I know there are a zillion posts on winterizing, but as a newbie boater and a do-it-yourselfer, I thought I would share my experiences.
First off, I have a 2007 Chaparral 236SSX with a Merc 496 MAG and Bravo III. Here are the steps I took:
1. Porta Pottie - mine has the "suitcase" porta-pottie, so I pulled it out, cleaned it well, drained it completely and put it back in the boat.
2. Pulled out all carpet, cleaned thoroughly and hung in my basement
3. Pulled out all ropes and life jackets and hung in my basement
4. Boat has 1/2 tank of fuel, so I added sta-bil for 27 gallons
5. Hooked up muffs, Started engine and let warm up
6. shut down engine and drained oil through drain hose fished through bilge plug
7. disconnected outdrive oil reservior and emptied
8. lowered outdrive, removed outdrive vent plug, drain plug, and drained outdrive oil (had to lower tongue of trailer so that I could get outdrive completely down).
9. Replaced oil filter
10. Once outdrive drained, replaced oil reservoir and removed lid
11. Replaced engine oil plug and filled engine oil
12. Filled outdrive using $10 Mercruiser-issed pump (worked slick)
13. Replaced vent plug and continued to fill outdrive reservoir from drain plug hole.
14. Replaced Fuel Filter.
15. Hooked muff to water and warmed engine using fresh water
16. Shut down eingine and hooked muffs to a 5-gallon bucket with spigot and filled with antifreeze
17. Started and ran engine until pink water ran out exhaust.
18. Drained engine
19. disconnected fresh water tank and left drain.
20. connected fresh water pump to hose into antifreeze jug
21. turned on pump and rand transom shower and fresh water tap unil i saw pink fluid
22. washed it thoroughly from bow to stern
23. filled bearing buddy grease
24. checked and filled tires on trailer
25. parked boat in storage
26. lowered outdrive until it barely rests on a 2X6 on the ground.
27. Disconnet batteries and hook up battery tender
It did not go a smoothly as it could have. Here are some lessons learned:
1. Go to autozone and get a 3' X 3' oil drip pan to put underneath the back of your boat
2. make sure engine is REALLY warm before draining engine oil. it took almost an hour to drain the oil because I did not warm up the engine enough.
3. Have LOTS of paper towels and a garbage can handy
4. remove engine oil fill cap -seemed to make oil drain faster.
5. be sure there are no "humps" or "loops" in engine oil drain tube
6. start draining of outdrive oil BEFORE you remove the reservoir. Otherwise, pressure/temperature buildup will make oil dribbe from reservior hose.
7. remember to mark and disconnect wires to outdrive oil reservoir BEFORE removing it
8. Pack lots of paper towels around engine oil filter before removing.
9. give outdrive plenty of time to drain
10. remember to wipe your hands constantly so you don't leave black handprints all over your boat.
11. fresh water tank does not drain competely, but it does get low enough that it won't break anything when it freezes.
That's about it. Did I missanything?
Happy winterizing.
First off, I have a 2007 Chaparral 236SSX with a Merc 496 MAG and Bravo III. Here are the steps I took:
1. Porta Pottie - mine has the "suitcase" porta-pottie, so I pulled it out, cleaned it well, drained it completely and put it back in the boat.
2. Pulled out all carpet, cleaned thoroughly and hung in my basement
3. Pulled out all ropes and life jackets and hung in my basement
4. Boat has 1/2 tank of fuel, so I added sta-bil for 27 gallons
5. Hooked up muffs, Started engine and let warm up
6. shut down engine and drained oil through drain hose fished through bilge plug
7. disconnected outdrive oil reservior and emptied
8. lowered outdrive, removed outdrive vent plug, drain plug, and drained outdrive oil (had to lower tongue of trailer so that I could get outdrive completely down).
9. Replaced oil filter
10. Once outdrive drained, replaced oil reservoir and removed lid
11. Replaced engine oil plug and filled engine oil
12. Filled outdrive using $10 Mercruiser-issed pump (worked slick)
13. Replaced vent plug and continued to fill outdrive reservoir from drain plug hole.
14. Replaced Fuel Filter.
15. Hooked muff to water and warmed engine using fresh water
16. Shut down eingine and hooked muffs to a 5-gallon bucket with spigot and filled with antifreeze
17. Started and ran engine until pink water ran out exhaust.
18. Drained engine
19. disconnected fresh water tank and left drain.
20. connected fresh water pump to hose into antifreeze jug
21. turned on pump and rand transom shower and fresh water tap unil i saw pink fluid
22. washed it thoroughly from bow to stern
23. filled bearing buddy grease
24. checked and filled tires on trailer
25. parked boat in storage
26. lowered outdrive until it barely rests on a 2X6 on the ground.
27. Disconnet batteries and hook up battery tender
It did not go a smoothly as it could have. Here are some lessons learned:
1. Go to autozone and get a 3' X 3' oil drip pan to put underneath the back of your boat
2. make sure engine is REALLY warm before draining engine oil. it took almost an hour to drain the oil because I did not warm up the engine enough.
3. Have LOTS of paper towels and a garbage can handy
4. remove engine oil fill cap -seemed to make oil drain faster.
5. be sure there are no "humps" or "loops" in engine oil drain tube
6. start draining of outdrive oil BEFORE you remove the reservoir. Otherwise, pressure/temperature buildup will make oil dribbe from reservior hose.
7. remember to mark and disconnect wires to outdrive oil reservoir BEFORE removing it
8. Pack lots of paper towels around engine oil filter before removing.
9. give outdrive plenty of time to drain
10. remember to wipe your hands constantly so you don't leave black handprints all over your boat.
11. fresh water tank does not drain competely, but it does get low enough that it won't break anything when it freezes.
That's about it. Did I missanything?
Happy winterizing.
