The Wisdom In Between

A painful record of yesterday's stupidity. A glorified attempt at mental preservation.

Monday, October 17, 2005

Winterize the boat

I'm winterizing my 1986 Correct Craft Ski Nautique 2001 with my father. Finding someone else to do it is a needless hassle, and costs about $300. It can be done in about 20 mins alone, but is easier with a helper. I make no guarantees, but this boat has survived the last 16 years using the following method.




These directions apply specifically to a Ford 351 Windsor (V8), but may or may not be generalized to other engines.

Parts Required:
  • Screw driver (flat head)
  • 2-3 Gallons RV/Marine Antifreeze (cheap pink stuff)
  • 5 Gallon Bucket
  • 1/3 or so qt Motor Oil (ex. 10w30) - optionally replace with engine fogger
  • Stabil (or compatible gas stabilizer)
Part I: Stabilize the gas (so it doesn't break down over the winter)
  1. Pour the appropriate amount of Stabil into the gas tank
  2. Take the boat out for a drive - get the stabil ran through the lines.
  3. Do a few S-turns and maybe a spin out to get that gas tank sloshing :)
  4. Enjoy the fall leaves, say farewell to your boat for the season
Part II: Prepare the engine
  1. Preferably boat is on lift or trailer
  2. Pour 3 Gallons Antifreeze in bucket (2 might well do)
  3. Open engine hatch
  4. Remove Flame Arrestor from top of carburetor (hand screw)
  5. Use screwdriver to loosen hose clamp on the water intake hose located near the right rear of the engine compartment (black ~1.5" hose).
  6. Disconnect intake hose and place into bucket of antifreeze (antifreeze is sucked through the engine rather than water to survive cold temperature)
  7. Take the cap off of your motor oil and drizzle a just a bit into the carburetor (coating the inside of the engine with oil to prevent rust, etc)
  8. Start the engine (please avoid the moving belts)
  9. Pour a bit of oil (primarily into the front two barrels of the 4 barrel carb) as the antifreeze is being sucked out of the bucket. As the antifreeze is running out, pour the oil increasingly heavily until the engine quits. (note that if you actually run out of antifreeze first, you will immediately want to turn the key to shut the engine off).
  10. Replace the flame arrestor
  11. Reconnect the water intake hose and tighten its hose clamp.
  12. Make sure the bilge is drained of any water/antifreeze that may have spilled.
  13. Shut the engine hatch, leaving something under the edge (like a seat cushion) to keep a little airflow space.
  14. Optionally remove the battery from the foreword compartment and store in a temperate location, and/or on a charger.
  15. Clean and cover the boat.
  16. That's it, you're done!
Hint: Spray ether in the carburetor as you start the engine next Spring to avoid grinding the starter while gas is pulled through the lines.

posted by C. Colby Thomson @ 5:45 AM    

4 Comments:

  • At 8:59 PM , Anonymous said...

    Hi, just had a question. Do you also remove the drain plugs from the engine first to get excess water out and then suck the antifreeze in or did you simply just suck the antifreeze in? I just did my 1993 Ski Nautique and am wondering if just sucking through four gallons does the trick??

    Thanks!

     

  • At 9:13 PM , C. Colby Thomson said...

    The owner's manual recommends to drain it, as does another popular method. This boat has survived 20 years in cold weather without doing so.

     

  • At 12:28 PM , Joe Thompson said...

    Hi Colby, do you have anything on how to pack the drive shaft. I just purchased a 1988 Ski Nat. Thanks Joe

     

  • At 1:17 PM , C. Colby Thomson said...

    Joe - I have attached my father's response.

    I packed some drive shafts when I worked at the Marina as a kid. I've never had to pack the drive shaft on our Natique. That is a rare event as they come from the boat factories with enough packing in them that about all that would ever be required is to tighten the packing slightly. The only time a shaft log would have to be repacked is if virtually all of the packing was gone so that the jam nut was all of the way tight and the shaft stuffing box was still leaking too much and letting too much water into the bilge.

    Here's how it works. Where the spinning shaft goes from the transmission, in the interior of the boat, on out through the bottom of the boat, it tends to let water leak into the bilge. So a propeller shaft "stuffing box" or "packing gland" is installed there with "packing" in it. When compressed by tightening a "nut", the packing is squeezed up against the spinning drive shaft thus keeping water from leaking into the boat. Packing usually resembles a small rope, cord or string often treated with a wax-like substance. The packing is "packed" around the drive shaft and compressed with the"tightening nut." The tightening nut is only tightened enough to keep water from pouring into the boat but not enough to stop all water from coming into the boat. Tightening nuts should be tightened only enough so that the packing in the shaft log lets water drip slightly into the boat. This dripping water helps to cool the packing from the heat caused by it being squeezed up against and around the spinning drive shaft.and make the packing last longer.

    Here's what our Correct Craft Natique Owners Manual says:

    "The propeller shaft stuffing box should be checked with the engine off.for the presence of any water leakage other than a few drops per minute (this rate is acceptable and expected). If you view a steady stream of water or an excessive drip rate, then you need to tighten the stuffing box."

    If tightening is required, follow these steps:

    1. "Obtain unencumbered access to the propeller shaft stuffing box (packing gland).

    2. "Cut the safety wire (this wire prevents the packing gland from backing off entirely in the event of extreme looseness). See illustration."

    3. "Using two pipe wrenches, one to stabilize the gland nut (the large nut to the forward) and the other applied to the locking nut with a counter clockwise motion.(loosen towards the left side of the boat). See illustration."

    4. "Now hand tighten the gland nut (again, toward the left side of the boat), until the leakage stops. See illustration.

    5. "Next, using wrenches as in step 3, retighten the locking nut by turning toward the right side of the boat. Make sure that it's VERY TIGHT."

    6. "Now, take a flat-headed screwdriver and temporarily loosen one of the hose clamps to the rear of this assembly and rotate the assembly until the safety wire eyelet is easily accessible."

    7. "Finally, replace the safety wire as shown in the illustration. NOTE: BE SURE TO REPLACE THE SAFETY WIRE. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT. USE A STAINLESS STEEL SAFETY WIRE OF AT LEAST .032 GUAGE."

    "This operation serves to compress the packing within the gland nut creating a tighter seal. If, in the unlikely event you still experience leakage, you should consult your dealer."

    The above statement says, in essence, to take it to a dealer if the propeller shaft packing gland needs repacking. My strong suspicion is that, at most, their packing gland just needs tightening and not repacking. If the boat is "acquiring" water, as evidenced, by the bilge pump running often, it is most likely coming in from leaking exhaust pipe hose clamps and may, in fact, well need new exhaust hoses. Ours has leaked there several times. The last time because the exhaust hose clamp had crushed the fiberglass muffler intake. The rudder shaft also has packing so they should check that to see if it is leaking. It is located under the gas tank at the back of the boat. Since the rudder shaft turns so slightly I set mine to have virtually no dripping as long as the steering wheel still turns freely.

    I hope this helps.

     

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home