Axis Wakeboard Boat Forum

The drain plug should be torqued to 15 lb ft and note that you should use a pipe sealant. The GM sealant noted in the image is a PTFE based pipe sealant. If one of the drain plugs is a knock sensor, the sealant should not be used on that, but the torque is the same (15 lb ft)



For the spark plugs it is 11 lb ft. You may see 22 mentioned, but that is for the initial installation for a new cylinder head. I'm assuming you're running the 335 engine.

Awesome write up! I winterized yesterday step by step in about an hour or so. Super easy and can't imagine paying someone else to do it. Thanks!

I couldn't find that knock scensor, but I ran 4 gallons of antifreeze thru the motor after so it should b fine huh?

You should be fine if you performed all the other steps.

Please excuse me if this question has been asked earlier, I did not have time to read the whole thread.

I have a 2012 A22, and I live where the coldest it gets is mid to low 20s. Think i would be okay with just unhooking the connected hose (the one on back of motor over trans) and putting a heat lamp in the engine bay?

That is a tough one. I like the peace of mind of my boat winterized. With that being said, I think it will be okay. Is your boat stored in a shed or just outside with the cover on it? If it is in a covered area with wind protection I wouldn't be as concerned about it. I used an electric portable heater with a thermostat on it last spring when I got out in my boat before the night time freezes were over. It worked good for me.

I don't think 10 minutes is worth 5000$, seriously once you have drained the water from your engine block a couple of times you can go out there and do it in less than 10 minutes, I did mine last weekend just to be safe (and I keep mine in the garage which never got below 55), I'm still going out again this year but we were hit with a 28deg spell this week and I'd like the block to not be cracked next time I go to the water..... Oil change will probably be done in December after my birthday lake trip.

Just take the time and pull the drain plugs and disconnect the exhaust crossover hose, soooo much better than the alternative

I have a 13 and was curious about the large knock sensor mentioned above.....is this necessary? I did not do it but everything else was a breeze.

Does everyone typically leave the bolts out? Or after letting them drain put them all back in prior to storing?

Thanks!

I left them out on my old malibu and after about ten years the rust was pretty bad on the threads, so bad I had to run a tap to get the sensor in last year, I will be lubricating them and putting the knock sensors back in to prevent rust.

Ron -- on the 2012 you have no option but to take the knock sensors off (or at least loosen them) to get the block drain plugs out... I have not seen the newer motors but would assume it's a similar design. Remember, the knock sensors are very sensitive items and you do not want to over tighten them when you put them back on the posts (i think mine are at 10-12 in/lbs).

I too put the plugs back in after draining to avoid the issue miller had above.

I am sad to say that my first summer with my new T22 is over. I spent the day putting everything away and winterizing. I ordered my boat with the transom flush and thought that was going to make it really easy to winterize. We'll I wanted to deviate a little from Walters way, thinking that leaving the block and manifolds full of antifreeze was better than leaving everything empty and more prone to corrosion. So here is what I started to do today to winterize the water system (I'm not going to include the fluid change and other stuff). I have the monsoon 350 with cats.

I hooked up my garden hose to the transom flush and let the boat fully warm up and turned on the heater.

I had a 5 gallon bucket sitting on a step ladder, rigged up with a fitting for a garden hose on it.

My plan was to warm the engine until the thermostat was open and then shut it down and quickly turn the water off and switch over to my 5 gallon bucket full of Sierra brand enviro friendly antifreeze and fire it back up pulling all the antifreeze in until it came out the exhaust. The problem I had today was that there must be a check valve in there somewhere because none of the antifreeze would pull in. So I ran back out and bought that stupid fake a lake plunger for the bottom of the boat and used my 5 gallon bucket setup with it. It worked like a champ and I ran straight antifreeze in thinking it would mix with what ever water was left in the block and manifolds.

I then followed Walters steps and cracked all the various hoses and plugs. I got either no water out or green coolant out of everything! The only one I am not sure about is the heater core and maybe you guys can help me make sure.