winterization article

[Hollywood]

In the supplied winterization article "How to properly winterize your boat" by David Williams I noticed a not so helpful tip. In the "Clean, clean, clean your boat" section he says to apply a quality polish to create a protective barrier...blah blah blah. Any detailer knows that this is not the role of polish. Polish kinda actually does the opposite effect on your applied surface. Polish rubs away a layer, revealing that clean, shiney coat. Unless you reseal the surface you just wore away it will be even more seceptable to dirt and fading.

Basically, polish gives you the nice clean look, but needs to be sealed by a sealer or wax for protection.

[NautiqueJeff]

Hollywood:
Your post has been noted in the article. Take a look at the article now and you'll see that I have added your information. Thanks for catching that.


Clean, Clean, Clean Your Boat

Before putting your boat to bed for the winter, be sure to give it a good cleaning inside and out. If you store your boat with dirt, scum, barnacles and the like on the exterior, these impurities will be even harder to remove in the spring. Once the exterior of your boat is sparkly clean, apply a quality polish to create a protective barrier against dirt and dust.

Forum member Hollywood has the following response to the above section of this article:

"In the supplied winterization article "How to properly winterize your boat" by David Williams I noticed a not so helpful tip. In the "Clean, clean, clean your boat" section he says to apply a quality polish to create a protective barrier...blah blah blah. Any detailer knows that this is not the role of polish. Polish kinda actually does the opposite effect on your applied surface. Polish rubs away a layer, revealing that clean, shiney coat. Unless you reseal the surface you just wore away it will be even more seceptable to dirt and fading. Basically, polish gives you the nice clean look, but needs to be sealed by a sealer or wax for protection."


Another thing that this article fails to mention is that you should disconnect your speedo tubes from the dash and blow the water out before putting your boat away for the winter.

[skinautique]

Disconnecting a tube from the dash is too much of a headache. Take an air compressor hose and put the tip perpendicular to the pickup. Be careful not to blow the internal parts but if you do it right, you can blow out the water right there. Just do it a couple of quick bursts and you are set. Also, you can check to make sure that both pickups work.

[Hollywood]

we no longer have to worry about that on our 88. they've been long gone

[Onthewater]

we no longer have to worry about that on our 88. they've been long goneuhhh, what are you talking about kevin?

[Hollywood]

our speedos have a mind of their own kurt.

[M3Fan]

One thing I noticed about this article is the fogging oil procedure seems different than I've ever heard before. The article mentions just spraying it in carb- I assume with the engine off? Typically you'd spray it in with the engine running so it can be distributed evenly through the intake plenum. This is important because you really need to coat the valve stems with the fogging oil and I don't see how you could coat intake and exhaust valves, front and back and stems, by just spraying it in there (with the engine off). Even if you spray each spark plug hole, you won't get the back of the valves/stems. Some may be in the closed position. This portion of the article may be more relavant to 2 stroke outboards, which only have reed valves.

[skinautique]

M3 Fan,
spray it in the carb while the engine is running. Those of you with EFI can spray it in the air intake located behind the flame arrestor.

[M3Fan]

M3 Fan,
spray it in the carb while the engine is running. Those of you with EFI can spray it in the air intake located behind the flame arrestor.

...That's what I was saying! The article doesn't mention this while the engine is running. I agree with you completely!

[skinautique]

I didn't read the article and so therefore, I misunderstood what you were saying. :oops:

[NCH2oSki]

I am trying to figure out how to time spraying the fogging oil and run the rv antifreeze at the same time. How long does it take to fog the engine? How much pink antifreeze should I need?

Will I need to change my plugs next year after fogging? They have 60 hours on them, but are probably the original. Seems as if I have heard about oil on the sensors is a bad thing for efi...any comments?


Thanks for the suggestion with the hose and 5 gallon bucket, it worked great. I used it to warm up my engine for the end of season oil change.

[skinautique]

Use two gallons unless you have a heater or shower. I fog the whole time that I am dumping antifreeze. When the antifreeze is out, I quit fogging.

[SGY]

NCH2oSki, you probably heard the oil on sensor issue from an earlier post from me. I fogged my GT-40 last year by spraying through the intake. PCM says that's a no-no. It's considered a "dry intake". So, how I ask, does one properly "fog" the motor? I guess the solution would be to mix fogging oil (or two stroke oil), gas, and Stabil, all in one and run it through your fuel system into your motor. Thats how the shops do it around here. You then pour a copious amount of Stabil into your tank. At the same time you run antifreeze through your motor. Sounds like you need four hands.

Does anyone know where the pickup from the fuel tank starts? Is it on the small external fuel pump below the fuel cannister holding the fuel filter or does the fuel go into the cannister first? I can't tell due to the presence of what I assume are return or circulation lines.

[M3Fan]

Between fogging the oil through the air intake and mixing all the stuff together like you thought, I would fog REGARDLESS of what PCM says. Esp with the newer fogging sprays that even have a little extension straw on the nozzle. I know people that have fogged like this on EFI engines for YEARS and had no problems.

[MarkP]

I only fog my cylinders also!! My dealer also said it's a dry intake!!

[NCH2oSki]

One last note on fogging. Not thru the intake of the GT-40. I talked to Ski-Dim, they said NO, dont spray it in the intake, and Whitelake said not to also. Both recomended removing the plugs and spraying directly into the cylinders. Just thought I would mention this.

[M3Fan]

I don't see how they won't let you spray it in the intake. Spraying it in the cylinders only coats the cylinder walls- you miss the entire valve stem and seats, etc. And, apparently the risk of hydrolock is very high so I've heard that you should never risk it putting oil directly in the cylinder. I'm not saying anyone's wrong- I'm saying the PCM people should have thought of a way for people to properly winterize the boat when they designed the engine!

[tryan]

the 2 dollar question is .........what damage is done to a g-40 by fogging?

does it foul the injector tip? ( cylinder pressures exceeding fuel pressure? )
is the gt-40 injection controled by manifold pressure or mass air flow?

the vavles are stainless i assume, but the seats would corrode over the winter. a 10 second spray and flipping it over with the plugs out might slosh enough onto the seats.

[Levi]

what is the shortest time that you would go before you considered fogging? I'm currently in northern cali where I'm not winterizing. But i'm moving to Idaho in a few weeks where I'll have be winterized. Since it'll be the middle of March I figure that just draining the block and replacing with antifreeze will be enough? I may throw some Stabil in too as I heard the gas starts to go after a month........

Also, I know the RV anitfreeze is "biodegradable", but do you guys capture it each time...or do you just throw it in the lake and start it up and let it circulate into the lake? Sounds a little sketchy...and I'm sure you'd get some looks for that one!

[tryan]

i have always heard 1 octane point per month and a local boat mechanic said stabilizer is just as much of a pain to clean out of the carbs as varnished fuel. catch-22. imho, if you are fuel injected then stabilize. if your carbed, do the tank but drain the carb and make sure the float doesn't stick when you fire it up.

i re-fog or run mine up to operating temp every month if i can. if you read most smoker jet ski manuals, they lay up time is like 20 days. the old porsche owners manual says 30 days. i would base it on the humidity of the enviroment where the boat is stored.

you can put a hose fitting on your block drains and recapture most of the coolant/antifreeze.( that was the politicaly correct answer.)