I can't find good literature on 165 G winterization. Did I mess anything up?

[Qokuh9]

Im here in Michigan:

I poured the first gallon of AF through it with it running with funnel/gravity. It was SLOW to go down, and not like my Honda. After the first gallon i never saw a return and at that point it was running for prob 3 minutes. The exhaust was HOT--did i screw anything up? So then I panicked and called a Seadoo the dealer and they said it has to be done using a pump. So then I went to the hardware store and got one of those drill pumps. I ran the boat and pumped it though--It's really hard to tell what is too fast or too slow. I prob did a gallon over 2 to 3 minutes with the pump. I got a return quickly after using the pump where it was coming out of various holes by the drive. Does it take a gallon to see a return? I did a blip of the throttle at the end and it shot some AF out.

Did i mess anything up?

Did i mess up the "carbon ring"?

If you are acutally well informed on this subject, please comment; thanks!

BTW, its a Scarab 165 G--NA engine.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Hi,

I've never tried to "gravity feed" the antifreeze, only ever used one of those drill pumps. And yes, the speed of those pumps is just fine. The idea is to pump a continuous stream of antifreeze through the system until it comes out as a nice, solid colour (i.e. no water left). To do this, in my experience on these engines you need 2 gallons to do it comfortably. You can maybe get away with less, but I'd recommend 2 gallons. If you aren't confident, just go buy a 2 gallon jug and do it again. It doesn't cost very much as compared to water freezing inside the exhaust/engine. I bought a single 2 gallon container of RV antifreeze which is perfect since you don't need another bucket. It's important that you have the engine running BEFORE you start pumping. And the same in reverse, stop pumping (or run out) before you turn off the engine. Pushing fluid through while the engine is not running can damage the engine (hence why they tell you to clamp the exhaust hose if you're ever towed... haven't seen that? Look at the manual and make sure you know how to do this if you ever need to get towed).

That's the one thing you need to do before below freezing temperatures. If you've done this, the rest is regular maintenance which we all have our own lists for (if you want my list, send me a PM). The general important one is to make sure there's no water anywhere to freeze and damage the boat.

As for the carbon seal, I'm no expert but from reading stories and what dealers have supposedly been told (if I remember correctly) is to ensure the engine doesn't run for more than 2 min at a time. In your case, you ran it for about 3 min... I highly doubt it suddenly completely broke down, it's just that it adds excessive wear to the ring until it finally no longer seals around the shaft. In the future, use the drill pump to get it done faster. The easiest way to verify if the carbon seal somehow did actually fail (again, I doubt it because you ran it for 3 min lol) is probably to wait until the spring when you put it in the water. If it's leaking, water will come into the engine bay underneath the engine. Watch for it in the spring but I highly doubt it. From what I've read, people we're running engines for many, many more minutes than 3 to cause these issues. Or it was misaligned relative to the seal causing it to prematurely fail. I don't think you need to worry too much about that.

 

[Need A Vacation]

Luc,

Pm sent for the list.

TY!!!

 

[Nick Nguyen]

Everybody is talking about putting the antifreeze in the exhaust system, but all the Rotax manuals I have seen, including the one Mike posted on this forum (2013 edition), call for exhaust system draining by injecting pressurized air (100 psi) into the system until no water comes out.

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

That's correct. It's probably because running antifreeze is cheaper and simpler depending on the tools you have. No need for a compressor, just a cheap $20 drill pump or something similar. Also, frankly, running antifreeze through the system is, in my opinion, a surer way to remove all water than compressed air. But compressed air will most likely work just fine, especially since the manual says so.

I live in Ottawa, Canada. It goes down to -30C. I bought a 2 gallon jug of RV antifreeze for $12 CAD. The "insurance" I get by using that makes it a no brainer. We also use antifreeze everywhere here for winter... we did just that for the cottage as well. It's just part of our "culture" I suppose. We know it works so we don't mess with it. And I own a compressor. The fact that everyone uses antifreeze also says something...

 

[Nick Nguyen]

Actually, I tried the compressed air method, and got about 1/2 cup of water that came out. The dealer told me that sometimes, there could be no water coming out. So water is definitely still in the system using the air purge method, but not enough to cause damage. The antifreeze method is more foolproof.

 

[ADoyle3]

I took a 5 gallon bucket from the Home Depot, drilled a hole in the bottom, used a bulkhead fitting and a piece of clear 7/8" tube connected to a male garden hose fitting. I threads perfectly into the Exhaust flush port on the back of the engine cowl. Started cold and gravity feed 5 gallons of RV antifreeze from Walmart.-50F $2.58 per gal.... Once you get a few gallons in the bucket the gravity feed is pretty strong. It fills the system and flows out quickly.....Most of what I put in came out of the bottom onto my driveway...If this fails I will inform you all of a cracked heat exchanger in the spring.....I have seen videos of people winterizing jet skis on YouTube and this is how they recommended doing it..OLD POST...

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Gravity feeding definitely works. The key is to make sure you're not running the engine too long. You should keep the engine run time well under 60 sec whenever possible. Hence, I prefer a small drill pump to make it go faster. Your carbon ring can only be cooled when the boat is sitting in water, out of water you risk overheating it if it runs too long.

Otherwise, yep, that's the overall procedure if you're using antifreeze. I personally started putting a kids inflatable pool under the boat when I do this to catch the antifreeze. I then pump it back into the jug and dump it into the toilet. Avoids having neighbors call bylaw because of a pink fluid going down the street. lol Works well.

If you aren't certain, just do what the manual says and disconnect the intercooler to drain it. I'm sure it won't take long to do. But plenty of people are doing this without disconnecting it with no issues. Including many in Canada and northern USA.

 

[ADoyle3]

I'll see what happens.. Hey.. Do you know of people coming up from the states for boating in the summer? I visit Montreal and Ottawa a fair amount. GREAT CITIES! Too bad they can't put together competitive hockey teams...just kidding..I wonder if customs will give me a hard time pulling a boat across?

 

[Luc Lafreniere]

Nice try! In my defense, I know nothing about sportsball...sportspuck? lol

I went boating in the Thousand Islands last summer for a few days. Crossed the border and cleared customs in the USA via a "port of entry". It was an interesting process, but went very well. No issues as long as you know how this all works and follow the laws. If crossing the border by boat is that easy, I suspect taking a boat across won't be an issue by car either. I'd say the biggest risk by far is bringing invasive species. I suspect they will want to inspect your boat, so you'd have to make sure it's very, very clean. But don't take my word for it. By water, well you're already on that body of water, so that risk is kind of negated.

Thousand Islands is an awesome place to boat! I would put that at the top of your list if you want to come and you could launch from the NY side to avoid this. Canada has a federal park in the area too with awesome camping/glamping options. Inexpensive and beautiful islands.

Otherwise, the Ottawa river is a great option, but there are huge dams/rapids as barriers. But there are huge stretches available with Château Montebello as an awesome place to visit/stay (5 star hotel, biggest log structure in the world). Rideau canal (UNESCO world heritage) is an interesting option, but it's slow going. Lots of speed limit areas and tons of locks to go through (at a cost). But many do a huge loop that can take quite a few days to complete. Google these three locations and you can interconnect them and start/stop wherever you want along this route. Ottawa-Montreal-Kingston. The Rideau canal goes from Kingston to Ottawa, that's the slow part but lots of cool stuff to see/do/stay at. It's been on my wish list for a while. Maybe one day I'll do this trip.

If you come to Ottawa, give me a shout! If my boat happens to be here (it's often at the cottage), we can go for a spin!