Winterizing - Antifreeze

lcochrane

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Oct 3, 2014
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I was winterizing my boat over the weekend and just wanted to make sure I put enough antifreeze in my engine, I have a 1990 Sea Ray with a 5.0 L. When I talked to West Marine they said about 4 to 5 gallons of antifreeze would work. So I put 4.5 gallons in the jug, started running it through the engine..noticed my temp started going up and no antifreeze being discarded, so I shut it down right away. I forget to open the vent cap on the jug so no air could get in..ugh I know not too bright. I don't know how much made it in but I don't think a lot. So put a little water too it, and got the temp back down. I started the process again and put the rest of the jug in..well almost all of it could not quite suck it all in. So I am thinking I got about 4 gallons (or a little less) in. Is that enough?. I live in Michigan so it will get below freezing, but I am storing it indoors. I don't know if that makes a big difference. I really don't want to pull it back out again and run more through. Any thoughts or suggestions would help.
 

poconojoe

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First off, you are using non-toxic pink antifreeze right? Make sure you completely drain everything out of the engine via the drain plugs. I'm not familiar with your engine, so find out how many drain plugs you have and where they are. My 4.3L has 5 plugs. While draining them, stick a piece of stiff wire in and out of the drain holes in case there is some rust or scale blocking the drain hole. A lot of water/antifreeze should come out of each hole. Keep the drain plugs out for the winter and put them and your transom plug in a zip lock bag taped to your steering wheel. When done, pull the thermostat and pour some antifreeze into the intake manifold in case the thermostat didn't open when you ran the antifreeze through. A good time to change your thermostat too for peace of mind (you'll need gaskets anyway). Pour some antifreeze into all the hoses that were attached to the thermostat housing. Make sure your outdrive is in the full down position so the bellows are not stressed all winter. If you were storing it outside I would say remove the prop and cover the lower unit with plastic to prevent water getting in there and freezing. Remember...air doesn't freeze, so an empty engine block is a safe bet. Plus as an added bonus, you ran the antifreeze through everything too.
Now close your eyes and dream of an early spring!
 

lcochrane

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My boat sits pretty low on the trailer...I don't think I can get my outdrive all the way down...If I put down as far as I can go and then put a board underneath like a 2 x 4 will that work?
 

tpenfield

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Michigan . . . didn't it get to something like -140 F last winter :noidea: Keep in mind that, depending on your particular cooling system, a fair amount of the antifreeze may go directly to the exhaust elbows, bypassing the engine block and exhaust manifolds.

The process within the block and manifolds is one of mixing/dilution rather than a straight 1-for-1 swap of antifreeze for water.

So, it would be best to drain everything, rather than merely rely on the antifreeze.
 

H20Rat

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Lots of people like the 'air don't freeze' camp, and although I sort of subscribe to it, I will dump RV antifreeze in first, and then drain. The LAST thing you want to do is try to introduce antifreeze through muffs on a running engine. You are setting yourself up for a new engine in the spring. First problem is that until the thermostat opens, you aren't getting antifreeze to where it needs to be.
 

Scott Danforth

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drain it completelyh and forget it, even if the great lakes freeze over again this year.

With attempting to suck antifreeze up, as mentioned, most of it bypasses the block and goes straight out the exhaust until the thermostat opens. then at that time, you would only be mixing some antifreeze with a whole lot of water. this WILL result in a busted block come spring time.

If you want to add anti-freeze after you fully drain the block, manifolds, oil coolers, and fuel cooler (if you have it), pull the big hose, and the hose from the transom. Then at that point, pour in the anti-freeze from the top.
 

Lewis1111

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We winterize hundreds of boats every year at our shop in Alberta, Canada. Always done it the same way here.

1. Run the engine up on the garden hose with the set of muff's until the thermostat has fully opened.
2. Shut engine down and switch over to the RV antifreeze tank
3. Restart the engine being sure the valve from the tank is OPEN and run until the pink antifreeze is coming out the exhaust.
4. We also at the same time as running the antifreeze through the engine fog it.
5. Pull both block and manifold plugs and ensure antifreeze is coming out. Be sure to use something to poke the holes free of any sand/rust. Also remove the hose to the bottom of the circ pump.

