Allright since this is my first time winterizing a boat I thought I would run what I did past you guys to see if it was appropriate.
The boat is a 1999 Supra Santera with and Indmar engine.
1. Changed the oil, useda Wix filter with Rotella oil. I used the little hose thing that comes off the oil pan. Damn that thing is slow! Even with the freezer bag technique that filter is still a pain to get to.
2. Changed the spark plugs. Used some NGK's with a .045 gap. Wow that was easy!
3. Changed the Transmission fluid used some Dexron III stuff. Used a little siphon pump to pull the old stuff out. Only got about a quart and a half though. I used the two liter bottle method and added exactly how much I took out.
4. Changed the Vdrive oil used 30W. I don't know if I looked and the wrong spec for my vdrive or not but I got very little oil siphoned out. Maybe a pint or just a little more. That was a lot less than I was expecting.
5. I taped off the raw water intake and used the flush adaptor I have installed and a 5 gallon bucket and ran the low tox anti freeze through the cooling system. I then drained it though. I figure it there is any liquid still in there it will be antifreeze. To drain the block I have a twist valve on the starboard side that I opened and I pulled the knock sensor on the port side. I drained the exhaust manifold by opening the coupler that is in a hose between the two. I pulled the cooling hoses off of the v dive but there wasn't much in there. I also pulled the hoses off of the power steering cooler as well.
6. Sprayed fogging oil in each cylinder and then hand tightened the spark plugs back into place.
7. Treated the tank full of gas with stabyl
8. Washed out the bilge area as well as I could. I pulled the boat up a hill to try and drain any water that may be in there out. There always seems to be some towards the front of the boat.
9. Cleaned everything as well as I could and used 303 everywhere.
Feel free to add stuff to the list. Just want to do this right!
Right, winter, that reminds me, I should bring a wetsuit next time I take the boat out.
Why do you guys change the fluids before winter? Isn't it better to change them after the winter, so they're fresh and new when you'll be running the engine?
no it's much better for all the components to sit for 6 months in new fluid instead of sitting in old used fluid but it's not a bad idea to change your engine oil again in the spring
Not that it matters, maybe next time wait until the spring to change the spark plugs. Did you buy some (winter) clothes for the girls in your profile pic?
YUp def change your oil before you put it up. the oil that is in there is filled with toxins and what not due to being ran. Better to have fresh stuff in there start it up and run it for a little bit to coat everything for about a minute or two then off. And if you wanna go all out and change it before you run it in the summer go ahead. What i do though is let it run about 20 hrs then change it when I have the time. Probably really does nothing, but hey it's my thing, but would recommend changing it before you store it for sure
J.
I would also leave the old spark plugs in there and run them the first time out at least. It will burn all that fog oil off rather than getting it on the new plugs. Been told by every one of my mechanics and engine guys to leave the old plugs in there and change them in the spring i fyou want the top performance out of them.
As to #5 I am not sure if you drained the anti freeze out as well. On my buddys Indmar on his Moomba if you follow the raw water line from the impellar there is 2 spots on his that it horseshoes where water can sit. Kind of looks like thee drain under the sink if that makes sense a J shape where water sits at the bottom of the J. Unclip that from the lowest point and drain it as that is a huge spot that can collect water. Have two on them on my Indmar in my MC. Always hold water in there. Again both spots on mine are right beside the spots where the hoses come from the impellar.
As to the oil......IF you go to Home Depot or something like that you can get a brass fitting to attatch to your oil hose so you can use your hand pup on your oil. Makes it 100 time faster. If you can't find the adapter than just get a hose that slide over the bras fitten on the pil drain snugly. Makes it a breeze
(Message edited by xstarrider on November 06, 2007)
Oils running with combustion gasses build up an acid level and changing the oil takes the acid out of the system. Less corrosion. Oil sitting oxidises but it's a pretty closed system so it's not a big deal. It might also get condensation but not enough to cause a problem as it will all vanish the first time you run the engine in the spring.
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