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What would you do?

Nate Fallow

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As mentioned in my earlier post I just bought a new 212x. We were only able to go out on the water one time before it got cold so I'm wondering how aggressive I need to be with the winterization process. I don't feel like I need to do the whole fog the motors sitch...I wasn't planning on doing plugs and oil as the boat has 6 hours on it. I think I had read somewhere that Yamaha says to briefly goose the engines to get the remaining water out of it and call it good....has anyone else come across that information? The other sticky widget is that I can keep my boat in my heated shop for the winter but then it displaces some vehicles. I typically keep it in another garage that we have on the property that is not technically heated but is below a living space so it is a little warmer than a typical detached garage. Just curious if someone smarter than me has an opinion on the subject??
 

Dave burke

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I usually change the oil and filter but not sure you need to do that after 6 hrs. You do need to change it after the first 10 hrs.

All I do is drain the water out of the boat, fog the engine, add some sta-bil to the gas and goose the throttles a bit to clear any water out of the exhaust manifold. Pretty easy.

Then I take the batteries out and put the cover on.

I store my boat at the local fairgrounds. Dry but unheated.
 

GTBRMC

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What is your location?

Edit: It is a good idea to put your location in your profile, as local conditions vary a lot and can inform advice others provide on a variety of subjects. If you are cautious about private info on the Internet, pick a representative location that is close enough.
 

Nate Fallow

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What is your location?

Edit: It is a good idea to put your location in your profile, as local conditions vary a lot and can inform advice others provide on a variety of subjects. If you are cautious about private info on the Internet, pick a representative location that is close enough.
Good advice! I updated my location. I live in a small town near Medina Ohio. It gets pretty cold here in the winter for extended periods of time.
 

Cobra Jet Steering LLC

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Winterize it just like you used it all year don't change the oil, stabilize the fuel, remove the water from the engine , fog the engine, If you cover it be sure to vent the fuel tank outside the cover. In an enclosed area be sure the area is vented, unhook any batteries, remove the clean out plugs.
 

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I never even fog. Just blow out the engines with the goose method. Change oil and plugs. I know others do more (and recognize I am down south). But that is my 2 pennies.
 

GTBRMC

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I am not 100% up on the current boats and engines, but strongly suggest you read the owners manual and, at minimum, follow its procedure/advice.

Definitely follow the above advise to drain bilge, add sta-bil to the gas (prefereably trailer it around a bit to mix the sta-bil in the gas then run engines on the hose to get sta-bil treated gas throughout your system), gently rev engines to (mostly) empty the water boxes, and remove batteries, at a minimum. I would not change plugs yet, you are not even through the break-in period.

I would change the oil out of abundance of caution (and because I subscribe to the "let her hibernate with fresh oil so no varnish/contamination/etc will settle out during the long winter" school - not all agree with this), BUT changing oil is very likely unnecessary for your situation.

If heated storage is not too difficult I would do that, but cold storage is perfectly acceptable for these boats assuming proper prep beforehand. Definitely heated storage is easier on batteries, but those don't have to be stored with the boat. Also, and this is important, save yourself a ton of headache and significant $$$ over the long haul of boat ownership by purchasing a proper battery charger / conditioner to keep your batteries in great shape. A good unit is less $$$ than a single marine battery and will GREATLY extent your battery(s) life AND improve performance. Details on this are beyind scope here, but can be found using Jetboaters.net's search function. I used one religiously every winter (in Wisconsin) and my orginal heavy duty marine batteries (good but not great ones) were sold with the boat in perfect shape at exactly 8 years of service.

Good luck!
 

Nate Fallow

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Definitely follow the above advise to drain bilge, add sta-bil to the gas (prefereably trailer it around a bit to mix the sta-bil in the gas then run engines on the hose to get sta-bil treated gas throughout your system), gently rev engines to (mostly) empty the water boxes, and remove batteries, at a minimum. I would not change plugs yet, you are not even through the break-in period.

Good luck!
Thanks for the feedback....How do you drain the bilge?? Is it different than opening up all the drain plugs on the boat and letting water drain out of the stern?
 

