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Tips for Winterization First Timer

M

markd4

New member
Hey all, I've got a pair of 1984 Crusader 270 inboards in my dad's old Wellcraft and am looking to tackle winterization myself for the first time. Other than the obvious, what are some tips you would have for a first timer getting this done?
 
best advice I can give is get familiar with the cooling system on these engines, there are numerous things to drain and easy to miss unless you know how many coolers there are, where the drain points are, etc. Do you have a factory manual for the engines?
What cooling system do they have, raw water cooled (no heat exchanger) closed cooled (heat exchanger) those can be a half system (engine only) or full system (adds exhaust manifolds).

before winterizing:
change motor oil and filter, I'd also change the fuel filter
carb'd engines can be fogged some don't bother, if the boat is stored in a dry climate it's not 100% necessary but if the boat is stored outside in a damp climate it is definitely a good idea, prevents internal corrosion.

A few general things, if it is raw water cooled system (no heat exchanger) do not suck up Antifreeze via the water intake to winterize the engines because the thermostat will not open far enough to let all the raw water out of the block, the manifolds/elbows will be full of AF yet the block/heads will still have mostly water in them and will freeze & crack.
Raw water cooled engines MUST be manually drained, there is a drain plug on each side of the block (V8 or V6) these have to be removed and probed with a pick to make sure all the water drains out. Trust me it is a pain to get at those drains, especially on a twin engine boat and this tempts people to take short cuts but that can really cost you!
The big hose that connects the thermostat housing to the front circulating pump has to be disconnected from the bottom and drained.
The raw water intake hose that feeds the engine mounted impeller also has to be drained, as well as the impeller housing.
Exhaust manifolds/elbows have to be drained, in a raw water cooled system usually draining the manifold drains the elbow at the same time.
Any coolers (power steering, etc) need to be drained as well.

There's a lot to it, so see if you can get a manual for the engines you have, it will make it a lot easier.

Now if you have closed cooling, you can feed AF into the raw water intake which will take care of the heat exchanger, exhaust manifolds (if a half system) or just elbows (if a full system) and the hoses and coolers in line with the hoses. Much easier and is one of the benefits of closed cooling.

If you use antifreeze and your temps get close to zero *F, I'd use -100 because both the -60 and -50 get firm/hard at around zero, I don't think that gives much of a safety margin. -100 (burst temp) will liquid to well below zero, all the way down to minus -45-->-55* F or so.
 
louc said:
best advice I can give is get familiar with the cooling system on these engines, there are numerous things to drain and easy to miss unless you know how many coolers there are, where the drain points are, etc. Do you have a factory manual for the engines?
What cooling system do they have, raw water cooled (no heat exchanger) closed cooled (heat exchanger) those can be a half system (engine only) or full system (adds exhaust manifolds).

before winterizing:
change motor oil and filter, I'd also change the fuel filter
carb'd engines can be fogged some don't bother, if the boat is stored in a dry climate it's not 100% necessary but if the boat is stored outside in a damp climate it is definitely a good idea, prevents internal corrosion.

A few general things, if it is raw water cooled system (no heat exchanger) do not suck up Antifreeze via the water intake to winterize the engines because the thermostat will not open far enough to let all the raw water out of the block, the manifolds/elbows will be full of AF yet the block/heads will still have mostly water in them and will freeze & crack.
Raw water cooled engines MUST be manually drained, there is a drain plug on each side of the block (V8 or V6) these have to be removed and probed with a pick to make sure all the water drains out. Trust me it is a pain to get at those drains, especially on a twin engine boat and this tempts people to take short cuts but that can really cost you!
The big hose that connects the thermostat housing to the front circulating pump has to be disconnected from the bottom and drained.
The raw water intake hose that feeds the engine mounted impeller also has to be drained, as well as the impeller housing.
Exhaust manifolds/elbows have to be drained, in a raw water cooled system usually draining the manifold drains the elbow at the same time.
Any coolers (power steering, etc) need to be drained as well.

There's a lot to it, so see if you can get a manual for the engines you have, it will make it a lot easier.

Now if you have closed cooling, you can feed AF into the raw water intake which will take care of the heat exchanger, exhaust manifolds (if a half system) or just elbows (if a full system) and the hoses and coolers in line with the hoses. Much easier and is one of the benefits of closed cooling.

If you use antifreeze and your temps get close to zero *F, I'd use -100 because both the -60 and -50 get firm/hard at around zero, I don't think that gives much of a safety margin. -100 (burst temp) will liquid to well below zero, all the way down to minus -45-->-55* F or so.
Click to expand...
Incredible feedback and very much appreciated!

They are raw water cooled, and while I do have some documentation, being 42 year old engines seems to make it tough to find too much out there on them.

