6-Step Winterization Guide For Jet Skis

As the chill of winter sets in, it’s time to safeguard your personal watercraft (PWC) against the biting cold and freezing conditions.

Ensuring your PWC is properly prepared for the winter months is crucial for maintaining its performance and longevity!!!

In this guide, we’ll take you through the necessary steps and tips to get your PWC ready for the harsh winter ahead, so you can enjoy worry-free adventures when the warmer seasons return.

Items You Need

We’ll purchase several items for multiple years of use.

1. 1-Gal (per machine) of RV/Marine Antifreeze.
2. Marine fuel and gas stabilizer.
3. Fogging spray storage oil.
4. WD-40 Silicone spray lubricant.

Everything, expect 1-Gal of antifreeze, we’ll use multiple years.

Safety Tips!

Listed below are a few considerations essential for safeguarding yourself and your machines.

1. Protective Gear: Wear gloves and eye protection as indicated by warning labels on supplies.
2. Ventilation: Operate within adequately ventilated spaces while employing spray lubricants and chemicals to prevent inhalation of fumes.
3. Fire Safety: Practice fire safety precautions with flammable sprays by maintaining distance from open flames or sparks and ensuring sprayed areas are ventilated before engine ignition.
4. Battery Safety: Disconnect and place the battery in dry and cool place. Always disconnect the negative cable first. When adding, do positive cable first.
5. Antifreeze Handling: Avoid skin and eye contact with antifreeze. Rinse thoroughly with water if contact occurs. Keep antifreeze out of reach of children and pets.
6. Slippery: Be cautious of antifreeze spillage.
7. Read Labels: Always follow product label instructions and warnings.
8. Good Lighting: Work in well-lit conditions for clarity and safety.
9. Double-Check: Before winter storage, thoroughly inspect everything, including loose bolts and caps, even in areas you didn’t work on.

Steps For Winterizing Your Jet Ski

Winterizing involves adding fuel stabilizer, flushing with antifreeze, fogging, removing the battery, and lubricating parts.

Winterizing Steps:

1: Add Fuel Stabilizer

Ensuring the exact quantity of fuel stabilizer mixes with the gas is crucial. Fuel stabilizer bottles generally include measurements suitable for gas tanks ranging from 5 to 20 gallons.

Whether to keep the tank full or nearly empty is up to you.

Commence by initially introducing stabilizer to guarantee thorough mixing within fuel lines for subsequent steps. I recommend Sta-bil because of its effectiveness and widespread availability, although any stabilizer available will suffice.

2: Flush With Marine Antifreeze

Most important step involves removing water from engine!

Water removal is achieved by flushing engine with antifreeze. Here’s the steps:

1. Level craft.
2. Connect the drill pump with the flush port and get the antifreeze ready.
3. Engine on.
4. Activate drill pump and utilize entire gallon of antifreeze.
5. Upon antifreeze completion, deactivate drill pump, then switch off engine.

You want antifreeze coming out the exhaust, nozzle or side discharge port. If you don’t see antifreeze come out of ONE of these ports after 20 seconds, turn the pump off and then the engine off, as something not going to plan!!!

The owner’s manual suggests using compressed air for removing any water, but I prefer marine antifreeze.

Many find acquiring a drill pump easier than obtaining a sufficiently powerful air compressor.

Add water to the antifreeze? Marine and RV antifreeze should come pre-diluted and prepared. Additionally, water remains in cooling system, hence winterization, as it inevitably blends with water.

3: Coat & Fog Internal Engine Parts

We fog the engine, covering internal metal components to prevent rusting during periods of inactivity.

To fog an engine requires removing all spark plugs and spraying fogging oil into each cylinder for about 3 seconds.

At the start of the season, it’s advisable to replace all spark plugs because of the effect of fogging oil.

4: Remove Battery & Charging Suggestions

Batteries go flat during winter storage, so it’s best we remove them and keep them somewhere dry and above freezing temperatures.

