winterizing Ranger 18 w/ yanmar 1GM

[daviduphoff]

I decided the little tug was not going back into the water again till the spring. My wife still insists that it needs to go to a new home though, but that is just one of those discussions I don't want to be part of. I feel every household needs two Tugs. I'm sure no one will disagree. The Yanmar 1GM is raw water cooled. I am not familiar with raw water cooled diesel engines. After I warmed up the engine I pulled the fresh water hose from the raw water strainer and connected a hose with a funnel. I began to pour straight ethylene glycol antifreeze into the funnel. I poured until the hose I had on the exhaust ran green into a five gallon bucket I had there to catch the antifreeze. It took less than a gallon. Anyone have any idea if that should purge all the fresh water? It doesn't seem like much liquid to me. The owners manual suggests that I remove the cover from the cooling water pump and drain the engine. Does anyone have an opinion? The owners manual also gives simple instruction on how to remove the entire engine for the winter. I think engine removal for the winter might be overkill.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

Hi David. I winterized the raw water portion of Kismets (R27) Yanmar in the same manner you did on your 18' Tug and used 2 gallons of rv antifreeze. It would seem that a gallon in your system would be in line. You've got a unique and rare Ranger Tug that might have some special winterizing requirements that a call to the factory might be of benefit to you. Keep in mind to run some antifreeze into the bilge between the engine and rear transom seat, until it spits out the discharge. Hope all is going well.

Jim

 

[knotflying]

David,

You could also use RV antifreeze. It is non toxic and I think less expensive than auto antifreeze.

 

[trailertrawlerkismet]

David: I forgot to mention, you probably already know this, but did you warm the engine up so the thermostat was opened up to let the anti freeze into those chambers? I'm assuming your engine is completely raw water cooled.

Jim

 

[daviduphoff]

David: I forgot to mention, you probably already know this, but did you warm the engine up so the thermostat was opened up to let the anti freeze into those chambers? I'm assuming your engine is completely raw water cooled.

Jim

Yeah Jim, I warmed it up first. I guess my concern was that the thermostat did not open as it took so little coolant. Perhaps this weekend I'll pull it out and do it again. Parker loves to stand next to the boat with the hose running and aim it at the intake on the transom in the dark while it's about 35 degrees out. I should have told him just 4 more minutes to be sure. We both know how well that would have gone over. Perhaps I'll try it again and just flush the antifreeze back through and reuse it. I guess I could call the Yanmar dealer and ask how much it should take, but then again they are not open at 8PM on a Sunday night. In the owners manual there is what is called a "cooling water drain cock". I suppose that if I pull it or open it up and see coolant I'm golden. Like I said earlier a call to the Yanmar dealer is in order.

As far as using ethylene glycol, yeah, yeah, shame on me but it is what I had on hand at 8PM on a Sunday night. It's not like I planned in advance winterize my boat. I'm not like I'm Mr Prepared like Jim with 6 gallons on RV antifreeze sitting on my boat BEFORE I even pulled it out of the water in Portland only to drive across the country.

I'll post again after the great mystery of how to winterize a one cylinder Yanmar is solved!