Winterizing a 2016 19SPX

[Victor M]

Hello again everyone. As mentioned in my previous posts, my parents own a 2016 19SPX with an inboard Mercury MerCruiser 4.3L motor. My dad is still working out of state and it’s time for winterization, but I’m not sure exactly what I should do.

I did my best to navigate my way through YouTube, this forum, and other posts online, but there’s so many different things being done that I’m not sure what I should vs. shouldn’t do. So my question is simply what should be done to ensure my parents’ boat stays in perfect condition? Also, can I do it myself or are there some essential things that I won’t be able to teach myself?

Note: I do have a family friend who works on boats on standby should I need him, but the deal was that if I used it this summer I would pay for minor maintenance, gas, and winterization. With college in full swing I’d like to save my money if at all possible; I don’t know much about boats but I did de-winterize it myself and am pretty good with quick learning via tutorials/videos. Thanks for the help!

 

[paulswagelock]

It is easy work, but if done wrong - extremely expensive potential to the tune of $5k or more.

 

[Blueone]

You should have engine manuals that explain winterizing very well. Take a look there first then ask questions here for the things you need clarifying. It is definitely DIY project.

The rest of the boat just needs the fresh water system drained, holding tank drained if equipped...a lot of us use compressed air to blow out the water system or run pink stuff thru or both

Engine you want to change the oil, filter add stabil to the fuel...make sure you run the engine on muffs to get the stabil thru the gas lines.
The engine your basically looking to get all the fresh water out of it and replace with pink stuff. The manual will tell you where the drain plugs are.

I would use your friend for the first time just to make it easier and less stressful

 

[GATORB8]

Not too bad on these, you have easy battery/oil filter access, and remote sea water draining. Can be done in a couple hours in the driveway.

Assuming you already have muffs, go to west marine and grab a winterizer kit:
https://www.westmarine.com/buy/west-marine--engine-winterizing-kit--520411?recordNum=7
A bottle of stabil, 4 or 5 gallons of -100 ENGINE antifreeze (NOT Water System), oil filter and 5 quarts of oil (should take 4-4.5).

Fill up the tank with fuel (E0 if available) this will prevent condensation in the tank and add Stabil.
Run the engine on muffs to temp (to get the t-stat open), drain (remove the small blue cap and turn the blue knob counter clockwise), then put the cap back on and close the knob. Fill the kit with the antifreeze and hook to the muffs, open the valve on the kit and run the motor to get the antifreeze in.
Remove the oil with a vacuum pump, change filter (it's on the top right side of the engine on a remote mount), refill oil.
Pull the battery and put it on a tender (after getting the boat in the storage location and trimming the drive down to save the bellows, if possible).

Check levels/top off power steering fluid (under oil filter mount, kind of hidden) and drive fluid (remote clear reservoir on left side of engine).

Fogging the cylinders is tough with a MAF and the manifolds over the plugs, as long as you're not putting up for multiple seasons, you should be okay without messing with fogging through the fuel system (described in the manual).

It's a good idea to get some lower unit lube, and top it off by pushing the fluid up from the drain hole, pushing any floating contaminates out of the top hole in the outdrive.

No fresh water system, so nothing to do there.

I recommend leaving all of the compartments propped open to allow air circulation, and throw a bucket of damp rid in the console. Drain plug on the transom out to allow rain to drain.