Marina did not winterize my boat. Need Advice...

[billnpat]

I’m also a believer in ‘do-it-yourself’ as much as I reasonably can.

Not so sure on the ½ hour comment. I must be slow. It took me 4 days.

I guess if you had everything at the ready and you are only running, draining and adding pink to the engines and you do not include picking up your mess you could get one done in ½ hour.

Over 4 days I:

Stabalized fuel, removed cockpit carpet to have cleaned, changed oil + oil filter + water separating filter x 3 engines, cleaned flame arrestors x 3 engines, changed generator impeller, winterized generator, cleaned strainer x 2, cleaned air conditioning air filter, removed engine compartment table holder, winterized A/C system + fresh water system, cleaned fresh water filter, tune up (spark plugs, rotor, cap, fuel filters x 2 main engines) had boat pulled, acid wash + cleaned hull, winterized main engines, cleaned cockpit, changed drive fluid x 2 drives, changed main engine impeller x 2 main engines, touched up outdrive paint, changed anodes, tested bilge pumps, recharged holding tank vent filter, changed duck valves, changed head seal gasket, checked generator belts, reinstalled engine compartment table holder.

I do all the little things. Just one example, I remove the line between the engine and hot water heater, rinse the line with fresh water, blow out the water with air from my mouth then pour pink into one end until pink comes out the other side.

I really admire you for that....wish i had the know how and was a little younger..

 

[Presentation]

I really admire you for that....wish i had the know how and was a little younger..

Thank you for the complement.

I got most of my encouragement from this board, thank CSR!

The service manual I downloaded that was once free at this board and youtube videos also helped.

The hardest nut to turn was the first one. Each time I do something new I keep notes and its easier the second time.


Again, thank you.

 

[comsnark]

kudos for the great post from Presentation

To the original post: What surprised me the most was that the Marina actually refunded the money. Not only did they refund the money, but they *did so without prompting*. Most places that I read about would have kept the money and not said anything.

I think you are lucky you are in Tn.
If they boat checks out ok, then count yourself lucky.

I wouldn't worry too much about the "water in engine" causing corrossion. The "pink" has a very high percentage of water in it. Not sure what type of corrossion inhibitors they put in the pink stuff: I suspect if this stuff is used for potable water systems (like, in RV's) it won't have too much.

 

[jbw641]

I have a srv210 cc not a floating rv. thus the 1/2hr. the original post was a guy w/a small boat like me. Not that much to it.

 

[Presentation]

I have a srv210 cc not a floating rv. thus the 1/2hr. the original post was a guy w/a small boat like me. Not that much to it.

½ hour to winterize one engine only and nothing else? OK, I will give you that. I concede this.


If you are stabilizing the fuel, changing the engine oil, oil filter, drive fluid, torque the gimbal bolts, clean the flame arrestor and winterizing the engine and doing all this in ½ hour I am very impressed. All these things are at least 1X/year items.



This list would need to be the off year that you don’t need to pull the drive, give the engine a tune up, change the impeller, etc.

 

[tbirdvet]

I would not worry about not being fogged only the water freezing possibility.

 

[1956olds]

As i said in my post i wanted your opinions on corrosion etc and now we have them .I wasnt making any calls on what the op should do just wanted to get a wide range of opinions .Hopefully these opinions are boating positive.I didnt realize he had fi engine and really didnt know there was a issue with fogging them,thanks for that info. Sounds like the majority agree you probably wont have any problems.I sure hope not and wish you a great season on the water.Glen

 

[Gunn]

Presentation has it covered very well. The fogging isn't of much concern like he said. For example, I've had a 1976 block 350cid engine in a '66 muscle car that I have stored every winter since 1990 (rebuilt then) and never knew about fogging until I bought a boat. Runs great.

The freeze plugs that others have mentioned are called that for a reason and are there for the blocks protection. They are a press fit into the engine and will press out if ice expansion causes them to in the block...before the block will itself crack.

The fact it started and there were no obviously apparent issues indicates to me there are no issues, even long term.

Tom

 

[Singletrackmind]

Couple of thoughts. First, I have to say that the marina at least owned up to the oversight by voluntarily giving you the credit. They could of kept your money, kept it a secret, checked the boat which apparently has no immediate issues and you would never have known. With that said, Second, if there are no immediate problems like a cracked block, than I personally don think you will have any problems in the future. Some of the water does drain and maybe that allowed for expansion if the water did freeze. I can't think of what an engine surveyor could do to find any potential damage without disassembly. If your familiar with engines look to see if the freeze out plugs are set properly and that one did not get pushed outward. The fact of the water laying in the engine all winter is no different than it laying in there all summer IMO. In the summer, it is probably worse as you keep replacing the water with new water with fresh oxygen, which is what is needed to create corrosion. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. As far as the dry start up, sure it is definately better to have the engine fogged and the cylinders coated with oil, but starting the engine did not cause excessive wear on the parts IMO. Maybe the engine life was reduced by 10 hours, who knows. Don't over think it... take it for a good run, and if nothing starts leaking, I'd say your good to go. Have an understanding with the marina that if a problem does occur , they need to make it right.

