Any more Sugestions?

I've been winterizing my '84 Wellcraft 180 Elite XL with Merc 228hp 5.0 (Chevy) and Alpha 1 Outdrive. I would like to telll you what i've done and see if I've missed anything. Here goes.
1)Added fuel stabilizer
2)Change motor oil and Filter
3)Fogged Engine
4)Drained cooling system as follows: pulled 4 plugs (2 block, 2 manifold), drained hose at power steering cooler, big hose going into water pump.
5)Pulled of thermostat housing and filled block with a/f
6)pulled hoses going to manifolds and filled with a/f
7)Lubricated shafts on power steering hydraulic ram or whatever you call them.
8)Lubricated every pivot point I could find on carburetor and linkages
9)Lubricated pivot points on shift cable and shift cable where it connects to the shift lever.
10)Changed geal lube in outdrive. Greased spline on last prop change a couple months ago.
11)Will be changing fuel filter today.
12)Will give the boat a thorough cleaning inside and out.

If there is anything that I need to do before I put the cover on this thing and put it away for the winter, please let me know.

P.S. I noticed that the thermostat was in the open position when the engine was cold. I was expecting it to be closed. Will I need to change it in spring, or is that normal?

Thanks for any help, it'll help me sleep at night.

Re: Any more Sugestions?

Fill gas tank,change your thermostat...

Re: Any more Sugestions?

do you have the mercruiser service manual? if so, in it is a list of preventative maintenance that should be accomplished @ specified intervals. some for the engine, some for the drive. if not, go to the adults only sticky at the top of the i/o forum and get one. it should be there for download, though i must say, a quick glance at it i was confused about which one ya need for a '84... edit (figured it out, looks like #3, confirm by s/n)
you've not mentioned pulling the drive. at the very least ya need to inspect the gimble brg., ujoints, grease the coupling, run an alignment check. likely more. the s/m will specify what needs to be done.

fwiw. my list was 40 items long....

couple of other items i did was to put a bag over the carb. i also taped my fuel tank vent shut. store bow high, plug out... i also like to R&R the alpha1 type impeller. they're surprisingly fragile i think. I R&R mine yearly, every year normal use yields notable wear on mine. my 1 drive uses the same impeller as yours. when done doing that i like to pressure test the drive too. makes me think i'm hip for seals being sealed...

sounds like ya got the major stuff to me though... all water out of the cooling system is the biggie imho... sounds like yer hip there...

ditto on filling the fuel tank. condensation is the enemy. ditto on R&Ring the tstat. there supposed to be closed when cold...

Re: Any more Sugestions?

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I was thinking about waiting till next year to service the outdrive because it's brand new. The guy i bought it from had a brand new unit put on it after hitting a log and damaged it. Insurance paid for it. It was done by a certified mechanic and he replaced the gimbal bearing while he was at it, so it only has been in the water probably 8-10 times since the swap. The drive still has the paper bar code and part no. stickers on the outside, so I really feel like it's good to go for another year. Agree or disagree? So those impellers go bad a lot huh? I better keep a close on that.

Re: Any more Sugestions?

Agree or disagree?

Click to expand...

up to you. go read the s/m and see what ya think after reading the winterization section and looking at the pm schecdual. go back to the adults only sticky and read the winterization thread.

So those impellers go bad a lot huh?

Click to expand...

i don't know about bad, but they don't take abuse well. i.e. never run it dry. not for a second if ya can help it. http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/87/87_14.pdf if your like me, you'll forget though.
here's three years of impellers for me.





i may have mixed up year 1 and 2. but oldest is left, middle is 2 years old, right is last summers. all were abused at least once.
oldest and 2 years ago. both had dry runs for maybe 10 sec. best i can remember. last years is on the right. it got abused the worst. low water pressure. don't know how long the run was. but long enough my temp gauge to get just under red (no degrees on my gauge) on my old style gauge. the drive smoked. i assumed the impeller. note the extra curl to that perticular one. note they all still have curl too and the left one is 3 years old.



this is last summers. the low water pressure one that smoked. note loss of rubber on friction surface. heavier cracks on the inside of the blade + worse curl than the other two ever had.

so.

up to you. myself. i'd wonder if they did it right. is it aligned proper. i'd wanna see that no water intrusion has occurred inside the bellows. but up to you. it was in the water.

personaly i understand your none concern since it is new. but me. i'd check. i did with my nineteen that first season. got it in sept too so it only got a few runs too.....

edit, note that all my errors were in my driveway on the hose....

Re: Any more Sugestions?

If drive really is new, you should be fine another year. One thing these impellers DONT like is non-use as the rubber will take a set. 'nutcase

Re: Any more Sugestions?

Well, I shoud probably just suck it up and do it right I guess. Excuses are like a-holes right.