Winterizing - Antifreeze vs. air blow

[Joe Starbuck]

Another winterizing question. I have a 2012 Challenger 230, twin 215s. My Operator's Manual says winterize the exhaust by blowing out the water with air. Lots of people dump marine antifreeze in the system instead. Given that P-glycol antifreeze is in short supply this year, and blowing with air is less work, I am intrigued. Have any of you done the air blow method as specified in the Manual? I am on Cape Cod, so you have an idea of the weather, whether the weather matters.

 

[DooGuy]

I do both, I’ve seen a lot of posts for both ways. I’m in the PNW and we get some chilly winters. For me I’d rather have the extra bit of redundant protection etc. plus having internal intercoolers I don’t want to chance not blowing out well enough especially since I’m only do low pressure air too. Hope that helps.

 

[Joe Starbuck]

I do both, I’ve seen a lot of posts for both ways. I’m in the PNW and we get some chilly winters. For me I’d rather have the extra bit of redundant protection etc. plus having internal intercoolers I don’t want to chance not blowing out well enough especially since I’m only do low pressure air too. Hope that helps.

Low pressure? The Manual says 100 psi. What do you have?

 

[DooGuy]

I use around 55psi, then use a pump to push the rv antifreeze into the intercoolers while running. My twins are supercharged and like to get the antifreeze in just in case some water is stuck in there etc.

There was a post on here few years back about exhaust flushing talking about high pressure on supercharged. I’ll look later to see if can find.

 

[MacSeaDoo]

+1 on the Antifreeze. I pump mine with a drill pump until it comes out my IC vent line. Then I pull off both ends of the air side of the IC and blow it out. (That is how my original IC failed, on the air side with some water which froze and broke the aluminum.)

 

[Poormanracing]

55 psi only I'm in Webster ma and at our dealership I do the warm up on flush hose for 5 min then I blow I remove the water and blow thru while it's still running for 30 second then shut off.suck the oil do the filter blah blah.then with motor off I blow air thru again for a good minute.then I walk away for an hour to let motor cool a bit.i fire it up and pump antifreeze thru it till exhaust is good and pink I stop antifreeze give the throttle a few quick blips.then shit it down .move quickly when you do it.and never fog thru air intake.pull the rail pull the injectors and pull the air intake hose off the throttle body and give it a little spray with throttle closed and open not much just enuff to keep it lubed

 

[turbosl2]

I do exactly the same as DooGuy. Takes about 15mins total. Get yourself something like this
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07ZQHYS1X?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2_dt_b_product_details

Then a cheap pump, sub pump or inline pump from harbor freight. I used about 2.5 gallons of antifreeze per engine. Prob could had gotten away with less. I just dont see the point to dilute the antifreeze and have to add more. Clearing the water first takes about 5 mins. Just my.02. Almost everyone i know does the same with their campers. Blow the lines out first. Then pump the antifreeze in. Otherwise for a camper we would need 15 gallons vs 3-4.

 

[MacSeaDoo]

I don't blow anything out of the water side, I just pump it full of antifreeze, then shut it off.

Last year I pulled the IC out and put it in the basement along with the battery.

This year I am not doing it as it is just too much effort.

I plan on taking the both hoses off the engine side of the IC hoses and will dry it out by either using the shop vac or blowing it out with the compressor.

Again, trying to avoid this...

 

[Poormanracing]

I don't blow anything out of the water side, I just pump it full of antifreeze, then shut it off.

Last year I pulled the IC out and put it in the basement along with the battery.

This year I am not doing it as it is just too much effort.

I plan on taking the both hoses off the engine side of the IC hoses and will dry it out by either using the shop vac or blowing it out with the compressor.

Again, trying to avoid this...

View attachment 57101

The only problem with not blowing it out is there is alot of water left in the system and unless you pump alot of antifreeze thru it.it can dilute the antifreeze.as it is rv antifreeze does freeze just not solid but any of it is diluted it will freeze hard and pop stuff.just my opinion tho

 

[4tec hoarder]

I am in NY and we have COLD winters here, I only use air on my SeaDoo's when winterizing. I have been doing it this way for 5 years with no issues. I have four 4 tec engines that I winterize, 3 155s and a 260 SCIC, so far this has worked for me. I am sure someone will chime in to let me know that I absolutely NEED to use antifreeze. I believe SeaDoo recommends using air when winterizing

 

[Joe Starbuck]

I am in NY and we have COLD winters here, I only use air on my SeaDoo's when winterizing. I have been doing it this way for 5 years with no issues. I have four 4 tec engines that I winterize, 3 155s and a 260 SCIC, so far this has worked for me. I am sure someone will chime in to let me know that I absolutely NEED to use antifreeze. I believe SeaDoo recommends using air when winterizing

Exactly, this is Seadoo's instructions:

 

[turbosl2]

I am in NY and we have COLD winters here, I only use air on my SeaDoo's when winterizing. I have been doing it this way for 5 years with no issues. I have four 4 tec engines that I winterize, 3 155s and a 260 SCIC, so far this has worked for me. I am sure someone will chime in to let me know that I absolutely NEED to use antifreeze. I believe SeaDoo recommends using air when winterizing

You def don’t need antifreeze. It’s just extra protection in case there is water left. Same with an in ground pool. I live in NY and just throw some in cause it’s easy but not needed!

