210 Wake 430hp Winterizing

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sandals99

sandals99

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Hello everyone,

Sadly it is time to store the boat for the winter. July was fun and unfortunately with work and life things got busy in August so really didn't use the boat at all and now with kids back in school and sports in full gear, it is time to store the boat. I have searched around and found lots of information but I am also feeling a bit confused and overwhelmed. With our old 3Litre Merc engine in the bayliner, it was a breeze to winterize. All i did was put in the fuel stabilizer, drained two hoses to let water out and then fogged the engine and it was done.

I just want to make sure i do it right as we get cold winters and it will freeze out here. Would love to put into indoor storage but it is expensive.

I am a bit nervous with this boat with the superchargers/intercoolers and i have read a lot but wanted to know if there was a good step by step i could follow. here is what i have pieced together so far:

1 - Pour in Fuel stabilizer into tank, and then fill it up
2 - Drain the intercoolers (need to find some pictures/videos so i know what i am doing)
3 - Turn engine over to expel water from intercooler, lube and connect hoses?
4 - Run compressed air through the flushing connector in the back of the boat to remove water from Exhaust manifold (if i does this can i skip #2 and #3 from above?)
5 - After i run compressed air, should i be putting antifreeze back into the flushing connector? (confused on this as i saw a video about this)
6- remove ignition coils and spark plugs and then spray XPS lube into each spark plug hole
7 - engine fogging - need some more info/videos on this as it is a bit different than our old boat
8- spray anti corrosion spray throughout the engine area

thanks in advance!
 
Check out these 2 threads below as well:

http://www.seadooforum.com/showthread.php?9132-1503-4-TEC-winterizing-procedures

http://www.seadooforum.com/showthread.php?54401-Pumping-antifreeze-speedster-winterization&highlight=winterization

The 3 main things are to get any residual water out of engine components that may freeze (intercoolers in your case), fuel stabilizer and fogging the cylinders.

Many of use simply pump RV antifreeze through the flush port to remove residual water since it is easier than removing hoses and such, plus it is very effective.

As for fogging the cylinders, I do not remove the fuel rail. I just spray a bunch in each spark plug hole then crank the engine a few times in drown mode so it will not start to splash it around the cylinders and valves.

Other smaller importance items are to clean and lube every metal and moving part in the boat, and if you have time take a look at your jet pumps. Make sure no water got into the cone and bearing area.

All in all, should be just about as easy as your old Merc., except now you have 2 engines!

Post back if you have any specific questions and we'll do our best to help out,
 
If you open the starboard side cushion up front, the one that is vertical behind the helm. You will see a snap in piece of vinyl, unsnap it and this will let you in behind all your gauges and steering wheel. Directly at the bottom of the opening will be a little switch that moves to the left. You have to slide it over and hold it while you start the engines (takes two people). This prevents the fuel system and ignition system from working, just allowing the engine to crank over. This is where mine is anyway on my 2012 Challenger 210 SE. Kind of hard to explain but if you can't get it just let me know and i will snap some pictures.
 
Thanks Giacobbi, i'll take a look there.

If I follow those two videos that show how to flush antifreeze through the system, this should also push the antifreeze into the intercoolers? If that's the case, i shouldn't need to disconnect any hoses from the intercooler to let it drain water, as i would have filled it through with antifreeze.
 
Correct. I have winterized my boat the last two years that way and i haven't had a problem yet. I live in upstate Ny and last February it was -20 the entire month. Glad I could help!
 
To put engines in "drown mode" all you need to do is hold the throttles wide open. Easy on the ski's but almost takes 2 people to do on the boats. With the throttle wide open the engines will not start. It tells the computer to turn off fuel and spark. Not sure about the gizmo behind the gauges to perform this operation.

My boat has an actual throttle cable, so it is easy to hold open. You guys with the newer drive by wire setup may have a different procedure. The owners manual may have some information.

If you pump antifreeze through each engine (using the normal back-flush ports by the jet pumps) and keep pumping until you see pink coming out of the jet pump and the exhaust port (engine running of course), you can be assured it went through the intercoolers and you will not need to disconnect any hoses from the intercooler. It usually takes 2.5 gallons of RV antifreeze to do my boat, but I do not have an intercooler. I would plan on 3 gallons per engine.

Let us know how it goes!
 
perfect, now I just need to go find a pump to use and start getting all the supplies together. Feels a bit less daunting now. thank you everyone!

here is my game plan:
-fuel stabilizer in the gas tank
-do the antifreeze flush on both engines
-fog the engines (hopefully don't need to remove the fuel rail)
-spray engine down with XPS lube spray
 
Any electric fluid pump should work, old bilge pump or small sump pump should be fine.

