New Used boat to winterize

[kghughes1]

I just bought a 2010 stingray with a 4.3 GXI-J and a SX out drive. Im used to merc but know volvo makes good stuff also. I get to use the boat maybe a couple of days before I start to winterize it. I used to drain all the water in my other boats and poor anti freeze in the line, cheap insurance. I see they recommend pulling the out drive off and checking stuff. Probably a good idea since it has 70 hrs on it and it does have a hum in gear. Were do I find a engine alignment tool if the engine and out drive are out of alignment and how hard is this to fix? I do autobody and paint cars so mechincal stuff is not out of my relm. The boat looks like new and runs great and I want to keep it that way. Thank You for any info and advice.
Kevin

 

[further]

You can find them on eBay and Amazon. I got mine on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Engine-Alignme...alignment+tool

Or you can make your own - check out the stickies at the top of the forum.
http://forums.iboats.com/forum/engi...miscellaneous-mercruiser-information?t=329915
Good luck!

 

[Scott Danforth]

welcome aboard.

I would get the hum checked out. could be alignment, could be gimbal bearing

the volvo has a crank mounted raw water pump. make sure you pull the line from the transom shield and back-flush. I used to blow mine out with air.

also pull the large hose on the circulating pump.

if Anti-freeze in your block makes you happy, then do it. however $10 worth of PG antifreeze is $10 wasted. Air doesnt freeze.

 

[kghughes1]

Thank you for the info, I did get it checked out they said it was normal for the Volvo its just a gear noise im hearing but wasn't sure.
They told me im better off to pump the snit freeze in once the engine gets up to temp since its not sitting in the water. I did that yesterday and have her finally barely wedged in the garage. I still need to change the oil and lower oil but ran out of time but oil in engine is out I sucked it while hot. Do they make a kit to drain the motor oil with a hose that will go out the drain hole like I see on the new mercs? I live and mainly boat in Indiana so whats the best weight of oil for the motor? I use only synthetic in everything I have.
Thanks again

 

[bruceb58]

Thank you for the info, I did get it checked out they said it was normal for the Volvo its just a gear noise im hearing but wasn't sure.
They told me im better off to pump the snit freeze in once the engine gets up to temp since its not sitting in the water. I did that yesterday and have her finally barely wedged in the garage. I still need to change the oil and lower oil but ran out of time but oil in engine is out I sucked it while hot. Do they make a kit to drain the motor oil with a hose that will go out the drain hole like I see on the new mercs? I live and mainly boat in Indiana so whats the best weight of oil for the motor? I use only synthetic in everything I have.
Thanks again

Hopefully, you drained the block first before doing anything with anti-freeze. Make sure you drain your manifolds as well

With Volvos you suck the oil out of the dipstick with a pump that threads onto the garden hose fitting on top of the dipstick tube. Don't use a pump where you put the skinny hose down the dipstick. Since the dipstick tube actually connects to the hole in the pan where the drain plus usually goes to , you will get all of the oil out that way.

Do you know if the u-joints bellows or water pump impeller have ever been changed? Since your boat is 5 years old, I would be replacing both of those over the winter. Make sure you store your drive in the down position.