I have my first boat with a diesel engine. I've read the manuals, the posts, the archives, talked to old salts, etc. Armed with all this new info, I set out to prepare the engine (Yanmar 2GM20F) for winter, on the hard. I closed the sea cock, put the hose in a five gallon bucket, pumped five gallons of fresh water thru the engine, then three gallons of the purple antifreeze. A slip mate observed, and told me when the purple stuff came out the exhaust. I shut down the engine feeling really successful and pretty smug that I had winterized properly, AND with no problems! On Monday, I decided to re-read the process just to make sure I didn't forget anything. Sure enough, I did forget something. The article said to run the engine 15 mins. first to open the thermostat. The only warm-up I did was the flushing, probably slightly less than 5 mins. This engine has both a raw water and fresh water system. My understanding is the raw water side cools the heat exchanger, and the fresh water side cools the engine. The fresh side has the proper mixture of water & antifreeze. Am I ok for the winter, or should I re-do the raw side? Of course, the boat is no longer in the water, so I'm not sure how it can be done.
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You're OK
Harry - you describe the same procedure I use except for one last step. I remove the raw water impeller from the raw water pump. This prevents swelling of the impeller (rubber) by the purple stuff (not sure if it would swell, but why take a chance) and it's the one time a year I check the impeller for wear. I do keep a spare impeller in my engine spares box. Hope this helps.
Harry - you describe the same procedure I use except for one last step. I remove the raw water impeller from the raw water pump. This prevents swelling of the impeller (rubber) by the purple stuff (not sure if it would swell, but why take a chance) and it's the one time a year I check the impeller for wear. I do keep a spare impeller in my engine spares box. Hope this helps.
Amateur opinion
Not very familiar with inboards yet, but isn't the thermostat in the fresh water circulation of the engine, rather than the raw water circuit? If the fresh water system has anti-freeze then the engine/thermostat would be okay. Since the raw water side ran purple, that must be okay too, unless there is a thermo that bypasses the exchanger.
Not very familiar with inboards yet, but isn't the thermostat in the fresh water circulation of the engine, rather than the raw water circuit? If the fresh water system has anti-freeze then the engine/thermostat would be okay. Since the raw water side ran purple, that must be okay too, unless there is a thermo that bypasses the exchanger.
Engine WaterTerminology
First of all, I believe your process was correct and the seawater intake, strainer, water pump (with ruberized impeller), heat exchanger and waterlift muffler should now be protected. The other side of the engine's cooling system includes the engine waterjacket and heat exchanger, thermostat and a metal vaned water pump impeller and it presumably was and still is running a closed system with permanent engine antifreeze year round. Operating the engine long enough to open the thermostat has no effect on the seawater side, but would have been a good idea if you also did an oil and oil filter change as part of the winterizing. I'd suggest you have clean oil and filters through the winter so any acids in the old dirty oil don't sit and work on the engine crank shaft and bearings.
First of all, I believe your process was correct and the seawater intake, strainer, water pump (with ruberized impeller), heat exchanger and waterlift muffler should now be protected. The other side of the engine's cooling system includes the engine waterjacket and heat exchanger, thermostat and a metal vaned water pump impeller and it presumably was and still is running a closed system with permanent engine antifreeze year round. Operating the engine long enough to open the thermostat has no effect on the seawater side, but would have been a good idea if you also did an oil and oil filter change as part of the winterizing. I'd suggest you have clean oil and filters through the winter so any acids in the old dirty oil don't sit and work on the engine crank shaft and bearings.
You're OK
You did what is normal and you used the lower-temp purple/blue stuff. As stated earlier, this is a good time to change the oil, but if you had low hours on your current oil, you're still OK. If you change it in the fall before layup, you don't have to change it in the spring. As far as the impeller, I change mine annually in the spring, so I leave it in the pump.
You did what is normal and you used the lower-temp purple/blue stuff. As stated earlier, this is a good time to change the oil, but if you had low hours on your current oil, you're still OK. If you change it in the fall before layup, you don't have to change it in the spring. As far as the impeller, I change mine annually in the spring, so I leave it in the pump.
Couple of last items...
