Why pay to have winterization done?

"Did not see this mentioned, but one does not fog multi-port EFI engines. "

I don't agree with this completely. Mercruiser is very clear in their late model engine/drive manuals. Although you don't spray fogging oil directly like w/ older carburated engines, there is a definite fogging procedure that entails feeding a gas - oil - stabilizer mixture directly into the fuel pump. You get the coating / protection while avoiding the issue mentioned regarding the injectors.

It sounds like a pain, but having just performed it myself, I can say it was quite easy in hingsight. And don't use the 6-gallon mixture the manual suggests. Scale down to a gallon or less, which is more than enough. The fuel line will suck the fogging mixture directly from a smal gas container. then just re-attach the fuel line, and you're done. :smt038
 
So what are you going to do now?
Click to expand...

Custom cover. Frank - Eric has a cover (not Fisher) that the original owner of the boat had made for the first winter. I help him put it on every year and it has held up amazingly, going on it's 9th (10th?) season.
 
Well I got her all winterized over the weekend. Really not that bad for what all I got done to it in about 4-5 hours (will be shorter next time I'm sure).

One thing that seemed odd was that my oil drain hose that comes out of the bilge drain plug didn't flow well at all. It was mostly a small drizzle and that's it. I got about 4 quarts out of it this way and then capped it. Changed the oil filter and that probably got another half quart or so. So 4.5 out of 5 quarts (i think that it holds) is good enough.

So my process was:

1) Sta-bil Fuel Stabilizer
2) Idle boat until 160 degrees or so and water coming out through exhaust was good and warm
3) Run 5 gallons of pink through water intake until gone then shut off. I opened one of the blue plugs on the engine a bit and let some water drip out to be sure that it was pink water, meaning the thermostat opened up.
4) Changed oil and filter
5) Changed fuel filter
6) Change drive oil
7) Fogged engine (should have done this at end of anti-freeze but forgot to... waited until engine was cold so that running it for the 10-15 seconds to fog it wouldn't circulate the anti-freeze past the theromstat.
8) Power washed and cleaned everything really well
9) Covered and strapped down well

Anything at all I missed? How about grease points on the outdrive? The mechanic that checked out the boat before I bought it did a lot of this, but I wonder if this should be a yearly maintenance process too.

I didn't have time to do trailer maintenance this weekend but I will do that sometime soon. I guess I never noticed, but there is a lug nut stripped and only about half way on one of the hubs. There is no way it's coming off easily (i can barely turn it at all with 100 ft/lb of force). So I may have to cut that off and invest in a new hub. All of that work I can do over winter.

Two questions on trailer maintenance:

1) What's the best way to jack up the trailer? I don't have the ability to take the boat off of it, so it is quite heavy and the trailer frame is quite far off the ground. The jack for the corvette won't work, haha. Just get a big jack and go for it?
2) 2-3 of the grease nipples on the wheel hubs are not in great condition. Should i just try to clean them off as best I can and then grease them up?
 
Last edited:
glocklt4 said:
1) What's the best way to jack up the trailer? I don't have the ability to take the boat off of it, so it is quite heavy and the trailer frame is quite far off the ground. The jack for the corvette won't work, haha. Just get a big jack and go for it?
Click to expand...

Yep, that is how I did it last winter when I replaced the drum brakes with disk brakes. I cut 4" x 4"s ten inches long and blocked up each axel. Something else I did was purchase those dolleys you can put under each tire, I can now move the boat all over the place in the garage. Are you thinking of jacking it up to get the weight off the tires for the winter?


John
 
xravenx said:
Yep, that is how I did it last winter when I replaced the drum brakes with disk brakes. I cut 4" x 4"s ten inches long and blocked up each axel. Something else I did was purchase those dolleys you can put under each tire, I can now move the boat all over the place in the garage. Are you thinking of jacking it up to get the weight off the tires for the winter?


John
Click to expand...


Actually I just want to be able to check the bearings on the wheels and also probably have to fix that hub with the stripped lug nut. 4 out of 5 lug nuts is probably good enough on one of 4 wheels, but I'd rather fix it :).
 
If you have a boat that you pull on a trailer and can get it on your property, winterize it yourself. There is no excuse.

If you have a boat that can't be trailered and you can't store it on your property, you pay someone else.
 
JuliaValentine said:
If you have a boat that you pull on a trailer and can get it on your property, winterize it yourself. There is no excuse.

If you have a boat that can't be trailered and you can't store it on your property, you pay someone else.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily true....I spent a weekend and $400, my marina would have charged $4,000 for the same work. I trust myself more than the mechanics at the marina.

