Critique my winterizing plan/shopping list.

[Mordekai]

This will be my first year/time wintering my tahoe q4 (merc cruise 3.0L) so I'm asking for critique of my plan for fear of missing something and causing damage to the boat/engine. I'm mechanically inclined and have the manual in hand but inputs from actual people who have done it is always nice.

A few questions though:
1. Tahoe seems to have made some kind of quick disconnects to drain the block? 2 blue tubes that can be lowered to the bilge to drain it out. Is that all that's needed to drain the block of water?

2. When purchased, the technician that went over the boat indicated that all we had to do was get some type of grease gun and pump through the grease and push out the old ones until you fresh grease. EZ-Lube spindle, could anyone point to this type of grease gun?

If you have constructive criticism, please feel free and links to iboats items are a plus as I plan to make one big purchase from here. (dealers around here rape on anything "marine")

Cliff notes:

Planned sequence:

1. Fill up with non-ethanol gas + stabil.
2. Wash boat/wax it.
3. Change engine Oil ( Merc filter + 4 qtz of oil?)
4. Change drive lube (i.e drain the lower unit and add in from the top reservoir?)
5. Fog the engine.
6. Pump grease thru trailer spindle til fresh grease comes out.
7. Cover w/ support, check tire pressure and put away for the winter.

Unsure items to buy:
types of engine oil, drive lub oil and trailer grease/gun

Thanks for looking over my list!

 

[scoutabout]

Re: Critique my winterizing plan/shopping list.

Good luck and good for you for tackling your own winterizing.

A couple of notes:

Things have probably changed a bit since my 1992 Sea Ray so I'm not sure what the blue tubes are that you refer to. But my 3.0 Mercruiser (note - raw water cooled, not closed cooling system) had one brass screw in the side of the block (right side if you are standing in the boat, facing rearwards towards the engine) and, above and slightly further back another brass screw in the bottom of the exhaust manifold. This you need to feel around for as it is hanging down under the manifold where you can't see it.

Undo both of those and let the block and manifold drain. If you've just been running the motor be careful as the water can be hot. Run a piece of wire into the holes to ensure they aren't plugged with rust, then replace both screws.

Next, I would disconnect all the water lines and fill the engine with anti-freeze til it's running out of every open line. You can also button it up and leave it empty but proper marine antifreeze will help prevent rusting. Be sure you are getting all the water out of your outdrive as well. You could use the non-toxic pink RV stuff for this and pour it down the smaller intake and return lines that go down to your outdrive. You will see it running out of your prop hub when it's run its course.

As for the gear lube - fill it from the BOTTOM hole, not the top. The idea is to force the lube upwards, filling any air pockets til it starts leaking out the top hole. Get the outdrive as vertical as possible for this. The pump attachment for the gear lube bottle is a big help for this, rather than trying to squeeze the bottles through a narrow tip adapter. If you have the remote reservoir, check your manual as I have only done the kind without.

Other notes:

Make sure you run your engine after adding the stabil to get it into your fuel system.

Change your oil filter along with your oil.

Change your water-seperating fuel filter. What?! Don't have one? Buy a kit and install.

I usually spray the engine down with something like WD-40.

Touch up any chips on your outdrive.

Remove the prop, check there's no fishing line wrapped around the shaft or other obvious damage, grease it, then replace prop.

Check your power trim fluid resevoir and top up as necessary.

Your steering system and outdrive will have grease fittings on them. A couple of shots should be good. Your owners manual should point these areas out.

I usually pull the plugs, check, clean or replace as necessary and shoot some fogging oil into the cylinders, followed by a couple of cranks with the kill switch off.

Not sure of your description of the trailer greasing but if you have bearing buddies you don't want to shoot grease until you pop the seals. Just a couple of pumps while watching the spring-loaded plate move outwards a bit.

When you park it for good, lower the outdrive as far as you can so the rubber driveline and exhaust bellows are not flexed tight.

Last, take the battery out and keep it in your basement. Charge it up a bit every couple of months.

 

[NHGuy]

Re: Critique my winterizing plan/shopping list.

Agree with above. Also I believe the blue tubes are the current Mercruiser drain system, I can't tell you about them.
What I can say is store the boat with the drive down, that way there is no stress on the bellows and no where for water to pool & freeze in the lower drive. I'd get a small grease gun and a package or a 3 pack of Mercruiser grease. It costs extra but what's ten bucks against a boat repair?
There's a sequence to your oil change & fogging. Run the motor on muffs til it just starts to get warm, spray some Marvel mystery oil down the carburetor throat til she stumbles, shut 'er down. Put you oil sucker on the diptsick tube and remove the warm oil from the motor, cold oil is a bear to suck out the dipstick hole. Or maybe you have the drain hose attached to the hull plug, in that case still warm up the motor and just drain it through the hose. Change the filter, fill the crankcase. Change the water separator filter too.
There's a grease fitting on the steering near the transom, and there's one on the outer transom plate at about 4 oclock as you look at the stern.
There's a sticky with tons of detail at the top of the forum. You should read that.

 

[DuckHunterJon]

Re: Critique my winterizing plan/shopping list.

I'm going to add just a couple more non engine related things. Check all the compartments and holds for water. Sponge it out and dry it if there is any. Also, remove anything (life vests, towels, etc) that is wet or damp. Otherwise, you're asking for mildew issues.

Lastly, depending on where you store it, you may want to do something to keep critters from making a home out of the interior. I have terrible issues with field mice. I have tried killing them off, but after trapping over 100 in a week, with no signs of slowing up, I gave up. I use mothballs in all the compartments and a bunch scattered on the floor. They don't like the smell and leave it alone. In the spring, it only takes a couple of days of airing it out to get rid of the smell. Another thing to rodent proof it, is cover the exhaust outlet (center of prop) with plastic and tape - AFTER it's completely drained.

Depending on your storage location, YMMV - but better to be safe than sorry.