The old saying" 95% of the things you worry about never happen, the other 5% you can't do anything about, so stop worrying and go boating.....

As of yesterday, the Marina still believed that the work had been completed, yet they never could find a work order for it. When their technician and I pulled the boat out on Friday and checked the engine, that is when we determined for sure that the boat was never winterized. They remember me paying in the fall. I have the receipt. Their system shows that I paid. No one seems to know why the work was not completed and the money I paid is just sitting there as a credit. They have not actually returned my money to me. When I say it has been credited to my account, I mean my account at the marina itself. Not my bank or credit card. I'm sure they would give me a refund if I asked.

I hope what happened is more clear. I may not be doing the best job explaining it.

 

[Singletrackmind]

I checked the NOAA weather records for my area last night. In the month of December it got down to 14 Degrees Fahrenheit and in January it got down to 13 Degrees Fahrenheit, remaining below freezing for several days at a time.

The fact that the engine was not fogged and it was cranked with dry cylinders is probably not the end of the world. I am very familiar with engines, but I have just never had to drain water from a marine engine, therefore I am not familiar with where all of the plugs are. I don't know anything about Marine Surveyors and what they are capable of, but it does seem like it would be hard to tell if something inside the block was cracked without completely disassembling the engine. The reason I did not purchase a 15 or 20 year old boat, is because I wanted a boat that I knew the history of, thus insuring all of the maintenance had been performed correctly.

The Marina offered to put the boat in the water and see how the engine does. I hope this is with it running full speed. After doing more research about this on the internet, some people have made the suggestion that running an engine with muffs on does not provide sufficient pressure or volume of water to determine if the block is cracked. This suggestion seems pretty believable to me.

I really appreciate all of your advice and comments. You guys are great.

 

[Presentation]

I agree that your wife is way more important than your boat. Many of us here have gone thru a family crises and I’m one of them. Kudos for having your priorities right.

I also agree that running a boat on muffs could hide a hairline block crack. Additional testing is reasonable. Make sure the bilge is dry. Launch boat. Warm then run at various speeds including being dead stopped then going to wide open. Is your bilge still dry at the end of this testing? A bilge can get wet from many things leaking and one of them is a cracked block.

My above post was to set your mind at ease about the engine not being fogged. In a wet sump engine that is just not a major worry. Sine you have carburetors its fine if you do, no big deal if you don’t. I do not fog my engines. Our resident expert Frank does not fog his engines.

Best wishes.

 

[Singletrackmind]

I agree that your wife is way more important than your boat. Many of us here have gone thru a family crises and I’m one of them. Kudos for having your priorities right.

I also agree that running a boat on muffs could hide a hairline block crack. Additional testing is reasonable. Make sure the bilge is dry. Launch boat. Warm then run at various speeds including being dead stopped then going to wide open. Is your bilge still dry at the end of this testing? A bilge can get wet from many things leaking and one of them is a cracked block.

My above post was to set your mind at ease about the engine not being
fogged. In a wet sump engine that is just not a major worry. Sine you
have carburetors its fine if you do, no big deal if you don’t. I do not fog
my engines. Our resident expert Frank does not fog his engines.

Best wishes.

Yes Sir, I'm sure you are correct about the fogging. It is best to probably not worry about that. The freezing is the real issue.

I guess I am going to tell them that I want to be there when the boat goes in the water and is run. The bilge is fairly dry right now except for some water that came out of the recirculator hose when I believe the technician slipped the end of it off. He said that hose was full of water. One thing that is unfortunate about my boat is that the bilge is almost always wet once the boat is put in the water. I am fanatical about trying to keep water out if the boat, but somehow there is always some water in the bilge. This Service Department at the Marina has looked and never been able to determine where it comes from.

I don't even use the ski locker, because it does not drain worth a flip and before you know it there will be something growing in there. In my opinion the drain is poorly placed too high off the floor. I have read where other CSR members have complained about how those drains are placed too. Up to this point my only real complaints about this boat have been the ski locker drainage issue and the bilge always having water in it.