Winterization with antifreeze

[Smitty244]

I like to winterize with antifreeze. Last year I ran the engine on the garden hose for a few minutes and then turned the water off and gave a couple quick revs. I then filled a 5gallon bucket with an electric pump and started the engine and then plugged the pump in and ran the bucket empty. I had antifreeze coming out the exhaust and also the holes on the side of the boat. Is this good enough and the proper way to do it? I saw one video of a guy that clamped off a hose off the jet pump but I didn’t do that part.

 

[Julian]

If you want to run anti freeze, clamping off the intake to the pump will help get more of it into the water boxes - which is the ONLY place that traps water.

That said, the waterboxes should be called water cylinders. They are rounded. They only hold a little water at the bottom after you tilt up your boat and rev the engines a little. So not enough water is left there to do any damage when it freezes . The water freezes and expands up the rounded sides and nothing happens. I have NEVER in my 15 years moderating 2 Jetboat forums heard of a SINGLE person with damage to their water boxes due to freezing. For this reason, I say that running anti freeze through your engine is a waste of time and money. But it makes a LOT of people feel better - a great placebo. So they do it. And tell others to do it. (I think mostly because they owned I/Os before and this was the required routine with them to get anti freeze into the water pump and prevent the lower unit from cracking).

If you have a boat with ballast pumps or a shower pump, I'd spend time putting anti freeze in that well before I ever did it on the engine.

 

[Smitty244]

Ok thanks for the reply. I did own an I/o so that’s why I’m so paranoid. My boat is an sx195 so no ballast or shower pump.

 

[WV Hillbilly]

Second winter with a 195s, first jet boat but a ski owner and I/O boats for many years. At 2 bucks a gallon I like the way it makes me feel and I tell myself it helps with corrosion protection (no data on this one way or another) and a cheap policy against Murphy’s Law.

That said, I think @Julian is right on the money!

 

[Smitty244]

Second winter with a 195s, first jet boat but a ski owner and I/O boats for many years. At 2 bucks a gallon I like the way it makes me feel and I tell myself it helps with corrosion protection (no data on this one way or another) and a cheap policy against Murphy’s Law.

That said, I think @Julian is right on the money!

What’s your process that you do? Curious if it’s the same thing I do.

 

[biffdotorg]

So someone on one of the multiple Yamaha facebook groups posted up photos of his engine and what looked to be "coolant hoses" going to his oil filter and bolts going into the engine block. He was asking, "are one of these the places where I should unbolt and dump in the antifreeze?

Of course he got bombarded with people telling him to put it in the flush ports which would easily go into the system and onto the driveway as expected. But that was the consensus. My response was, "go ahead, pull out those hoses and bolts" As soon as he realized there was oil in the line, then that would be the wrong place, and if there was no water in the line, then there was no need for antifreeze and it would prove to all the members that Yamaha was not lying when they said in their manual that antifreeze is not needed as Yamaha engines are self draining.

Could you imagine if he had pulled a "wrong hose" and started dumping antifreeze in and trashed the engine. oof!

 

[WV Hillbilly]

What’s your process that you do? Curious if it’s the same thing I do.

Spend a day washing and waxing, add ring free (also do this at each fill up) and stabil, run the same coolant setup you described, fog the engine (an open valve letting moisture in scares me for some reason), drop the tower, open all of the compartments, place 2 buckets of descant in the boat, strap down the shipping cover, park the boat, and start wishing for spring.

 

[Smitty244]

Spend a day washing and waxing, add ring free (also do this at each fill up) and stabil, run the same coolant setup you described, fog the engine (an open valve letting moisture in scares me for some reason), drop the tower, open all of the compartments, place 2 buckets of descant in the boat, strap down the shipping cover, park the boat, and start wishing for spring.

How do you fog? I’m new to this and last year I just pulled the plugs and sprayed some in the cylinders and placed a towel over them and turned the engine over and put the plugs back in. I know some guys pull the air cleaner and spray in until the engine stalls. I don’t even know where the air filter is on the sx195 lol

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

How do you fog? I’m new to this and last year I just pulled the plugs and sprayed some in the cylinders and placed a towel over them and turned the engine over and put the plugs back in. I know some guys pull the air cleaner and spray in until the engine stalls. I don’t even know where the air filter is on the sx195 lol

 

[Smitty244]

It’s different on the svho because it goes through the supercharger. Is it ok for fogging oil to go through it?

 

[WV Hillbilly]

How do you fog? I’m new to this and last year I just pulled the plugs and sprayed some in the cylinders and placed a towel over them and turned the engine over and put the plugs back in. I know some guys pull the air cleaner and spray in until the engine stalls. I don’t even know where the air filter is on the sx195 lol

Same way. Pulled the plugs and rolled it over a couple of times.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

It’s different on the svho because it goes through the supercharger. Is it ok for fogging oil to go through it?

What does your manual say?

 

[Smitty244]

Owners manual says nothing about winterization and says to take it to a dealer to have them fog it

 

[Smitty244]

My next question is about greasing the bearing housing. The manual makes it sound like you can do damage if you do too much. My boat has 20hrs on it and it hasn’t been touched with a grease gun. How do I know how much to pump in?

 

[Evil Sports]

Warm it up on the hose, change the oil and filters 2x, run it to get the new oil through the system and a few burps to blow out the water and say see you next spring. 8th season like that with zero issues. And I live in the North above that NYer

 

[Evil Sports]

Dont mess with that housing as you can push the seals out then will have water intrusion.

 

[Smitty244]

Yeah kind of what I was thinking about greasing that

 

[mwalker4]

Tried a new technique today. Pulled the boat out let it drain on ramp and revved a couple times. Then pulled to the clean up area and extracted very warm oil. Drove home, changed filter and added oil. Revved it one more time and put it to bed in the garage. Topped off gas tank. I'll change the plugs over the winter. Probably clean and protect interior over winter also. No Muss no fuss.

 

[FSH 210 Sport]

My next question is about greasing the bearing housing. The manual makes it sound like you can do damage if you do too much. My boat has 20hrs on it and it hasn’t been touched with a grease gun. How do I know how much to pump in?

Do you have the service manual? If not you need to get one.

If you don't have a manual try calling the service department where you bought your boat To ask about fogging your engine. I didn't realize your motor was supercharged, so yes there is a possible concern there with compressor fouling, and possibly CAC fouling.

In the service manual, at least for my boat, it gives a very specific amount of grease that is supposed to go into the intermediate bearing housing at 10 hrs.

I used a graduated 60CC irrigation syringe to determine how much grease each pump of my grease gun put out then put in the specified amount of grease.

 

[Julian]

Dont mess with that housing as you can push the seals out then will have water intrusion.

I don't think you are suggesting that greasing the bearing is not needed are you?