This coming season will be my first ever winterisation!
My engine is Westerbeke 27 1983. Fresh cooling system (I see a plastic coolant box attached to my engine).
I saw many videos of taking off the raw water intake hose (close the seacock first , of course), attach a garden house to this intake hose and run the anti freeze through the entire engine by turning the engine on. As soon as the pink antifreeze runs out the exhaust, we know the antifreeze has run through the engine…but that is the raw water side only…
How about the fresh water side? Should I drain the coolant and add the fresh “anti freeze coolant” to the plastic coolant box?
Obviously, I have problem locating the coolant drain plugs..
Shirley: These photos show my set up. Install a TEE fitting into the system as shown with a valve and garden hose fitting. Close seacock and open flush valve. Take a 5 gallon bucket and fit a garden hose bib to it at the bottom. Connect a hose from bucket to flush valve. Open flush valve and run fresh water through engine. Then add antifreeze and run that through engine and close flush valve. Done!! This also gives you a back up bilge pump in emergencies by connecting a hose to the flush valve and place other end in bilge after closing seacock.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Another popular option is to simply close the raw water valve, unscrew the cover to the raw water filter, start the engine, and pour the fresh water into the raw water filter.
Once it’s properly flushed, pour two gallons of anti freeze into the raw water filter, screw the cap back on, and open the raw water valve.
Joe V
I have always admired your setup off the back of your strainer but I settled for just spinning off the Groco cap and adding the cap with the hose fitting when needed. Not every one has your skills. Come to think of it the cap could drain the bilge in no time as well if the need presented itself.
Just sayin
Shirley,
In case you didn’t know, assuming you have a Groco sea strainer after your raw water intake, there is a fitting you can buy that screws in to the top of the Groco with a garden hose fitting. This allows you to attach a hose directly to the system. You can make a short hose and put the other end in a 5 gallon pail suck in whatever you want into the engine cooling system. While I’m sure Joe’s works well, this is simpler and requires no plumbing and pipe fitting skills. Although the adapter probably costs a bit more, you can easily install it your self. Here’s an example, although I think you can get it on Amazon too. You’ll need to check the Groco model number to get correct size. https://defender.ca/en_ca/trac-ecological-strainer-flushcap-adapter?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22287306862&gclid=CjwKCAjwlaTGBhANEiwAoRgXBfG_uknqswWa4yiMlJ9vU2beyfKeedgWhD3jYnELHiqcuJDhnULtqRoChGAQAvD_BwE#615=31092
If I had one of those, I’d tie it to the strainer body so I don’t have to hunt it up. Mine may be more work to install initially, but probably a whole lot cheaper and obtainable at any hardware store.
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
My 1989 N30 had a Groco and my 1989 N33 does now too.
I’ve been successful with the take the top off with the engine running solution, then quickly close the inlet valve, add some fresh water to flush then follow quickly with a couple of gallons of pink stuff till exhaust water runs pink.
Ed Strazzini
Pelican, N33#36
Deltaville, VA
I have never understood the buy bunch of different stuff to flush the engine - I close the thru-hull, stuff a hose into the strainer (I have a 5’ or so length of hose I garbage picked with a valve someone left under my boat to control flow), turn on the water and fire up the engine. Run for ten minutes or so and shut it all down. Open two gallons of antifreeze, drain the strainer and then fill it with antifreeze and fire up the engine and pour in the balance of the two gallons as fast as the engine will take it. Shut down the engine, clean up and you are done. One short hose to put away.
Hi All,
I’m confused by parts of this tread. In her original post, Shirley mention a “plastic coolant box” which sounds like a coolant reservoir. This is part of a closed loop. Periodically you do drain, flush, and refill the closed system. ( Just like you would for an auto. ). Probably not every year. The coolant in the loop is usually yellow/green in color… you would use a hydrometer to measure specific gravity to verify the mixture is appropriate for your climate.
