Scarab/Chaparral/Glastron Rotax winter prep

[Briwhy]

@ScarabMike I have 40hrs on my gts207. I asked my dealer if they changed the jet pump oil and they said that I have low hrs on my boat that they would do it at around 100hrs. I boat only in fresh water if that matters. Is this something I should make sure they do every season?

 

[Speed_Freak_039A]

As we said above its every 100 hours unless signs of failure.

 

[RodK]

Thanks Scarabmike.. a great post and just what i have been searching for!

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Well, I just completed my very first winterization (still have to clean it). Things I've learned/noted:

1. Apparently it's possible to insert the oil vacuum pump tube too deep into the oil dip stick. It got stuck and I essentially had to tug hard to pull it back out. The tube got kinked in there somehow. Anybody knows this and knows how deep it should go?

2. My dealer didn't put much oil in the spring I gather since my dip stick showed it was at its lowest mark. I only took out about 2.5 quarts. I did everything I could to take more out (hence why my tube on point 1 got stuck).

3. You apparently need a special socket to pull the spark plugs (I kind of suspected this, but from a guy who has never really done car work, it was a slight surprise... neighbour to the rescue!).

4. RV antifreeze flush went very well, no issues there. Used a drill pump along with a bucket and a couple of gallons of it. Ditto on battery removal and oil filter replacement.

Took me longer than I anticipated because of the stuck tube and not having the correct socket for the spark plugs. But not horrible overall.

Thanks for all the info and tips! It came in handy.

Luc

 

[JetTech72]

@Luc Lafreniere
1- You should be able to use a 1/4 OD tube & recommended depth would be 18 3/4 in. Mark tube with tape or marker.
2- Make sure you follow proper procedure when changing oil, those 4Tec oil gallery are tricky. Before changing oil you need to start engine & run it for about 10sec @ 4000rpm before shut it off. You should normally get 3 to 3 1/2 quart out. You could briefly restart the engine, which will move oil back in the main gallery. That way you could probably get another 1 to 1 1/2 quart out.
3- the trick is to loosen the spark plug with standard 5/8 deep socket & then use the coil to get the plug out. I would normally suggest to change the plug before the start of the season, especially if you fogged up the engine with some lube.
4- Living in Canada running antifreeze is always good but not necessary. Blowing in air in the cooling line from the flush side should be sufficient.

Regards

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

1. Noted, 18 3/4 in... lol wish I would have known that before. Is this in the manual? I didn't notice it. I'll make sure that's done now for next year.
2. I did run the engine before doing the oil change as per instructions. Got the oil warm so that it would be easier to vacuum out. I also loosened the oil filter bolt and let it drain before sucking out oil... so what I got out is everything that was in the engine. Now that I filled it up, checked, ran the engine, checked again, until things were stable, it now sits at "full" on the dip stick. I'll be monitoring this next summer to see if it goes down at all.
3. Yeah, apparently my deep socket isn't deep enough. I'll be purchasing the correct one tonight and keep it in the boat. I saw the coil to pull out technique after I got them out using needle nose pliers. lol Another trick noted for next year.
4. Considering how easy it was to flush with antifreeze, I'll probably just keep doing that.

Thanks for the info. Much appreciated. Glad I'm pretty confident in doing this myself every year. Save a few dollars and make sure it's done properly. Now I just have the issue of probably having an oil light next year sometime when the computer thinks I need to do an oil change.

 

[Samson]

Hi. I bought Briwhys gts207. I also purchased the rotax service manual. In both the service manual and the owners manual is doesn’t mention anywhere about the part people mention about taking Intetcooler top and bottom hoses off and pouring in antifreeze. It says for freezing temperatures to blow air into the flush port valve to get the little remaining water out. It also says the system is self draining. It also says for general storage to take hoses off of intercooler and drain. But specifically for freezing temps / winterization the only thing to do regarding the intercooler/exhaust is to use the compressed air. Everybody else’s manuals say the same ? I have the 250 hp sc. I assume with this instructions that my intercooler is internal ? Maybe engines with external inter coolers have something different in there manuals ?