Winterization Cost

[muc]

But this new Mercury engine has no "blue plugs" and the dealer said the water had to be sucked out.

Somebody be pulling somebody's leg. Your son might want to read his owners manual.

All of the new MerCruiser engines have the blue drain plugs.
No MerCruiser engines need to have the water sucked out.

All new MerCruiser engines have closed cooling, so no need to drain the block.

They are almost the easiest engines to winterize.

The only "sucking" involved is sucking in the required anti-freeze. But MerCruiser thoughtfully provided an impeller to do that.

 

[tacx]

$550 for 20' or less ($650 for > 20') at the one place in South Jersey.

Includes replacing all oil's, filters, drain/flush block & fill with anti-freeze. Pull outdrive, check & lube u-joint, check bellows, lube gimble. Fog the engine, spray anti-corrosive on engine.

If the service is just for the engine and outdrive, why does the length of the boat matter?

 

[Lou C]

perhaps the "if you're gonna play, you gotta pay" saying should be amended to:
"if you're gonna play, you gotta read, and git some schoolin', so read the manual, an' I ain't foolin'"

Here's my collection of manuals....dating back to the early 70s (Motor's Repair Manual, John Muir's Volkswagen book, OMC shop manual, Suzuki shop manual, and on....)

 

[muc]

John Muir's Volkswagen book

Possibly the best (for the complete idiot) repair manual ever written!

 

[Scott Danforth]

perhaps the "if you're gonna play, you gotta pay" saying should be amended to:
"if you're gonna play, you gotta read, and git some schoolin', so read the manual, an' I ain't foolin'"

Here's my collection of manuals....dating back to the early 70s (Motor's Repair Manual, John Muir's Volkswagen book, OMC shop manual, Suzuki shop manual, and on....)

Lou,

if you want about 75 late 60's to mid 80's fisher body manuals, let me know. you pay shipping. I also have about 4 motors manuals from the early 70's in the stack.

Im tired of listing them on ebay and CL

 

[nola mike]

Possibly the best (for the complete idiot) repair manual ever written!

I've got that one kicking around somewhere as well...

(BTW, I *think* I took my last ride in the Glastron for the season today, and then winterized it--90 seconds, including double checking that the the aft plug on my HX is the raw water plug)

 

[Lou C]

Possibly the best (for the complete idiot) repair manual ever written!

Yep it is. Legend has it that John Muir was an aerospace engineer, then dropped out of convention society to live in Taos NM and work on a collection of VWs for some years after.
I used this book with my first 2 vehicles:
VW based Fiberfab Dune Buggy, built in '68 or so, we bought it in '72. It was built from a 1956 VW Beetle shortened to an 80" wheelbase (standard for VW based buggies) and had a '62 1200 cc VW engine....I did a lot of general repairs on this one, including replacing the whole old VW wiring harness (mostly non functional lol) with a replacement unit from JC Whitney & Co (remember them?) That job taught me how to solder and use crimp on terminals, and the need for grounds in a fiberglass bodied vehicle....
1965 VW Beetle. Bought this to drive in the winters, I used to pull the engine out of the buggy and put in in the bug for the winter, had to change the exhaust system as well in so doing. We used to use a reinforced mechanic's creeper with 2 scissor jacks and a 2'x2' piece of plywood to swap the engines. Got it down to about an hr.

Do miss those old air cooled beasts. Would like to have another one day.

 

[Lou C]

Lou,

if you want about 75 late 60's to mid 80's fisher body manuals, let me know. you pay shipping. I also have about 4 motors manuals from the early 70's in the stack.

Im tired of listing them on ebay and CL

Got anything for a full size 1970-1972 or so Chevrolet in your collection?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Got anything for a full size 1970-1972 or so Chevrolet in your collection?

PM coming

 

[JimS123]

Somebody be pulling somebody's leg. Your son might want to read his owners manual.

All of the new MerCruiser engines have the blue drain plugs.
No MerCruiser engines need to have the water sucked out.

All new MerCruiser engines have closed cooling, so no need to drain the block.

They are almost the easiest engines to winterize.

The only "sucking" involved is sucking in the required anti-freeze. But MerCruiser thoughtfully provided an impeller to do that.

In my professional career as a design Engineer, I used to write the freakin manuals. As such, I always read the stuff that comes with my stuff. Now, on the other hand, my son is not as diligent, plus he has ample funds to geterdone, with little time to do it himself.

Thanks for the info. I'll pass it along, and hopefully next year we can bond and do it together.

It just pi$es me off now, that a dealer would say that to garner more income.

End of rant.

 

[achris]

...

It just pi$es me off now, that a dealer would say that to garner more income.....

Don't blame the dealer. He has overheads.

