Winterizing 2009 Z1 - first time

[drnabjr]

I'm a new owner of a 2009 Z1 with a PCM EX343. For the first time I am trying to winterize the boat. I was running the engine with a "fake-a-lake" setup but I wasn't able to get water to circulate through the engine. I was expecting the water to come out the exhaust and after over 5 minutes the water continued to only run out around the "fake a lake" plunger. I assume I had the plunger under the correct intake because it looked different that all the others. It was the one with a brass grid covering the intake. Can anyone confirm if this is the correct intake?

If it is the correct intake and I wasn't able to get water to come out the exhaust does that mean the impeller is bad?

If the plunger was under the wrong intake and I ran the engine without water circulating did I do damage to anything besides the impeller? I turned the engine off when the water temp got to 120 degrees. The oil temp was at 50 degress.

Thank you for your help.

[chpthril]

5 minutes and now water from the exhaust, yes, i would replace the impeller. If everything was working normal prior to running on the FaL, I would investigate as to why the impeller would not prime up and pull water.

[IDBoating]

I wonder if you had the Fake-a-Lake sealed against the hull. It should be really pressed HARD up against it. Otherwise the impeller can draw air, or an air-water mix.

What I do is seal it up as described, then turn on the water and confirm that water is pouring out around the Fake-a-Lake due to hose pressure. Then start the engine and immediately look at the Fake-a-Lake again. The water escaping around it should noticeably decrease in volume (because the impeller is now sucking most/all of it into the engine), and pretty quickly you should have water coming out the exhaust. If those things don't happen, STOP the engine and start figuring out what is wrong.

[drnabjr]

WABoating, thanks for the tip. You were right. I just needed to push the plunger up against the hull tighter and then it started sucking the water in. I guess I just needed to force the water up until the pump was primed.

After getting the water to flow I was able to flush 2 gallons of RV antifreeze through the engine using the Camco setup. It worked great and I was stoked I was able to do this on my own. Thanks again for the help! I also fogged the engine while the antifreeze was running through it.

I have a few other questions if you can please help me with these:

#1 - Is it not necessary to remove the drain plugs to empty the water from the engine if you are going to flush the engine with antifreeze? (I removed 4 drain plugs from the engine prior to flushing with antifreeze but I couldn't find the 5th drain plug that was mentioned in another thread, the plug that is very difficult to remove apparently)

#2 - Is it necessary to remove the spark plugs if you spray fogging oil (Sea Foam) into the throttle body for several minutes while the engine is running? (Removing the spark plugs looks a little intimidating on this engine without seeing it done first.)

#3 - If the engine has antifreeze in it is the heater protected from freezing as well or is there something else I need to do to protect it?

[IDBoating]

Well.......

#1: I don't trust using antifreeze to reach everywhere. In fact, personally, I don't use antifreeze at all - I drain everything. So my answer would be that Yes, you should open every drain plug. Which four places did you open, and what fifth one did you not?

#2: I do not fog through the air intake on a fuel injected, ECU-controlled engine because the sensors in the airstream don't necessarily like to get gunked up that way. I remove the plugs, spray the fogging oil directly into the cylinders, hand-turn the engine a few rotations, and reinstall the plugs. And while I'm a huge fan of Seafoam (~0.5 ounce in every gallon of fuel that goes in the tank), I use dedicated fogging oil to fog engines.

#3: See #1 above. I'd drain that heater core manually just to be sure.

This is just my way of doing things. Doesn't mean yours isn't perfectly fine. But I try very hard to leave nothing to chance.

[Ewok]

X2 with WABoating, don't trust antifreeze, and get a new impeller. It's really easy to remove the spark plugs to flog, plus it gives you a chance to put a little anti-seize on the plugs so they don't get stuck and break off in a few years when you try to remove them.

[BCRider]

Instead of using my fake a lake this year I just removed the raw water intake hose under the rear seat. I then just tuck taped the clear hose you see below to my garden hose. Next year I will rig something better to do this. You should have a total of 7 plugs that have to come out to drain all of the water. See below. There is also one right below where this hose attaches at the front.

