WINTERIZING???????????????

[rfinn04]

As we all are aware, this short summer is dieing fast. And soon it wil be time to winterize our boats. I would personally like to ask for any tips on winterizing the toyota's, or inboards in general.

When i purchased the boat the mechanic said he really did not suggest trying to winterize the boat our selfs, because there is a special way to winterize the fuel pumps and that if you dont do it properly they will go out fast, and i understand it would cost alot to replace them. Is this true?

As you can tell i have never had to winterize an inboard, and would greatly appreciate suggestions on what i should replace and change so that the boat will be in tip top shape for the following season.

Maybe it could even be a section in the maintenance tips?

[Epicrider]

The mechs at my service shop told me what they do for Toyotas.I followed their lead and had no probs at all this summer.
 They told me the block drain plugs are so hard to get to that they would almost have to pull thet motor to get them out.Don't know about that one.Anyway,........
  change the tranny fluid,cut a piece of garden hose off about 3 feet long.Get a 5 gallon bucket,fill with antifreeze.Set it next to the engine box(on top of a trash bag so not to get it on the carpet).Take the water intake hose off at one end(by the strainer),Stick the garden hose into the intake & the other end into the bucket.Start the motor,and hold the garden hose and cover the rest of the intake hose end to create some suction(make sense?) with the same hand.You should notice the antifreeze start to go down after a sec.Let it run until most of the bucket is empty and see that you have antifreeze coming out of the exhaust at a good rate.Then turn motor off & hook intake back up.
   After that,get a can of fogging spray,remove each spark plug & spray a good squirt into each cylinder,reinstall plugs.Turn the motor over once to lube the cylinders.Dont forget to take out all hull drain plugs,remove battery(to give it a charge during the winter)and change the oil.(I wait until spring to change oil).It really is very easy.My shop wants $290 to do that!!!!If you have a prob...call  me at 317-402-9478.
           Good luck!!Todd

[re-pete]

The mechanic at MD Boats in Indianapolis gave me pretty much the same scoop on winterizing as what Finner heard, with a couple exceptions:

1) Mix Sta-bil with the fuel in a full fuel tank, per the directions on the bottle (this is recommended in the Epic owner's manual.

2) Make sure you bring the engine up to operating temperature, and run if for a couple of minutes (with your garden hose connected to fresh water, otherwise you'll destroy the raw water impeller, and create hot spots that could crack the block once you introduce the cold antifreeze) before you take off the hose--this will ensure that the thermostat is open and you get antifreeze throughout the entire engine.  If you don't do this you run the risk of a cracked block(even though I am told Toyota insists they froze an unwinterize engine and the block did not crack.

3) Be friendly to the environment and use non-toxic antifreeze.

4) Make sure if you are up north where it gets REAL COLD that  you follow the mixture directions on the antifreeze bottle so that you get maximum protection.

5) I am told that if you use the foggin oil that comes in a spray can that you can spray it into your intake horn at the fron of the engine, and it will not only coat the cylinders, but will take care of the entire intake system as well (I'd be interested in feedback on this one, since the only thing that goes through our intake systems is air, being that we have multiport fuel injection directly into the cylinders)

6) The toyota owner's manual suggests changing the oil in the fall is the way to go so that any water present in the oil will be eliminated, reducing the chance of internal rust during the off-season.

A lot of other good stuff in the owners manual about pre-storage care...

Pete

[Epicrider]

Thanks re-pete,
 That's the same place I got my advice from...I know I forgot somethings.

[davidgree1]

I winterize mine and I live in Chicago.  I pull the petcock screw from under the port side (hard to get at).   The starboard side pet cock can't be removed, but it drains o the oil cooler.  Remove the oil cooler hose.  Blow out the heater and shower hoses if you have these.  I haven't used any antifreeze because I drain the engine.  I don't know if fogging is needed.  Maybe someone can find ut about this as the engine is aluminum.  I stabalize the gas ut I don't knbow if this is necessary.  

[cyclone]

I have used both methods, I would recommend the "drain the block" method. Loosen the petcocks on either side of the block, remove the drains from the exhaust manifolds, remove and empty the sea strainer (no other ski boat manufacturer uses that quality piece)
Remove the three 13mm nuts securing the thermostat, remove it to drain the water trapped behind it. Replace it (no gasket needed as it is properly engineered with an O ring seal!) It only fits one way, more good Toyota engineering.

Toyota froze blocks solid without failure, but on one motor I saw, a transfer tube under the intake manifold had a failed o ring. Pulling the thermostat drains this tube.

Fog the cylinders by removing the plugs and spraying, change the oil so it's clean while sitting.

If I lived in a very cold climate, I would probably fill the block with antifreeze. If you have run it first on pure water for fogging or warming up or whatever, I would drain it first before filling in with anti freeze. I live in a relatively warm climate and will put the boat in on a warm day, so the drain method is best for me.

I definitely recommend a fuel stabilizer, follow the directions. I also fill the tank every time I finish using it, it minimizes condensation in the tank.

[davidgree1]

Is fogging the cylinders necessary?  Can you spray the fogging oil into the air intake.  Yaking out all the plugs seems like alot of work.  Does anyone remove the impeller for the winter?

[cyclone]

I would pull the thermostat, it is two 12mm nuts and there is water trapped back behind there. If you are doing the "dry block" method, you should drain this.  If you are antifreezing everything it is not necessary as long as you circulate antifreeze. Removing plugs and blasting in fogging oil takes maybe 20 minutes. It won't work from the intake side, the engine will stall and you will foul the MAF sensor.

I will do a detailed writeup on winterizing tomorrow, it is a bye week for my beloved Packers.

[toyotafreak]

Pete, did you mean to say... Lakers

[cyclone]

Lackers. They lack a running game most days, sometimes a defense too!

[Epicrider]

Well...my heart finally broke today.I had to give in and winterize my boat today.Now I'll be driving my wife nuts talking about it and watching videos all the time.

[cyclone]

I dinked with PP during two 85 deg sunny days in Nov. , couldn't go out with the throttle linkage disassembled. Torture!