6000 GDI - First Winterization - Couple Questions

[Tookeymonster]

Thanks for the replies folks. That's a good idea TookeyMonster. This is my 25 hour initial oil change. The dealer is 7 hours away. Rather than take it to them they said I could do it myself. Sounds like a good idea to have that documented though.

Chris

In your case I would just take a pic of oil filter and oil next to your hr meter.

[GottaLuvGravity]

For those that used the non-pressurized method described on this thread ... is antifreeze supposed to come out around the drive shaft when you are filling those hoses?

I know I have the right hoses. I watched the video as well. Antifreeze does end up coming out the exhaust. I'm just puzzled seeing antifreeze come out around the drive shaft.

And I can confirm that you cannot use the flush port. It won't suck and gravity isn't enough pressure to open whatever valve is inline that opens when you run off of a garden hose.

[waterlogged882]

Never came back.

.

[Tookeymonster]

For those that used the non-pressurized method described on this thread ... is antifreeze supposed to come out around the drive shaft when you are filling those hoses? YES, it will come out the drive shaft before it starts to come out of the exhaust.

I know I have the right hoses. I watched the video as well. Antifreeze does end up coming out the exhaust. I'm just puzzled seeing antifreeze come out around the drive shaft.

If you hook a water hose up to the flush port it will also come out the drive shaft.

And I can confirm that you cannot use the flush port. It won't suck and gravity isn't enough pressure to open whatever valve is inline that opens when you run off of a garden hose.

I put the answers next to your questions.

[waterlogged882]

Easy process.

.

[GottaLuvGravity]

I tried using a standard submersible pump this year through the flush port and at first it didn't work, but when I closed the seacock and started the pump before the engine it finally did work.

[cobalt650]

I just read in the 2017 manual (page 377) "For Boats equipped with an engine flush kit, you must winterize the engine flush fitting mounted to the transom of the boat:

- Remove the boat from the water
- Drain the engine according to the Ilmor Engine Owner's Manual included with the Owner's Manual Information Packet
- Add one gallon of marine grade antifreeze to a five gallon bucket
- Attach a garden hose to the flush valve adapter mounted to the transom. Place the other end of the hose in the bucket with the antifreeze
- Start the engine and allow the engine to draw the antifreeze into the motor. DO NOT EXCEED 1100 engine RPM. Once all the antifreeze has been drawn out of the bucket and into the engine, turn the engine off to prevent loss of antifreeze or overheating


That being said, I guess i'm going to attempt this method. I will report back my findings to help future 6000 GDI owners.

Did this work for you in regard to sucking up the gallon with a hose via the flush valve? Thnxs!

[cobalt650]

For the GDI motors, they deleted the quick disconnect and there is a bolt on the front edge. I e-mailed Ilmor and that was their response.

[bbenj10]

For 2023 and newer boats, they've changed around some of the configuration of the raw water drain points. There's no longer that convenient hose that Tookeymonster mentions in his video. They also now have a newer style Ilmor Sea Strainer and recommend draining just from that. The problem though, is that it leaves a pocket of water at the exit of the crank-mounted impeller housing that you can't just easily gravity drain.

If you look at the new 2024 MC Owner's Manual, they now say you have to get all the way down to the very bottom of the bilge and pull the 1.5" seawater outlet hose from the raw water pump to fully drain everything down. That crank-mounted raw water pump is really hard to get to on the X-Star. The 2024 MC manual also now removes any mention of the engine off winterization approach and recommends running antifreeze through the flush port.

The problem though is it seems to take a signficant amount of pressure to open up that flush port. I used the new Milwaulkee M12 Stick transfer pump that can run 9 gpm at about 10 psi and it wasn't enough to get through the flush port and into the new sea strainer. Anyone have any ideas on how to best follow the new winterization instructions? Just stick with engine off approach after a full drain down or is there a better way to tackle this?

[bbenj10]

Update for anyone with a 2022+ 6.2L GDI engine with the new sea strainer location on the Port side of the engine and the crank mounted impeller. It's not that bad to get access to the raw water pump outlet hose as described in the 2024 owner's manual.

The best way I found was to kneel in the port side storage locker and work from the top of the engine. From that vantage point, you have a good line of sight to the impeller housing and to the outlet raw water hose from the pump housing.

This was on a 2023 X-Star, so anyone with an X-Star S might have a different experience with less access due to the transom seats.

It was easy to pull the outlet hose and drain the last bit of raw water from the raw water side of the system from there. Once all the raw water is drained, it was also easy to draw in 4 gallons of -50F Propylene Glycol antifreeze from the hose at the sea strainer to fill all the empty spaces and finish the winterization process.