As much as we hate to do it, those of us living in northern climes are about to winterize our boats. And if you think that simply means dumping some antifreeze into the engine, you may be looking for a mechanic come springtime.
Winterizing your boat is as much about the next boating season as it is about preventing winter damage. You want the boat to be tucked away safe for the winter, and ready to roll when the warm weather blossoms. That means a fair amount of preparation and work. And in this particular arena, shortcuts can be costly.
GLEN JUSTICEReplacing the oil for winter insures that dirty oil, which contains the corrosive byproducts of combustion, does not sit in your engine for months.
To help with the process, Mad Mariner will cover the winterization process in detail over the next three days, examining how to protect your engine, your water and electrical systems, and the exterior of the boat.
How you chose to store your boat, on land or in the water, will depend on your location, your budget and how you use the vessel. But when it comes to the systems onboard, most of the winterization steps will be the same.
Because there is much to be done, efficiency is your friend. Plan your work and work your plan. The best approach is to start with a checklist like the one attached to this article (see link below for download). If you are going to do the work yourself, it will organize your thoughts. If you plan to hire professionals, it will ensure you know what to request, and give you a handy way to inspect what was done.
Parse out the jobs–items for you, your spouse, your children, your mechanic and anyone else you can recruit–and create a realistic schedule. Most boats can be winterized in a couple days or a long weekend, though smaller boats may take less time. Make a shopping list based on the tasks, collect all the product names and part numbers and try to get all your supplies purchased in one trip. Similarly, list all the tools you will need and make sure you have them on the boat.
OIL AND FILTERS
Winterizing an engine is similar to the routine maintenance you perform regularly, except that there are a few very important additional steps. The processes here apply to all engines–gas or diesel, inboard or outboard–except where noted.
JABSCOPumps like this make oil changes far easier. There are many on the market in all price ranges, including portable and fixed units.Before you do any work on your engine, make sure that you have a service manual and parts list on hand. If you don't, check the manufacturer's website. Manuals for popular engines also can be found at marine stores. Expect to pay about $40–and consider it money well spent. Another trick is to talk your mechanic into copying his. However you obtain it, just make sure it is the proper manual for your engine.
It may seem obvious, but you should plan to winterize every engine on the boat, including the main(s), the generator(s) and the outboard for the dinghy. In the case of a light outboard, one quick road to winterization is to simply run it until it's out of gas, drain the rest of its fluids (consider changing the oil in the lower unit, as described below), detach the tank and take the engine home. The same goes for portable generators. Keep them in a warm place that won't freeze and you're done.
For the machines left behind, start with an oil change. The chances are good that you didn't change any of your vessel's oils during the last boating season. But you have run your systems all summer and that causes a build-up of combustion byproducts, acids and possibly some water. This is the ideal time to change the oil and prevent these corrosive materials from sitting in the system during the off season. The same thing holds true for oil filters, which have been cleaning the oil and collecting goo all summer.
An oil change is best done while your boat is still in the water, because it is easy to warm-up the engine before you swap the oil. The advent of manual or electric oil changing systems, either portable or fixed, has made this much easier. To avoid dirty looks–and potential fines–dispose of the oil and filters properly. The Environmental Protection Agency website offers tips on how to do so (see link below).
Before you refill it, consult your manual, mechanic or manufacturer to see what kind of oil to use and how much to add. When filled, run the engine to circulate the oil.
DRIVE TRAIN
Now is also a good time to replace the lubricant in your engine's transmission or you outboards' lower unit, for the very same reasons you are changing the oil.
On an outboard, most lower units have an upper and a lower plug. Remove both, drain the oil and check it as it is draining. Does it look a shade or two darker than regular oil? That's a good sign. If it looks like coffee that's been mixed with milk you probably have a water leak and you should schedule some time with your mechanic to sort it out. Do it now so the work can be done during the winter. If you wait until spring he'll be swamped with repairs and you'll be frustrated instead of out on the water.
