1st Time Winterizer

OK -
So I took on the task of winterizing myself this year. I've already flushed the engine with anti-freeze, changed out the oil and filter, changed out the tranny fluid, & fogged the cylinders. It's pretty straight forward......So I thought. But as I'm into it I've uncovered some issues (or at least some questions).

1.) I pushed on the throttle body to fog the intake and engine rev'd and the red engine light kicked on. I threw this up on another thread and solution might have to wait till spring since I've already winterized. Hope disconnecting the batts over the winter will solve it or I'll have to make a trip to the dealer (3hrs one way) to get the code cleared first of the season.

2.) Pulled the floor to check alignment (still on the list of to do's) and I see anti-freeze leaking from somewhere. As I further inspected I found it to be coming from the mufflers? This should NOT be should it? Boat is only 3 years old with 182hrs. I don't see anywhere to drain the mufflers of any fluids? Could this be from freeze damage? ATTACHED PICTURE

3.) A couple of Zip Ties were broke holding the blower vent hose so I re-enforced the hose to ensure I didn't end up with a transmission problem like Waynes345 and have wire wrapped up all over the shaft.

4.) Planning on cleaning out the bilge area when I'm all done. What works the best? Do you do it in spring or before storing? I was thinking of spraying it out with water and a bit of dish soap and seems to make more sense to do it in the spring? Just cautious about putting and raw water anywhere in the boat at this time of year!

Viking, from the looks of it there is a crack on the back side of the muffler and most likely on the radiused transition from the inlet end to the body (thinnest part). As easy as it appears to take out the muffler, me personally I would be all over it. Gotta love a DD to be able to work on it! There are two drains on my V drive mufflers (outboard/bottom) both sides but I have never gotten out more than teaspoon or 2 of water when I winterize. I would pull it and fix it myself with bondo and repaint it until I had another issue with it, which I doubt you ever would.

I haven't taken the UltraMarine Silencers off yet but looking at them they are BOTH leaking on the engine side of the silencers where they diameter of the muffler widens. Looks like they are both cracked and flaking off there. How long should they last? Seems to me that 3 or 4 seasons is a little premature for failure?

Should I use OEM replacements or is there something better out there?

And is there any way to drain the muffler/silencers in a DD for the winter?

viking - Not good. There should be no leak of any kind. The little bit present could end up being a big problem if not addressed. Maybe take it to your dealer? I pulled the floor and inspected the mufflers on my '07 Outback. Completely dry and nothing wrong. Please keep us posted. - Deerfield

I noticed mine leaking where the muffler meets the transom. There is a hose clamp over that area, so I figured it just needs to be tightened. I didn't do anything about it. The rate of flow is a trickle, so I'm not too concerned about it.

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I pushed on the throttle body to fog the intake and engine rev'd and the red engine light kicked on. I threw this up on another thread and solution might have to wait till spring since I've already winterized. Hope disconnecting the batts over the winter will solve it or I'll have to make a trip to the dealer (3hrs one way) to get the code cleared first of the season.

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You sprayed the fogging oil directly into the intake? I was under the impression that these were DRY intakes and you were not suppose to do that. Can someone clarify?

if you have the non-extcat motors, then you should fog the intake. if you have the ext-cat catalyst system, then you should not fog the intake..

it's in the indmar winterization faq's on their website.

Exactly as SandM indicated. And my boat is not Catalytic exhaust so it is ok to fog through TB. I never did get it done though as I tripped the code and decided against it. Did fog through spark plug holes though.

your perfectly fine fogging thru the spark plug holes on any engine, its just easier to fog thru the TB on non cat engines, not necessarily better tho

Pulled the port side muffler tonight to confirm leakage and this is what I found.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsjylR0BayI

Looks to be a hairline crack right where I anticipated. I'm certain the starboard side is the same. Only think I can figure is freeze damage from water sitting in muffler?? Why isn't there a way to drain these on DD's?

2nd thought...........Previous owner had dealer service it and so did I until this year and they use anti-freeze method to winterize?

Going to call UltraMarine to see what they say. I guess I need to try my hand at glasswork :)

I haven't always blown out the water in my exhaust but one time I disconnected the coil and turned the engine over to seat the impeller correctly (I don't pull mine) and quite a bit of water came out. I now raise the bow and turn the engine over (coil disconnected) for about 3-4 seconds. I have never had a problem before I started to blow the water out so I don't think there is much water that stays in.

Well,
When removing the Ultra Marine Silencers I had one come apart. Looks to be a defective set of mufflers if you ask me! Whatever sealed them has given way and the Inlet Side just slid out from the baffle. No cracks or issues there as previously thought.

Should be a fairly easy fix with a little 5200 epoxy around the tube and slide it back together. But I'm certainly going to talk to Ultra Marine about it.

Thought I'd post up some photos for anybody interested in what the inside looks like. Really just a 90degree downtube and then a 90up and out. The rest is all hollow.

On a side note........there would be absolutely no way to get all the water out of them (except for the random total disassemble :)!

viking - Thanks for posting the pics. Please let us know what Ultra Marine has to say. - Deerfield

How do you blow out the exhaust with air? Do you blow out through the gardenhose connectors after you unscrew them to drain the exhaust manifolds?

Garn

what is used to "fog" the intake and where can this be purchased??

rd - Here's a pic of the fogging oil. It comes in an aerosol can. Bought it at West Marine. I pull the spark plugs and spray directly into each cylinder. Fogging oil puts a layer of protection on metal surfaces to keep them from corrosion. - Deerfield

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Originally Posted by rdlangston13

what is used to "fog" the intake and where can this be purchased??

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what engine do you have?

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Originally Posted by DOCDRS

what engine do you have?

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ive got the 325 horse. those do not come with the cats do they? i know it says california emissions compliant on it or something like that so it may have cats. im not sure what california requires but i was thinking that only the 340 horse and up had the cats on it

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Originally Posted by deerfield

rd - Here's a pic of the fogging oil. It comes in an aerosol can. Bought it at West Marine. I pull the spark plugs and spray directly into each cylinder. Fogging oil puts a layer of protection on metal surfaces to keep them from corrosion. - Deerfield

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i notice all these items say "marine". what does that really mean? i mean is that marine motor oil better than regular mobil 1 full syn? or the oil filter better than a regular filter?

If it has cats you DO NOT want to fog!

so ive heard. im not sure if i have cats or not though. i guess ill see when i get home friday

in 08 only the 340hp engines have the cats. You will know if you have Cats because they have a huge sticker on the side caying tis a cat.

When it comes to fluids Marine just means extra cost in most things i have found.

Now i did notice my Indmar takes an off style oil. It says something like 15w40 or something like that. As i bought some 10w30 simi sythetic to put in it this year when i winterized and then before i poured it in i noticed it was the wrong oil acording to the sticker on my engine. So i had to buy more. So i guess the 10w30 goes in Claudia's car when it gets its next oil change around 19K since the first oil change wasnt due till 9.5k