Ideally, connect your battery with a smart charger that manages charging automatically. Alternatively, charge it every other month.

Types of batteries matter, as sealed/AGM batteries last longer and take abuse better.

Will your battery be dead if it doesn’t get charged over winter? Maybe. The biggest complaint at the start of the seasons I get from people is that their Sea-Doo won’t start, and it’s because of the battery. Sea-Doo batteries are small and don’t get used enough, leading to them dying. A battery charger proves effective in maintaining battery freshness throughout the winter season. I, personally, use a solar charger as I keep my Sea-Doo outside and get 5 years out of my batteries.

The solar charger doesn’t need direct sunlight and will keep batteries active and happy!

5: Spray WD40 specialist Silicone Lubricant

Spray WD40 silicone spray lubricant on all metal and electrical parts, including the engine and jet pump area.

Let it sit for 15 minutes so it can air out, it’s flammable.

Lubricate throttle and steering cables with marine grease.

Avoid regular WD-40, use the silicone version. This regular stuff doesn’t coat, it merely displaces water.

Here’s a useful tip for those residing near saltwater: regularly apply silicone spray on engine and jet pump areas. Repeat this process a few times annually, allowing it to air dry for 15 minutes each time, and your PWC will maintain its appearance for years!

6: Put Cover On

Take out front storage accessories so you can prevent mold growth during storage.

Use a cover, even indoors, for guarding against rodents, spiders, dust, and when outdoors, snow, sun, rain, and more.

Consider getting shrink wrapping done. Shrinking wrapping keeps PWC in perfect condition; snow and rain won’t affect it.

What happens when Water Freezes?

Not many people know this about water, but it works differently than most other objects in this world.

The special characteristic of water is its ability to expand upon freezing. This expansion poses a challenge for boats, as they draw in water for engine cooling. The force generated by water freezing is powerful enough to fracture metals, such as your engine block.

This process is slow, but powerful, and damages that frozen water can do is costly.

Trailer Maintenance Care

Regular trailer maintenance is essential for prolonging the lifespan of your trailer.

Here’s what to do:

1. Lubricate wheel bearings.
2. Lubricate latch.
3. Ensure correct air pressure in tires.
4. Attempt lifting tires off ground when sitting for extended periods. Place blocks under axle. Detach a tire to discourage theft of trailer.
5. Inspect straps, substituting any that show wear or fading.
6. Apply anti-corrosion spray to trailer.

If keeping PWC on trailer, consider tilting trailer back by placing something under it’s nose. This action lets any stagnant water flow out from footwells or hull, preventing bugs and animals.

Storing Watercraft?

Keeping your PWC in the water for a few days is fine, but any longer and you need a proper solution. Leaving them in the water for too long can damage it or worse, it can sink.

You have several options for long-term storage:

1. Trailer
2. Lift
3. Marina

The options mentioned above are common. Many trailer owners choose to store their trailers on the trailer itself, which is effective. Although some trailer maintenance, as detailed in this post, is required, this method often proves to be a cost-effective option for many.

For lakefront residents, I recommend investing in lifts. Options include lifts for driving onto or lifts that elevate your watercraft.Try figuring out what’s the perfect lift for your needs, I have a post that covers that here.

An alternative choice involves docking your craft at the marina. The marina handles both launching and retrieving your watercraft, or provides a slip for your convenience.

Either option you go with, I suggest you put a cover on your machine. Or, if you can, keep it in doors or at least covered.

Security Protection

When your PWC will be inactive for an extended period, consider the risk of theft.

Personal watercraft (PWCs) are highly sought after by thieves, particularly because they often contain significant amount of fuel and their compact size makes them easy targets for quick thefts.

When stored on trailer, employing trailer locks becomes vital. Elevating the level of inconvenience frequently discourages potential thieves from targeting it.

While situated on lifts, ensure the security of your PWC by utilizing chains or cable locks to attach the bow hook to the lift or dock.

For more information on security, read my post here.