Winterizing an air 216

[Chad]

Say.... I'm a new Nautique owner this summer. Living in the cold north my winterization is coming up. I' live nowhere near a reputable "ski nautique/mastercraft/malibu" dealer. All the maintenance marine shops around me have no clue to what I've got......they think they do!!....... but with talking to them they have no idea.

I can swing wrenches better than most people but I've got some questions please.....I don't want to screw this beautiful boat up.

1. instead of draining the engine water lines can I just set up a suction in the raw water intake with RV antifreeze? I feel like I could draw 5 gals into it and I'm fine. any thoughts?

2. Doing the same with the ballast tanks. I'm concerned that draining will not get the water out of all lines and valves.....and pump.

3. Pitot lines taken apart from the dash and light air blown to clear the line out.

besides what the manuals say these are the important issues that can sink me.

your thoughts are appreciated!
thanks
chad in MN

[Quinner]

1. instead of draining the engine water lines can I just set up a suction in the raw water intake with RV antifreeze? I feel like I could draw 5 gals into it and I'm fine. any thoughts?

2. Doing the same with the ballast tanks. I'm concerned that draining will not get the water out of all lines and valves.....and pump.

3. Pitot lines taken apart from the dash and light air blown to clear the line out.

Drawing in the a/f is fine however you want to drain all the water first to ensure the a/f is not over diluted reducing it's freeze point

Same as above

Do you have a signature edition keyed boat? If not, your pitot's will terminate at the gateway box in the trunk, never a bad idea to disconnect/drain there.

[DanielC]

1. I would drain the system as completely as I could, before trying to refill with RV antifreeze. filling with antifreeze without draining first has a possibility of leaving water pockets in the cooling system, without sufficient antifreeze to protect that area. A leaky heater core would be minor. A leaky cracked engine block, rather inconvenient next spring.

2. Depending on the design of the ballast tanks, and the pumps, and tank plumbing, I have had good success sucking all the water out with a wet-dry shop vacuum. This was on boats with a ballast drain port above the water line. Again, removing as much fresh water as possible reduces the amount of RV antifreeze you need to put in the system to be sure you have adequate freezing protection.

3. Disconnecting the pitot tubes at the pickup, when you are blowing them out removes the restriction of the small pitot hole. This allows the air to put the water in the hose, and the balance tube, hidden somewhere in your boat. This puts less pressure on the balance tube connections, and you have less likelihood of the air pressure blowing that connection apart.

You need to change all lubricating oils. You need to fog the engine.

You need to move to somewhere you can use your boat until mid October, and start using it again in March, or April

[Chad]

Thanks for your reply's!