Any of you ever used antifreeze when winterizing?

[WaterDR]

Never have I ever used antifreeze when winterizing a Waverunner. I live in Minneapolis. Have a friend who thinks I am nuts. All the water drains out and even if it doesn’t it wouldn’t freeze apart anything anyway.

What am am I missing?

[K447]

What specific concerns does this friend have?
That would apply to your watercraft, not some other brand or older model generation?

My view is the water box should be ‘blown out’ with multiple quick throttle blips (best to do this right after the last ride when engine is still warm) to minimize the amount of standing water trapped inside. I also crank the trailer bow up to encourage the waterbox water egress and perhaps encourage the engine cooling system to fully drain.

Mop out water from the bilge. Not for freeze damage, more to minimize mold and dampness damage. Air dry the hull interior with the seat off.

And that is about it regarding freezing water concerns during winter storage. *

Your 2019 FX SVHO owners manual should have specific recommendations regarding winterization.

For my GP1800 with SVHO, the cooling system and water drainage is not even mentioned by the owners manual with regards to winter storage. Mostly battery care, lubrication of various moving parts, cleaning/care of the finish. Clearly Yamaha does not have significant concerns regarding freezing water.


* I do other things to generally clean up the hull interior and exterior, stabilize the fuel, and so on.

[WaterDR]

My concern is that he is a doofus but that’s another issue. Just old school.

This will be my first winter with an SVHO. In the past I always fogged the cylinders. You recommend fogging the intake now with the SC?

[KEYZBUM]

Yamis dont need to worry about plastic parts freezing and breaking cause the water does drain out .
But Seedoo's DO NEED TO WORRY , they have plastic exhaust boxes(resonator) that hold water down low and tend to crack the box in the winter if not done right.
Ok so both Oem's have plastic parts in the exhaust system ,,
But the shape and location make it so that the Yami can have a little water sitting in the plastic resonator box and if it were to freeze it will Not expand and break the box open....
Some Seadoo's have that plastic box way low in the hull and the shape lets it hold water in the bottom corner of the box and when it freezes it blows/cracks out the bottom and most times the box seals up temporary well enough to run on hose on trailer but 1st time in the water the backpressure pops open the cracked part and all your exhaust water enters the hull ..

[hotbutta]

And the water jackets?....

[K447]

... first winter with an SVHO.

... fogging the intake now with the SC?

Fogging the SVHO engine is a hassle. Spraying fogging oil into the supercharger air intake is just going to goop up the intercooler.

The SVHO throttle body inlet is way down under the install manifold, hard to get at and near impossible to spray fogging oil upwards into the intake air flow while running the engine. And that is after you first wrestle/disconnect/move the rubber J tube out of the way.

Really all you can do is remove the spark plugs and spray some fogging oil into the cylinders.

None of this is really going to coat the exhaust valves and exhaust valve stems with much oil, if any. Which is where corrosion would happen, if it was going to happen anywhere.

The water box will likely have some liquid water remaining inside, and that moisture is the primary source of humidity, working its way back through the exhaust system to the engine.

The main thing I do is blow out the exhaust waterbox with multiple quick throttle blips (preferably when the engine is still warm right after the last ride). The less water remaining in the waterbox the better.

I prefer to crank the trailer tongue up as high as it will go to encourage the waterbox to empty with each throttle blip. And help the rest of the cooling system gravity drain out the back.


First winter I might have removed the big exhaust hose and vacuumed out the waterbox. A dry waterbox is best during storage. But I am too lazy now to do that, so I just blip the throttle until very little water is sluicing out the exhaust.


I do mop up any bilge water and generally make sure the hull is dry inside.

On my GP1800 water often hides under the engine, so I reach Way down there and feel around. If still wet I stuff some shop rags under there, push them around, and pull them out. Repeat until the hull interior seems fairly dry, then let it sit with seat off and air dry some more.

[gourlb1]

Also in Minneapolis, I have always used RV antifreeze, every PWC dealer I have worked with in MN does as well maybe due to the harsh winter temps, probably overkill but I don't want chance it. I either pull plugs and spray fogging oil or pull the fuel rail and spray into each injector port.

[dunnitagain]

If you look at a GP waterbox ,the exit is in front . ( I cut one down and Gutted it ) lower the nose of the trailer to help get the water out .
I added a plug to mine when I welded it back up.

Fogging the SVHO engine is a hassle. Spraying fogging oil into the supercharger air intake is just going to goop up the intercooler.

The SVHO throttle body inlet is way down under the install manifold, hard to get at and near impossible to spray fogging oil upwards into the intake air flow while running the engine. And that is after you first wrestle/disconnect/move the rubber J tube out of the way.

Really all you can do is remove the spark plugs and spray some fogging oil into the cylinders.

None of this is really going to coat the exhaust valves and exhaust valve stems with much oil, if any. Which is where corrosion would happen, if it was going to happen anywhere.

The water box will likely have some liquid water remaining inside, and that moisture is the primary source of humidity, working its way back through the exhaust system to the engine.

The main thing I do is blow out the exhaust waterbox with multiple quick throttle blips (preferably when the engine is still warm right after the last ride). The less water remaining in the waterbox the better.

I prefer to crank the trailer tongue up as high as it will go to encourage the waterbox to empty with each throttle blip. And help the rest of the cooling system gravity drain out the back.


First winter I might have removed the big exhaust hose and vacuumed out the waterbox. A dry waterbox is best during storage. But I am too lazy now to do that, so I just blip the throttle until very little water is sluicing out the exhaust.


I do mop up any bilge water and generally make sure the hull is dry inside.

On my GP1800 water often hides under the engine, so I reach Way down there and feel around. If still wet I stuff some shop rags under there, push them around, and pull them out. Repeat until the hull interior seems fairly dry, then let it sit with seat off and air dry some more.

[WaterDR]

Also in Minneapolis, I have always used RV antifreeze, every PWC dealer I have worked with in MN does as well maybe due to the harsh winter temps, probably overkill but I don't want chance it. I either pull plugs and spray fogging oil or pull the fuel rail and spray into each injector port.

Both my dealers do not.

[K447]

If you look at a GP waterbox ,the exit is in front .

( I cut one down and Gutted it ) lower the nose of the trailer to help get the water out .

I added a plug to mine when I welded it back up.

Do you mean you added a drain fitting to your waterbox?
Drain out the bottom rear of the waterbox?

Before you gutted the GP1800 waterbox, what was the internal configuration?