Early Spring Boating - Re-Winterize?
 

Ok, so its goina be really nice this weekend, and since I have yet to really get out and enjoy my boat since I bought it, I'm looking into droppin it in the water this weekend.

Heres the deal, this is the first inboard system I've personally owned. I've been around them, and have been working on cars/trucks/and everything else that moves for years, so I plan on doin everything myself.

Right now its winterized, obviously. What checks does everyone normally do at the first of the season?

I know the oil probably hasnt been changed recently, so I'm figuring it ought to get an oil change as well. Any good leads or methods on changing the oil? I've heard the dipstick pump is the way to go, best place to get one?

I also vaguely remember seeing water seperators on the engines, any thing that should be checked or changed there?

Drives/Transmissions. What should be checked, changed, or inspected?

Anything else I'm forgetting?

Also starting it out of the water. On some of the other boats I've had you could get adapters to garden hoses to fire them up, what options do you have for these boats?

Last thing, since I know it will drop below freezing again, I have two options... I could re-winterize it, or manage the temperatures. I think re-winterizing it would most likely be the smartest thing, but obviously more involved... Managing temperatures is just if I know its goina get cold, drop a heater or something in the engine bay to keep it from freezing. What have you guys done? Any advice? If I do re-winterize it, whats the best method to do it right?

Forgot to mention, boat is a 94 Baja 290 with 454 Carb's Mercs and Bravo 1's.

Depends on how long your gonna be that cold, cheapest thing to do would be to wait out the urge for warmer weather, but I don't think you would need to do the entire winterizing process again, just flush the water out of the motor and get some coolant in there again.

I wouldnt worry about the oil, drive lube, fuel and all the other things associated with winterizing. Since you will be using the boat again in a matter of weeks.

Just my 2 cents.

what about checks, oil change, etc...

With the season coming up, the most important thing to check is your wallet. :eek:

Oil changes should have been done in the winterization process but if you have any doubts then change it and change the drive fluid. you can run antifreeze through the engine as soon as you pull it out of the water if you buy the quick do it yourself system from westmarine or overton's. Just make sure you do it when the engine is warm so the thermostat is open. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...tial/0/0?N=377 710 979&Ne=0&Ntt=Winterizing Chemicals&Ntx=mode matchallpartial&page=CategoryDisplayLevel1&isLToke nURL=true&storeNum=5000&subdeptNum=4&classNum=555

Unless you can verify that a winterizing process was done(ie. drivelube changed,oil/filter changed, water/fuel seperator changed, drive alignment done, ujoints/gimbal bearing greased) I would do all of the above.

If you feel the need to run the boat in warm weather knowing its going to get cold again I'd at the least pull all the drain plugs from the motor and then put a lightbulb in the engine compartment. Anything like a electric heater does have the risk of fire if fumes develop.

If you've never ran this boat before make sure you keep a eye on your gauges and check fluids after running...

Enjoy your new boat!:drink:

I ran it once and test drove it... gauges stayed good, ran awesome, no issues.

I cant verify that the entire process was done, or done right... which is why I'm looking into making sure I check everything out right. I know the engines are full of antifreeze, but nothing beyond that. Oh, and I do know the drive alignment was done about approx 40 hours ago, but cant verify.

What I'm really looking for is a detailed list of what to check, where to check, and all that.