When you say not to suck up the antifreeze to winterize...wouldn't that be OK to do after I manually drain the blocks/heads, etc.? I was planning on using the bucket method...sucking up the antifreeze via the raw water intake hoses.

I will have a buddy available to assist, and I only need to do the engines (not the head, plumbing system, or AC) as they were not used. There is no power steering. I believe the transmission cooler is the only other are of concern.

Heard on the oil change. As for fuel filters, I actually just changed those a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond...I am hoping to be able to tackle this myself each year rather than paying the mechanic to do so, as that adds up quickly!
 
If you send me your email in a 'conversation', I can send you a PDF of the owner's manual for that vintage...click on the envelope next to your username at the top...on a laptop anyhow...

It covers all of the items needed to be done but doesn't always provide the details desired.
 
makomark said:
If you send me your email in a 'conversation', I can send you a PDF of the owner's manual for that vintage...click on the envelope next to your username at the top...on a laptop anyhow...

It covers all of the items needed to be done but doesn't always provide the details desired.
Click to expand...
Done! Thank you.
 
markd4 said:
Incredible feedback and very much appreciated!

They are raw water cooled, and while I do have some documentation, being 42 year old engines seems to make it tough to find too much out there on them.

When you say not to suck up the antifreeze to winterize...wouldn't that be OK to do after I manually drain the blocks/heads, etc.? I was planning on using the bucket method...sucking up the antifreeze via the raw water intake hoses.

I will have a buddy available to assist, and I only need to do the engines (not the head, plumbing system, or AC) as they were not used. There is no power steering. I believe the transmission cooler is the only other are of concern.

Heard on the oil change. As for fuel filters, I actually just changed those a couple of weeks ago.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond...I am hoping to be able to tackle this myself each year rather than paying the mechanic to do so, as that adds up quickly!
Click to expand...
Yes you could suck up the AF after draining but the issue is this, unless you can pressurize the flow of AF, it is likely to be difficult to suck up unless your reservoir for the AF is higher than the level of the impeller. The issue there is that if the impeller can't suck in the AF with the engine running the impeller is likely to burn up. If you can use a livewell or bilge pump to pressurize the flow that might work.
However, it isn't hard to manually fill the engines!
Here's what I do:
after draining, replace drain plugs
reconnect bottom end of big hose between the thermostat housing and the front circulating pump
disconnect the top end of that hose, stick a funnel in it
fill the engine with AF till it spurts out of the 'stat housing neck, engine is now full, reconnect the hose

You can fill the exhaust system the same way, just disconnect the feed hoses at the thermostat housing fill each till it runs out the exhaust, then reconnect the hoses
I'd also fill the impeller housing and the hose that goes to the water intake with AF as well.

I hope you can get at the block drains, it can be a real headache especially on the inner ones with a twin engine set up.
 
If you have brass drain plugs......remove them and drain....then install a new brass insert that can receive the blue plastic drain plugs. They are so much easier to remove then those damned brass only plugs......when installing the blue "wing-nut" plastic plugs....DO NOT OVER-TIGHTEN., THEY HAVE A RUBBER GASKET AND JUST "SNUG" IS BEST.

Mine ???Twin 350 crusaders and as stated the plugs on the outside of the engine are soooooo much easier to remove with the brass insert and blue plastic drain plugs installed .
 
There is a work around if you want to use the raw water intake to suck in the antifreeze....Been doing it for 28 years.......run the engine to operating temp...drain engine ...use rubber gloves that exiting water is hot.... (all four plugs) plugs back in. have the raw water pickup hose in a container of anti freeze and start engine. Each of my engines take 27 litres of antifreeze (pink stuff) when I am through the last jug......engine off.....

In this case the thermostat is open because you have run the engines to normal operating temp so the antifreeze does go everywhere it should. In my case I added an adapter at the seacock so no hoses have to be removed, just close the seacock and open the adapter valve and in goes the anti freeze. I am fortunate that I can do it in the water before lift out as sometimes my boat is only about 15 feet away from the travel lift but when I am not close I can run the engines on the hard using hose connections to a faucet to get the temps up.
 
I don’t like the Merc plastic drain plugs they get brittle from heat & break off. Merc sells a brass insert and hex plug set that works well. If you have the old style brass plugs you can leave the original insert in the block and replace the T head plug with the hex head plug. Then you can use a ratcheting hex head wrench or a small ratchet/socket combo to remove them which is easier than the old stall brass plug with the T head. I have them on my old 1988 4.3 V6.
 
Good point but so far ok....I do have spare stainless plugs the same as the blue wing plugs and will use them if a blue plug fails.
 
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