Another vote for not winterising an engine. It's worked for me for 40 years. Mine have been indirect cooling systems and I have never flushed antifreeze through the saltwater circuit. Change the oil. Spray everything with WD40 (other products are available). Give it a run from time to time but ONLY if you take the boat out and give it a good run for at least half an hour each time, otherwise do not run it.
Well, it would be impossible on my Moody 31 - the exhaust is under the counter, a couple of inches above the waterline and facing down!
The Mobo forum had a thread about 'is it worth changing the oil'. Most of them declined on the grounds of little use but we could note that many had their boats in the Med and had huge engines requiring very substantial amounts of oil - ergo not really bad weather over the winter and the cost so easily rationalised? I had hoped someone might have mentioned about the age of the oil. If I recall the Volvo 2030 was the quicker of 200 hrs or one year. With the antient (sic) Mobo, the main engine manaufacturer says 200 hrs or 4 months (not a modern oil) and the Yanmar auxilliary
just says 100 hrs, no time limit (filter 250 hrs). I had run on the main engine for 38 hrs this season and the auxilliary for about 2hrs (practising!) . I have changed the oil and filter of the main engine just because it's an old engine, I had fresh all ready and I think the previous owner had little used the engine and never serviced it. So I fancied giving it a sort of flush. The Gearbox is specified at 800 hrs for change - it's ATF and no time period so I have left that alone and I have left the auxiliary alone. I think I will remove the impeller from the Yanmar for the winter. The main engine is recommended to remove the impeller (not easy to get at!) for the winter. The winterize instructions for the main engine are quite involved. The atomisers are due for service, ditto valve tip clearance (aka injectors and tappets ).
That why when I re-engined my Moody33 I fitted a new exhaust in the transom - easily see the water coming out (and catch it in a bucket if you want to)
That is all very well for those that live near their boats. The short days and cold weather make winter unrewarding for me, though we did try it for a few years after I retired. In the end, it was too much bother for not very much return, and I felt obliged to go down regularly to check things and run the engine to hot. I think the boat is happier winterised, dehumidified and the sails taken to safety This year we, the engineer and I, decided that the almost clean oil would be fine, so he just sealed the engine and I will leave the boat in until spring, as the anodes will be fine.
