Winterizing...

What does everyone do to winterize their boat?

I'll be letting the motor run in some clean water, and running any leftover fuel through the carb 'til the motor dies.

As for the trailer I'll put it on jacks.

Should I leave the battery on the trickle charger all winter or is that a bad idea?

 

You want to fill the fuel tank and add treatment.

 

sta bil tank, fog motor

 

I take it to the dealer and have anti-freeze run thru the motor, oil changed in the motor/outdrive, sta-bil in the gas, disconnect/remove battery, fog down the motor. After I pick it up I clean the whole thing and leave dryer sheets inside all the compartments. Makes it nice a fresh when you take the cover off in the spring. Then I get it shrink wrapped since I dont have a garage. The shrink wrap is worth every penny and is cheaper than spending the $$$ on a garage/storage

 

Fill tankw/gas and stabil--or LEAVE EMPTY. Fog motor till it quits. Pour Antifreeze
(PINK STUFF-that is for trailer water tanks)-pour into your engine water lines until it is full or comes out pink at the discharge. This is to prevent engine block freezing and breaking. If you store outside.
Of course grease EVERYTHING and remove battery, check fluids and replace-change if necessary.

 

I like to winterize my boat when it is 25 degrees out, freezing rain with a good gale breeze. Last year it took a blizzard to get me to winterize my boat. Snowed about 29" the next day.

1. Wax Boat and polish all aluminum and chrome.
2. Change lower unit oil.
3. Buy spark plugs now so you have on hand to install after the first start in the spring. Plugs will foul in spring when the remaining fogger is burned up on the first start.
4. Run freshwater through the engine for 10-15 minutes with rabbit ears.
5. Pull water seperator and fill with marvel mystery oil, screw back on.
6. Buy a water seperator for replacement after first Spring start.
7. Fill Gas Tank and add Stabil, Ezorb or enzymes
8. Fill oil tank if applicable-I have oil injection.
I fill both fuel and oil tanks to shrink the amount of space in the tanks to avoid condensation. I fill the gas tank with a higher octane too. Filling the tank vs leaving it low is a a subject of controversy.
8. Run the engine again. When you notice the difference in engine smoke from the Marvel Mystery oil spray fogger into the carbs via the air filters. I have 4 holes to stick the spray can hose on the cover to my carbs. Engine should stall out. I take off each spark plug and spray extra fogger into the cylinders after engine cools. Do not replace spark plugs with new ones untill after the spring start (in driveway).

FYI. In the last few years, I always have one or two NGK Spark plugs that are bad so you may want to buy a few extra or use a different brand. Make sure to check the spark with a spark tester in the spring after replacing. It really sucks going to the water in the spring and finding out the hard way. The simple way to do this is to pull the plug wire while the engine is running and listen for a change in sound. If there is no change in rpm or sound, then you most likely have a bad plug. Switch the plug to another cylinder to see if problem migrates. If it doesn't migrate to the other cylinder, it isn't your plug, consult your manufactures repair book for the multitude of problems it could be.

8. Grease trailer bearings and spray wd40 or a rust inhibitor all over all trailer bolts, nuts, rollers, leafs. I clean the electrical connections for the trailer lights with a contact cleaner and then spray them down with white lithium greese.

9. I read a post above that said to tilt your motor up. I disagree, I spray the pistons with white lithium and I place my motor fully down so there cannot be any corrosion to the tilt pistons. I also do the same for the steering. I turn the wheel all the way to one side to hide the steering mechanism.
Also, grease fittings are located on your engine and steering pivot points and should be greased.
10. Take out batteries and charge fully. I never left mine on trickle in the boat. Store it indoors-NOT on cement floor.
By taking out your batteries it enables you to clean all your connections with a wire brush. Vaseline all wire endings/connections. You will never corrode by doing this.
11. I spray down any mold within the holds with bleach then I place a few moisture catching buckets inside the enclosed holds.

I am sure there is more but thats all I can remember from the top of my head.

oh yeah, cover your boat!

 

One more thing, Pour some antifeeze into your bilge/hull. I place some in the water attachment on my engine as well.

 

I drained the water out the block, oil cooler and headers. Pulled the motor and tore it down to the bare block to be gone through over the winter, put the cover back on the boat and tucked it in the garage until its time to start getting it together for next season.

 

A little late now in the season, but for reference, here's a link to a couple of videos from West Marine on winterizing...
http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...toreId=11151&catalogId=10001&page=Winterizing
Not having a garage or storage area, I put the trailer on cement blocks, covered the wheels and made a wood frame to drape a tarp over, and secured it well to keep it from blowing in the wind.