2020 G23 winterize

[Randomtask]

Does anyone winterize their own ‘20 G? We are planning on surfing through winter and so we don’t want to get a full dealer winterize.

What are your steps/advice on winterizing. Last year we just pulled all the quick connect drain hoses from the engine and dropped the water strainer. Is that it?

[scottb7]

I think the manuals are someone on this site. But also probably on pcm website. Owners – PCM Engines

[bird_dog0347]

Agreed, it's on the PCM website how to do it but I can't link the exact one as you didn't mention which engine you have. That said, to the OP, hello neighbor I'm in Little Elm. Which lake do you usually go to?

[Randomtask]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have the 6.2l DI, and I have been doing exactly what the manual says - drain the 3 hoses and drop the strainer cup. I guess its so simple feel like I am missing something!

Hey Bird Dog, Im in Frisco. Lake lewisville at Pier121 for me.

[bird_dog0347]

Gotcha, we keep the boat at Texoma and always stay up that way even though I live like 10 minutes from the ramp at the Little Elm beach.

[boomersooner]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have the 6.2l DI, and I have been doing exactly what the manual says - drain the 3 hoses and drop the strainer cup. I guess its so simple feel like I am missing something!

Hey Bird Dog, Im in Frisco. Lake lewisville at Pier121 for me.

In addition to the three lines and the strainer, I also start my ballast pumps so the valves open and then shut off the battery so the valves stay open.

[Randomtask]

Good to know thanks! Not sure what the dealer is doing for $300+ for a winterize then.

[MN Ryan]

$300? I won't even tell you what it runs in MN. One of these years I will get brave enough to take it myself and save a lot of money.

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[bird_dog0347]

Good to know thanks! Not sure what the dealer is doing for $300+ for a winterize then.

It's $400 for me if I have them take care of the service on my lift.

[MN Ryan]

North of $1k at my dealer here in the land of 10,000 lakes (drain/winterize engine, oil change, tranny fluid change, v-drive service/inspection, winterize ballast system, winterize heater). That does not include an impeller change. The local MC is only slightly less.

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[bird_dog0347]

That is INSANE! Absolutely no way I'd pay that... I'd do it myself.

[MN Ryan]

Tell me about it.

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[BasaltRMK]

Hey all, resurrecting this thread _well_ in advance of winter...

I have a 2020 G21 with the ZZ6 - fresh water (I'm at 8,400' in CO). I had the same thought as Randomtask when I did my winterization per the manual last year - am I missing something? I removed and drained the 3 quick connect drain lines and removed the strainer (also pulled the batteries). Thought about using some compressed air to make sure that I got all the water out of the drain lines, but then got paranoid and had a 'local' dealer (I'm 4 hours away from the nearest Nautique dealer) winterize the boat for me, which included running antifreeze through the engine.

So here are my questions: 1) The antifreeze seems like a good idea, and cheap insurance (we have some weeks in February where it gets to -20 F). Do y'all agree with this? And if so, how much (volume) antifreeze do you run? And with these closed-cooled engines, do you need to get the boat up to temp running water first, or just go straight to the antifreeze? And what about using compressed air on the quick connect drain lines instead of / in addition to the antifreeze?

2) Do folks run antifreeze through the ballast pumps using a fake-lake, or just do a really thorough drain?

3) Anything else folks do (besides pulling the strainer and batteries)? I know some folks pull the impeller, but I'll probably just replace it in the spring when I summerize.

I'm a fairly confident with my wrenching skills (I do my own oil changes following greggmck 's excellent write-up), just don't want to be paranoid all winter that I missed a best practice from this incredible hive mind. Thanks in advance. And as always, thanks to NautiqueJeff for this amazing resource!

- bob

[bturner]

I can't comment on the closed cooling as I haven't done one of the newer systems so I'll set someone else comment on that. On fresh water cooling system we drain and manually fill the block, old school style (pull the drains then fill from the top of the block until antifreeze comes out the thermostat housing). We pull the heater lines then blow them out. On a freshwater system we do this after the block is drained and the drain plugs are still out. The return line drains to the bottom of the block so hear it coming out and this lets that water out as well. We'll then use cherry juice antifreeze to pickle the heat exchanger (before doing the block and with the drains plugs back in) by pouring it in the line from the top of the block. I'll use a little more air to force the antifreeze through the heat exchanger until I hear it draining into the block. At this point I know the heat exchanger has antifreeze in it and that's done.

On the ballast.... The technique I use depends on the boat for me. My pumps are super simple to get to so I'll pull the intake hose on each pump and run a gallon of cherry juice through each of them. On MasterCrafts I'll pour a gallon in each of the overflow ports then hit the empty switch on each of the tanks. Once I hear fluid draining I know antifreeze has gone through the system and that tank is good. I've had some tanks that needed 2 gallons to get exit flow.

On the impeller.... This is kind of a holy war topic that will generate opposing posts. Old school was to pull the impeller and zip tie it to the steering wheel, I did this for years. Kind of like a badge of inboard honor and it was the last step in the process. To be truthful with the hours I put on my boat unless I'm having any kind of cooling problem, I'm on a 3 season impeller replacement schedule and I still have a collection of "like new" looking impellers in the glove box and laying around the workbench. I don't pull them until the second season for inspection and then if they look good they go right back in. I know.... oh the humanity of it all, right??? What you do on your boat is completely up to you and I'm good with that.

Extra points..... We always wipe the engine completely down with a clean rag lightly sprayed down with some fogging oil. This puts a LIGHT coating of oil on everything and will keep things from corroding. It also gives you a great opportunity to look over everything real well to see if anything has come loose, is missing, is chafing or is wearing unusually. You'd be surprised what you'll find while doing this. If I'm doing my boat or supervising the project we'll take the time to wash the bilge, check the fuel system and grease any cables and the rudder port. Next batteries are pulled, ends inspected/cleaned and lubed with fogging oil.

Working our way out of the engine compartment into the interior I do a full detail of the interior so that is set for next year. Wash/wax the exterior and the boat is set to drop in for the spring.

Last is the trailer but you didn't ask about that so I'll leave it there.

One thing I didn't mention was fuel conditioner. Nautique recommends using Stabil 360 and I've started using this at every fill up. If you're not you'll want to be sure you use it before for your last fill up then again when you top off the tank for the winter which is another holy war topic. Yes, I store with the tank full and with this year's gas prices I probably save enough money on the gas alone to pay for the winterization.

[BasaltRMK]

bturner - thanks for the in-depth response. Lots of good nuggets in there. I'll probably continue to pull the impeller each year as we put about 150 hours on the boat annually. I'd be interested to hear about your annual trailer maintenance, I need to step it up in that area. I am replacing the bunk carpet with Gatorbak, as we have some carpet worn through.

Looking forward to hearing what folks have to say about the winterization process on the newer engines.

- bob