub]

Oh, and check all this stuff:
https://www.discoverboating.com/ownership/maintenance/start-up-checklist

 

[randmhall]

Hi Victor,
short answer is 'it depends' You need more information.

For example,
MY mechanic changes impeller, oil, fogs the engine, and drains and fills with antifreeze. I leave the battery installed on a trickle charger. In the spring, I put it in the lake and start it. It smokes for a couple minutes while the fogging oil burns out, then good to go. My bill runs about $260.
My friends mechanic on the other hand, he pulls off hoses and blue drain plugs, and leaves everything disconnected until spring. "de-winterizing" means reconnecting everything, changing the oil, and test running. He pays +/- $150 for each service.

If you are mechanically confident that everything is connected, the oil is changed, and all fluids are fine, you should be good to go. But if hoses and plugs are loose...

 

[Golfman25]

Yeah. You need to take a look. IMO it's bad practice not to hook anything back up in the fall so it's all ready to go in the spring. So hopefully everything is connected. If so, it's a matter of hooking up the battery, charging them, and starting up. You can do it on muffs in the driveway. If you see anything coming out of the engine you can investigate further.

 

[TimW]

My friends mechanic...changing the oil, ...

If he doesn’t do this in fall and waits til spring, find another mechanic HE’S AN IDIOT.

 

[ENstig8or]

It sounds like that mechanic is just gouging his customers by leaving stuff disconnected. I put the plug in, check the fluids, hook up water to the muffs and crank it in the driveway just to make sure there are no leaks or issues so when I drop it in the water, it's crank and go. It's that simple.