Winterizing

[David T]

Hello all, i'm David and i guess it's time to put away the boat for the winter and i have a few questions. I have a 91 Ski Nautique that i got back in the spring and we used it all summer and now its about to be put in the garage until spring. ok so first question, if i'm storing in the garage do i need to get all the water out of the block and if so how do i do it? can i just pour antifreeze down the water intake bypass until it come out the back? other than disconnecting the battery what else do i need to do to make sure that when spring come we are ready?

will try to post a pic later.

Thanks for reading and thanks for any help
David in South Louisiana.

[Jonny Quest]

Is the garage attached to your house? If so, then you MAY be OK. You may want to put a bowl of water on the trailer as a freeze gauge. If the bowl starts to freeze-up, you know that you may have a problem. Another option is to use a marine bilge heater. Keep that plugged in and running all winter long and you should be OK. It's a question of risk. To minimize your risk, you could do a couple of simple things:
1. Remove engine block plugs
2. Remove exhaust manifold plugs
3. Remove raw water pump (you are likely going to put a new impeller in next spring anyway)
4. Drain "U" bend next to raw water pump
5. Drain trans cooler (good time to inspect trans cooler for leaks)

Total time less than 30 minutes. Peace of mind.

http://www.xtremeheaters.com/buy/spec/XHEAT

http://www.boatbilgeheaters.com/#!heaters/cf2h

[jtryon]

it's not worth the risk not to winterize it. even if you have it in a garage, what's to say a blizzard won't knock power out for a week, leaving you with a cold house and cracked motor? likely--maybe not, but the hour you spend winterizing it is well worth the peace of mind until spring.

edit: should have re-read "South Louisiana"...but i guess no one is immune to bad weather. didn't texas freeze solid during a storm last year?

[Beg4wake]

Yeah, even in Louisiana, I personally would still winterize just for my own peace of mind. It's not that hard. You would probably be ok just draining the water out of the block and trans cooler (I also usually loosen any hose and pop it off that I can just to get any standing water out of flat or sagging parts in the line). After draining the water, you should take out your water impeller and inspect it. If it is still in great condition, cover it in vasoline and put it in a ziplock bag (this will keep it from any dry-rot...and I would ziptie this to the steering wheel so that you don't forget to re-install it!). Or you can just plan on replacing it the next season and not worry about it. I would also change the oil and oil filter. You def don't wanna leave old oil sitting in there over winter. As stated above, before you start the winterizing process, put SOME high quality gas in it (either ethenol free or add ethenol treatment), and add some stabil to the fuel and run it for a while to get it throughout your fuel system (you will need to run the boat for at least 10 mins or so anyways to get the oil nice and warm so that it is easier to change). I also personally use a pump to "suck" the oil out after it is warm. Makes the job a lot faster/cleaner.