Tip on fogging the cylinders: I use a length of small diameter clear tubing, (small enough to fit into the spark plug hole and get down into the cylinder) then spray the fogging oil directly into the clear tube so it goes straight into the cylinder. The little plastic tubes that come with the fogging oil spray cans are not long enough to reach all the way down the spark plug tubes.

Your overall game plan sounds good though....
 
yep that should be the stuff, seems a bit expensive though compared to what we get in the states. It is usually sold pre-diluted, but I have heard from some people that they find concentrated stuff that you add water too.

Big thing is that it is non-toxic (safe for potable water lines) and safe for aluminum. All of them should have these qualities though for RV/Marine.

Most big box stores, like walmart, have this stuff on sale now for under $3 a gallon. May want to shop around. Also never hurts to have an extra gallon around especially since this is your first time and not really sure how much it will take.
 
So I picked up a bilge pump to use and also got that winterizing anti-freeze that i linked to above. (they had a sale on so was cheaper than what i had posted)

My question is this, that winterizing antifreeze had a note on the back that said that water in the lines must be removed prior to using this anti-freeze, because when mixed with water, it will expand. so should i first turn on the engines and let them run for a minute or so, in order to burn up any water, before i start the flushing with this antifreeze?

or i could turn on the engines, and then run my compressor and push air through the flushing connector?

thanks!
 
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Starting the engines and running them will do nothing to purge water from the exhaust cooling system, with the exception of maybe blowing out some water from the mufflers. Without any hydraulic pressure in/on the jet pumps there is no pressure on the cooling system.

Just go ahead and pump in the antifreeze as we discussed before, the process of pumping the antifreeze through will dispel all the water from the system. That is why we say to pump it until you clearly see it coming out as pink as how it went in.

The only place you may have some water mixing with the antifreeze in in the waterbox mufflers, but those don't matter much. If you really want to, you could blow some air into the flush connector AFTER you fully flush with antifreeze to dispel some of that liquid out, but it is not neccesary. That RV antifreeze will offer good protection even if diluted 50% with water. One of the members did a test experiment showing how well it protects a couple winters ago and posted the results. I'll try to find that post and link it here, might help put your mind at ease...

http://www.seadooforum.com/showthread.php?67897-The-experiment-begins&highlight=antifreeze+experiment
 
perfect, thanks! I ran out of time this weekend to start the winterizing but will do so this coming weekend. I've got all the supplies and with all your guys' help, I am feeling a lot more confident, thank you!
 
When you start pumping the antifreeze with your engine running, push your throttle a little past idle so there is enough pressure to blow out what your pumping in so you dont kill your motor or back feed coolant into it. On my Speedster 200 I think I had it at 3000 rpms or so.
 
Ran into one glitch as I started the winterizing process. the clear tube I bought fits perfectly with the flushing adapter for the back of the boat but is just a touch too small to fit with the bilge pump I bought. I am trying to figure out the best way of making this work now. I think if i get a bigger hose, it would be too big to connect to the flushing adapter. any tips or ideas?

thanks,
 
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Heat the end of the tube that fits to the pump with a lighter, it will make it pliable and allow you to push it on to the pump.
 
I got a tube to fit the bilge pump side and the other end I got a barbed hose adapter that screws into the flush port.
 
some WD-40 and a hair dryer to heat up the tubing solved that last problem. did a test of the pump in the kitchen sink and it seems to be fine. now i'll attempt this with the boat on Saturday!
 
So i Poured the first jug of the antifreeze into a bucket and got everything set up. Fired up the first engine and rev'ed it until about 3,000rpm and then turned on the pump, about 30-40 seconds later i had the antifreeze spraying out of the back (some from the exhaust hole on the side and the rest through the hole (not sure what its called, but the jet pump, area that you see behind the boat when on the lake spraying water out). i did both engines but i only use about 3 litres of antifreeze in total. not sure if that is enough?
 
So i went back out and changed my battery source for the pump, i think it was too weak and i now hooked it up to my trucks battery and i defientely used more fluid, in total about 12 litres of antifreeze through both engines, i hope this is enough. same thing this time where it was spewing out the antifreeze from the jet pumps more than the exhaust hole.
 
Alright, on to fogging the engine. got the ignition coils off, but the spark plugs are not budging and i don't want to apply too much force, any tips?
 
Spark plugs are hard. They should be hand tighten but they do get over torqued. Make sure you have a spark plug socket, they go over the nut part properly. The manual says "high tighten 1/4 turn with a socket."

Just use a 3/4 drive breaker bar and just knock them loose.
 
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