Winterize 1998 5.0 Gi

[jwilkey84]

I finally got a "decent" family ski boat this fall. All I've had in the past were crappy fishing boats with outboards...so I've never winterized an i/o before. I usually don't mind doing my own maintenence to save a few bucks...but I have questions. I looked they the stickies but didn't find what I was looking for. I also took some pics because I've watched a few YouTube vids but didn't quite see my configuration. I'm also searching for a service manual; if someone knows where I can download one. So the boat is a 98 four winns 200 and the motor is tucked in there pretty tight.

1. Is it acceptable to remove some plastic pieces in the motor compartment to access stuff? I'm pretty small and it's tight to get to the block and manifold bolts.

2. I took out the block plugs and drained. Also drained the front hoses on the manifolds; do I still need to drain the back side of the manifolds? They have a rubber cap on them held on with a hose clamp; unlike I've seen in any vids. I'll also mention that this boat has been serviced by a VP dealer it's whole life until now.

3. Is it a bad idea to just skip all this water draining and just suck some antifreeze into it?

4. I've seen so many ways of winterizing it's no longer fun ! Some guys simply drain the water and call it good. Some guys remove tstat and fill block with antifreeze. I want to know how to do this in a way that is sufficient for iowa winters but not necessarily overkill.

5. Motor oil?...what a can of worms! My local non VP service provider said if they were to winterize it and change motor oil for me...they would use sierra filters and sierra 25-40 oil; is this acceptable ?

Thanks for all help and opinions ...this is a bit more overwhelming than I thought it would be.

 

[Bondo]

3. Is it a bad idea to just skip all this water draining and just suck some antifreeze into it?

4. I've seen so many ways of winterizing it's no longer fun ! Some guys simply drain the water and call it good.

Ayuh,..... It sure Is a Bad idea to skip the process of Drainin' everything,....

When drained, Mine stay that way,.,.. -40 is not unheard of 'round here, 'n ain't split a block yet,....

Even if ya antifreeze, ya Gotta Drain 1st,.....

 

[jwilkey84]

So you drain the water then call it good? No antifreeze ?

 

[QBhoy]

A few theories on this...bondos is tried and tested as good...but perhaps not so great long term (in my opinion), but still totally fine.
What's not fine is not draining the block and the rest, no matter whether you go antifreeze or not.
Also wouldn't advise spraying fogging oil into a fuel injected engine either. Either don't bother or run and bit of a 2 stroke mix through the fuel...if you are fussy.

 

[jimmbo]

Also wouldn't advise spraying fogging oil into a fuel injected engine either..

Why? The oil would coat the tops of the valves and the exposed portions of the valve stems. If you're worried about a bit of residual oil on the intake runners, next spring a bit of Induction Cleaner spray or Engine Tuner will wash it off. Gasoline from the injectors will wash the valves off

The newer engines with Cats would of course be a different story

 

[jwilkey84]

For what it's worth...this is just a tbi (throttle body injection) engine.

 

[tpenfield]

My opinions are within your questions below.

1. Is it acceptable to remove some plastic pieces in the motor compartment to access stuff? I'm pretty small and it's tight to get to the block and manifold bolts.
Plastic ??? do you mean intake covers and similar things that make the engine look pretty? Sure . .

2. I took out the block plugs and drained. Also drained the front hoses on the manifolds; do I still need to drain the back side of the manifolds? They have a rubber cap on them held on with a hose clamp; unlike I've seen in any vids. I'll also mention that this boat has been serviced by a VP dealer it's whole life until now.
A few pictures would help, since many of us are more Mercruiser experienced, but if the front hose is the lower hose, then the water should drain.

3. Is it a bad idea to just skip all this water draining and just suck some antifreeze into it?
Yes, it is a bad idea . . . to demonstrate . . .take a cup of water that is filled to the top . . . now pour an equal amount of antifreeze into the cup . . . of course the cup immediately overflows . . . but after all of the antifreeze is poured into the cup, how much water is left in the cup? How much antifreeze made it into the cup ? :noidea: The same sort of thing happens in the engine with the no-draining approach.

