Winterizing checklist or what to buy...

Soul Mate II

Soul Mate II

Member
Jun 28, 2015
193
New York
Boat Info
99 340 Sundancer
Engines
7.4 Mercruiser w V drives
It was a chilly one last night and it crushes me that I even have to ask about winterizing but I want to be sure I am ready and to see what I am in for. Does anyone have a checklist they follow when winterizing their boat that you would share with me and Club SeaRay? Also is there a certain antifreeze or other parts you use during the winterization. For example I heard there is a pink antifreeze that is good down to -20 degrees.

Thanks for any help!!! Happy boating!!!

Steve
 
walmart in my area already has sales on anti-freeze 2.67/gallon. I've been stocking up, got about 20 bottles so far.
I have 496 merc 8.1 (2)
2 oil filters merc
1 oil filter for kohler
fuel separator
25-80 oil 9 qt each motor
gear lube for outdrives

Can't think of anything else at the moment. Ive considered asking my mechanic to just winterize the motors $150/each to save on the $$ spent on the oil/oil filter/coolant...just those 3 components alone for both motors cost me about $125+. And my insurance covers freeze damage if serviced by a mechanic than a DIY. Another thing when I use the ear muff and the campco 5 gallon gravity dispenser, each motor sucks up so much antifreeze so fast, I feel like it hasn't gone all the way throughout the engine to safely winterize it. I rememeber last year when I did my own, the starboard engine didn't seem like it was sucking up all the antifreeze and the thermostat didn't open up like it normally does around 170degrees, I ended up shutting down the engine when it hit 180degrees to prevent overheating. Supposely my mechanic force feeds or pumps coolant to the motors to ensure it gets around everywhere.

I'm interested in what others have on their checklist and what they do to get the coolant around
 
Walmart antifreeze is ethyl alcohol, not propylene glycol, so not recommended for engines, heat exchangers, etc.
OK for potable water systems, but careful, it is flammable.
 
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I have a closed loop system in my motors, one side uses prop the other I flush with marine ethylene, never had an issue and safer for the environment
 
Agree. You should be using the pink antifreeze to winterize your raw water side. I have the same system. However, the Walmart brand is alcohol-based not glycol-based, and not recommended by Mercruiser. That is my point.
 
paulswagelock said:
Agree. You should be using the pink antifreeze to winterize your raw water side. I have the same system. However, the Walmart brand is alcohol-based not glycol-based, and not recommended by Mercruiser. That is my point.
Click to expand...

Hmm didn't know that, I'll take a look at the bottle tonight, thanks for the heads up
 
I know there are lots of folks who use the lower cost alcohol based pink antifreeze and it likely is ok, but I just wanted to make everyone aware.
 
QUESTION:
Do I still need to have winterization performed by my dealer if I have a self-drain system on my engine?


ANSWER:
The drain system on your engine is NOT intended to replace full winterization. It is for extending your boating season by allowing the cooling system to be drained after use if there is a risk of light freezing weather and you will be boating the next day. For full extended winter storage, after completely draining the cooling system, Mercury MerCruiser requires the use of propylene glycol antifreeze (with a rust inhibitor for marine engines) in the seawater section of the cooling system. The fuel system must have fuel stabilizer added and the system must be fogged with 2-cycle oil. We recommend that your product be winterized by an authorized MerCruiser dealer. Damage caused by freezing or improper winterization is NOT covered by the limited factory warranty. This is also a good time to have scheduled maintenance performed on your engine by your dealer.

 
paulswagelock said:
QUESTION:
Do I still need to have winterization performed by my dealer if I have a self-drain system on my engine?


ANSWER:
The drain system on your engine is NOT intended to replace full winterization. It is for extending your boating season by allowing the cooling system to be drained after use if there is a risk of light freezing weather and you will be boating the next day. For full extended winter storage, after completely draining the cooling system, Mercury MerCruiser requires the use of propylene glycol antifreeze (with a rust inhibitor for marine engines) in the seawater section of the cooling system. The fuel system must have fuel stabilizer added and the system must be fogged with 2-cycle oil. We recommend that your product be winterized by an authorized MerCruiser dealer. Damage caused by freezing or improper winterization is NOT covered by the limited factory warranty. This is also a good time to have scheduled maintenance performed on your engine by your dealer.
Click to expand...