Then you can suck up RV Antifreeze. In the picture below this hose just runs in to a bucket that I had full. Now, I couldn't hear when it started coming out of the exhaust but I ran about 5 gallons of water through my engine before I turned it off. I doubt 2 gallons would have done anything especially if you never drained the water out first.

[IDBoating]

Yep, seven plugs on the engine itself. Then the intercooler (far right-most red circle in the above illustration, I just remove the hose, WAY easier than accessing its impossible-to-reach drain plug) and the v-drive, for a total of nine. I also hold my shop-vac's hose on all of those openings just to get any extra water out that I can. Yeah, I know... but I sleep well all winter knowing there is ZERO water in there.

Also, don't forget to empty and clean your raw-water strainer if you have one.

[chpthril]

IMO, dont trust the pink marine/Rv antifreeze induced into a drive train thats already full of water. Its not meant to be diluted, so any water in the system severely raised its freeze point. 2nd, your drive train probably holds about 4-5 gallons total, so that 2 gallons likely when right out to the exhaust manifolds.

[drnabjr]

I was hoping my work was done. I live in El Paso, TX and I have it in indoor storage. It doesn't usually get that cold but a few years ago we got down to 0 degrees. That is a very rare occurrence. Usually we don't get below 20 degrees and an indoor storage stays probably 5-10 degrees warmer I would guess. I'm tempted to take my chances with the antifreeze in there. What do you think? I'm thinking the chances are very low that we would get cold enough, long enough for the water/antifreeze mixture to freeze solid and crack something.

Also, I read somewhere that it is better to have antifreeze in the engine for corrosion protection. What are your thoughts on that?

The drain plugs I removed before I flushed it with antifreeze were the two attached to the knock sensors and the two at the front of the exhaust manifolds. The fifth one I was referring to was the transmission cooler plug. WABoating, is this the same as the intercooler plug you mentioned? You said to remove the hose and not the plug. Any tips on how to access that hose because I can't seem to get into that small space to even see what I need to disconnect?

This youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Egs_ac17c) for a 2009 24Ve is the tutorial that I used which shows these 5 plugs removed and a plug for the fuel cooler also (at the rear, port side). I didn't remove that one either.

Thanks for the diagram. Do I drain the heater from the rear of the engine, port side, as in the diagram? Where is the fuel cooler drain plug or does it not exist on a Z1?

[IDBoating]

The drain plugs I removed before I flushed it with antifreeze were the two attached to the knock sensors and the two at the front of the exhaust manifolds.

There are four on the exhaust system, as shown in the diagram. They are also different sizes as I recall (haven't winterized yet this year). So you have two more on the exhaust system to do.

The fifth one I was referring to was the transmission cooler plug. WABoating, is this the same as the intercooler plug you mentioned?

Yes. On my EX343 the intercooler is arranged such that its drain plus is basically impossible to reach. But removing the hose off its end is easy, so I just do that. It's made even easier by the fact that I remove the intercooler from the engine to make it easier to remove the starboard side knock sensor when draining the block. It's one bolt, and WOW does it make things easier in there.

Where is the fuel cooler drain plug or does it not exist on a Z1?

There is no fuel cooler. PCM handled fuel delivery issues with their "FCC", which is a cylindrical fuel filter and pump unit near the rear port corner of the engine. The high pressure fuel pump is inside, surrounded by a water-separating fuel filter. That filter should be replaced annually. There is a drain plug on the bottom of the FCC so you can empty the FCC before removing the cylinder and replacing the filter. The FCC is low enough in the hull that getting a reasonable container under there is a bit of a pain, but it can be done. I use an old glass pickle jar - it can handle the gasoline and is short yet has reasonable capacity.

BTW, I also replace the inline fuel filter which you can find by following the hoses that run from the FCC toward the fuel tank. One of them will be the supply line and it will have an inline filter. Proper winterizing involves three filters: One for oil and and two for fuel.

Has anyone written up a proper EX343 winterizing script? If not, I might do so just to make it easier to answer threads like this one.

