Re-commissioning in the Spring

[Darryl]

I've done the complete winterizing on my 96' Naughty with chev. Including fogging and sucking up anti-freeze. Although its in a fairly cozy 3rd garage stall in Portland OR. This was my 1st winter with this boat and I had 4 questions for you experts that I would greatly appreciate a response. 1. Before I leave the house for the river in the spring should I hookup to water supply, run the engine and evacuate the marine antifreeze and prime the engine and water pump with a full supply of water?
2. Should I expect the exaust to smoke quite a bit because of burning out the fogging oil and will it clear up in just a few minutes?
3. If I'm going to replace the spark plugs, should I do this after burning off the fogging oil.
4. With my 350 chev there is a water pump impeller inspection plate "I call it that" that is directly behind the ski pylon. It unsrews with 4 small phylip screws and exposes the impeller, it looks like it could just be pulled off, but I didn't want to mess it up trying. What is the method for removing? I wanted to inspect ,lube with petroleum jelly?and possibly replace, although it looks fine. Thanks fellas, I've appreciated your help in the past.

[skinautique]

1. It wouldn't hurt to do that. Check all of your plugs and hoses first. When you get it to the lake, make sure that it pumps water though. There is so much pressure in a hose that even if the impeller was bad, chances are it would still get water.

2. You will see some smoke for a couple of minutes. If you don't have water coming out of the exhaust within about a minute or two, turn the engine off because you might not be pumping water.

3. Yeah you should probably do this after burning off the fogging oil. Make sure you do one at a time so that you don't cross up wires.

4. If you are going to replace the impeller, I would wait until the spring. You need to remove that front cover and then pull the impeller out with some pliers. When you put the new one in, it doesn't hurt to use a little soap. If you pull it out and it is missing blades, find them before you run the boat. They usually flow backwards and plug up the line.

Hope that helps!

[Darryl]

Outstanding! Thanks for the advice on all four. Darryl

[nch20skier]

The only thing I would add to the winterization is that I usually add about 2 tablespoons of mystery oil to each cylinder (via spark plug hole) for an added measure of protection.