Step-by-step winterization of PCM 343

**HutchCanada** · 09-30-2017, 08:38 PM

Originally posted by HutchCanada

So I decided to winterize my '10 SAN 210 myself this season. PCM 343 5.7L raw water cooled engine. Heater and ballast system. I'm 97% sure I did everything right. I live in Toronto and it gets waaaay below freezing here so I went overkill. I hope this step-by-step will be helpful. Much of the info here I gathered from PN. Thanks to all who helped me.

Step 1:
Fill up gas tank and add fuel stablizer. Run the boat for 10-15 minutes. I did this out of the water using a garbage can full of water, sump pump hose and constant water supply from garden hose. Connected the sump pump hose with a 1 1/4 barbed PVC fitting to the hose coming out of the raw water filter on the downstream side

Other end of sump hose went into garbage can already filled with water. Weigh it down so it stays on the bottom. Garden hose on full blast into garbage can. If you have low water pressure at your house it might not be able to keep up, mine barely did.

Run the boat making sure water coming out of the flapper. 10 minutes. Operating temp 160 degrees F.

Step 2: change oil and filter.

Step 3: Remove large plugs on each exhaust manifold

Step 3: remove knock sensor plugs from block
Starboard side

Port side

Step 4: remove inlet hose from tranny cooler. This is on the starboard side. Manual says to take out the plug which is virtually inaccessible. Just pull the hose off

Step 5: remove plug on J-tube. Port side at back. Plug removed in pic already

Step 6: remove V-drive plug. This one you're pretty much blind. On my boat I only needed a 1/2 drive, no socket.

Plug is under the grey/rusty part

Step 6: remove heater hoses. These are orange. Take them off and blow in them. Water will come out J-tube. I tried compressed air but blowing with my mouth worked way better. I was surprised how much water came out the J-tube drain hole.

Top heater hose

Blow in here.

Bottom heater hose. Harder to get to.

Step 7: Put all plugs back in. Don't put any thread coat or tape on the knock sensor plugs. Torque to 16 ft.lbs. and reconnect wires. The other plugs just snug them down.

Step 8: winterize heater. Since I had the heater hoses off, I poured AF down them till it overflowed. Then I reconnected the hoses. Local marina used to charge me $100 for this step alone.

Step 9: run AF through the engine. I did this by simply putting 5 or 6 gallons of AF in the garbage can and sucking it up with the motor running just as in Step 1. Watch the AF level it goes down wicked fast. When AF coming out exhaust flapper shut the engine down. Note this step is not prescribed in the PCM manual but I did it anyway as pretty much everyone recommended this.

Step 10: pour AF into thermostat housing.
This is prescribed in the manual. Pour AF first into hoses going from T-stat housing to exhaust manifolds.

There are 4 hose ports on the housing. Top 2 go to manifolds. Remove those and pour AF in.

Now remove main thermostat housing hose on starboard side and pour AF in the hose. Since I already did a suck up not much went in. I also connected a flexible funnel and poured AF into the housing itself through the starboard hose port

Next time I think it would be a lot easier just to pull the thermostat and pour directly in. 3 bolts on top of housing. Ignore where I'm pointing. You can clearly see the 3 bolts that would give access to the thermostat.

At this point in time the engine is empty of water and full of AF.

Step 11: drain FCC
7/16 plug on bottom of canister. About a pint of gas will come out so have a small container ready.

Step 13: remove serpentine belt and raw water impeller. Clearly described in manual. If impeller still good, store in a zip loc bag indoors along with your belt.

Step 14: fog the engine. Remove the spark plugs. Spray fogging oil into each cylinder for 5 sec. Crank motor over a few rotations to starboard using a 5/8 socket on the crank shaft at the rear of the boat. Replace spark plugs. Mine had 400 hours on them so I replaced them. AC Delco 41-993. Gap 0.060. Torque to 20 ft.lbs.

Step 15: run AF into ballast system. Another $100 my marina charged me to do this simple step. Pour AF (about a gallon for each rear tank and about 2 gallons for belly) into each of the 3 ballast vents. Run ballast pumps in reverse till you see AF coming out under boat. I had sacs piggybacked on top of the stock tanks so I had to pour the AF directly through the vent hoses coming off the hard tanks.
Sorry no pics but this step is really easy. I removed my fat sacs. Not necessary but lets them and the floor finally dry out.

Remove ballast impellers and store indoors or replace in spring.

Things I didn't do but will do in spring, I just ran out of time:
New FCC element and inline fuel filter
Lube throttle and shifter
Change trans oil
New zinc anode if required
Clean flame arrestor

I hope this helps all that have the PCM 343. If I missed anything please let me know!

HutchCanada

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Oh and of course I will change the oil in the spring. Does anyone change the filter too even though its 100% unused?

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**swatguy** · 09-30-2017, 10:33 PM

Change the oil now , don't wait til spring , oil does the most damage over the winter with all the contaminates in there. Put fresh oil in for the layup

**HutchCanada** · 09-30-2017, 10:43 PM

Originally posted by swatguy

Change the oil now , don't wait til spring , oil does the most damage over the winter with all the contaminates in there. Put fresh oil in for the layup

Yep changed the oil and filter already. With a pump its so easy. Any point in putting a new filter on in the spring since this one has been used less than a minute?