After you were hauled, the seacock should be opened to let the water in the ball drain out. Then the seacock should be closed for the winter. I presume that the hose you put into the antifreeze is the one of the seacock. If so, you are OK. If it is a hose down-stream from the seacock, you may have seawater between the seacock and the hose you removed. If so, that needs to be drained. I would echo the advice to change the oil and filter in the fall. Engine combustion by-products include acids that reside in the oil. These can have a detrimental effect on the bearings over a period of time. The common thinking is to remove the old oil in the fall rather than change it in the spring. Cover the engine with an old towel to eliminate condensation on the cold block that will rust the exterior. I also cover the air intake and stuff a rag in the exhaust to keep out critters and moisture. Sounds like you did a good job. Rich
After you were hauled, the seacock should be opened to let the water in the ball drain out. Then the seacock should be closed for the winter. I presume that the hose you put into the antifreeze is the one of the seacock. If so, you are OK. If it is a hose down-stream from the seacock, you may have seawater between the seacock and the hose you removed. If so, that needs to be drained. I would echo the advice to change the oil and filter in the fall. Engine combustion by-products include acids that reside in the oil. These can have a detrimental effect on the bearings over a period of time. The common thinking is to remove the old oil in the fall rather than change it in the spring. Cover the engine with an old towel to eliminate condensation on the cold block that will rust the exterior. I also cover the air intake and stuff a rag in the exhaust to keep out critters and moisture. Sounds like you did a good job. Rich
Engine Winterizing
You mentioned that you were on the hard now and indicated that you couldn't start your engine there if you had to do more winterizing. Actually, I prefer winterizing on the hard as it allows me to run fresh water through a system that lives on salty water all season. Im assuming this flush is a good thing. I do it the same way you described: pull the hose off the raw water intake, put it in a bucket and start the engine. I also run a fresh water hose into the bucket to keep it filled while the engine runs. And since the engine is warm, I change the oil soon thereafter. I then fill the same bucket with anti-freeze, restart the engine to distribute the anti-freeze and new oil, and follow the same procedure that you described. If you have hot water heater, don't forget to drain it. I also pull off the input/output hoses to/from the heater, let them drain and connect them prior to pouring anti-freeze into the water system and sucking it through. Don't forget to drain the water from other parts of your fresh water system/head and pour some anti-freeze into these system, too. And then think spring....
You mentioned that you were on the hard now and indicated that you couldn't start your engine there if you had to do more winterizing. Actually, I prefer winterizing on the hard as it allows me to run fresh water through a system that lives on salty water all season. Im assuming this flush is a good thing. I do it the same way you described: pull the hose off the raw water intake, put it in a bucket and start the engine. I also run a fresh water hose into the bucket to keep it filled while the engine runs. And since the engine is warm, I change the oil soon thereafter. I then fill the same bucket with anti-freeze, restart the engine to distribute the anti-freeze and new oil, and follow the same procedure that you described. If you have hot water heater, don't forget to drain it. I also pull off the input/output hoses to/from the heater, let them drain and connect them prior to pouring anti-freeze into the water system and sucking it through. Don't forget to drain the water from other parts of your fresh water system/head and pour some anti-freeze into these system, too. And then think spring....
Sam; thanks for the advice.
It was really pretty easy to flush the antifreeze thru the raw water side, and it was only about $9.00 total. I didn't drain the strainer or the pump; I'll do that next time I visit the boat. I don't know what or where the water lock is, so I'll have to look that one up in the manual.
It was really pretty easy to flush the antifreeze thru the raw water side, and it was only about $9.00 total. I didn't drain the strainer or the pump; I'll do that next time I visit the boat. I don't know what or where the water lock is, so I'll have to look that one up in the manual.
Hey Harry,,,,your OK
I'm sure glad to live on Puget Sound (Washington St.) We don't have to do any of this stuff. But we took our boat to WARM WEATHER and stored her. Take a look at our web site and she what kind of damage that did.
I'm sure glad to live on Puget Sound (Washington St.) We don't have to do any of this stuff. But we took our boat to WARM WEATHER and stored her. Take a look at our web site and she what kind of damage that did.
Water Lock
Harry, The water lock is a container between the engine exhaust mixer elbow (comes out the back of the the heat exchanger) and the exhust outlet (usually on the transom). It helps prevent the engine from flooding with raw water if the engine is slow to start. It also cools the exhaust gasses & acts as a muffler. sam
Harry, The water lock is a container between the engine exhaust mixer elbow (comes out the back of the the heat exchanger) and the exhust outlet (usually on the transom). It helps prevent the engine from flooding with raw water if the engine is slow to start. It also cools the exhaust gasses & acts as a muffler. sam
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