Re: Can I flush my I/O Engine After Use If It stays Moored in Saltwater?
My boat lives on a dry stack. It's raw water cooled so unlike a majority of boat wonders around here I DO choose to flush my engine after use. I do it while its still sitting on the water so the engines still hot, and the thermstat will open allowing a more complete flush. I looked into installing a series of plumbing fittings and taps upstream of the powersteering cooler which would allow a fresh water hose to be connected and the sea water shut off. In the end I went away from the idea and now I just tilt the drive up, slip a set of flush muffs on while standing on the swim platform, trim drive down, run engine for about ten minutes (I hold my hand on the thermostat housing and feel for two complete opening cycles). Job done. Yes, it is a it of faffing around at the end of each trip, but I figure its worth it in the long run? I also added an extension piece of hose to my muffs which allow me to connect a Salt-away dispenser to the process, which I can turn on and off from above water line.
Of course, the big variable here is whether or not you are able to reach over the back and fit the muffs to your drive?
As an aside, I asked the local on-site marine shop at the dry stack approximately how many of the boats here were raw water cooled? His guess was about 75% are, and probably only about 10% of those bother to flush. But then I guess virtually all boats in the marina births that are raw water cooled don't get flushed?