GTBRMC

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Thanks for the feedback....How do you drain the bilge?? Is it different than opening up all the drain plugs on the boat and letting water drain out of the stern?
Open the bilge drain plug on back of transom, lowest point. Crank up the trailer jack and drain as much as possible water out.

As others mentioned, also pull your cleaning access plug out & lay it across the port to store. Also not a bad idea to clean any grit out of the port & plug interface points. Grit from lake & river water can settle in there and make it difficult to open port when you need access.
 
Last edited:

Dave burke

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I am not 100% up on the current boats and engines, but strongly suggest you read the owners manual and, at minimum, follow its procedure/advice.

Definitely follow the above advise to drain bilge, add sta-bil to the gas (prefereably trailer it around a bit to mix the sta-bil in the gas then run engines on the hose to get sta-bil treated gas throughout your system), gently rev engines to (mostly) empty the water boxes, and remove batteries, at a minimum. I would not change plugs yet, you are not even through the break-in period.

I would change the oil out of abundance of caution (and because I subscribe to the "let her hibernate with fresh oil so no varnish/contamination/etc will settle out during the long winter" school - not all agree with this), BUT changing oil is very likely unnecessary for your situation.

If heated storage is not too difficult I would do that, but cold storage is perfectly acceptable for these boats assuming proper prep beforehand. Definitely heated storage is easier on batteries, but those don't have to be stored with the boat. Also, and this is important, save yourself a ton of headache and significant $$$ over the long haul of boat ownership by purchasing a proper battery charger / conditioner to keep your batteries in great shape. A good unit is less $$$ than a single marine battery and will GREATLY extent your battery(s) life AND improve performance. Details on this are beyind scope here, but can be found using Jetboaters.net's search function. I used one religiously every winter (in Wisconsin) and my orginal heavy duty marine batteries (good but not great ones) were sold with the boat in perfect shape at exactly 8 years of service.

Good luck!
What kind of charger/conditioner do you use @GTBRMC? Thx
 

MidnightRider

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If you cover it be sure to vent the fuel tank outside the cover
Huh - interesting statement. Never really thought of that as this is the first time I'm storing it where it needs the cover left on all winter. However, since I never heard of this precaution before I'd bet that a high percentage of owners here don't do anything special about this even though Yamaha covers all cover up the fuel door and vent - I have never heard of anyone having issue with this. But makes me think.
 

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Well It isn't a new concept and I bet people who had their vinyl interior harmed when the boat was in a wrap never thought about it either. In any event food for thought as well as the obvious reason The big bang theory! lol.
 

GTBRMC

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What kind of charger/conditioner do you use @GTBRMC? Thx
I believe mine was something like this one (Note I had 2 batteries, so needed 2 bank charger / conditioner... bought mine in 2009, so the models have almost certainly changed since then): 022-0165-DL-WH
 

seanmclean

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Well It isn't a new concept and I bet people who had their vinyl interior harmed when the boat was in a wrap never thought about it either. In any event food for thought as well as the obvious reason The big bang theory! lol.
Yamaha covers are vented, and any competent shrinkwrapper will add a vent too. Rigging up some extra 'fuel vent' is a waste of time.
 

Ratket

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Yamaha covers are vented, and any competent shrinkwrapper will add a vent too. Rigging up some extra 'fuel vent' is a waste of time.
“ Competent” ... that’s a rare commodity right there. Is that before common sense in the dictionary or after? ROFL..
OP may have better luck getting struck by lightning.
 

Dave burke

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I believe mine was something like this one (Note I had 2 batteries, so needed 2 bank charger / conditioner... bought mine in 2009, so the models have almost certainly changed since then): 022-0165-DL-WH
thx. It says in your footer that you also used a ProSport charger. What did you think of that one?
 

GTBRMC

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thx. It says in your footer that you also used a ProSport charger. What did you think of that one?
Worked very well, but we mostly day boated via trailer and did not anchor for long stretches, so did not need it very often. Would be much more important for those that do "anchor at the sand bar and crank the tunes for hours" type of boating. I'd recommend the ProSport as a quality build and performer at a middle of the pack price point.
 
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