www.iFourWinns.com

My previous boat had a Merc setup with a Bravo 3 drive. Current boat is Volvo Penta with duo prop. Prepping the bravo 3 drive for the winter was a simple matter of ensuring the drive was trimmed fully down. I keep hearing the Volvo drives are different though I don't see anything in the manual that follows all of the different things I'm hearing. The biggest thing I've heard from multiple sources is to pull the props for the winter and re-install in the spring. Sounds easy enough....but everything sounds easy until I actually attempt it. Another thing I've heard is to pull the drives completely and store until spring. Ok...I get pulling the drives for standard preventive maintaince (though I usually do this in the spring), but pull them and keep them off all winter? For reference, the boat is stored outdoors and it does get cold enough here for bad things to happen to boats that aren't winterized properly. I'm going to swing by the local Chaparral dealer (no FW dealers nearby) tomorrow to find out what they do when they winterize boats with volvo outdrives, but was also wondering what the cold weather group in this forum does with the VP drives (and props).

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'01 Vista 298

no reason to pull the props and leave them off. its a good idea to pull them and grease the shaft occasionally to make sure they dont get stuck. you need a special socket to pull the inner prop off. the only thing you have to worry about on the drive is water sitting in passageways, it wouldnt be a bad idea just to pull the drive and grease everything anyhow and now is a good time to do it. that way you will make sure there is no water stuck in the passageways. there is also a small drain hole in the lower on the port side of the drive, make sure that is cleaned out, if its plugged water could freeze in the lower in a cavity below the anode.

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Brian Borchik
The Winds of Cold Springs Harbor Marina
Baldwinsville, NY

The reason why you remove the props is because they can get corroded in place if you don't remove em and grease em with OMC/Bombardier triple guard grease. This is a problem on Volvo DP drives and can be an expensive one to boot. You remove the drives because if there is water in the bellows it will rust the gimble, ujoints and driveshaft all winter. You also want to check the input bearing seal to make sure it's not leaking drive oil in the bilge. Then you can fix anything that needs doing in the off season instead of waiting till the spring rush to get ready. If you remove the drives and check everything and it's all OK there is no reason you can't re-install them but I leave mine in the garage to prevent theft which happens depending on where you store it. It only takes about 15 min to remove a drive.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I pull the props before I have the shop do winter service, then grease 'em and reinstall as soon as they're done with it. Part of winter service for me is having them pull the drive, check & grease everything, and reinstall. When spring arrives, the drive and the props are ready to go. I just use the VP "prop shaft grease," not the Triple Guard, but I'm not in salt water.

The drive ought to be pulled anyway to check engine alignment, grease the coupler, etc., but beyond that I see no reason (and don't have the room) for the drive to sit on a stand all winter. I do use a torque wrench when installing the props, unlike one previous shop that tightened them to easily twice as tight as they're supposed to be. And I do time them because I subscribe to the theory that it should make a difference even though my own unscientific testing indicated otherwise.

I do have McGard prop and drive locks, and store the boat indoors.

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Only reason I would pull the props for storage is so someone doesnt swipe them. Stainless duoprops are an easy 5-700.00 on ebay.

Since you have to pull the prop to change the drive oil they should be greased once a season anyhow...

I leave mine on a lift in a slip all winter, it doesnt get super cold here, single digits at night a few times. I just make sure anti-freeze makes it into the water pickup on the drive, tilt it down all the way and thats it. I usually change the drive oil shortly before its time to put it up to make sure there isnt any water in the drive oil. If I kept it at home on a trailer I'd probably just pull the drive and put it in the garage.

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2006 Vista 248 5.7DP - SOLD
2011 Crownline E6 - SOLD
2007 Sea Ray 260 Sundancer

Thanks for the replies. Tomorrow I plan on flushing the engines and seeing if I can get a good visual on all of the drain plugs. If I can (and I can reach them all) I'll press on with the self-winterization. If not, I'll have the marina take care of it. Debating on the drives and what to do other than pull the props (I have the Volvo tool) and change the drive oil. The drives were fully surveyed by my mechanic before I purchased the boat in August so they should be fine for next season.

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'01 Vista 298