Winterizing

[JIGGIN']

Just a few thoughts on what you guys go through on the winterizing punchlist...

I moved up from an old Merc 40hp 2 stroke to a new Opti 150 DFI this year and this will be the first time I am wintering the boat/Motor. Any advice or good pieces of info you can share on the winterizing procedure would help me out a great deal. Might get her out 2-3 more times before I decide to mothball it for the winter. Thanks for any and all advice.

[eurolarva]

There is a real good post in the equipment forum or just click on this link

winteriizing

[ChuckN]

Winterizing a DFI/EFI motor is different from winterizing a carb motor. You do not want to fog a DFI/EFI engine thru the intake, like on a carb'd motor.

I would read the operator's manual on the nice new motor like that, or have a dealer help out if you are not comfortable.

When I winterize my EFI I simply take the spark plugs out and spray a little fogging oil into the cylinders and turn the motor over by hand (turning the flywheel).

However, Opti's injectors are more sensitive to fogging oil. I believe Mercury recommends pouring their brand Opti oil into the cylinders and slowly turning the motor over by hand to cycle the oil thoroughly.

Change lower unit lube.

Inspect/change fuel filter for water contamination.

[mr d]

just called a dealer on cost to winterize....jezzz 160.00 + extra to change oil and filter.

purchased a used i/o volvo p 3. and the prev owner mention removing a couple of tube turner over and your set.

whta gives here..??? please advise thanks

[marine_man]

What was included in the cost of winterization from the dealer? An I/O is a little more involved than a outboard, and in my opinion, worth the cost to have a dealer do it.

A couple things come to play here... does your I/O have a greasless gimble joint (the connection between the lower unit & the engine / trans)? If not, that is supposed to be greased annualy (which requires removal of the outdrive), so that my or may not be in the cost from the dealer. The other big headache is that you have to find all the drain plugs, run some RV antifreeze through the baffles / etc to make sure you don't crack the block, etc.

It's really not that much fun. It's not that hard to do either, but if you don't do a good job before it freezes you could be paying 10X the cost of the winterization cost to fix a cracked block.

marine_man

[Eckie]

Mr d ~

I have a Volvo i/o 4.3 on my boat. After 3 years of paying an average of $200 (by the way -- the $160 quote you received is a very fair price IMO) at a dealer, I decided to learn the task and do it on my own. As Marine Man said, it's a little more involved than winterizing an outboard, but it's not difficult. The biggest element is to make sure you get all the water out of the engine.

The Volvo's have a a nut located on the rear of each manifold. There is also one small nut/screw located on each side of the bottom of the block. These are a royal pain in the butt to get to (unless you're 4' 6" tall). Once these have been removed, water drained,fill with RV antifreeze and you're good. Then fog the engine (while it's running (keep the rpm's at 1500-2000) - don't forget the ears on the lower unit), change the oil and the lube in the lower unit....Done.

Shouldn't cost more than $30-$40 (including oil/filter).

For the record, if you're not comfortable with process I mentioned, take it to a dealer. Paying $200 a year to maintain and protect your boat/investment is chump change compared to shelling out $2000-$3000 for a new block.

Good luck!