2003 RXDI Winterizing Help

[cmouta]

Hello all, First time PWC owner, picked up a pair of 03 RXDI's this spring and ran them about 3 times this summer in the Long Island Sound, always flushed with fresh water after running. Looking to winterize them and the manual is a little tricky so I was hoping I could get some clarification on a few things. Step 1 says check "engine drain hose" and make sure there is no sand in it and if there is, clear it. I assume this is the cylinder drain hose? I can't find a way to easily disconnect this line to flush it. Any ideas?


Both my rxdi's have sand in them and I remember them being that way when I purchased them. Since I didn't know what I was looking at when I bought them, I assumed it was a debris line of sorts. Never had any overheating issues though.

I tried to continue on, clamping the appropriate hoses, removing the inlet hose that goes to the engine at the T:


The owners manual states I should pour antifreeze into the inlet hose until I see antifreeze at the "cooling system bleed outlet" and then put a clamp on the "bleed outlet hose". I'm not sure where I should be looking to see antifreeze at the bleed outlet and the bleed outlet hose is a black opaque one.

I started to fill the inlet hose(which was full of water when I disconnected it) and it filled with antifreeze and spilled out, never saw it move through the system. The maintenance manual says I should be using a 1/2" id hose 3 feet in the air to create pressure. Is that what maybe went wrong?

Thanks in advance! Winter is coming!

Also...would pressurizing antifreeze through the flushing port work for winterizing my rxdi? I understand this is one of those personal questions where some people say stick to the manual and others say they do it this way all the time and never have problems. Looking for some cold weather personal experience!

 

[Mekanix]

I use a bilge pump in a bucket of antifreeze and run a hose to the flush port.

Then run fluid through and collect it at the pisser and jet pump outlets.

Also I pinch off the water injection into the tuned pipe after I see the fluid color change color in that line. Some fluid ends up in the exhaust but is flushed out when starting afterwards.

At the end of it I also disconnect each line I can get access to and use a shop vac to suck and blow the lines clear.

 

[cmouta]

Is there a reason you clamp that off? Sorry I'm still new to the mechanics of pwc motors and their systems.

I've answered a few of my own questions from reading the maint. manual. The bleed outlet is the "pisser" or cooling system indicator according to this diagram:


I've marked up the points that it tells you to clamp in the manual. What I don't understand is Why you need to clamp the crankcase line if you're disconnecting the supply line at the engine (The hose on the left of the 4way T) and filling that. Also, Is the flushing port in the back connecting to the crankcase line?

So basically fill engine block, water flows through exhaust, once you see antifreeze out of the side of the hull, clamp that line, continue to fill until tuned pipe is full and antifreeze is coming out of the air compressor line. I'm still not sure why my supply hose on the engine side was just filling up and not passing coolant. hmm

 

[cmouta]

I also don't understand how pouring AF directly into the engine water feed hose while the engine is not running doesn't hydrolock the motor as opposed to flushing through the connector. Sorry for all the questions! Just trying to understand quickly

 

[cmouta]

Reading it again....disconnect engine hose from supply T and connect temporary hose. I've been thinking the manual wants you to connect a temporary hose to the engine side but It sounds like I'm supposed to connect temporary hose to the T! That makes way more sense! Can anyone please confirm that

 

[cmouta]

Just wanted to update...
2003 rxdi manual definitely does not make sense. If you follow it to the T, you will be pouring AF into the jet pump supply hose and out the intake. If you clamp that line, you will be filling your exhaust through the lower hose of the regulator valve. If you just pour AF into the intake hose directly to the engine, I believe you will miss the crankcase line. The main T in the manual doesn't even show a 4way connection, it's 3 way which makes me even more unsure of whats happening.

I ended up following a somewhat modified procedure for the 2003 XP DI(per maint manual, which confirmed all of the conclusions I had through all the AF I dumped into my yard and exhaust) which has you pull the lower hose off the water regulator and fill from there. clamp the water inlet hose, cylinder drain hose, and water outlet hose and crankcase hose. Fill with AF until you see coolant in the compressor line at the bottom of the hull, clamp that line, continue to fill until AF comes out of the cooling system indicator. The RXDI section said the reverse happens but for whatever reason(gravity and the height of hoses I'm guessing), my compressor line filled before my CSI line. I disconnected in the order of:

Compressor line
Crankcase line
engine cylidner drain hose
water outlet hose
water inlet hose

Then I reconnected the lower hose of the regulator valve, took off the upper hose, poured my 8oz of AF into that, reconnected and I was done!


Before all that though I definitely had plugged cylinder head drain hoses and ended up using a snake from harbor freight that I cut in half and put in the chuck of a drill. It was a slow and painful process but I finally got everything cleared:

 

[snikwad003]

If you use the pink RV water system antifreeze you dont have to worry about where it goes or what it gets on.

 

[jhjesse]

I suggest you connect everything back up and connect your garden hose to the flushing port at the back of the ski on the pump, crank the ski turn the water on and back flush for a couple minutes. Shut hose off then ski. Disconnect the hose crank ski and Brad the throttle a couple times to help get the water out.
Next get a transfer pump, gallon of pink rev antifreeze and a catch basin. Connect the pump to the flushing port with the other end in the gallon of antifreeze and catch basin under the pump. Crank the ski then turn on the transfer pump until antifreeze comes out of the pee hole. Turn ski off and disconnect everything and wait for antifreeze to stop dripping into the catch basin. Then call it a day...simple.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/countyline-transfer-utility-pump-1-12-hp?cm_vc=-10005

 

[snikwad003]

^I agree with what he said, but with your hose pincher on the feed line from the jet pump and your pan under the exhaust, then none runs out the jet pump and all of the liquid cooled things the DI has get antifreeze to them

 

[cmouta]

Thanks for the replies, I'm sure putting AF through a pump on the flushing QD would work but I was on a bit of a stubborn mission to understand the engine's plumbing and the manual's procedure(or spirit of the procedure). There's no reason clamping the lines and filling through a funnel wouldn't achieve the same thing, especially if you know what to look for and I'm confident I achieved it and in doing so, I was able to find the plugged cylinder drain line that I wouldn't have otherwise noticed if I flushed through the connector like I had been doing all summer after running.

I did search a ton of forums and saw that a few people ran into the same pitfalls I did so I just wanted to document my conclusions. The manual also says to use 60/40 AF.

Truth be told, I called a local authorized service shop and the guy said SeaDoo no longer recommends using AF to flush PWC's for environmental reasons. He says they just flush with water/saltaway and blow out with shop air to winterize.

 

[snikwad003]

http://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/pr...reeShipStore&gclid=CM38nOXLq9ACFYQkgQodCzwB3A

This stuff is made for the drinking water system in RVs and boats, so I'd bet it wont hurt the environment or your dog, I wouldnt want some water that air didnt get out to cost me a motor. Yes a funnel would do the same thing, a pressurized pump will do it better just like the jet pump forcing water through the system.