Basic Winterization Steps for 2002 - 2012 Nautiques

[Tom_H]

I changed my oil on Saturday and pulled the plugs last night. I tried to do the antifreeze suck up method and it did not suck anything. Is this because the block is not warm and the thermostat is not open?

Engine being warm or cold will have nothing to do with your raw water pump. I punched in an answer in the other thread you commented on as well. But you either have an air leak up stream of the raw water pump, an obstruction, or your pump is not pulling/priming. If it's a pump issue, you could have a failing/failed impeller or the pump isn't turning (i.e. belt loose or off). If your bucket is down on the ground that you're trying to draw from and if your pump is getting weak, it can have a hard time priming with that much head. Where was the bucket and how did you have it piped? If you have a tee-fitting with a hose that your putting in the bucket to draw with, you need to make sure your through-hull valve is closed, or it will suck air there. Also make sure your water strainer is snug. Personally, I find it simpler to just pour it in through the thermostat housing or circulation pump hose. It only takes 2 to 3 gallons that way.

[03SANTE]

I think he might have been asking about the water drains. They're labeled water drain on the vdrive. Here is a photo I found of the aft side of the vdrive, you can see the aft starboard water drain labeled. I believe there is another drain on the port front side (also labeled).

Regarding the v drive. I have the Walters on the 03. Do you need to pull both water drain plugs or is the one that is easy to get to (port side, right above dipstick) enough to prevent cracking. I'm thinking both plugs are draining the same chamber, is that correct? Thanks.

[Beach-TJ]

Regarding the v drive. I have the Walters on the 03. Do you need to pull both water drain plugs or is the one that is easy to get to (port side, right above dipstick) enough to prevent cracking. I'm thinking both plugs are draining the same chamber, is that correct? Thanks.

I only remove the easy plug.
But i leave it out as i add antifreeze. I poor in antifreeze ( at the thermostat ) until pink comes out of the v- drive. I then put the plug back in and continue adding antifreeze.
At some point in the past i realized that part of the system was holding water no matter what i did, this seams to get antifreeze throughout that part of the system.

[03SANTE]

Thanks. Easy enough.

For the wedge ballast tanks with the old 2 pump system, is it really necessary to remove the tanks and drain? I have the seacocks open and have run all of the pumps a few seconds a few different times. I also dumped a shot of antifreeze down the thru hull for the drain lines. Good enough? My boat will go below freezing.

[Beach-TJ]

I store mine in a heated garage soo don't worry about that. But removing those tanks is a pita. I would find a way to poor a good amount of antifreeze into the tanks. Remove a hose or something to poor it in. Then hit the empty pump until it was pumping out pink. I think that would work....
If you don't do something that empty pump will probably have some water in it.

[03SANTE]

Thanks! Should be easy enough as there are also vent hoses going through the hull for each tank. I will pour enough into there until I can empty some back out via the drain pump.

[tgi100]

This was my first attempt at winterizing our new-to-us 2005 Nautique 216, and I found these discussions invaluable! Thank you to all who offered help and NautiqueJeff for starting the post. I also wanted to share a couple of things that I learned in addition to that posted here:

1.) The transmission and engine cooler drain plug was located in a canister-looking thing on the port side about midway along the engine and down low. I found it by following the cooling lines coming out of the transmission.

2.) We have a flush pro mounted just down-stream of the strainer. Lesson learned the hard way: I hung a 5-gallon jug on the tower and ran a hose to the flush-pro. It would NOT allow the antifreeze to flow through because there was not enough pressure in the line to overcome the valve. Fortunately, I noticed that it was not receiving liquid and immediately shut down the engine. I had to disconnect the hose at the strainer (like others show here) and then run the engine. It then gladly took all 5 gallons rapidly. I did this after warming the engine up (garden hose on flush pro), then draining all water as described. I tried to hurry with the draining so that the engine was still warm and would send the antifreeze through to the engine block. I'm not sure if I was fast enough (only about 115 deg when I re-started), but at least I drained everything first. I used the marine enviro-friendly pink antifreeze.

[gscho002]

hi - am trying to follow the above to winterize a PCM 343. i have put the intake end of the raw water in a bucket of water, but when i start the motor, it does not draw water. the water in the bucket stays at same level, and nothing comes out exhaust. it worked fine on the lake of course. does it not draw any water all until the thermostat opens or something? i am not sure what to do.....

i am 100% sure i disconnected the raw water intake and it is for sure in the bucket...... seems idiot proof...... thinking of going back to the fake-a-lake but then the hose i am going into is the one that goes to the raised intake on the bottom of the boat where i jam the fake lake thing. so......

any help much appreciated.

[gscho002]

ok so i went upstream of the inline filter and then it worked perfectly. the filter and hose pass water fine also. so the part i bypassed is not blocked. and this makes sense as my boat was cooling fine yesterday in the lake. can anyone make sense of that?

makes me nervous since it make no sense.....