Winterizing - Indoor Heated
So in another week I am going to drive my boat about an hour to an indoor heated storage place. This will be my first year winterizing, so I need some advice.
1. I am going to run some type of antifreeze with corrosion resistance into the engine, drain the water tank, and make sure the transom shower & sink lines are dry. I have a porta-potty with pumpout, so I'll probably just take the toilet out instead of having it pumped.
2. I JUST changed the oil (due to it being diluted with gas - thermostat issue), so I plan on leaving the oil in and putting fresh in the spring. Is that sound?
3. Should I drain the drive fluid or just leave it until next spring? I plan on having the drive pulled next spring to check it out before my 1 year "bumper to bumper" warranty is over.
4. I've got a bottle of Sta-Bil (rated for 80 gallons) that I'm going to put in. I plan on topping off before the trip, so I'll probably use ~ 14 gallons on the ride to the marina. Should I put the sta-bil in when I fill up, or wait until I'm there and run the engine for a couple minutes right before pulling it out?
Any other suggestions are welcome.
Comments
Dream 'Inn III -- 2008 400 Express
And yeah I'm going to top off the fuel and add the Sta-bil before the 40 mile trip, so it'll definitely be distributed throughout the engine.
At this point the only area I'm going back & forth on is fogging the cylinders. It's really only going to be 5 months of down-time in a climate controlled building. I wonder if its really necessary to fog the fuel lines & cylinders? Maybe instead of running 2 stroke mixture into the fuel rails I could pull each plug and spray fogging oil directly into the cylinders?
PC BYC, Holland, MI
It's only got 55 hours total, as it was brand new this year.
you can get super duper paranoid about it, and drain and fill with an antique/classic car specific oil, and then change it again in the spring.. that stuff has components specific to engines that will sit around a lot, and run a little.. I think the additive is heavy zinc, but I can't be certain (coming from memory).. you DON'T want that running through a catalytic converter, if you're equipped (I know I asked you before, but I can't remember that either)... the cats can't burn that, and it stays behind as a residue that is caustic and that has potential to allow clogging, or, so it's said... I've never had a single issue with it..
Well I halfway planned on pulling each plug anyways, due to the running too cold issue. I want to at least clean them off in case they got a little fouled due to running rich & multiple misfires.
Maybe wait for that until spring, and run the amsoil through the TB for the winter storage is the best reasonable option? Just thinking out loud.......
If you weren't climate controlled, I'd highly rec you blow the h2o out of the block.. but aren't you closed circuit cooling? You can buy a home kit for checking acid level of coolant and go from there whether you treat it or not... Flush the Hades out of the drive, again, if even a hint it'll freeze, antifreeze it on final flush... Silicone it, too, after spraying with water and leaf blowing it dry...
By the way- silicone on vinyl won't hurt it at all, and will offer a layer of protection during storage that could otherwise stain... Also, vasoline your battery terminals just in case.. nothing is better to prevent corrosion... You can use it on your battery switch terminals or anywhere electrical corrosion can happen.. a coat of silicone spray on the back of your gauges is a good idea, or anywhere else water may have deposited that may cause ghosts in the machine come next spring.... Or the next.... :-)
I plan on pulling the batteries and putting on a trickle charger at home.
I pulled the batteries which was easy. On the other hand the engine hatch is going to be a B!TCH to get up next year. Its gotta weigh at least 150lbs and no great hand "holds" to pull up. Oh well, cross that bridge when it comes. I'm definitely going to cut a 2x4 for next year, as I was trusting my boat hook to hold it up while I pulled the batteries. It'd be really nice if they included a jumper for the lift on the outside, but no dice....
I ran -50 coolant (it took 4 gallons) and fogged per Mercury's requirements. I figured better safe than sorry, and its better to have no question about the warranty. It was quite a bit easier than I expected, and I'm happy it went easily.