CD 30, Volvo Penta winterization query

[Alex McAuley]

This is the first winter layup of my CD 30. The day after the boat was hauled out, I put the coolant intake hose into a bucket of antifreeeze and started the engine. I continued until the antifreeze was present in the exhaust pouring out of the boat into another bucket. Elapsed time was probably less than two minutes. My marina guru claimed that the cooling system was protected by this procedure. The worry that is haunting me is that the engine was cold and the thermostat may not have been open to allow the anti freeze to penetrate everywhere it should. The manual only speaks in terms of draining the system totally; which is little help. Any insight into my concern would be appreciated as the Canadian winters can get very frosty.

Thanks for your help,
Alex McAuley



greenman@simcoe.net

[Jerry Hammernik]

This is the first winter layup of my CD 30. The day after the boat was hauled out, I put the coolant intake hose into a bucket of antifreeeze and started the engine. I continued until the antifreeze was present in the exhaust pouring out of the boat into another bucket. Elapsed time was probably less than two minutes. My marina guru claimed that the cooling system was protected by this procedure. The worry that is haunting me is that the engine was cold and the thermostat may not have been open to allow the anti freeze to penetrate everywhere it should. The manual only speaks in terms of draining the system totally; which is little help. Any insight into my concern would be appreciated as the Canadian winters can get very frosty.

Thanks for your help,
Alex McAuley

Alex, The way my "expert" showed me was to take off the hose that goes from the thermostat housing to the muffler. I plug that with a wooden plug (to keep the exhaust out of the boat) and attach a 5/8" ID tube in place of it. I remove the thermostat and reinstall the thermostat housing. I place the intake house in the bucket of anti-freeze mix and place the 5/8ths tube in the bucket as a return. I then start the engine and let it reach operating temperature. Then I shut down, replace the hose going to the muffler and resatart. The anti-freeze then flows into the muffler. When the bucket is empty I shut down. This worked for me last winter. I don't think two minutes is long enough to be sure. Few things are worse than a cracked block. The friend who showed me this method has been doing it for years with no problems. Hopefully we'll hear some confirmation of this or some other better idea.
Jerry Hammernik
Lion's Paw
CD28 #341



dauntles@execpc.com

[John MacArthur]

This is the first winter layup of my CD 30. The day after the boat was hauled out, I put the coolant intake hose into a bucket of antifreeeze and started the engine. I continued until the antifreeze was present in the exhaust pouring out of the boat into another bucket. Elapsed time was probably less than two minutes. My marina guru claimed that the cooling system was protected by this procedure. The worry that is haunting me is that the engine was cold and the thermostat may not have been open to allow the anti freeze to penetrate everywhere it should. The manual only speaks in terms of draining the system totally; which is little help. Any insight into my concern would be appreciated as the Canadian winters can get very frosty.


Thanks for your help,
Alex McAuley

I just did a very similar thing that my boats original owner had done since it was new (in Albany NY), which was to mix a gallon of antifreeze with a gallon of water, unhook the water inlet, and run the engine until the bucket was dry, and *all* the mixture had run through . I, too, was concerned that the thermostat hadn't let any mix into the engine, so I opened the drain valve on the side under the injector pump, and drained a cupfull of fluid. It tested good to minus 10 degrees F, which I consider adequate. I'm still not sure how the mix got there, but it took more than two minutes to run the two gallons through the motor-- more like 4-5, so maybe the thermostat opened a little by then. I like Jerry's suggestion, though, and will probably try it. Getting to the front of that motor is a bit of a houdini trick, though...
Johnny



jmac@laplaza.org

[Larry DeMers]

Hi Alex,

I have owned our CD30 DeLaMer for 9 years now, and have winterized her for all of the 9 years as follows without mishap: Note, this work is done on a raw water cooled MD7B.

I find out when the boat will be pulled, and 2 hours ahead of time, we move to a location that is near the pull-out site, and where we would be able to move the boat with dock lines rather than the engine.

We secure the boat to the dock and pilings, then start the engine, place it in gear, and let her run for 1 hour at about 1800 rpm. The reasoning here is that the boat is sitting in 40 degree water, which tends to keep the thermostat from opening for quite a while. For this winterization to work properly, the thermostat must be open or removed.

Next we pull the water intake hose at the seacock (while the engine is running) and put it into an ice cream bucket full of -50 deg. RV type antifreeze (-100 deg. RV type antifreeze is also available, but I have not needed it). We then suck up **3** gallons of ****UNDILUTED*** Rv type antifreeze. (the reasoning here is that the antifreeze is damn cheap while a rebuilt or new engine is damn expensive..better to error on the conservative side in this case). After the 3 gallons are sucked up, the engine is shut down, fuel is shut off, the engine is cleaned and we are done for the season. Record the engine hours in the log, and that's it.

Plainly, I do not believe that a couple minutes of operation got the antifreeze into the engine properly. Don't forget that there is water in there already, so whatever antifreeze you put in is being dilutted by the existing water. It takes time for the level of protection to reach the -50 deg point.

