Winterizing 96 Super Sport price...

[gobluemike2142]

Hey guys, first time boat owner which means here in Michigan first time winterizing. I got a quote for oil change and winterize for $333.33 with tax blah blah out the door. This is about what I was figuring, can anyone confirm if I'm getting taken advantage of or if it's fair?

Tell you what. I had SO much fun on this boat this summer. Can't wait for next year tower and speaker upgrades. Everyone here has been awesome to get info and help from. Glad I joined the Nautique fam.

[GMLIII]

That is a fair price

[charlesml3]

Hey guys, first time boat owner which means here in Michigan first time winterizing. I got a quote for oil change and winterize for $333.33 with tax blah blah out the door. This is about what I was figuring, can anyone confirm if I'm getting taken advantage of or if it's fair?

Tell you what. I had SO much fun on this boat this summer. Can't wait for next year tower and speaker upgrades. Everyone here has been awesome to get info and help from. Glad I joined the Nautique fam.

Yea, unfortunately GML is right and for a full winterization it's going to run around $300. You could probably knock $100 or more off if you did the oil change yourself. It's pretty easy, actually.

-Charles

[GMLIII]

gobluemike2142 if it makes you feel any better , I changed my oil and filter on my own prior to getting the dealer to winterize and they quoted me just less than $500.00 to drain water out of engine, flush with antifreeze, antifreeze in all 3 ballast tanks, drain heater coil, and change fuel filter. In this fee above, it includes the $75.00 travel fee since I don't owe a trailer, and they will be servicing my boat from my boat lift at my house

[charlesml3]

drain water out of engine, flush with antifreeze, antifreeze in all 3 ballast tanks, drain heater coil, and change fuel filter.

Do the ballast tanks really need antifreeze in them? On my old Air Nautique, I had to get antifreeze in the pumps because they wouldn't drain on their own, but the tanks were fine. Even if the little bit of water in there froze, it wouldn't cause a problem.

-Charles

[GMLIII]

Do the ballast tanks really need antifreeze in them? On my old Air Nautique, I had to get antifreeze in the pumps because they wouldn't drain on their own, but the tanks were fine. Even if the little bit of water in there froze, it wouldn't cause a problem.

-Charles

You are probably correct. I felt comfortable winterizing my 2001 Sport Nautique because it was simple and easy with the GT 40 engine. There is simply too much that could go wrong with me attempting to winterize my G23; I don't know the engine well enough and I may forget something which could be costly. I'l put the risk on someone else for a fee. I just assumed the dealer would dump the RV antifreeze into the ballast tanks but maybe all they do as you suggest is put some in the pumps.

[charlesml3]

I just assumed the dealer would dump the RV antifreeze into the ballast tanks but maybe all they do as you suggest is put some in the pumps.

Gotcha. I just sent an email to the service manager at my dealer asking what they do. I'll get back to you.

-Charles

[GMLIII]

great thanks

[gobluemike2142]

Thanks fellas. Much appreciated.

[jtryon]

sheesh. can't believe people charge that much for what is essentially $50 in fluids/filter and 1 hour of work.

[gary s]

Guess your a little out of touch on what it takes to keep the lights on at a retail establishment then. Not saying it's right,but it is what it is.

[gobluemike2142]

Yeah I just wish I was comfortable doing it. Trust me, I have people pay my company lots of money to do things I can teach my sons to do. It's all good, plus, it's my first boat ever so for me it's about risk and what I am willing to pay for peace of mind. No big deal, to each his own.

[Tom_H]

Yep, basically any winterization cost is grossly inflated for what it is, but if you don't like it, you just have to do it yourself. For the OP, your price is about what the going rate here in Minnesota would be for a basic oil change/drain/anti-freeze.

And OP, your boat is pretty straight forward, plenty of us could easily walk you through winterizing yourself if you want to save a little cash and get a little more intimate with your boat.

[gobluemike2142]

Yep, basically any winterization cost is grossly inflated for what it is, but if you don't like it, you just have to do it yourself. For the OP, your price is about what the going rate here in Minnesota would be for a basic oil change/drain/anti-freeze.

And OP, your boat is pretty straight forward, plenty of us could easily walk you through winterizing yourself if you want to save a little cash and get a little more intimate with your boat.

That's what I love about the Nautique community. Freaking awesome. I'm going to pass this year though. I will be getting intimate with the stereo (more my forte) and maybe next year I can buy beer or something for a FaceTime walkthrough. I'm sure it's not hard but man I just don't want to mess something up. The boat is paid for and if I had to dump cash into it for mechanical reasons in year 2 wifey would be not happy. Plus, that money is for stereo, tower/bimini and trailer cosmetics.

[Blamey]

Yeah, I skipped it my first year (mostly due to lack of time).

Last year it took me about 3 hours but I went very slow and I can't see it taking more than an hour second time round. Most of the time was spent finding all the items that are on the list.

Changing fluids(engine Oil, Trans Fluid, V-Drive Oil) is the difficult part. You need a vacuum pump to pull the trans fluids and the V drive can be tricky to reach. I do the trans on the water.

For the actual winterizing part all you have to do it the following

- Draining block (unscrew 2 plugs) - 2 minutes.
- Draining Exhaust Manifolds (unscrew 2 plugs) - 2 minutes.
- Draining water strainer - time 1 minute.
- Draining U joint - 2 minutes.
- Drain Transmission cooler - 2 minutes
- Drain RWP (I just remove mine for the winter). 3 minutes.
- Drain v drive (I had a direct drive last year so not sure but looks simple).
- Fill block with Anti freeze (5 to 10 minutes)