My insurance doesn't cover it, NBOA said only one company does and I can switch over to it if I decide to DIY, i think the cost difference is like $200
 
stevediarchangel said:
It was a chilly one last night and it crushes me that I even have to ask about winterizing but I want to be sure I am ready and to see what I am in for. Does anyone have a checklist they follow when winterizing their boat that you would share with me and Club SeaRay? Also is there a certain antifreeze or other parts you use during the winterization. For example I heard there is a pink antifreeze that is good down to -20 degrees.

Thanks for any help!!! Happy boating!!!

Here are my notes from last year-my first year of winterizing a cruiser. It all went perfect as planned....

Winterizing

Need to Get
1) 10 gal of propylene glycol antifreeze
2) 3 qt Mercury Hi Performance Gear Lube for OD
3) Anodes from iBoats.com-Performance Metals-10165A(can do in spring)
4) 4.5 qt Mercury 25w-40 syn blend
5) 1.5 qt 30w for gen
6) Oil Filter-engine and gen
7) Fuel Filter-engine and gen
8) Spark Plugs(can wait until spring


1) Change oil and filter(Warm engine 10 min. before changing oil, Change oil, run cocktail, drain water, add pink). Use propylene glycol AF in engine and can use everywhere.
2) Cocktail (2 oz 2 cycle oil, 2 oz of StaBil, rest fuel) and run through engine to fog. Run 5 min at 12-1300rpms. Change fuel filter after shutting down.
3) Drain oil in OD, pull tank on engine and wash out, refill OD. Store all way down.
4) Pull 4-blue plugs to drain block(1-water distribution housing, 1-thermostat, 2-impeller housing). Bump engine over after pulling blue plugs to remove water from impeller. Pull bolt on 2 hoses at cool fuel container.
5) Pull hoses on Thermostat and fill with AF.
6) Pull hose from seacock to AC pump and stick in gallon of AF. Run AC until AF comes out of the thru-hull.
7) Pull hose from seacock to Gen and place in gallon of AF. Crank gen and run until it comes out exhaust.
8) Blow out fresh water lines from fresh water inlet in transom locker.
9) Open and drain HW heater.
10) Bypass HW heater.
11) Pour AF into shower sump and AC pan.
12) Pull infeed hose to fresh water pump and attach hose from bucket. Do not blow through pump. Open all faucets, head(flush 2-3 times and leave AF in bowl), and transom shower and run AF through. Run some through water hose hookup in transom locker.
13) Drain fresh water tank. This will drain when hose to pump is pulled.
14) Pull upper black hose from engine to HWH and blow through with blue plug out at water distribution housing. Then fill with pink until it comes out of water distribution housing.
15) Exercise and lube seacocks.
16) Leave charger hooked up and battery switch on “Off.”
17) Block up trailer to get tires off of the ground.
18) Make cover for trailer tongue.
19) Remove everything that is removable.
20) Plenty of Damp Rid and dryer sheets.
21) Replace zincs
22) Change big fuel/water filter for gen. Remember to fill with gas before installing.
23) Change oil in gen.
24) New plugs in gen

Bennett
Click to expand...
 
Bennett

This is fantastic - I have a couple of questions being a 3 month boat owner...

What brand of antifreeze do you buy? Embarrassed but what does OD mean? Do you remove your batteries from the boat or leave them on the boat? I heard your supposed to take them off and charge them once a month.

What do you lubricate the sea cocks with? I cleaned them out about two week ago and it was a nightmare open and closing them.

As for parts does the owner's manual give you filter part numbers etc?

Thanks,

Steve
 
stevediarchangel said:
Bennett

This is fantastic - I have a couple of questions being a 3 month boat owner...

What brand of antifreeze do you buy? Embarrassed but what does OD mean? Do you remove your batteries from the boat or leave them on the boat? I heard your supposed to take them off and charge them once a month.

What do you lubricate the sea cocks with? I cleaned them out about two week ago and it was a nightmare open and closing them.

