Newbie attempting first time winterizing, a few simple ?'s

P

poormonkey

New Member
Jan 9, 2007
156
St. Charles, IL (burbs of Chicago)
Boat Info
290 Sundancer 2001
Engines
Twin 5.0 w Bravo 3's
This will be my first attempt at winterizing my boat this winter. I have read a lot of the good advice on here about how to go about it. I had a few questions, I was wondering if a veteran could give me some feedback on.


- Instead of buying the Mercruiser 160 degree thermostats for $11.75, can I just get a 160 thermostat from Pep Boys for much cheaper? I am assuming the gasket would be the same as well?

- I am doing the approach of filling my fresh water with the pink anti-freeze and using that to supply the motors with anti-freeze. How long should I run each motor for? Just till I see pink stuff coming back out? Do I need to empty all the water in the block first by removing the "blue" plugs? Or is this over kill?

- Should I buy a hot water bypass kit? Or do I just spend the few extra bucks and run anti-freeze through the hot water tank, during the process of flushing out all the water lines to the head, galley sink, etc...?

- Should I replace the out drive lube?

- With just lifting the engine hatch up, is there an easy way of getting to the trim tab reservoir? Any tricks? Or do I need to remove the entire decking above the motors to get to it.

- I am assuming the best place to do all this is when the boat is on the trailer in the drive way? Any advantage of doing any of this while the boat is still in the water?

- I am going to do the fogging trick, empty half the water separator fuel filter out and put in some 2 stroke motor oil. Do I need to stop the fuel from going to the motor and just run off what's left in the separator? Or can I just run the motor for "x" amount of time.

- Is turning the battery switches to "off" good enough? Or do I need to remove the cables on each battery? I won't be able to leave a charger on the batteries while in the winter storage place.

- Go with synthetic or regular oil? T-5.0 EFI



Sorry for the dump questions, but i would like to do this right, so come spring I don't have any additional service bills due to me screwing something up. Thanks for the feedback and your time for replying in advance....
 
I am not a newbie. . .just a noob.

But I would physically remove the batteries from the boat. I don't think you want those cycling from -10F to 50F. I put mine in a spare room, and put them on a charger once a month.

You definately want to drain all the water out of the engine suing the freeze plugs.
 
I'll let you guys that winterize answer most of these, but.........

The Mercruiser cooling systems are designed specifically for marine use. I really doubt that Pep Boys $3 thermostat made for Ahmed's Chevrolet taxi is all stainless steel/brass or if it has the correct sized bypass for the marine cooling system.

And, surely you are not advocating that poormonkey remove his freeze plugs to drain his engine are you?
 
I can offer a few suggestions for you. I used to winterize my 240SD myself and while it was not as involved as a twin engine cruiser, many of the same things apply here as well.

First off since you are in a much colder climate than I am, you need to be sure you have adequate freeze protection everywhere on your boat. I suggest you look over Camco's web site. Camco makes anti-freeze products for the Marine and RV Industry. The first thing you need to think about is which type of products you want to use for winterizing. Start with their FAQ section which will answer a lot of your how to questions. Personally, I would stay away from the pre-mixed (-50 stuff) for my engine if I lived in your climate since I think you run the risk of diluting it with any water left in the block http://www.camco.net/faqwinterization.cfm Camco also makes a winterizing kit for the engines and that is what I used on my 240SD to winterize the motor. It is available at most Marine Supply Stores or on line. http://www.shipstore.com/SS/HTML/CAC/CAC65501.html

For the freshwater system on my 240SD, I drained the tank and the lines and then used compressed air to blow out the pump, each line, and all the faucets. You may still want to consider doing that or doing it in combiaton with adding some pink stuff afterwards. As far as battery(s) goes, I took mine out of the boat and put it on a battery maintainer at home. I always changed my outdrive fluid each fall as well. This way you can be sure you don't have any water in the fluid which could freeze and damage your drive. I removed my props and greased the prop splines. Because I didn't want to fool with a heavy outdrive myself, I had the dealer pull my drive, grease the drive spline, u-joint, gimball bearing, etc, and check engine alignment. I also changed the engine oil, filter, and water separating fuel filter. I filled up the fuel tank and added a fuel stabilizer as well. I did not fog my engine but that was my choice.