 

[JimS123]

Don't blame the dealer. He has overheads.

Sure! And so do I.

He has done 95% of the routine service work over the past 15 years, so we must be a good customer and we have always been satisfied. He would have gotten the job anyway. Its his implication that we NEEDED him and couldn't do it ourselves is what has made me mad.

 

[achris]

Sure! And so do I.

He has done 95% of the routine service work over the past 15 years, so we must be a good customer and we have always been satisfied. He would have gotten the job anyway. Its his implication that we NEEDED him and couldn't do it ourselves is what has made me mad.

Hey Jim,

My comment was 'tongue in cheek', with reference to another dealer here with the same arrogance, also suggesting that owners are incapable of properly wintering an engine.

Chris

 

[harringtondav]

I got into DIY 49 yrs ago when I was a penniless kid and could only afford junk yard fodder cars. When I bought my first new car 33 yrs ago I purchased the factory service manual. Same for each of the next six new cars since. Same with my Merc manuals #14 &18. These manuals, plus a full set of Alpha special tools have saved me thousand$ over the years.

I can afford to pay a shop for what work comes up now, but I don't/can't. I suffer from OCDIYD: Obsessive Compulsive Do It Yourself Disorder

 

[Lou C]

lol, on my shelf of books there is not a Chrysler Shop manual for my now old 2007 Grand Cherokee. Why, because its a giant PDF file on my computer, total # of pages is approx. 7,800! And this is what is now an old vehicle, I can only imagine the added complexity that one would see in current auto manuals.

 

[harringtondav]

Lou C True. I bought the CD manuals for our '14 Dart and '17 Cherokee. Same $100+ as the old NYC phone book manuals, but a lot less detail, and no wiring diagrams. I also bought the extended warranties. We tend to keep cars for a looong time. Long enough that, at my age, my wife may end up dealing with the vehicles. I'm getting tired of wrenching anyway. Our 20 yr old rust bucket Durango, son's '05 Neon, daughter's '07 Sebring are about as much as I care to deal with.

 

[achris]

Haha.. I started with a car that my father purchased for $20. It was a local council impounded vehicle, unregistered and with a seized engine... That was 1977. I've been serviced and repairing my own cars since then, and most of the family's.. My introduction to boats was when I had a problem with a MerCruiser stalling when going into gear. Knowing nothing about anything on these engines, I took it to a dealer :facepalm: At the end of the day the dealer calls me and tells me he can't fix it, didn't know what's wrong. I took the boat home, purchased the factory manual and figured it out... That was 1986. Haven't taken a boat to a dealer since.

I'm also getting older and less capable of the physical demands of humping drives and the like around. So I'm moving to more 'tools' to assist. Refitting that B3 drive last week prompted a new tool to be fabricated, a drive lift, utilising a 1.5 ton floor jack as the basis... So, I shouldn't have to be lifting any drives again.

 

[JimS123]

Lou C True. I bought the CD manuals for our '14 Dart and '17 Cherokee. Same $100+ as the old NYC phone book manuals, but a lot less detail, and no wiring diagrams. I also bought the extended warranties. We tend to keep cars for a looong time. Long enough that, at my age, my wife may end up dealing with the vehicles. I'm getting tired of wrenching anyway. Our 20 yr old rust bucket Durango, son's '05 Neon, daughter's '07 Sebring are about as much as I care to deal with.

Ok, if you want to talk about Loooong time cars.....

My boat towcar is a 1980 full perimeter frame V8 land yacht. I bought the manual when new as well. (Back in the day I had one for every car and every boat too). When you open the hood all you see an engine! A carb on top and 8 wires on the sides. Every spark plug is visible. Piece of cake.

We also have 2017 and 2018 daily drivers and when you open the hood all you see is a mess......LOL. My laptop can run a PLC in a factory, but I don't have the software to diagnose a Ford or a Chevy.

I suppose its possible, but I'm enjoying retirement too much to mess with it any more. This was the first year i didn'tr personally winterize a sterndrive, because she went to new owners in late summer. Next year I'm looking forward to our new Black Max 4-stroke. No more gimble bearings, water draining, u-joints and the godawful bellows.

 

[harringtondav]

Yep, Chris. I'll be fabricating a dolly/stand for my little Alpha when I pull it for this year's annual. Necessity is the mother of invention. ....followed by old age. I recently fabed up a couple cheater bars to carry in my wrench (spanner) canvas tool bag. Down, but not out - yet.

 

[Scott Danforth]

purchased the factory manual and figured it out... That was 1986. Haven't taken a boat to a dealer since.

I have said many times the difference between pros and hobbyists are the pros get paid.

the scale is the same with the pros and the hobbyists..... some are really good..... some are not so good.