[chpthril]

I was hoping my work was done. I live in El Paso, TX and I have it in indoor storage. It doesn't usually get that cold but a few years ago we got down to 0 degrees. That is a very rare occurrence. Usually we don't get below 20 degrees and an indoor storage stays probably 5-10 degrees warmer I would guess. I'm tempted to take my chances with the antifreeze in there. What do you think? I'm thinking the chances are very low that we would get cold enough, long enough for the water/antifreeze mixture to freeze solid and crack something.

Also, I read somewhere that it is better to have antifreeze in the engine for corrosion protection. What are your thoughts on that?

The drain plugs I removed before I flushed it with antifreeze were the two attached to the knock sensors and the two at the front of the exhaust manifolds. The fifth one I was referring to was the transmission cooler plug. WABoating, is this the same as the intercooler plug you mentioned? You said to remove the hose and not the plug. Any tips on how to access that hose because I can't seem to get into that small space to even see what I need to disconnect?

This youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7Egs_ac17c) for a 2009 24Ve is the tutorial that I used which shows these 5 plugs removed and a plug for the fuel cooler also (at the rear, port side). I didn't remove that one either.

Thanks for the diagram. Do I drain the heater from the rear of the engine, port side, as in the diagram? Where is the fuel cooler drain plug or does it not exist on a Z1?

Ok, sounds like you got most of the water drained prior to the AF. Given that you are in TX and the boat sleeps in a building, id say you are safe.

Yes, the AF does help slow the rust an corrosion that would take place with just leaving the raw water in there.

[drnabjr]

WABoating, I would appreciate a winterizing script. Here is a simplified one that I made. What do you think? Feel free to modify it if you want.

Fill up fuel tank and add stabilizer; run engine for 15 minutes to circulate fuel stabilizer
Replace fuel filter
Replace water separator
Tape off through-hull exhaust ports to prevent condensation
Remove spark plugs and spray fogging oil inside. Replace plugs without reconnecting wires
Change oil and oil filter
Flush out water and replace with RV/Marine anti-freeze (propylene glycol)
Remove batteries and put on battery tender (on wood, not cement)
Check fire extinguisher is functional
Check prop
Clean interior and apply vinyl cleaner/conditioner; open up compartments to allow to air out
Clean, polish, and apply wax to exterior
Remove drain plugs
Remove water from heater
Remove water from engine
Inspect your impeller and if in good shape, store it in an airtight bag (tie this and drain plugs to steering wheel)
Grease wheel bearings and inspect tires


How important is it to change the fuel filter annually if you don't put many hours on the engine?

Where is the water separator? Is this essential to do every year also, even with low annual hours?

If anyone can give detailed instructions or even better make a short video or take a few pics of how to access the spark plugs on an EX343 that would be awesome. As a newbie, I'm a little intimidated by that. It's probably real easy right?

I wish someone would make a video of the whole winterizing process, including replacing the fuel filter(s)! Thanks for all your help.

[Timmy!]

In the years that I used the pink stuff, I drained everything out (block, manifolds, etc), used compressed air to blow the heater core out and then put the pink stuff in. While you have the heater hose disconnected to get the water out, I poured the pink stuff directly into the heater hoses. My boat was in an un-insulated steel storage unit so I honestly don't know what the temperature got down to or if it got cold enough to freeze any diluted antifreeze or not but I never had any issues.

[IDBoating]

I don't have time to write up a full description right now, but here is the order in which I do the various subsystems:

First, add appropriate amount of StaBil and then top off the fuel tank so treated fuel works its way through the system while you're doing everything else

Second, the oil system (engine oil, engine filter, transmission fluid) because you need to run the engine in order to make certain the refill levels are correct

Third, the fuel system (inline filter, fuel cell filter) because PCM prefers that the fuel system be full during storage so you need to be able to run the engine again

Fourth, the electrical system (remove batteries) so you don't accidentially start the engine again

Fifth, the cooling system (block, exhaust, pump, water lines, strainer, remove impeller, heater if you have one, etc.)

Sixth, miscellaneous (fog engine, remove belt, grease rudder, lube cables, dry bilge COMPLETELY, etc.)