Winterizing

[Dick Berg]

Hello - I'm brand new to the forum, just joined today.
My son and I purchased a 2005 RXP last May with 85 hours on it. We used it on Donner Lake (Truckee, CA) this summer, and it was great.
Before using it, we had Thin Air, the local Sea-Doo dealer in Truckee, CA, do the supercharger upgrade and tune-up.
My question is how do I winterize the beast? The guy at Thin Air tried to describe disconnecting this hose and then that hose and pouring in RV (pink) anti-freeze, blah blah blah. Can someone out there provide me with specific directions as to exactly which hoses are involved, in what order do things need to be done, and describe the entire process? I think I also have to disconnect the plugs and squirt in some kind of special oil.
I'm an old shade-tree mechanic and have worked on lots of cars, have lots of tools, but have never owned a jet ski.

Many thanks for your support,
Dick

 

[DC/Chicago]

see if this helps
I am sure more of the guys here will help out but you can also use the search and type in


Winterize

 

[gt2003]

Thanks DC/Chicago. That's a great link to the other Sea-doo site. I was looking for specific winterizing instructions for my two 2002 GTI LE's and was able to download the shop manual for them which explains it all in detail and provides illustrations. That was a huge help!

 

[Dick Berg]

DC/Chicago - Thanks for the link.
The picture isn't that clear to me in that it shows one of the ports with no hose on it (#2) and the other hose (#1) is still connected.
Then it mentions the bottom hose. Which one is the bottom hose?
I guess I'm still so new to Jet Skiing and this engine that I need more detailed information.
gt2003 was able to download the shop manual for his PWC.
How can I download the shop manual for my 2005 RXP? I was able to download the users manual directly from Sea-Doo.

Thanks again,
Dick

 

[gt2003]

See if this helps



On the left side of the screen click on "tech specs"

Choose your year model: 2005

Now choose whatever engine your RXP has in it. I went ahead and downloaded the shop manual and user manual for my 2002's just so I would have them on hand. What a great resource. Thanks again DC/Chicago.

 

[Dick Berg]

gt2003 - That works!
It's a large file, but I'm going to download it.
Thanks very much!!

Regards,
Dick

 

[gt2003]

No problem. Now if I can find that type of information for the 4.3 liter mercruiser on the boat I'll be in luck. I may break down and have it winterized this year but next year it's all mine!

 

[DC/Chicago]

I did not believe that was from a different forum other than the manufacturer service bulletin and I believe it was a great way to explain how to winterize the manifold and intercooler.
It is your right to delete it .

Dc/Chicago

 

[gt2003]

No sir, you must have misunderstood me. I think it's an awesome service bulletin. Seriously, that's exactly what I've been looking to find. I honestly appreciate your help. Thanks again.

Since I've got yo here, lol, where do I spray fogging oil into my 2002 GTI LE? Is it through the wire mesh screen under the black plastic cover? See my other thread if you don't mind. Seriously, thanks again!

Ah, I see what you mean DC. The mods took it away. I guess that's understandable. I'll simply count myself lucky that I caught it before it was edited. Thanks.

 

[DC/Chicago]

They took it away because it was the best explained to date!Again it is their right to take it away .We are just guests and we have to live by the rule.No idea on where to spray fogging oil .I mine I removed the hoze and I sprayed in my air intake.
Good luck

 

[Michael211_2000]

Well our 1st freeze of the season is scheduled for tonight... 3 - 5 hours of freezing temps, about 30 or 31 degrees is forcast for the Houston Texas area. Concluding my boating is done with for the year, I did the following to my 2006 RXT's 4-Tec engine this afternoon:

1st, I went to Walmart and got 3 gallons of pre-diluted anti-freeze (they didn't have any RV antifreeze, so I just had to go with good aluminum compatible automotive antifreeze... I'll flush it out before going to the lake 1st time next year). While there I also picked up the cheapest 500 gph Attwood bilge pump they had ($17), and a short rv water hose ($8). I cut the hose down to 6 feet long, then warmed the cut off end in boiling water for 30 seconds so I could slip it over the bilge pump outlet (it's a tight fit!).

After getting the hose onto the bilge pump, I added some extra electrical wire to the pump and put 2 alligator clips on the ends so I could hook it to the battery to run it. I then connected the other end of the hose to the flush port on my RXT's jet pump.

I took a clean empty jug and cut the side out of it to make a resevoir large enough to put the bilge pump in, and then filled that jug (with the pump) full of the 50/50 antifreeze.

With a can of fog sitting nearby, I started up the RXT and then activated the bilge pump, pumping the diluted antifreeze in... while that was going on I stuck the straw from the can of fogger into the little yellow fogging port on the 4-Tec engine and squirted fogging spray into it for 15 seconds or so (till the engine went to producing some good smoke out the exhaust). By then the entire gallon of antifreeze was almost thru it, so I added another half gallon to the resevoir with the bilge pump and let that finish going thru the system (green fluid was spilling out the back of the pump by this time). When the bilge pump started going dry again, I unclipped it's power leads from the battery let the engine run another 5 or 6 seconds then shut the engine off.

A good 1.5 gallons of pre-diluted antifreeze when into and thru the RXT's system, I presume that should have flushed out the intercooler really well, put antifreeze in all the water lines and left antifreeze in the exhaust system and jet pump. Thoughts on this? ps. I used the other 1.5 gallons of antifreeze in my jetboats 454 BBC engine using the same bilge pump technique to push the antifreeze into it's cooling system forcing clear water out the transom fitting until it turned green.

As the sun was set by this time, I didn't have time to pull the spark plugs to spray directly into the 4-TEC cyclinders, but it should be freeze-safe at this point so I'll finish the fogging procedure tomorrow.

I read the idea of using a cheap bilge pump to push antifreeze thru the cooling system in another thread on this site this morning, under the SeaDoo Boats forum I believe it was. It made perfect sense to me, so in spite of HATING to go into Walmart TODAY of all days I made the trip and fought my way back to the sporting goods section to get that bilge pump and stuff! LOL!

Where can you actually buy RV antifreeze these days? I was suprised Walmart wasn't carrying it, and neither was O'Reilly's (I checked there too, looking for the pink stuff, but no luck). I'd rather use the more environmentally safe stuff if I could just find it! But oh well, it's done with for this year now.

ps. I had already put Stabilizer in the fuel tank some weeks ago, mixing it in with 5 gallons of gas at a time till I filled up the tank.

- Michael