Why pay to have winterization done?

[wkearney99]

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

There are a lot of compounds that get into the oil during regular use. Those can cause corrosion. Leaving those in there for a long storage period isn't the best idea. Better to have fresh oil, free of contaminants, in there coating everything to help guard against the condensation that may occur during day/night temp changes. That moisture will boil off when you start the engine again in the Spring.

 

[KayKook]

And you should use rubber gloves always when touching a can of oil, there could also be some contaminents that were added to the outside of the can during manufacturing, and that may some day lead to some corrosion of your fingernails when you reach 50 years old, which in turn could transfer the said corrosion to your boats engine , possibly leading to premature engine failure on the 3rd friday of the 5th month of the 4th year you own the boat.

Geez, talk about AR. Bill, you are a piece of....... work.

 

[ImpulseIII]

But he did increase his post count....Oh wait...so did I !!!~!

 

[Mustangous]

There are a lot of compounds that get into the oil during regular use. Those can cause corrosion. Leaving those in there for a long storage period isn't the best idea. Better to have fresh oil, free of contaminants, in there coating everything to help guard against the condensation that may occur during day/night temp changes. That moisture will boil off when you start the engine again in the Spring.

Ok, so I understand everything except fue moisture boiling off. Not sure what your temp gets but mine runs at 160 and I do t see how moisture would boil or evaporate
off. Once it's in you oil it's there. Maybe I'll just change the oil when I winterize it and before I start it I. The spring I'll drop the oil and refill with fresh. I can't image that accumulation of moisture over the harsh nj weathers would be good for start up. An extra jug of full synthetic In the spring won't kill me. Thanks for the responses.

 

[douglee25]

That's overkill for sure, but to each their own.

Doug

 

[comsnark]

When I was shopping for winterization on my first winter, I had two yards quote oil change as a *fall* activity. One yard suggested the use of "preservation oil" to be placed in the engine in the fall, with a proper oil change to a "running oil" in the spring. Of course, this yard also charged $27 *per battery* for removal. They did not get my business.

My current mechanic does the oil changes in the fall. He also thought the use of preservation oil in the engine was overkill and did not recommend it (I am sure he would be happy to do it for his standard 2x$190 rate)

The mechanic indicated that the hottest part of the engine was actually the oil filter, and I remember seeing temperatures (using an IR gun) a good bit hotter than the 165-170F I see at the thermostat. I can't remember the actual temperature I saw on the filter. I can't speak to maximum water content in oil as a function of temperature, other than to state the obvious "the hotter the oil, the less moisture that will be in it".

 

[glocklt4]

I don't imagine that the oil has to get to boiling temperatures to evaporate moisture off. Your clothes drier doesn't get your clothes over 210. Heat will help remove moisture off faster though.

 

[Mustangous]

I had an issue with my tractor from starting it and shuting it off frequently to move it around the garage because space was limited. Because of the frequent temp changes it actually cause the oil to become milky because of that water/moisture. Now i ran it to do some snow plowing/snowblowingh and the milky oil will not go back to regular oil. This is on an air coole motor so no head gasket issue. once your oil absorbes water, its there. There is no evaporating or drying your oil out. So i maybe going a little crazy with changing ing my oil again in the spring, but whats another $22 for another 5qt jug of synthetic? As i said earlier, I would think that there would be more moisture in the oil at spring start up than in the fall. I was just curious what everyone else thought... Depending how i store the boat this will determin what i do...

There should be a winterization check list we should make up... :grin:

 

[rondds]

I thought synthetics were actually contraindicated in Merc engines. At least it was in my 2002 Crownline with 350 Mag Horizon.

 

[firecadet613]

Excellent write up Scott! I think I'll use it as a guide to help me winterize my cruiser this year, as its my first year with it. On the generator, all I have to do is close the sea-cock, open up the strainer, and pour in antifreeze as my wife starts it up and pumps it though.

 

[highslice]

Here is why you winterize your own boat:
Local Dealer prices: winterize inboard engines $259 each. As those of you with 8.1s's know, these engines basically winterize themselves. After running the recomended fuel mixture through, you drain the water by pulling three plugs (I do this in addition to using the air system) and drain the mufflers. Then crank the engine over to clear the water pump, and BOOM - Done! (I also lube per the maint. manual)
Grand time spent, maybe 30 minutes per engine or 1:00 hour. My cost approx. $30 for special fuel mixture and lube for shift and throttle cables. They do not include stablization of fuel in their prices, so I have to add stabil myself at a cost of $30 so my total is now $60.00 for the engines.