I winterize a lot differently now that I have a Cruiser and my boat stays in the water year round. Basically, I have a bilge heater and cabin heaters that I run and I only drain the part of my fresh water system that is exposed to below freezing temperatures in the unheated areas.
 
Poor Monkey-

Based on your questions, I would highly suggest that you hire some one to help you winterize your boat and take good notes while they are doing so. In the end, I'm certain this will save you a lot of time and money.

To answer your questions more specifically....

- Instead of buying the Mercruiser 160 degree thermostats for $11.75, can I just get a 160 thermostat from Pep Boys for much cheaper? I am assuming the gasket would be the same as well?

The t-stat on a marine engine is COMPLETELY different from an automotive t-stat. In a car, with a radiator, in order to let the engine warm up, the t-stat opens to let the coolant move faster and spend less time in the radiator cooling down. In a boat, with an unlimited supply of cooling water, that same goal is accomplished by closing the t-stat. Stick with the marine parts on this one.


- I am doing the approach of filling my fresh water with the pink anti-freeze and using that to supply the motors with anti-freeze. How long should I run each motor for? Just till I see pink stuff coming back out? Do I need to empty all the water in the block first by removing the "blue" plugs? Or is this over kill?

A few minutes on each engine should be fine, but, please, get help here.

- Should I buy a hot water bypass kit? Or do I just spend the few extra bucks and run anti-freeze through the hot water tank, during the process of flushing out all the water lines to the head, galley sink, etc...?

Usually, the fittings are already in place on the water heater to bypass it. You will then need to drain the heater and put some anti freeze in the tank.

- Should I replace the out drive lube?

This should be part of the annual maintenance on an outdrive. Again, this is sensitive stuff. It's not difficult, but extremely unforgiving should you make a mistake. Hire someone that will let you watch.

- With just lifting the engine hatch up, is there an easy way of getting to the trim tab reservoir? Any tricks? Or do I need to remove the entire decking above the motors to get to it.

That's model specific.

- I am assuming the best place to do all this is when the boat is on the trailer in the drive way? Any advantage of doing any of this while the boat is still in the water?

It's best to do it wherever you intend to store the boat.

- I am going to do the fogging trick, empty half the water separator fuel filter out and put in some 2 stroke motor oil. Do I need to stop the fuel from going to the motor and just run off what's left in the separator? Or can I just run the motor for "x" amount of time.

Get help.

- Is turning the battery switches to "off" good enough? Or do I need to remove the cables on each battery? I won't be able to leave a charger on the batteries while in the winter storage place.

Remove the batteries and put them on a storage charger. The alternative is buying new ones after a ruined day next season because of dead batteries.

- Go with synthetic or regular oil? T-5.0 EFI

Use the recommended oil. Some manufacturers do not recommend the synthetic.
Click to expand...
 
Gary-

Considering that your QSM are now working at the molecular level, ss your flux capacitor producing 1.21 jigawatts? If not, pull the freeze plugs and run some pink stuff through them.
 
Senior moments are becoming a common occurance...sorry....
The more senior I get, the more frequent the moments...... :smt017 Some people understand.... :thumbsup:
 
My mercrusier manual say to use a mixture of Gas, Fuel Stabilzer and 2 cycle outboard oil. Run the engine for 10-15 minutes the stop. I'm assuming the 2 cycle oil will coat the linings of the cylinder walls. They call it a fogging mixture. Recipe is: 5 gal of gas, 5 oz fuel system treatment and stablizer, 2 qts of Premium 2 cycle TC-W3 outboard oil.

you probably wouldn't have to make this much as you have to run the engine at 1300 rpm for 5 minutes.
 
Ship Shape did a winterizing special last weekend on a sea ray 320. very informative. I believe the whole series in now available on DVD. Unfortunately they didn't go into I/O's. But I found a yard that is DIY friendly and has a couple of freelance mechs running around too. I'm going to do some things myself and leave other things for them to do.
 
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