4. I've seen so many ways of winterizing it's no longer fun ! Some guys simply drain the water and call it good. Some guys remove tstat and fill block with antifreeze. I want to know how to do this in a way that is sufficient for iowa winters but not necessarily overkill.
Pre-draining is important, because of the 'cup overflow' example I just stated. Folks add the anti-freeze more as a corrosion/rust inhibiting step, or they heard about it on the Internet. Also, keep in mind that the "-50 F" antifreeze will become solid at about -15 F . . . which can beak some plastic parts of the cooling system, if your winters get really cold (-20 F ish) So, you may want to go up a notch on the antifreeze . . . there are -60, -75, and -100 ratings.

5. Motor oil?...what a can of worms! My local non VP service provider said if they were to winterize it and change motor oil for me...they would use sierra filters and sierra 25-40 oil; is this acceptable ?
Sure, no worries.

Thanks for all help and opinions ...this is a bit more overwhelming than I thought it would be.

 

[jwilkey84]

I took pics but can't upload em because they're too big.

The plastic I was referring to is like plastic "lumber" pieces in the engine compt. They support the engine cover and sundeck but make it hard to access the engine.

So the manifolds have a water hose on the front side and a capped end on the back side , do I have to drain both the front and rear of the manifolds ?... looks like the rear caps have never been removed by looking at the hose clamps that hold em on. In fact it looks like the front hoses had never been removed till I undid the hose clamps. Would a VP dealer be winterizing these things somehow without draining the manifolds ?

 

[Lou C]

Agree with the responses that say you must drain to be on the safe side.Remove whatever interior panels you need to in order to gain access. If you have the metal drain plugs I like to put a bit of non hardening gasket sealer on them so the come out easy the next time. The engine has a plug on each side of the block and the manifolds also have either a metal plug or a rubber cap depends on the style used. You poked all the drains yes? Water came out yes?
There is a big hose that goes from the front circulating pump to the thermo housing. Disconnect the bottom end of this hose and let it drain. Re connect when done. Then you have your raw water intake hose from the transom to the impeller housing. First put the drive down all the way. Then disconnect this hose at the impeller housing and hold it down to drain out the water. Now there is a power steering cooler on the back of the engine with a drain on it, but it can be very tough to reach, holding the hose down may drain it if the drive is down but this us a better way: home the hose up and stick a funnel in it. Then fill the hose with -100 marine AF till it runs out the water intakes on the drive. This will push out any residual water.
I also like to fill the engine with -100 by disconnecting the big hose at the thermo housing and filling it with -100 till it spurts out the thermo housing. Then re connect that hose. Finally I fill the ex manis by disconnecting their feed hoses at the thermo housing and filling them with -100 till it runs out the exhaust housing on the transom mount (you'll hear it). Re connect those hoses.
The AF part is optional and up to you. I also have an H-200 with the big bench seat and I replaced it with 2 smaller bench seats (36" wide) and made the rear wood bulkhead behind them in 2 pieces with a take apart hinge . So I can pull out one seat, open and remove one side of the bulkhead and get enough access to change the oil and get at all the drains.

 

[QBhoy]

Why? The oil would coat the tops of the valves and the exposed portions of the valve stems. If you're worried about a bit of residual oil on the intake runners, next spring a bit of Induction Cleaner spray or Engine Tuner will wash it off. Gasoline from the injectors will wash the valves off

The newer engines with Cats would of course be a different story

Hey Jimbo
Just because it isn't a great idea with a FI engine. It's pretty well known. Perhaps not so much with the single point....but certainly the mpi.

 

[jwilkey84]

So let me know if I've got this right...

1. Run engine to circulate treated fuel, and i think I'll fill the tank for winter

2. Disconnect the two hoses that go from the tstat housing down to the front of the manifolds, to drain manifolds. Also remove both plugs in engine block.
Do I need to drain the manifolds at the rear as well since I drained the front side already; the back sides are capped with a rubber cap and hose clamp that look like they've never been removed.

