Winterizing

I have a 2008 Supra Sunsport 22. I have never winterized an inboard before, I have winterized i/o's though. I live in Ohio and have read numerous threads about winterizing but am kinda still unsure about how to do things. I understand you have to pull the plugs, but do I really need antifreeze? I have read in some posts that people don't use it and have no problems, but from my experiences I always thought you should use it. I also wondered about the fogging the cylinders? Should you or not? I read last year a moomba thread of how he winterized his boat and that he had 5 drain plugs. Would my engine be the same practically even though he has the 325hp? Should blowing out or sucking out the lines on your ballast lines be good enough for the winter as well? Sorry for the long post, it's getting very cold, and I just took my last set yesterday, so I probably need to get this done by next week or so.

I also live in Ohio and probably wont winterize mine until the end of the month. Last year was the first time I did mine myself. Its pretty simple, and yes you do fog the motor, and you don't need antifreeze either. Just make sure you pull all the drain plugs. It's also a good idea to change the oil before you put it up for the winter. For the ballast I pulled out the sacs, and took a shop-vac where the water drains out on the boat, and pulled out close to a gallon of water. I also found very detailed instructions on Moomba's discussion board, and will never pay to have my boat winterized again.

I know people that do it both ways in ohio some add the antifreeze some dont. If you do things correct and get all the water out then you dont need it. Personally adding antifreeze is cheaper then cracking then having to replace the engine and it only takes a few more minutes of work.

Do the anti-freeze. RV antifreeze is cheap, and easy to get into the motor. It's an extra level of protection in case you have a pocket of water stuck somewhere....The antifreeze will mix with it and you won't crack a block. My boat takes 3 gallons of antifreeze before it comes out the exhaust. So, about $10-$15 worth?? Just pull the hose off your water pickup line, and dump the antifreeze in with the engine running. Fog on the last gallon. Shut it down, and spray oil into the cylinders.

Charlie any input on if you should change the oil before or after winter. I have heard to do it in the spring that way your running on new clean oil that hasnt sat for 3 or 4 months.

Actually I think the dispute is do you change the oil in the fall & get rid of all the junk in your engine before you store it? Or do you change it in the spring after you run the fogging oil & anti-freeze out of the engine?
Since many manufacturers no longer recommend fogging the newer EFI engines, the debate should be no more... change in the fall.

Bill is right. Change the oil in the fall, whether you're fogging or not. It basically has to do with the fact that used oil is very acidic, and clean oil is not. It's better for your engine to sit with clean oil in it, rather than acidic dirty oil.

(Message edited by cwkoch on October 14, 2009)

Also- I would still fog, whether it's EFI or not. The fogging oil shouldn't hurt the injectors, but it coats the entire intake system with a protective coat of oil to repel moisture during storage. Also, make sure to pull the plugs and spray some into the cylinders. If you put the plugs back in and leave the wires off, you can crank the engine over to really coat the cylinder walls with oil. This will prevent surface rust from forming during storage, and is a little more thorough than just fogging through the intake.

My only concern with fogging through the intake would be air sensors in the intake on the EFI engines. I'm not sure where they are on a boat, but Mass Air Flow sensors don't like oil. I had issues on my truck one time due to an over-oiled K&N filter. Pulled the MAF Sensor and cleaned with MAF cleaner, and it ran great again.

(Message edited by cwkoch on October 14, 2009)

You sure a boat has a MAF sensor, Charlie? I'll have to look again.

I'm not sure if it does or not... If it did, it would most likely be in front of the throttle body. I guess my point was, if fogging through the intake, I would be careful of sensors. That's the only thing you might screw up. Injectors wouldn't be affected by fogging oil. If you're worried about fogging through the intake, just do the cylinders through the plug holes. The cylinder walls would be my main concern for surface rust from moisture.

You can spray fogging oil thru a vacuum line if there is one to be found. I know on a ford gt-40 there is one on the fuel regulator. That is the only way to safely fog a MPI motor.

Here are the things that are less debatable. Add fuel stabilizer and make sure you run engine with the stabilizer to make sure it is stabilized through entire fuel system. Drain block, heater, tranny cooler, ballast systems, and any other systems that have water. Get boat dry and wrap or cover and store in as dry place as possible to avoid mildew. Take out battery(s) and trickle charge over winter.

After this there are shades of grey. Fogging engine can be done with fog oil through throttle intake but risk gumming sensors and injectors, you can fog the cylinders by pulling each spark plug, fog through vacuum line, or you can run a 2 stroke oil / gas mix, or not fog at all. Adding pink atifreeze is not absolutely necessary but a fail safe measure and adds some rust protection. Old engine oil builds up acids and has deposits that can settle over long storage. On the other hand you can get minor condensation and accumulate small amounts of water over constantly changing humidities. Best is probably to change before storing and soon after spring.

I haven't seen any data conclusively showing which of the controversial practices actually matter as most rely on some level of intuition. If anyone actually knows of data, please post.

(Message edited by bmartin on October 15, 2009)

Be sure to check the hose for the trans cooler. Mine pours out a ton of water. If you are going to drain it and do no antifreeze, I'd take the plugs out and drive it around on some different grades on the trailer.

Here is a detailed winterization done done by one of the guys on the Moomba forum, on a Moomba LSV which will be very similar to your set-up.
There is lots of good info on there and there are a lot Supra guys there because the Supra forums are pretty slow.

http://www.moomba.com/msgboard/showthread.php?t=6925

Ya Newty, that's the link I was checking out a while ago. It may be very easy, but i just want to make sure I do EVERYTHING correctly so I don't screw anything up. Thanks for all the info though, I really appreciate it.

Hi all, this is my 1st time to winterize as well. Would it be possible and safe to just pull the water pick up line and fill a 5 gallon bucket of antifreeze and run the line out of the bucket. I will have a 20 gallon tub under the transom as a catch for any over spillage. Non toxic antifreeze. Then fog and change engine oil? Many thanks.

Reki

Found a few threads that hit the topic for me about the bucket. All is good now.. Bout to head out and get-er done.

(Message edited by reki34 on October 17, 2009)

^^^^^^
the bucket is a very good way to do things and it's how I usually do it. You still have to pull the drain plugs out and empty the engine and heater hoses or else the antifreeze will dilute too much while you run the engine.

Change the oil, run the engine with the new oil for a min. then fog it out and your done.

(Message edited by billhall on October 18, 2009)

Here is my list
1. Add Stabil
2. Run motor for at least 10 minutes to get the oil hot.
2a. Fog motor until smoke comes out the back.
3. Drain Oil
4. Remove oil filter.
5. Put oil in new filter and install
6. Add oil
7. remove and replace transmission fluid
8. remove and replace v-drive oil
9. Change Fuel Filter
10. Drain motor of water
11. Change impeller
12. Grease steering cable
13. I leave my battery in the boat and just charge it once a month. I leave everything plug into the battery and just disconnect it from the wall.
14. Clean boat since it's in my garage I just lay the cover on it.

Do yourself a favor and DO NOT pull the plugs and spray anything into the cylinder. Go to Indmars web site and you can find info on winterizing your boat. You will not find anything on the site that says to pull your plugs and spray oil into cylinders.

I do not add antifreeze. I drain the motor, lines and heater core of as much water as I can. You do not need to drain every ounce of water. When water freezes we all know it expands. If you drain most of the water,and what is left over freezes, it will have a place to expand within the motor or lines and not do any damage. Water follows the path of least resistence.

If you wanna go the anti freeze route, please drain most of the water first and then add it. If you just add the anti-f without draining most of the water, its most likely the concentration will not be high enough to inhibit the water from freezing.