I don't have a generator, but if I did, the dealer would want $250 to winterize it and change the oil. I'm sure I could do that myself for 25% of that amount.

Change oil: Dealer prices - $359. (about 1:00) My cost $140 for oil, $20 for filters. Total $160.00

Winterize fresh water system: Dealer prices - $277.50 I drain the freshwater tank, and water heater. Use the fresh water pump to pump -100 antifreeze through the lines to head and all sinks, pump out head, and flush 1 gallon of -100 into the holding tank, and 1/2 gallon antifreeze into shower sump, and a/c condensation tray. Drain A/C strainer, pump 1 gallon of -100 antifreeze through the system Total time 1:00, cost $35.

So - Here is how it breaks down.
Engines: Dealer $518 Myself $60
Oil change: Dealer $359 Myself $160
Fresh water: Dealer $278 Myself $35

Totals: Dealer $1155 Myself $255

Now, some additional thoughts. I spend about six hours to winterize my boat. I do it per the mercruiser maintenance manual. My method of winterizing the freshwater system and A/C system is above and beyond what the dealer does as they just blow out the systems with compressed air. I am confident that the work I perform meets or exceeds the quality of what the dealer can do, and I keep precise records in excel of every bit of maintenance performed to the boat, down to the polishing. For the life of me, I can not fathom giving the dealer almost $1200 dollars, in addition to the $2205 that I have spent on inside cold storage, for something that is really not hard to do. Back in the days of yore, when I was a kid, I helped my father winterize his boat every year, and never would have thought to have someone else do the work. Time issues not withstanding, I can't understand why anyone would not take the time to learn how to maintain their vessel and winterize it themselves.

Scott,
I get your point, but some of us just don't have the time as you have conceded. I hope to have the time in the spring to change the gear lube and oil. If not, I'll have to pay the dealer. I would love to have my boat in my garage and work on it all winter, but that is not an option. I do like having MM on the hook for damage cause by improper winterization. That was more of an issue with the 350 Mag which was raw water cooled. Our 496 is FWC and easy to winterize. BTW you did not mention adding anti freeze to the raw water side of your engines, which Mercury recommends...

When it came to boat maintanence, I used to be able to say I had more money than time. But now I don't have much of either:smt009. :lol: However, I grew up working on engines from lawn mower types for our go-kart to helping my dad with the cars, so it is not an issue of know how. I even used to change my own brakes, but I'd have to take a day off work to do that now. Oh well, I'd rather pay someone than miss a day of boating to do it my self.

 

[gerryb]

Scott and Tim, you both refer to the keys points in this discussion. It takes me about a full day to winterize my boat each year and I save about $1,000 doing so. Time value of money analysis comes into play. I give-up a saturday to do the work required. But what would I do if I moved into the world of those highly compensated diesel boat guys that make more than $1,000 a day in consulting fees? Would I give-up a day of work if I couldn't do it on a weekend? Probably not I guess.. but I would still prefer to do the work myself as long as I physcially could do it...

 

[KayKook]

Excellent write up Scott! I think I'll use it as a guide to help me winterize my cruiser this year, as its my first year with it. On the generator, all I have to do is close the sea-cock, open up the strainer, and pour in antifreeze as my wife starts it up and pumps it though.

So the 8.1 V-drive motors would take the same steps to winterize as would your Volvo 5.7L motor and Volvo DP stern drive in your Four Winns 268. :huh: I never would have know. Learn something new every day I guess.

 

[highslice]

Scott and Tim, you both refer to the keys points in this discussion. It takes me about a full day to winterize my boat each year and I save about $1,000 doing so. Time value of money analysis comes into play. I give-up a saturday to do the work required. But what would I do if I moved into the world of those highly compensated diesel boat guys that make more than $1,000 a day in consulting fees? Would I give-up a day of work if I couldn't do it on a weekend? Probably not I guess.. but I would still prefer to do the work myself as long as I physcially could do it...

You got the point Gerry. I would rather do it myself, if I even had a Saturday to give up. My situation is complicated by the fact that the boat is 240 miles away. But I hope I can find some time next spring to do some maintanence.

I hired a company to detail the boat this past spring. $270 to wash and wax, clean the outdrive, clean interior vinyl and carpets. They missed half the stuff. After they came back twice with similar results I disgustedly paid them NOT to touch my boat again. So if nothing else I wlll find time to wash and polish the boat this spring.