As for parts does the owner's manual give you filter part numbers etc?

Thanks,

Steve
Click to expand...

OD = outdrives / lower units
I pull my batteries and take home to charge as my marina shuts down power in the yard. I recently found out I can lift my engine hatch by reverse plug the cigarette lighter with a jump box to open/close the hatch without battery power. If you have a manual pull hatch, then you don't need to worry about that.

I lubricate my seacock with dry silicone spray.

I've used wal-mart RV antifreeze, but learned today that is not appropiate to use for engine. I will be going to west marine to buy some or calling my dealership to get me a case....depends on who is cheaper
 
bbwhitejr said:
4) Pull 4-blue plugs to drain block(1-water distribution housing, 1-thermostat, 2-impeller housing). Bump engine over after pulling blue plugs to remove water from impeller. Pull bolt on 2 hoses at cool fuel container.
Bennett
Click to expand...

How do you bump the motor with push start, I used to do it with my single engine and key start, not sure with the push button start
 
stevediarchangel said:
Bennett

This is fantastic - I have a couple of questions being a 3 month boat owner...

What brand of antifreeze do you buy? Embarrassed but what does OD mean? Do you remove your batteries from the boat or leave them on the boat? I heard your supposed to take them off and charge them once a month.

What do you lubricate the sea cocks with? I cleaned them out about two week ago and it was a nightmare open and closing them.

As for parts does the owner's manual give you filter part numbers etc?

Thanks,

Steve
Click to expand...

I try to find the pink AF on sale-make sure to get the kind with propylene glycol and not ethylene glycol-bought the "Splash" name last fall at a local auto parts store. West Marine has it as do many RV places. Beware of the cheap stuff at WalMart, under $3/gallon. Propylene glycol ingredient inhibits corrosion.

I leave my batteries in my boat 100% of the time. I have a "smart charger" that goes into maintenance mode and comes on just enough to keep the batteries topped off. If I did pull them, I would put them on a trickle charger or top them off once a month. They are heavy, so why remove?

I used some silicone spray or something kind of light spray oil on the seacocks.

Following is a Mercruiser website that you put your serial number in for your motor or outdrive and it has a complete parts break down:

https://webapps.brunswick.com/literature/literatureSearch.do

Bennett
 
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bbwhitejr said:
I try to find the pink AF on sale-make sure to get the kind with propylene glycol and not ethylene glycol-bought the "Splash" name last fall at a local auto parts store. West Marine has it as do many RV places. Beware of the cheap stuff at WalMart, under $3/gallon. Propylene glycol ingredient inhibits corrosion.

I leave my batteries in my boat 100% of the time. I have a "smart charger" that goes into maintenance mode and comes on just enough to keep the batteries topped off. If I did pull them, I would put them on a trickle charger or top them off once a month. They are heavy, so why remove?

I used some silicone spray or something kind of light spray oil on the seacocks.

Following is a Mercruiser website that you put your serial number in for your motor or outdrive and it has a complete parts break down:

https://webapps.brunswick.com/literature/literatureSearch.do

Bennett
Click to expand...

Bennett which charger do you have?
 
The boat came with an OEM Guest 10 amp charger that I used last year. I changed it out this spring to a Promariner 1240P. Make sure yours has a floating or maintenance mode-it should.

As for the push button start, you can pull the kill switch-motor will turn over, but not start.

Bennett
 
bbwhitejr said:
The boat came with an OEM Guest 10 amp charger that I used last year. I changed it out this spring to a Promariner 1240P. Make sure yours has a floating or maintenance mode-it should.

As for the push button start, you can pull the kill switch-motor will turn over, but not start.

Bennett
Click to expand...

I installed the 1240P as well, ill have to cycle through the settings, but my marina shuts all power down in the yard, so even if it has the mode, it won't work without any shore power
 
Ethan's Tank said:
I installed the 1240P as well, ill have to cycle through the settings, but my marina shuts all power down in the yard, so even if it has the mode, it won't work without any shore power
Click to expand...

You would be good to go if you only had power. Batteries are heavy!

Bennett
 
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