May be a little more then required in some areas but has always worked for many of the shops in our area. We re-install all hoses and plugs just as a convenience for customers not to have to bring the boat back in the spring.
 

lcochrane

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I did the same thing as Lewis 1111...except I did not notice if it was pink coming out the exhaust. That is why I am asking how much antifreeze you would typically use. Can anybody answer that question for me?
 

Walt T

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A lot of engines get replaced in the spring due to "antifreeze winterizing" Lewis1111 knows what he's doing, but a lot of boat owners don't quite know what is happening. If you want to be sure the block is full of unclefreeze then pull the T stat and fill it up. Why go through all that brain damage when all you have to do is drain it?
 

81 Checkmate

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Here is my take on this post..............Quote from your 1st post...( So put a little water too it, and got the temp back down ) Now you have [FONT=&quot]Contaminated your antifreeze solution with water.

Need to get your boat back out and drain all anti-water freeze and do it the correct way. Air does not freeze. If you want to pink stuff in YOUR MOTOR.. pour it in... NOT ON MUFFS.
[/FONT]
 
Last edited:

thumpar

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I did the same thing as Lewis 1111...except I did not notice if it was pink coming out the exhaust. That is why I am asking how much antifreeze you would typically use. Can anybody answer that question for me?
Even if the pink stuff is coming out the exhaust it doesn't mean it is going through the engine. Look at the cooling diagram. I just drain it and forget it. No kool-aid for me. The antifreeze will freeze before air will.
 

HT32BSX115

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We winterize hundreds of boats every year at our shop in Alberta, Canada. Always done it the same way here.

---snip---

5. Pull both block and manifold plugs and ensure antifreeze is coming out. Be sure to use something to poke the holes free of any sand/rust. Also remove the hose to the bottom of the circ pump.

---snip---


There are a few points to ALWAYS REMEMBER.

1. evidence of anti-freeze coming out of the exhaust ports is NOT evidence of an OPEN T-stat!

2. The T-stat, with the engine running on "muffs" is NOT usually fully OPEN. So you CANNOT ENSURE the AF mixture is safe from freezing!

3. Notice the last step is pull the plugs and DRAIN!

REGARDLESS of what you do, if you ALWAYS pull ALL plugs and hoses, etc to drain all the "low" spots that pool water, YOU"RE "GOOD"

Air doesn't freeze.


(OTOH If you have CLOSED COOLING, you can use the "MUFF/AF" method.......but it's just as easy to simply drain the heat exchanger.....)


Cheers,


Rick
 

airshot

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To answer the original question, NO you did not use enough antifreeze.....the way you are doing it, you will never use enough antifreeze!!
 

stonyloam

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+1 airshot, unless you drained out the water first, that is 5 galons of antifreeze wasted, and guarinteed that you trashed your impeller and maybe exhaust shutters in the process. :(
 

Bt Doctur

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All I can say it`s a good thing winterizing that way is never done unless you want to put a new motor in the boat come spring.
You flush and fog the engine until it stalls
Open the block ,manifold, riser, power steering cooler, and any other drain plugs in the system to make sure it`s empty.
You can pour the A/F into the block, manifolds and hoses to reduce the scale factor or you can remove the plugs, drain everything, and reinstall the plugs.
Filling it helps prevent scale, leaving it dry dosent. The jury is still out on how much scale is produced.
 

Starcraft5834

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my recommendation is with Tpen....and everyone else who advocates dry storage.. that you drain out all the antifreeze you put in there and leave it empty............."air dont freeze"
 

lcochrane

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Oct 3, 2014
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Why can't you introduce antifreeze through earmuffs? West Marine sells a winterizing just for that purpose.
 

Bt Doctur

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its not the fact of introducing thru the muffs, its the fact that no ones drains everything first and the block and manifolds get cracked
the block and manifolds contain water. water must always leave thru the exaust system anytime the motor is running to cool the rubber components.

the exaust water HAS NOTHING to do with the thermostat being open or closed. seeing pink come out the exaust means nothing, you could still have a block filled with 2 gallons of water and no anti-freeze solution because water or antifreeze must come out the exaust to cool it.
you may have trashed the impeller because it dosent suck water in like you think. it simply moves water. you can have a totally destroyed impeller and still be normal on a hose because your now forcing water thru the system, once in the water you overheat because the pump is no longer able to move water .
 

lcochrane

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I still plan on pulling the plugs on the block and manifolds. I think I found the ones on the block..can anyone tell me where the ones on the manifold are?
 
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