 

[firecadet613]

So the 8.1 V-drive motors would take the same steps to winterize as would your Volvo 5.7L motor and Volvo DP stern drive in your Four Winns 268. :huh: I never would have know. Learn something new every day I guess.

Gotta love these guys who don't own boats on the forum...

Steps to winterize the AC, Freshwater system. Seems to me most cruisers would have those....

 

[gnealon]

Yup - almost all boats regardless of make, have systems that are pretty standard and made by the same people. (i.e. Taylormade, jabsco, etc.)

As for the anti-freeze in the raw water side (engines), our SR dealer does not do it, nor do I. I suspect that if I were boating in salt water, I would though.

Scott - in my 5.0L then (and i am in salt water) does it even makes sense to drain the block? I assumed pumping a 5 gallon bucket of pink stuff through would be enough?!?! Thanks for the help.

 

[drob]

Can we agree to disagree?

I am one of those who spent $1055.96 last year for my marina (a Sea Ray Dealer) to winterize my boat. This is what they did: Run Engines and Flush; Change Oil and Filters; Fog Engines and Spray Down; Change Fuel Filters; Flush Gen Set and Spray Down; Add Stabilizer; Winterize Fresh Water System, Head, Hot Water System, Air Conditioner, and Generator; power wash bottom.

I have changed my oil and filters in the past. It is a pain to get into the engine compartment on my boat (need a bigger boat). I check the Seacocks regularly and have to climb over the engines to check the generator's. I don't need to risk an injury doing some of this work.

The parts that were used include the following: Lube-$22.00, Moist Absorber-$9.20, 2 Fuel Filters-$97.78, 2 Fogging Oil-$22.02, Fuel Water Separator-$11.11, 25 gallons Anti Freeze-$173.75, 4 Oil Pads-$8.00, Oil Disposal Fee-$11.25, Oil Filter-Gen-$11.60, 2 Oil Filter-$20.00, Oil-$82.12, Coolant-$52.46, Gas Additive-$24.02. Total Parts-$544.31+Tax. Labor $485.00 I am sure I could have gotten all these parts cheaper if I picked them up.

I bought my boat from my marina, buy my fuel from them and they do what needs to be done to my boat. When I was going on a trip to the Vineyard, I had a breakdown and they basically dropped everything to get me going.

I know other people at my marina that do it themselves. These are also the people who complain when there boat has had problems and it takes a week or more for the marina to look at and fix. I also believe that on my last boat I got what I did for a trade-in due to them doing all the work and knowing the boat.

 

[KayKook]

Gotta love these guys who don't own boats on the forum...

quote]

I somehow am not feeling the love, and the boat comment is just your opinion, which you can express as you choose, but you have no idea what you are saying.

I assumed that you were winterizing your engine the same way as Scott, with no antifreeze. That would be a mistake IMO, but it is your choice if you go that route. The freshwater system is indeed the same on all boats so equipped.

 

[gnealon]

Back when I had a stern drive boat, I used to drain the block, and exhaust. Then pour the anti-freeze into the block thru the thermostat housing. In your case, I would drain it first to remove the water, and then run the anti-freeze through it. Probably overkill, but I don't like taking the risk that the thermostat didn't open and so forth. Plus, with the salt water factor, the anti-freeze in your system would help to prevent rusting on the inside of your block, and possibly protect your exhaust side some.

Interesting point on the thermostat not opening. I guess you do run that risk of it not opening! So I assume pouring the antifreeze through the thermostat opening gets the antifreeze everywhere it needs to go?? Both block and exhaust?

This is my first time ever winterizing a boat and would like to learn/do it myself. There seems like there are so many damn ways of doing it. Frustrating. I do plan on taking the drives off and bringing them to my mechanic to pressure test/lube. I am not taking the chance w/ that! Plus, people steal them all the time around here when the boat is out of the water.

 

[firecadet613]

Back when I had a stern drive boat, I used to drain the block, and exhaust. Then pour the anti-freeze into the block thru the thermostat housing. In your case, I would drain it first to remove the water, and then run the anti-freeze through it. Probably overkill, but I don't like taking the risk that the thermostat didn't open and so forth. Plus, with the salt water factor, the anti-freeze in your system would help to prevent rusting on the inside of your block, and possibly protect your exhaust side some.

You beat me to it Scott. Thats how I winterized both of my last boat engines. Drained the completely, and then filled it up with the pink stuff via the thermostat. No risk with the thermostat not opening, or any water stuck in the block.