Refilling these lower units can be counter-intuitive, because the oil is best added using the lower drain plug. Try to refill from the top drain hole and you probably won't get enough oil in there. You can squirt it in directly from the tubes of oil you purchased or go high tech and spring for a pump. In either case, you'll want to pump oil into the lower plug until it oozes out of the top drain hole. Screw in the top plug while the oil container or pump is still in place, then quickly remove it from the lower hole and screw in the plug. Do it fast and very little oil will drain out.
GLEN JUSTICEPictured here is the engine cooling system on a trawler. Note the seacock handle (left, blue) and the raw water strainer (right), where antifreeze can easily be added.While you're working around the outdrive, apply lubricant to any grease points and portions of the steering mechanism that need it. Refer to your service manual for the proper products and where to apply them.
COOLING SYSTEMS
Marine engines are cooled in one of two ways. A raw water system takes in water from outside the boat, pumps it through the engine and then dumps it back in the sea, often through a water-cooled exhaust manifold. A fresh water system, on the other hand, sends sea water to a heat exchanger, where it cools a separate, closed cooling system that contains its own coolant. The advantage of a fresh water system is that salt water will never touches the engine's internal cooling passages, thus eliminating a source of corrosion and scale build-up.
In either case, antifreeze needs to be run through the engine to provide protection against freezing and consequent engine damage. Two main types of antifreeze are used in marine engines, one rated to -60 degrees and the second good to -100 degrees. Unlike the standard pink marine and RV antifreeze designed for drinking water systems, these are manufactured with more anti-corrosion chemicals to protect the engine (though they are still non-toxic).
Choose the one that is appropriate and use it directly from the bottle. Some folks dilute antifreeze to save money, but this is a bad idea. This stuff is formulated to do its job, just like oil or fuel. Even small engines cost thousands of dollars and risking one to save a few dollars is a bad idea.
ANTIFREEZE FOR INBOARDS
Before adding antifreeze, it is important to run the engine and warm it up. Push antifreeze through a cold engine, before the thermostats have opened, and some areas of the cooling system may not get protected. The next step, actually getting the antifreeze into the cooling system, can be accomplished in several ways, depending on the type of engine you have.
Inboard engines usually pull their cooling water from the sea via a thru-hull in the bottom of the boat. One way to add antifreeze is to close the seacock so that sea water cannot get in, open the strainer (the device that sifts debris from cooling water) and drain the water. Then, start the engine and pour in the antifreeze while it is running.
This method requires some speed, because the engine will inhale the antifreeze quickly and you do not want it to run it more than a few seconds without coolant. It helps to have two people working: one to start and stop the engine and one to pour. The person pouring should get in the right position and have the bottles open and within reach before you begin. If you cut the tops off the bottles, you can pour faster.
One alternative is to disconnect the cooling hose from the thru-hull, place it in a large bucket filled with antifreeze and running the engine. Another is to install a dedicated set of valves and connector–there are several units commercially available–so that a hose can be connected and run to the bucket.
Smaller boats can use an engine flush unit, a device that looks a lot like a toilet plunger with a handle that extends to push the rubber cup against the hull. The cup covers the thru-hull and stops any seawater from entering. The antifreeze hose is then connected to a fitting on the side of the handle.
Whatever method you use, add antifreeze until you see it come out the exhaust. That will indicate it has moved through the entire cooling system.
ANTIFREEZE FOR OTHERS
Most stern drives and outboard engines pull their cooling water through intakes in the lower unit and exhaust it out the center of the propeller hub.
A set of engine muffs (two rubber cups attached to a long U-shaped spring clip) can be used to supply the antifreeze to those intakes. One or both cups will have a hose fitting, and the hose can be placed in a bucket of antifreeze. Run the engine and it will suck the antifreeze out of the bucket.
PAUL ESTERLEThis drawing of a Quick Flush shows how antifreeze can be added without disconnecting lines.
You can assemble the gear yourself–bucket, hose and fittings–or go to your local marine store and purchase a winterizing kit which will include a large plastic container for the antifreeze, as well as the proper hose, fittings and an on-off valve to connect to your engine muff. The same equipment can be used later to flush the engine with fresh water for maintenance.
