1996 Mercury 125 ELPTO - Water Drain Plugs?

ijelic

Recruit
Joined
Sep 20, 2017
Messages
4
Hi everyone.
I am new to the forum and boating. I just purchased a 1996 Sea Ray 175 with a Mercury 125 ELPTO and am trying to get familiar with it.

I am attempting to winterize the engine, I am going to run some antifreeze through a modified hose and set of muffs, but am wondering if there are any water drain plugs on this specific engine? Is running antifreeze through the muffs at idle sufficient enough to get rid of all water???

Any help would be appreciated.

Ike
 

MercGuy

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jul 20, 2006
Messages
195
Welcome to the forum !!

You do not need to worry about water drain plugs, or running antifreeze through your engine. When an outboard engine (any brand) is tilted vertical all the water drains out of the engine and no freeze prevention is necessary.

An I/O (Inboard/Outboard) engine is very different, as you can't tilt it, and there is no practical way to drain all the water out of the block, thus antifreeze needs to be circulated through the cooling system.

That is one of the many (in my opinion) advantages of an outboard compared to an I/O setup.

You should run some fuel stabilizer through the carbs and many people fog the engine with fogging oil, but don't worry about Antifreeze.
 

GA_Boater

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
May 24, 2011
Messages
49,038
As MercGuy said, the motor is self draining when lowered all the way down. The only other thing for peace of mind is to turn the flywheel or tap the starter a couple of times to force any water out of the water pump, but really not a necessity - It makes you feel better.

Leave the motor down so rain/melted snow runs out of the exhaust cavity instead of freezing and possibly breaking the lower unit.
 

ijelic

Recruit
Joined
Sep 20, 2017
Messages
4
I ended up running some antifreeze through the engine beforehand. I will make sure the motor is lowered all the way down.

I fogged the engine and changed the lower leg oil.

I just bought the boat and haven't even taken it out. Next season I suppose.

Thanks for confirmation. I have a lot to learn.
 
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