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**swatguy** · 10-01-2017, 12:56 AM

Nope ........roll with it.

**Evening Shade** · 10-01-2017, 01:00 PM

Nice write up!

Wouldn't sucking 5 gallons of AF up be sufficient to protect the block, exhaust manifolds, and the heater core?

Also, does anyone know the current recommendations about fogging engines with catalytic converters? When I had my Malibu Indmar recommended not fogging engines with catalytic converters because the fogging oil was supposedly bad for the catalyst.

**Quinner** · 10-01-2017, 01:25 PM

Nice work!! Couple comments, be sure and drain the strainer unless i missed that. Always probe the drain plugs with a wire or something to be sure no sediment is restricting the drain process. You do not really need to remove the lower heater core hose, just the manifold one and with the J-Tube plug removed blowing in that top hose all the water will exit the J-Tube plug. If doing a suck up there is really no reason to do a pour in before or after, sucking up 5-6 gallons will fill everything. Personally would use either the higher end Fram oil filter or the Motorcraft FL-1a, the standard Fram has historically rated very poorly, write the FCC filter change hours and engine oil change hours on oil filter with sharpie for quick reference to next change interval. Personally would put the old spark plugs back in and then install the new one after you run all the fogging oil and whatnot out in the spring.
And as Kris stated, no need to change the oil or filter again in the spring.

**Quinner** · 10-02-2017, 04:53 PM

Yikes, "Displaces" is not a good word to use, it sounds too much like you are again suggesting using AF to "push" the water out, would highly recommend against that practice to anyone. Never owned or own a Correct Craft that does not have drain plugs, lol, my oldest one is a 1964 and it has drain plugs, yours must be really old.

**DocPhil** · 10-03-2017, 07:44 AM

I don't fog the cylinders or add AF. Dry block no fog. The rest of the stuff I agree with. Also pull the batteries and put them on a tender. It will extend the life of the battery somewhat IME

**J.Rogers** · 10-04-2017, 12:31 AM

If you are fogging be sure to hold onto the straw that attaches to the spray nozzle of the can of fogging oil. When I was fogging mine this fall the straw came lose and shot into the cylinder. After a few choice words I went and got a pair of forceps to try and retrieve it. Luckily I was able to fish it out but it could have been an expensive lesson learned. I am hoping anyone else who reads this won�t make the same mistake.

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**2001SAN** · 10-04-2017, 01:10 AM

Nice write up!

Does bumping the engine with the starter not inject fuel into the fogged cylinders? Is turning it over by hand not a better option?

D.

**HutchCanada** · 10-04-2017, 06:33 AM

I turned the motor over a few times by hand. 5/8 socket on crankshaft 3 or 4 rotations to starboard

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**Evening Shade** · 10-04-2017, 10:45 AM

Originally posted by J.Rogers View Post

If you are fogging be sure to hold onto the straw that attaches to the spray nozzle of the can of fogging oil. When I was fogging mine this fall the straw came lose and shot into the cylinder. After a few choice words I went and got a pair of forceps to try and retrieve it. Luckily I was able to fish it out but it could have been an expensive lesson learned. I am hoping anyone else who reads this won�t make the same mistake.

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I have a friend that had this happen when fogging an outboard engine.

**Nick Heimer** · 10-04-2017, 11:54 AM

Originally posted by charlesml3

Your understanding of pumps, displacement and fluid dynamics is very poor. Let me try one more time to explain this. If the boat is just idling in the lake, water is drawn up from the water inlet, through the strainer, through the raw water pump and then on to the circulation pump, engine, transmission, v-drive and eventually out the exhaust. Cool water from the lake comes in, hot water from the engine goes out. The cool water displaces the hot water. It has to. That's the way it works.

Now, if I disconnect the hose coming in downstream from the strainer and hook a short hose there and put it in a 5 gallon bucket full of antifreeze, the exact same process will occur. The antifreeze will be drawn up out of the bucket and displace the water in the engine, transmission, v-drive etc. Again it has to. This is the way it works. 5 gallons is more than enough to completely displace all of the water in the entire path, including the heater.

My 99 Air Nautique's GT-40 did not have drain plugs. This was the only way to properly winterize it and this is the process I followed for 17 years. This is the way the mechanic at White Lake Marine taught me to properly winterize it. During that era of boats, that's how they did all winterizations. They are the oldest Nautique dealer in the world. They are also one of the most successful ones. They didn't get there by doing thing the wrong way.

I've also heard from a few that dealers often winterize the same way. I have pulled plugs an added antifreeze because it's recommended in my manual, but I do wonder if running some extra antifreeze through it wouldn't be just as good.

**Quinner** · 10-04-2017, 11:56 AM

Certainly not going to argue with a person who insists a GT-40 has no drain plugs or drain points, lmao, And insists he knows more then the engineers who design and build these motors, do whatever you want, just warning others that your practice is very dangerous, particularly for anyone in the North where the winters are much colder then those in NC.

Step-by-step winterization of PCM 343

Step-by-step winterization of PCM 343

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