Most of the tread describes how to winterize a marine diesel engine which uses raw seawater ( or lake water) to sink engine heat ( via a heat exchanger) from the engine coolant loop. The raw water system gets flushed and filled with antifreeze usually red in color. The same less toxic stuff you use in the water system.
For folks that leave their boats in the water in the winter, this is a great thread. For folks that prefer to winter on the hard, there is a caveat.
The yard may prefer to winterize the engine for you. The reasons are:
It’s easy money.
They want to bring your boat to the lift with its own power… but if its already winterized they can’t without pumping out the red antifreeze.
They definitely don’t want to have to call you when the boat is out to remind you to winterize it.
It’s bad for everyone if the a winter freeze causes a leak because you wouldn’t know till the boat is splashed.
I’ve let the yards do the engine winterization for the past few years, but I handle all the non-engine winterization myself.
What do others do ?
Rob
s/v SOAVE
NS33 #009
Cedar Point YC
Westport, CT
I am also thinking of having a professional to do the engine winterisation. I can do the non-engine winterisation part, like the head and the fresh water tank.
I have always used a professional to winterize my boat but this year am hoping to at least try it. The Rigging Shoppe in Scarborough is offering a course on this on Sunday morning so I’ll see if this is something I can do.
Dorothy Salusbury
Cathartic Nonsuch 30
Ashbridge’s Bay Yacht Club
Toronto
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Do not forget that anything that normally holds water can freeze. That includes – anchor washdown systems, cockpit showers, manual and electric bilge pumps, reefer drains, shower sumps, etc. Fortunately, as long as my boat’s in the water, I don’t have to do anything unless there is an abnormal deep freeze.
PS – I like the idea about motoring up a freshwater river!!
Joe Valinoti
S/V iL Gatto NS30U #221
Sea Harbour YC
Oriental, NC USA
Shirley,
As I alluded to in an earlier post, winterization is often over complicated by owners and boatyards. Prices and procedures vary.
The yard I plan to use this winter changes $199 for winterization. If they can’t use your motor to move the boat to the lift, they charge $150 to tow the boat to the lift.
My assessment is the “value” of a winterization is about $50 which about what I assess my boat tinker hourly rate to me.
I poured about 150 hours into Soave’s keel joint refresh and probably 80 hours into stripping and rough fairing her bottom last winter. So there are plenty of DIY things to do, no need to do anything you are unsure about.
Most folks just suckup and pay the $199 for winterization… which by coincidence is the hourly service rate for all services at the marina.
I think a variation of Wards process could be accomplished on the hard, by flushing with a garden hose and draining. Ward’s method has some peripheral benefits because it encourages you to inspect parts of you engine that may otherwise ignore ( like your impeller ).
Winter storage is $89.75 /ft. Soave ( NS33 ) runs $2962. ( HERE ) is a link to the winter storage agreement.
I hope others storing boats on LIS in Fairfield County this winter will let me know if they pay significantly less.
Rob Cohen
s/v SOAVE
NS33 #009
Cedar Point YC
Westport, CT
That’s the way I’ve been doing it for 38 years Jim.
To add an additional point to this conversation, I’ve also been using a mix of 70/30 automotive coolant instead of the pink stuff. That way if the coolant encounters any water along the way in the engine and elsewhere the freeze protection is actually enhanced.
I catch this coolant at the exhaust and use it in the bilge pumps. I catch this and test it with a hydrometer to make sure the mix is still OK. If not I add coolant to get back to 70/30.
This is then used to antifreeze the head which gets pumped out in the spring. Prior to launch fresh water is run through the raw water filter and the prior captive coolant in the engine is caught and saved for next fall.
The only wasted coolant is the bit used for the head.
Ron
Ron & Diane Schryver
“Alpha Waves” 1987 NS30U #393
Georgian Bay Midland ON
Make sure not to use automotive coolant in your domestic water system. The ethylene glycol automotive coolant is toxic.
The pink stuff sold for winterization is propylene glycol. Propylene glycol is an additive in some consumer products. It is much less toxic than the auto coolant.