Assuming you are allowed to work on your boat at your marina.
 
quality time said:
Not necessarily true....I spent a weekend and $400, my marina would have charged $4,000 for the same work. I trust myself more than the mechanics at the marina.

Assuming you are allowed to work on your boat at your marina.
Click to expand...

Yeah, sounds like the "working on the boat at your marina" thing is turning into a major problem...

Glad that I can just take it to my house and work on it!
 
My marina charged just under $1100 to winterize. This included everything (labor and parts), fresh water system, air conditioner, generator, hot water system, and twin engines. It took them 5 hours (or so I was charged). It would have taken me about 10 or more. Yes, they mark up the parts, but I figure it well worth having a Merc dealer do the work, resale value etc.
 
You are lucky that yours is fairly simple to do. In fact I believe even a 10 year old could manage the job. Try winterizing a gen set, two 8.1's and a much more intricate water system with two bad hips and cold weather closing in (Maryland) not to mention I'm 63. Used to do it all but my up time is too precious to me so I pay the Pros to do it. It's quick and easy. Just have to write a check and it's done. I can appreciate your pride in doing it yourself, just wanted to answer your question.
 
Scott,
Don't trip over a dollar reaching for a dime. You made a big investment in your hip that needs to last your whole life. Getting down in the ER and maneuvering around without violating your precautions will be extremly difficult. If you dislocate you will not be able to get back out, will need to be hauled out by the FD, and risk becomming a "chronic dislocator." Make an investment in your hip and pay for the service, this once. Talk to your PT about this so he/she understands fully the layout of the ER and what is required to get in/out and around. You are getting bold because you got back on in 11 days. Take my advice and don't push your luck.
 
This is a great thread. I've been on the fence about weather to winterize myself or have my local shop do it. I live in Bend, Oregon and have heard numerous horror ripped-off stories for most of the shops. This is the first winterization for our new boat ('88 268 7.4L Merc), I do all the maintenance on our vehicles and always winterized our old boat with no problems, so for me personally, I'm of the mindset "if you want it done right, you do it yourself". We went out yesterday for our last outing of the season, so it's time to wash her down and hang her up dry. My two cents on DIY winterizing or any maintenance for that matter is, BUY A SERVICE MANUAL for your boat. $50, $70, $90, whatever it is, buy it. have it. read it cover to cover.

Regarding the comment about "no shoes on the boat", my answer: Yes. I'm the shoe-nazi on the dock, telling everyone to take their shoes off before they get on, and I have a big plastic crate full of "Joe Approved" boat shoes that you can wear. Good traction, no scuffs, and they stay on the boat. If we stop at shore, they come off and go back in the crate.. they don't go on to the sandy/muddy shore, to track dirt and gelcoat-scratching sand back on to the boat!! :) (can you tell there are usually a fair amount of kids on my boat??!!)
 
Well to answer the orginal topic question....its because you'll put me out of business :)
 
Can't argue against shoes above deck, but down in the engine room you might want to keep 'em on. Stray tabs on hose clamps are hell on toes. Took four stitches in one of mine.

As for DIY winterizing, if you've got all the right gear and the time then it's not a difficult set of tasks. It ain't rocket science, lord knows it couldn't be if marine dealers are doing the work. I've done mine most of the time but let a yard deal with changing the oil last winter as I just didn't have the time. I'm probably going to replace my 8 liter Moeller oil extractor with a motorized one. The manual one is a hassle to get going. It "works" but it's damned slow.

If there's such a thing as a mechanic you can trust then they can also give the rest of the systems a going over. Plenty of things work loose or wear out during regular use. Someone doing the work all the time should (in theory) be a bit more aware of what to look for. Paying for that ahead of time might head of more expensive work (and lost boating time) later.
 
Last edited:
Well new boat this year for myself, but we had a boat in the family since 86 and my father has done all the work/maintanence/winterization since day one.

My question is, why change the oil at the end of the season????
Why not just winterize and before you start up in the spring change out the oil then. The oil has been sitting in the oil pan since fall and all the condesation/moisture has been building up from all the heat/cool cycles, i would think it would be better to just wait.. Whats the better reason to change in fall and not first thing in spring????
 
Mustangous said:
Well new boat this year for myself, but we had a boat in the family since 86 and my father has done all the work/maintanence/winterization since day one.

My question is, why change the oil at the end of the season????
Why not just winterize and before you start up in the spring change out the oil then. The oil has been sitting in the oil pan since fall and all the condesation/moisture has been building up from all the heat/cool cycles, i would think it would be better to just wait.. Whats the better reason to change in fall and not first thing in spring????
Click to expand...

You want to change the oil to remove the impurities and any moisture in the oil before you store it for the winter.

Doug
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,216
Messages
1,428,746
Members
61,112
Latest member
Peter1911
Back
Top