Have I left it too late ....

[JokersWild]

Before you start to dig out the "shock horror" smilies, please consider that I'm still in my first boat owning season.

Boat hoisted out last week for a short rest ashore, check of hull, polishing etc etc. I've looked through various wintering lists and followed most tips. Obviously I motored over to the hoist though, so I don't understand what to do with any raw water still in the engine system? Various advice talks about draining it, or flushing through with anti-freeze. Obviously I couldn't do this before hoisted, so how do I do it now she's ashore?

Sorry if this is a really thick question.

 

[theoldsalt]

Several ways to achieve winterising a raw water cooled engine.

Firstly it needs to be flushed with fresh water then flushed with a 50/50 water/antifreeze mix.

This can be achieves by taking the cap off the raw water inlet filter and with the sea cock turned off keep the filter topped up while the engine is running.
Alternatively place a full bucket in the cockpit and run a pipe down to the engine water intake.

There are several videos on YouTube.

Someone may come along soon and provide a link to one or two but a search for boat engine winterising should find them.

 

[pyrojames]

Not too late. Remove the water intake hose from the the skinfitting. Fill up a bucket with antifreeze mixture. Stick the hose in the bucket and then start engine. Watch carefully that the hose doesn't fall out of the bucket and run until the bucket is empty. Job done.

This assumes that you dont have a raw water cooled engine. If by some chance you do, you will need to run the engine for longer so that the thermostate opens up and you get full circulation around the engine. You can do this by starting off with fresh water in the bucket, and top up with a hose as the level goes down. Once the engine is warm, tip in the antifreeze, run the bucket to almost empty and stop.

 

[westhinder]

Disconnect the pipe to your water pump, replace it with a temporary one, the other end of which you put into a bucket. Fill the bucket with a hose, start engine and run the hose to keep the level in the bucket steady. Run the engine a few minutes to flush the system thoroughly, then shut the hose, and stuff the temporary pipe into a jerrycan antifreeze. When that is empty, turn off the engine.

Edit typing on an Ipad is slow

 

[JokersWild]

Oh. Both these suggest I can run engine whilst ashore. I had assumed this wasn't possible. Maybe that's why I didn't understand how to flush through after hoist!

 

[colhel]

This assumes that you dont have a raw water cooled engine. If by some chance you do, you will need to run the engine for longer so that the thermostate opens up and you get full circulation around the engine..

Or remove the thermostat

 

[theoldsalt]

Winterising should also include changing engine oil and filter.
Leave replacing raw water pump impeller and fuel filter until you are ready to go back in the water.

When running engine while ashore, make sure the engine is in neutral otherwise you may damage stern gland/bearing (eg cutlass) that relies on water lubrication/cooling

 

[Plevier]

If your engine is fresh water cooled and your gearbox is not water cooled you may be able to drain the raw water system instead of antifreezing.
On my VP2020 I only need to remove the raw water pump cover, remove the strainer lid, open the seacock and drain the exhaust water trap (which has a drain point on it). Simples!
Of course the fresh water system has a/freeze in it.

If your engine is raw water cooled, then as others have said.

 

[colhel]

Oh. Both these suggest I can run engine whilst ashore. I had assumed this wasn't possible. Maybe that's why I didn't understand how to flush through after hoist!

Perhaps some basics are need here? (Apologies if they're not, and don't worry if they are )

The only reason the engine can't be run ashore is that the cooling is achieved by sucking sea water from the sea and using that to cool the engine.
What people are advising you is, you need to break the link, normally a case of undoing a hose, between the sea water inlet and the engine and replacing it with a bucket of fresh water.
What engine do have?

 

[JokersWild]

Oh dear. Now you'll know how useless I am! I have a yammar 3gm30f. So it has fresh water (with ample antifreeze) but also raw water.

 

[colhel]

Oh dear. Now you'll know how useless I am! I have a yammar 3gm30f. So it has fresh water (with ample antifreeze) but also raw water.

Well I've never done one with a heat exchanger (what you've got) So sit back and someone will be along shortly

 

[JokersWild]

Am considering paying someone to do it, and (with their permission) watching so I know what to do next year!

 

[RichardS]

I'm a bit confused.

The freshwater side is a sealed system so without antifreeze would need to be drained in case of freezing.

The sea water side is not sealed so surely can be drained down from a low point near the impellor. Or even run some fresh water through it from a bucket before draining if you want to displace the salt water.

Why would you run antifreeze through a non-sealed system?

Richard

 

[Cloven]

Oh dear. Now you'll know how useless I am! I have a yammar 3gm30f. So it has fresh water (with ample antifreeze) but also raw water.

I have a 2GM20F (same layout as the 3GM30F) and this is what I do.

Fresh water side - assuming you have antifreeze in the system, unless you need to change it do nothing. If you are not sure what is there or how old it is then you should drain the freshwater system, flush through with freshwater and then refill with antifreeze.

Follow this post to see how to do this:

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=300281

Raw water side - Firstly secure an empty bucket under the cooling water discharge outlet. Disconnect the raw water feed from the strainer on the engine side. Place the end in a bucket of antifreeze and run the engine for as long as it takes to drain the bucket. This will fill the raw water side with antifreeze.

Open the raw water seacock and let any water drain out. I would then suggest leaving this open for the winter as it is less likely to cause any damage in the event of a freeze.

Finally reconnect the raw water feed to the strainer.

Hope this helps

 

[wazza]

Oh dear. Now you'll know how useless I am! I have a yammar 3gm30f. So it has fresh water (with ample antifreeze) but also raw water.

It's NOT that you are useless, it's that you don't know!!!!
We ALL had to learn at some stage in our boating lives... trust me years from now you'll have learnt A LOT more but still find there are a great many other things to learn about boating!!!!

Fresh water side leave alone.... but the raw water must be flushed out of the system..

On our boat.... Just before lifting the boat out of the water I run the engine so it's good and warm, then motor over to the hoist. There is a hose near our hoist, I take the hose and a bucket, stop the engine, CLOSE the ballcock that leads to the salt water intake hose, disconnect the hose and dip it in with the now running fresh water hose into the bucket. Start the engine and control the flow of fresh water into the bucket, so there is always enough water. Then after a few minutes I start to add undiluted antifreeze, then once I see the antifreeze flowing out, stop the engine and then the water.... AND Robert's ya Dad's Brother and Fanny's a rude word

 

[colhel]

Or ask someone in the boatyard?
It can be a daunting task for the first time, but it will soon click what you're trying to achieve. Can you ask your any of your neighbours in the boatyard?

Have you recently bought the boat? Does it have a record of when the antifreeze was changed? You might not need to do anything.... bar change the oil and water pump....



Edit; some very useful posts above mine, I didn't see them at the time I posted mine.

 

[JokersWild]

Not seen any neighbours yet. Might pop back today and loiter! Am fairly happy with freshwater side. Will have a nose and see if I'm feeling brave enough to do raw water side. Might be able to suss it better with your comments and the engine in front of me!

 

[theoldsalt]

Youtube video may help.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5SxA4tZlOk

 

[Sandyman]

If your going to leave your impeller in a dry state then either remove it or spray it with WD40 or other lubricant to prevent it sticking to the pump body.

 

[Plevier]

I'm really puzzled as to why so many people seem to want put antifreeze through the raw water system of a freshwater cooled engine instead of draining it.
Is this Yanmar specific, is there part of the system you can't drain for some reason?
It's very easy on the VP2020 engine. You do of course need to be able to drain the exhaust water trap as well. Mine (Vetus) has a drain point on it.