Step-by-step winterization of PCM 343

[vanhanbr]

Location comes into play a little bit. If I was a newbie, I would stick to the manual.

I can do it the right way in under 15 minutes. So whatever time saved with the suck-up method is kind of a mute point. Plus, after sucking up the AF, you still need to remove the raw water impeller, drain the FCC and drain water strainer.

I'm not arguing the physics and agree that the AF will eventually displace the water, but there is going to be a certain amount of mixing involved first. I know that I sleep better at night knowing that I saw with my own eyes all of the water drained out.

I didn't have a v-drive with the GT40, but it only takes a few seconds to loosen a clamp and pull the hose off the the transmission cooler. I leave it unhooked during the winter. We certainly didn't have to do the "suck up" method. The v-drive also has a drain, should only take a minute at best to drain.

I never had a problem with the block plugs stripping/shearing. The brass plug shouldn't damage the block and if they start to wear, they are easy to replace.

[Infinity]

For the record...I drain and then suck in the RV anti-freeze cause I also like to know that all the water was removed even tho we dont see really cold temps here in NC.... I am newer at inboard engines tho and wonder why you said that water strainer should be drained of the AF? I have not done that before and wanted to know the science behind that (without starting another fight), just curious.

[DocPhil]

If you drain and then suck in AF isn't the thermostat closed? Wouldn't you be better off pouring in AF after the thermostat?

[2001SAN]

For the record...I drain and then suck in the RV anti-freeze cause I also like to know that all the water was removed even tho we dont see really cold temps here in NC.... I am newer at inboard engines tho and wonder why you said that water strainer should be drained of the AF? I have not done that before and wanted to know the science behind that (without starting another fight), just curious.

I think I read that it was bad for the plastic bowl.

D.

[Tom_H]

If you drain and then suck in AF isn't the thermostat closed? Wouldn't you be better off pouring in AF after the thermostat?

It'll fill bottom up through the circulation pump

[DocPhil]

No. The thermostat would be open because you added Sta-Bil to the tank first, then started and warmed up the engine to circulate the stabilized fuel around the entire loop.

At what temp does the thermostat close again? I must work a lot slower than you guys but it takes me a while to remove all the plugs and blow out the heater hose. Isn't there a chance that the engine would cool off by then and close the Tstat? Or does it take a long long time for that to happen?

[vanhanbr]

Why do I have to keep explaining this? If you call one plug and a knock sensor, "plugs" then fine. Call them plugs. They were nevertheless USELESS for draining the motor. There were no plugs for the transmission or v-drive. Even if you did pull them and drain the water, you still weren't winterized. That's why everyone simply ignored them and sucked up 5 gallons of AV antifreeze through the raw water inlet.

Here are a bunch of photos of my 99 Air: https://imgur.com/a/tGaFK. These were taken less than a year ago. I kept that boat for 17 years, did all of my own maintenance on it. In the entire time I owned that boat, it was never, ever towed in. It never failed to start. It never left us stranded. Not once. Given that record, I might know something about properly maintaining a boat, no?

Its time to give it a rest, the 99 Owner's manual calls them drain plugs. When you remove them, water drains out of the block and keeps it from cracking. Seems pretty useful to me. Only the 350 had the knock sensor, not the GT40. The transmission has a separate oil cooler which has a drain plug (but I just pulled the hose.) This is all in the manual. There was no v-drive drain because you had a direct drive.

[a0128]

You guys are expending a lot of energy on a process that takes 30 minutes.

[DocPhil]

You guys are expending a lot of energy on a process that takes 30 minutes.

7 more months of this. Get used to it

[DocPhil]

I have a question. Normally I dry block my motor but I figured this year I would try adding some AF and see how it goes and hopefully add some extra corrosion protection. I have a 2014 G21 with PCM 343.

I already drained the motor and the boat is in my garage so I went with the pour method and not the suck up method. I poured into the manifold hoses from the thermostat. I also ended up filling the block through the heater hose port. This worked quite well. I filled the heater.

Questions:

1)How does the V drive get filled with AF? I checked the plug and after all this there was nothing in the v drive.

2)How does the tranny get filled? I poured some down the tube that leads to the water pump. Does this fill the tranny? I haven't checked the transmission cooler for AF to see if its in there as this will probably make a big old mess. Thanks

[tommer12]

For what its worth, I drain my block through the bottom brass valves, the exhaust bolts, drain the strainer out, then plug a garden hose into the water line (backside of the strainer with a brass fitting I made with PVC to my 5 gallon bucket. I then start it up, run it all the way through all 5 gallons until it spits out the exhaust. It takes just about 5 gallons for it to come out. Shut it off and then it go to my bottom block plug and pull it out to check for AF and boom, all done. 4+ years and never a problem.

[Evening Shade]

I have a question. Normally I dry block my motor but I figured this year I would try adding some AF and see how it goes and hopefully add some extra corrosion protection. I have a 2014 G21 with PCM 343.

I already drained the motor and the boat is in my garage so I went with the pour method and not the suck up method. I poured into the manifold hoses from the thermostat. I also ended up filling the block through the heater hose port. This worked quite well. I filled the heater.

Questions:

1)How does the V drive get filled with AF? I checked the plug and after all this there was nothing in the v drive.

2)How does the tranny get filled? I poured some down the tube that leads to the water pump. Does this fill the tranny? I haven't checked the transmission cooler for AF to see if its in there as this will probably make a big old mess. Thanks

Probably the best way to accomplish what you are trying to do is to suck the water up through the hose that's between the strainer and the tranny cooler. That's the only way to reliably get AF in the tranny cooler and Vdrive. If you look at the diagram above you can see that the tranny cooler an V-drive are the first to see sea water that's pulled in from the lake. You can probably pour AF into the Vdrive by pouring it into the proper hose at the T-stat housing, but you will never get it in the tranny cooler that way because it won't make it past the raw water pump.

BTW, I'm like you. I have always just drained all the water and never bothered with AF. That's all that Atlanta Inboard did to winterize boats back when I bought my Malibu from them. I've never winterized the ballast system either. Never had any problems.

[Quinner]

Here he goes again, ughhh

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...-winterization

[DocPhil]

here he goes again, ughhh

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...-winterization

lol

[gscho002]

thanks HutchCanada and everyone else for a terrific illustrated guide to winterizing my boat! REALLY FANTASTIC!

i just finished up. i think it went pretty well. however i was unable to get the drain plug in the V-drive out. i found it blindly right where the pictures show it. and it seemed to be a 1/2 drive, no socket, just like shown above. however the 1/2 drive did not sit down in it completely. seemed to be damaged perhaps. and even when i got it seated, i could not budge the bolt. use a 2ft long breaker bar...... that baby has not moved in a long time.

the rest of the bolts also looked pretty much like they had never been removed, which makes me think my shop has been doing a shoddy job winterizing?

anyway i removed the hoses on both sides of the v-drive (that go to the top of the back of the engine, and then poured RV AF directly into one opening until it came out the other.

SO I AM WONDERING IF I AM GOOD? RV AF SAYS IT IS GOOD TO -50......