 

[Macker29]

Does anyone have a go to connector for an air hose connecting to the exhaust cooling system?

 

[Joe Starbuck]

Does anyone have a go to connector for an air hose connecting to the exhaust cooling system?

Scroll up, Turbosl2 posted a link to some handy brass fittings.

 

[ski-d00]

You def don’t need antifreeze.

Really bad advice for any 215. The intercooler has very small tubes and will split if you just blow out the system because water will drain back down and collect at this low point. The one on the left is from someone who blew out their system which I had to replace with a good used one I had on the right.

 

[Joe Starbuck]

Really bad advice for any 215. The intercooler has very small tubes and will split if you just blow out the system because water will drain back down and collect at this low point. The one on the left is from someone who blew out their system which I had to replace with a good used one I had on the right.
View attachment 57216

Great real-world info. What makes you say this is a low point? The IC is the highest point in the raw water circuit, as far as I can see.

 

[ski-d00]

The ic is high but the inlet is about an inch above the lowest tubes which is all it takes and it also sits at a slight angle. In the pic above you can see exactly where the lowest spot is.

 

[MacSeaDoo]

I do both. I pump antifreeze in until it starts coming put the IC vent line. I then run the shop vacuum on the air side for 5 minutes. Then I blow put the water side with compressed air.

 

[Joe Starbuck]

I ended up adding some anti-freeze via gravity with engine running, recognizing that adding it by gravity alone may not get a lot into the IC (IC is up, exhaust is down). Then I used compressed air in the flush port, realizing that most of the air flow will go out the exhaust port. I found that by blocking the exhaust port with my hand while injecting air, I forced the air backwards through the IC (this is an internal IC, 215 Hp engine) and out through the jet pump. After all that I am confident nothing will be damaged this winter. Your comments were all very helpful!

 

[Harleymeister]

I do both, I’ve seen a lot of posts for both ways. I’m in the PNW and we get some chilly winters. For me I’d rather have the extra bit of redundant protection etc. plus having internal intercoolers I don’t want to chance not blowing out well enough especially since I’m only do low pressure air too. Hope that helps.

New to the forum,
I do have a quick question. I have 2, Seadoo GTI SE 130 waverunners that were fully serviced 2 years ago but we haven’t taken them out. Should they be serviced again?
Thanks

 

[Macker29]

Has anyone ever had the overheat alarm go off when doing their winterization? I decided to do my own winterization this year. My boat had sat for about 50 days when I winterized it, so I am guessing a lot of the water inside the exhaust had evaporated as it was pretty warm here, so there wasn't much water in the system. The pump I used for the antifreeze was possibly not strong enough, but I did get the anti-freeze all the way through the system. Perhaps, I got greedy as I tried to run more through it and dreaded long beep started. I shut down the engine immediately (shut down the pump first to avoid hydro-lock).

The boat is fine as it started right up about an hour later (I let it sit to cool down). Just curious if anyone else has had this happen.

 

[Joe Starbuck]

Has anyone ever had the overheat alarm go off when doing their winterization? I decided to do my own winterization this year. My boat had sat for about 50 days when I winterized it, so I am guessing a lot of the water inside the exhaust had evaporated as it was pretty warm here, so there wasn't much water in the system. The pump I used for the antifreeze was possibly not strong enough, but I did get the anti-freeze all the way through the system. Perhaps, I got greedy as I tried to run more through it and dreaded long beep started. I shut down the engine immediately (shut down the pump first to avoid hydro-lock).

The boat is fine as it started right up about an hour later (I let it sit to cool down). Just curious if anyone else has had this happen.

How long did you run it? I have never exceeded two minutes. It should overheat the exhaust eventually.

 

[Macker29]

How long did you run it? I have never exceeded two minutes. It should overheat the exhaust eventually.

I would say I ran it for 1 to 1.5 minutes at the absolute most. I turned it off immediately after the beep (actually turned the pump off first).

 

[LakesideRec]

As mentioned, in addition to draining the exhaust, you are trying to get the water out of those small metal tubes in the intercooler which is a vulnerable low point in the system.

Similar to blowing the water out of anything else, you need a goodly volume of air going through there at full pressure.

I use 100+ PSI air with a short, 5/8" hose connected directly to the air compressor tank with a ball valve that can be opened (not through a regulator or long small dia. hose). Connect the air and open the valve and let it blow until the tank is depleted down to 30 PSI or so. I close the valve and let the compressor catch back up to full pressure in the tank. That also lets any remaining water collect back into one place in the low spots. Then I open the valve for a second burst of full pressure air which will push any collected water through the low spot. After three cycles of that, I don't hear any water bubbling inside, so it seems to to get the water blown out.

 

[LEDLITES]

Chiming in from NYC. I think water is not as much of an issue if you winterize early. I did in early NOV in Staten Island. Gravity fed -50 Pink RV antifreeze though the hose next to the jet pump threw a gallon thought the system it was all pink on the way out. Any water left in the system I would assume evaporated over the month and a half of above freezing wx. The oil change will be done in the spring so fresh oil is running though the summertime. For protection I just put my cover on it. No shrink wrap. Spot cleaning any mildew that pops up after rain. No snow yet.