Under no circumstances would I recommend premixing water into the antifreeze before putting it into the engine...unless you were using the auto type antifreeze, which is poisonous and unnecessary and something that you really do not want to put into the water. It's also quite expensive by comparison to the RV type antifreeze.

All in all , I go through 12 gallons of antifreeze while winterizing the boat. 3 for the engine, 5 for the automatic and manual bilge pumps and and protecting the bilge over winter (in case rain water should make it's way down there, I don't want to have freezing problems), 3 for the water holding tanks and heater, and 1 for the head and it's holding tank.

Our temps reach -45deg f yearly, as recorded by a little digital thermometer (with memory) in the boat. This procedure has worked perfectly every year, with no freezing damage to the boat or it's equipment. The whole procedure can be completed in an easy 3 hours or so.

Write me if you have any additional questions.

Regards, and have a good winter,


Larry DeMers
s/v DeLaMer
Cape Dory 30 ~~~~Sailing Lake Superior~~~~~

This is the first winter layup of my CD 30. The day after the boat was hauled out, I put the coolant intake hose into a bucket of antifreeeze and started the engine. I continued until the antifreeze was present in the exhaust pouring out of the boat into another bucket. Elapsed time was probably less than two minutes. My marina guru claimed that the cooling system was protected by this procedure. The worry that is haunting me is that the engine was cold and the thermostat may not have been open to allow the anti freeze to penetrate everywhere it should. The manual only speaks in terms of draining the system totally; which is little help. Any insight into my concern would be appreciated as the Canadian winters can get very frosty.

Thanks for your help,
Alex McAuley

demers@sgi.com

[Rob Roy]

Unless you engine is different than most, there are two parts (or loops) of the cooling system. The first part circulates coolant between the inside of the engine and into one "side" of the heat exchanger. The second part draws in ocean water into the other side of the heat exchanger then out with the exhaust. The thermostat is on the engine cooling "loop". You shouldn't need to get the engine warm for the ocean water loop, there is no thermostat.



Robert.Roy@gd-cs.com

[Mike Everett]

I think your marina guy was right. At least, my MD7A hasn't cracked yet and my winterization procedure is the same as yours, with the exception that I run several gallons of fresh water (perhaps you're already in fresh water?) through the system before adding straight antifreeze. By the way, my boat winters over in central Maine.



everett@megalink.net

[Alex McAuley]

Thanks to all who shared their insight and experience with me. Larry seems to have the easiest method of assuring protection, and next fall I will try it. However, since the boat is already in it's cradle, the next best plan seems like recirculating antifreeze until the engine reaches operating temperature.

Thanks again for your interest.

Alex McAuley,
s/v Callisto (on Georgian Bay)





greenman@simcoe.net

[Chris]

I have been following this list of comments with great interest as this will be my first attempt at winterizing my Universal M30 (CD330). The engine is a bit more complicated than my old Atomic 4 so these detailed list have given me some great advise. I was curious if anyone could offer any additional items which would be specific to the Universals?

Thanks for the great advise,
Chris

This is the first winter layup of my CD 30. The day after the boat was hauled out, I put the coolant intake hose into a bucket of antifreeeze and started the engine. I continued until the antifreeze was present in the exhaust pouring out of the boat into another bucket. Elapsed time was probably less than two minutes. My marina guru claimed that the cooling system was protected by this procedure. The worry that is haunting me is that the engine was cold and the thermostat may not have been open to allow the anti freeze to penetrate everywhere it should. The manual only speaks in terms of draining the system totally; which is little help. Any insight into my concern would be appreciated as the Canadian winters can get very frosty.

Thanks for your help,
Alex McAuley

[Jerry]

I have been following this list of comments with great interest as this will be my first attempt at winterizing my Universal M30 (CD330). The engine is a bit more complicated than my old Atomic 4 so these detailed list have given me some great advise. I was curious if anyone could offer any additional items which would be specific to the Universals?

Thanks for the great advise,
Chris

Chris,

Here is the process I've used successfully for many years on my Universal M18. I disconnect the raw water intake hose at the pump on the engine. I then hook up one end of a 2 foot length of cheap flexible hose to the intake pump and stick the other end in a 5 gallon "pickle" bucket. Using a garden hose to keep the bucket full of fresh water, I run the engine for at least 15 minutes to flush out any salt buildup. At the end of the fresh water flush, I take the loose end of the hose out of the pickle bucket and stick it into an undiluted gallon of antifreeze and continue running the engine only until I see the antifreeze coming out the exhaust pipe. I then shut down the engine and replace the raw water intake hose to the seacock making it ready for next season. This process also heats up the engine oil sufficiently to make it easy to drain and change the oil -- the next task in my engine winterizing schedule.

[Ed Haley]

Before starting the engine and pulling in the antifreeze, I always drain the engine of most of the water by opening the petcock on the side of the block. I feel this procedure is necessary to prevent dilution of the antifreeze in the engine block and other water-cooled compartments. I then close the petcock and bring in the antifreeze.



eghaley@twcny.rr.com