Winterizing Small Diesel

Discussions about Cape Dory, Intrepid and Robinhood sailboats and how we use them. Got questions? Have answers? Provide them here.

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Clay Stalker

Winterizing Small Diesel

Post by Clay Stalker »

Hello esteemed board members:
I will be winterizing my Yanmar 2GM, raw water-cooled, for the first time and have a question on technique. I read somewhere that one should run the engine for 15-20 minutes, until warmed up, to open the thermostat before sucking in the anti-freeze so all areas of the engine are covered. When I mentioned this to a friend, he said he never does this, only runs a five gallon jug of fresh water through before the anti-freeze, running the engine only about a minute. Any opinions on the best way to do this?? Many thanks!!

Clay Stalker
CD 27 SALSA
Bristol, Rhode Island



cstalker@cheshire.net
Chris Reinke (CD330)

Re: Winterizing Small Diesel

Post by Chris Reinke (CD330) »

Clay - I remove the thermostat and run only about a minute or so until the antifreeze is coming out the exhaust. I need the motor to run to the hauling slip, so I am on the hard when I am circulating the anti-freeze. I guess I could just wait for the thermostat to open, but I am usually working on it on a cold morning and the engine temp never goes up.

Clay Stalker wrote: Hello esteemed board members:
I will be winterizing my Yanmar 2GM, raw water-cooled, for the first time and have a question on technique. I read somewhere that one should run the engine for 15-20 minutes, until warmed up, to open the thermostat before sucking in the anti-freeze so all areas of the engine are covered. When I mentioned this to a friend, he said he never does this, only runs a five gallon jug of fresh water through before the anti-freeze, running the engine only about a minute. Any opinions on the best way to do this?? Many thanks!!

Clay Stalker
CD 27 SALSA
Bristol, Rhode Island
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