3. Remove and drain hoses on the raw water pump

4. Remove bottom end of large hose that comes from tstat housing, drain.

5. Drain the power steering line...still haven't got this one down for sure yet?

6. Then just put all hoses and plugs back in and fill the manifold hoses with -100 AF till it runs out the transom? Also fill the main large hose that comes off the tstat housing with -100 AF?

I was also thinking about changing motor oil. At the top of my dipstick area it is threaded like a garden hose and that line runs all the way to the bottom of the oil pan area...do they screw something on here and suck the oil out for oil changes? I didn't even see a normal drain plug but I wasn't looking for one either...

And I assume changing the outdrive oil is similar to an outboard...drain and then fill from the bottom till oil comes out the top?

 

[jwilkey84]

I'm sure this is all spelled out in a service manual. Where can I get one?

Also do I need to remove the outdrive to check gimble etc. ?

 

[QBhoy]

Oh jeez....it's a mine field and few are committed enough to state it on such a forum.
Wht most will say is to drain all plugs and make sure it's drained by poking things in the drain holes to make sure....I agree with removing all drain plugs...but think that the reason you poke he drain holes is to make sure the flakes of corroded metal (from the inards of the engine) aren't blocking the holes. If....from new...you leave the engine full of antifreeze...it shouldn't have flakes of corroded metal built up in there.
In my old engines (from the 80's) I never bothered with antifreeze... and never had a freezing problem...but always had big flakes of corroded internals in the block and exhausts....since I had my fancy mpi engine...I have always filled with anti freeze in the winter.....funnily enough....there is never any big flakes of corroded metal when I drain her. Even when you poke the drain holes.....go figure !
Air don't freeze....but by god...it promotes corrosion.

 

[jimmbo]

Hey Jimbo
Just because it isn't a great idea with a FI engine. It's pretty well known. Perhaps not so much with the single point....but certainly the mpi.

First I've ever heard of it

 

[Lou C]

Supposedly the fogging oil can foul some of the sensors used in the intake of throttle body or multiport EFI systems. Not sure if spraying it in the plug holes avoids any issues, I'd imagine that its pretty safe as long as its not a cat converter equipped engine.

​The whole topic of fogging, depends on your storage situation. If the boat is inside, in a dry garage, then I can see not doing it. All my yard equipment sits in a garage or shed and I don't fog any of them. However, the boat sits outside all winter and we get a lot of dampness, moisture and condensation. So I've always fogged it. Even with a good cover and support system, you get condensed moisture.

 

[QBhoy]

First I've ever heard of it

It's now in the manual to mix fuel with 2 stroke instead...fogging oil to be avoided at all costs down the throttle body, at least.

 

[muc]

It's now in the manual to mix fuel with 2 stroke instead...fogging oil to be avoided at all costs down the throttle body, at least.

its not so much the EFI (but that does play into it, depends where the sensors are located) its more the design of the intake manifold. some of them have "pockets" that the fogging oil can collect in, and then when high enough RPMs are reached it can all get into a cylinder at once and bend a rod.

 

[muc]

I'm sure this is all spelled out in a service manual. Where can I get one?

Also do I need to remove the outdrive to check gimble etc. ?

Your Volvo dealer can get them or you can order them on Volvo's website. just don't get an aftermarket one.

Highly recommend pulling the drive to do the required maintance. Especially since this is your first year with it.

edit; you might have a fuel cooler that needs to be drained, if you do it will be covered in the shop manual.

 

[jwilkey84]

So if I remove the drive ...will I need special tools to work on it? I think I saw a post about a homemade tool for lining things up upon reinstalling.
I've never had an outdrive off. Are you just checking the bellows in there or what?

 

[muc]

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...183345-how-to-winterize-your-engine-and-drive

this post is a good start to learning what you need to know. Its a little out of date for the newer engines but will work fine for yours.