Winterizing with antifreeze on block or not ?

[gurt]

Hello, I just read that post https://forum.moomba.com/showthread....ith-pics-by-Al about winterizing (thanks to Al)
My concern is about antifreeze in the block or not. In that post, he just drain the block and other stuff but the guy who sell me the boat filled the block with antifreeze. Is it not better to fill it with antifreeze?
Is there not a chance to have rust in an empty block ?
for info : my boat would be in a garage but not heated during winter (with about -15°C outside)

One other question : at the spring time, did you do something special before running the engine the first time to prevent cylinger damages or with the fogging oil in the cylinders during the winterization it's enough?

Thanks in advance for your advices.

[MLA]

Gurt,

Since air does not freeze until -360.9F, the engine, transmission and v-drive are safe from freeze damage just by draining the water. So pink marine/rv antifreeze are not a must, but they can offer some benefits, the biggest being a rust inhibitor.

One thing about the marine/rv antifreeze, is that its not like automotive coolant/antifreeze. The pink stuff should not be diluted as it works best at 100%. If diluted, its freeze point quickly rises. So the most ideal method is to drain the water from the raw water system, then run the marine/rv though.

A boat can and should, IMO, be winterized in a way that its turn-key ready come spring. So nothing additional needs to be done to the boat before hitting the water. In theory, you should be able to back the trailer down the ramp, start the boat and go. But, I always like to start it up and let it run on the fake-a-lake first. Nothing worst then being "that guy" at the ramp on the first and busiest day of the season and the boat wont start, momma and the kids standing on the dock and you're blocking a lane.

Before fogging, I would consult your engine manufacturer. The methods and need for fogging have changed, especially with CAT engines.

[gurt]

Thank you MLA, about antifreeze that's what I thought. About fogging and more, I have informations on the engine user manual and this forum !

[gurt]

One other question : why most of the people change the oil before winterization ? An engine specialist told me that it is much better to not let a brand new oil in the block all the winter long. For me it looks logical to do it like that but most of you do it during winterization. Is there a particular reason ? except the fact that you can run your boat the first day after winter without nothing to do?

[lsvboombox]

One other question : why most of the people change the oil before winterization ? An engine specialist told me that it is much better to not let a brand new oil in the block all the winter long. For me it looks logical to do it like that but most of you do it during winterization. Is there a particular reason ? except the fact that you can run your boat the first day after winter without nothing to do?

Not sure why others do it but i prefer that the old oil with all the shizzle in it doesnt settle it has a good six months to create a shizzle pancake on the floor of the oil pan. I also do it so come spring the boat is ready to go

[MLA]

One other question : why most of the people change the oil before winterization ? An engine specialist told me that it is much better to not let a brand new oil in the block all the winter long. For me it looks logical to do it like that but most of you do it during winterization. Is there a particular reason ? except the fact that you can run your boat the first day after winter without nothing to do?

There are a number of reasons to change the oil at layup.

Used oil becomes corrosive. This can eat away and pit the soft metals such as bearings and pistons
Used oil collects deposits from combustion (this is why its black when we change it) as well as a little un-burned gas
The crankcase, especially a marine engine, collects condensation through its heat up and cool down cycles. This collect as water in the bottom of the pan.

The best practice is to change the oil and filter and run it one last time for a couple of minutes prior to storage.

[maxpower220]

For winterization, I like to run anti-freeze in the block. Sometimes, I may drain the block too. If you look at all of the nooks and crannies in the engine block, I don't like the odds of all or the water getting out of all of those spaces. While I know there may be room for expansion during a freeze, it's cheap for me to run antifreeze to make sure that doesn't happen. I also like the rust protection. In the south, if may be freezing for 4-5 days and in the 60s with rain, giving a lot of humidity a chance to do its thing.

What is the difference in oil sitting on the self in a bottle or in your engine? Used oil carries a lot of things that can damage engines if they sit for a while. Change it at the process.

I leave the impeller OUT of the boat. It sits in place and will deform the fins which will lead to failure. Also, I believe that there is added stress to the shaft and seal. Leaving the impeller out means the new one should be peak for the season at the start.

Fogging should be done according to the manual for your engine. For most newer engines, that is just shooting into the spark plug holes.

[drb59]

Today I did the steps to winterize but could not remove vdrive bolts I then put RV antifreeze in the vdrive and then used my air compressor to push this all through the vdrive and repeated this procedure How does everyone feel about this approach it semed like was able to work

[MJR63]

Today I did the steps to winterize but could not remove vdrive bolts I then put RV antifreeze in the vdrive and then used my air compressor to push this all through the vdrive and repeated this procedure How does everyone feel about this approach it semed like was able to work

What vdrive bolts are you talking about? Drain the block, heads and disconnect the hoses going to the water pump/vdrive This should remove a majority of the water. Then hook up a fake a lake connected to a tank of RV/Marine anti-freeze. Run it until all pink comes out. Fog it for the last 20 seconds. That should do it.

[lsvboombox]

What vdrive bolts are you talking about? Drain the block, heads and disconnect the hoses going to the water pump/vdrive This should remove a majority of the water. Then hook up a fake a lake connected to a tank of RV/Marine anti-freeze. Run it until all pink comes out. Fog it for the last 20 seconds. That should do it.

There are two drain bolts on the vdrive 1 front right one back left.