While winterizing the engine, you should take a few other steps too. Manipulate the seacocks to insure they are working, then leave them closed for winter. You can also clean out the strainers on all raw water lines and drain the water from them. Some people also remove the impeller, which is the bladed paddle that the cooling pump uses to move water. This is fine–as long as you remember to put it back in the Spring! A better idea may be to leave it in place for winter, and replace the unit when you launch next season. Impellers should be replaced annually and Spring outfitting is a good time to do so.
ENGINE FOGGING
Fogging an engine means spraying fogging oil to protect the moving parts such as rings, pistons and valves. Fogging oils, which displace water, can be sprayed into the carburetor while the engine is running or they can be applied through the spark plug holes while the engine is turned over.
Do not spray fogging oil into the intake of an Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) engine. Instead, an oil mixture should be run through the fuel lines into the fuel injection system.
To find out what your engine needs, consult your manual, mechanic or manufacturer. As an example, however, the Mercury/Mercruiser service bulletin (no. 2001-15), which can be found online, recommends that owners mix five gallons of regular unleaded gasoline with 64 ounces of TC-W3 outboard oil and five ounces of fuel system treatment and stabilizer (Mercury cautions against running out of the mixture). This mix is then sent to the engine through an inlet in the fuel/water separator and the engine is run for the specified periods and shut down.
FUEL SYSTEMS
The solution to winterizing fuel tanks is to empty them completely or fill them up. Most experts recommend filling them, because it leaves less bare surface area inside the tank, making it harder for water to condense on the walls and ceiling. Emptying your tanks is difficult at best.
That said, winterization here is relatively simple. Head to the fuel dock and fill the tanks to the top, taking care to add the appropriate biocide (for diesels) and stabilizer (for all engines). The stabilizer will ensure that the fuel maintains its composition throughout the winter, when the engine is not in use. You should run the engine long enough to push the fuel with its additives through the entire fuel system. Usually, the ride back from the fuel dock is enough to accomplish this.
GLEN JUSTICEWhen temperatures approach freezing, the engine should stay warm. If your engine has block heaters, you are set. If not, consider buying marine-grade space heaters and installing them in the engine compartment for winter. The last thing to do is to change the fuel filters, including both external and on-engine units.
BATTERIES AND HEATERS
The final step is an easy one: You'll want to address your boat's batteries. This can be done in several ways, depending on the size or your boat and how it is stored.
On a smaller boat that is coming out of the water, you can simply remove the batteries, bring them home, top them off with distilled water and charge them periodically. On bigger boats with large battery banks, you can top them off, clean and disconnect the terminals, and leave the batteries in place. When you inspect the boat periodically, you can reconnect and change them using shore power.
Of course, there are all kinds of additional maintenance chores you can add to the winterization process to address the systems that surround the engine. These include adding steering fluid, cleaning the air filter, topping off the hydraulic fluid that operates the trim tabs, adding oil to the bow thruster or just checking to make sure all screws and nuts are tight and all hoses are snug. What you do will depend on your maintenance schedule.
Depending on how you store the boat, and where you live, you may give a thought to keeping the engine adequately heated to prevent freeze. Unless your engine has block heaters built in, this means buying marine-grade engine heaters, such as those manufactured by Boatsafe Inc., and temporarily mounting them in the engine compartment with wire ties. These are ambient electronic heaters that trigger automatically in extremely cold weather and give off only enough heat to keep the engine compartment temperature above freezing.
While winterization is largely the same whether you are storing your boat on water or on land, your method of storage does have one large impact on how you care for the power plant. If the boat is in the water, you have the ability to run the engine periodically–and you should. Head down to the dock for an afternoon once a month and run the engine for 30 minutes, including a proper warm up and cool down. If you watch the exhaust, you can spot potential problems (for a story on how to read your boats smoke signals, see link below).
Of course, you will have to open the seacock on the cooling line to do this, which means you will lose your antifreeze and the engine will have to be re-winterized afterward. But the exercise will warm the engine, circulate the oil that has settled and charge the batteries. It also has one more advantage: it gets you on the boat for an afternoon, despite the snow outside.
Paul Esterle is Technical Editor for Small Craft Advisor Magazine, and his freelance work has appeared in Sail, BoatWorks, Voyaging and Good Old Boat magazines. He has produced a series of boating videos and lectures widely. He also works at West Marine and has written product reviews for the company.