[C320-list] winterizing/ oil change

[Doug Treff]

Michael, 

I agree with your process, but I would do the oil change after warming up the engine but save the antifreeze for last. That way you can give the engine a nice drink of fresh oil when you run the antifreeze through.

--
Doug Treff
doug at treff.us

On Thu, Aug 29, 2024, at 12:11 PM, Michael Leschisin via C320-list wrote:
> Hey Lou,
>
> Winterizing is not hard as long as you take your time and follow a 
> check list so that you don’t overlook anything.  I had the yard do the 
> oil change the first year on our boat and they made such a mess I vowed 
> never to have them do it again.  I think you can do a better job since 
> you’ll take the care to do it right on your own boat.  
>
> As far as doing the oil change in the water, I did that the first 
> couple of years but always felt under the gun since time would run 
> short and I had my haul out scheduled.   I’ve gone to changing it while 
> in the cradle.  I can take my time and can also get my raw water 
> antifreeze through the system at the same time.  
>
> I disconnect the raw water pickup hose from the seacock that’s in the 
> back of the engine compartment and have about three or four feet of the 
> same diameter, clear hose that I attach with a PVC barbed coupling.  I 
> run that hose up to the cockpit through the rear cabin port light and 
> clip it into a bucket with a spring clamp.  I then run a garden hose 
> into the bucket and attach it with a spring clamp so that it doesn’t 
> fall out.  I clean out the sea strainer, reinstall it and I’m ready to 
> go.  I turn on the water and allow it to overflow the bucket so it just 
> runs out the back of the cockpit.  I go ahead and start the engine and 
> watch to see that the water is being taken up by the engine.  Sometimes 
> I need to give it a kick of throttle to get the flow going but once it 
> settles in I can drop back to a bit above idle and just make sure I’m 
> not taking up water faster than the garden hose is putting it out.  I 
> run the engine up to temp for my oil change and as long as I’m not 
> sucking that bucket dry I could run all day with this set up. 
>
> Once the engine gets up to temp, I shut the engine down, pull the 
> garden hose out, empty the water from the bucket and refill it with 
> -100 antifreeze.  I reinsert the pickup hose and restart the engine 
> watching to see that the antifreeze is going in; again I might need to 
> give it a little throttle kick to get it started.  I run three gallons 
> through, adding to the bucket as it goes since my bucket is fairly 
> small.  When I get down to the last  of the antifreeze, I have a friend 
> catch a few ounces as its being spitting from the exhaust.  I shut down 
> the engine as the bucket nears empty and I’m all set to go.  I bought a 
> refractometer on amazon for about $35 which allows me to test the 
> exhaust antifreeze and to sleep on those subzero nights throughout the 
> winter (I live in Wisconsin).  If the refractometer shows a freeze 
> point of -70, I know I’m all set. (Most won’t read below -70 for 
> propylene glycol even if the concentration is 100%).  I could probably 
> run less antifreeze if I drained the aqualift muffler, but I like to 
> see that water spitting on start up so I know everything is flowing 
> through the engine.  Beside, antifreeze is cheap relative to engine 
> parts.
>
> I clean up the cockpit, reattach the raw water hose and move on to the 
> oil change.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Michael Leschisin
> Wild Blue Yonder
> C320 #995
> Menominee, MI
>
>
>> On Aug 29, 2024, at 7:44 AM, Louis Friedman via C320-list <c320-list at lists.catalina320.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Hey all,
>> 
>> Second winter coming up with our C320. last year I had the yard do all the
>> work other than removing sails and covering. Thinking about doing the oil
>> change, winterize stuff myself this year but I'm not particularly handy. I
>> did read the full summary someone posted on here a few years ago. It's
>> good.  Just worried I will miss something and royally screw up the engine!
>> Just to confirm, Boat in the water for oil change and out of the water for
>> winterizing engine and water?
>> 
>> Lou Friedman
>> MissAdventure #623