winterize my 350 mercruiser i/o PLEASE HELP!

tmancleveland

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Oct 29, 2010
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3
alright guys i have a 83 chris craft scorpion 210 with a 350. had it winterized last year but money is kind of tight and just got laid off. a little mechanical experience but i don't know much about engines. if anyone could walk me through this i would greatly appreciate it. thanks.
 

Limited-Time

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Mar 30, 2005
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5,820
Re: winterize my 350 mercruiser i/o PLEASE HELP!

Look here, all the information you need to complete the job. ;);):)
 

Utahboatnut

Senior Chief Petty Officer
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Jan 15, 2009
Messages
785
Re: winterize my 350 mercruiser i/o PLEASE HELP!

There are manuals you can (or could) download from this site don't know if they are still avaliable though. I'm sure someone can give you a diagram of you engine so look for that in some responses. I'm assuming its like mine though pretty easy & straightforward. There is a block drain on each side of the lower block about in the middle(looking from side) should be brass/copper fitting. Remove plug on each side and stick a small wire up in the hole to dislodge any rust/etc that may be clogging the hole. Next is to drain the manifolds there is a hose on the bottom of each exaust manifold, remove the hose clamp and pull hose off, let those drain and leave hose off. There should also be a power steering cooler under the port side of the engine inline of a hose(the one that comes from your outdrive) its just a small barrell shaped canister. If you need help finding it follow the lines from your power steering resivor NOTE I'm not 100% if your model year has this cooler or not. but if so equipped remove one of the hose clamps from the cannister and drain that hose out as well as the cannister. All of the draining should be done AFTER you have run it on muffs to get the fuel stabilizer(that you have put into fuel tank) up and into the carb. So let it run at idle for 10 minutes or so. After the 10 or so minutes remove the spark arrestor from the top of the carb and while it is still running spray fogging oil down the carb until it chokes the engine out. Then once it cools a bit start the draining process, make sure the drive is full DOWN and you have removed the prop. make sure spark arrestor is back in place, fuel cap on tight, all buttoned back up. This is just a basic winterize as there are many other steps one can take if so desired. Lastly check the oil for any water intrusion if it looks like there is any hint of water in the oil there are many other steps that will need to be taken to lay it up for winter.
 

tmancleveland

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Oct 29, 2010
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Re: winterize my 350 mercruiser i/o PLEASE HELP!

Thanks guys. can't tell you how much i appreciate the help!
 

Friscoboater

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Jul 3, 2009
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Re: winterize my 350 mercruiser i/o PLEASE HELP!

I will be posting a video on how to winterize a little later today. Check out my youtube page for more info.
 

ziggy

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Jun 30, 2004
Messages
7,473
Re: winterize my 350 mercruiser i/o PLEASE HELP!

good video friscoboater.....

so can i elaborate... granted mines a L6..

imho

i drain the water out of the block and manifold 1st. prior to introduction of anti freeze (witch i introduce via the tstate housing and directly into the manifold). once the block, manifold, power steering cooler in your case is empty of water. it is safe for storage, w/o anti freeze.
i store the manifold with the plug in. i feel it helps prevent corrosion on the manifold female screw threads, thus leading a plug that won't screw down tight and seal. + i store with the anti freeze in all winter, she's filled up with anti freeze. i gotta leave the plug in. in my mercruiser s/m it states that empty of water is good for an extended season. but for lay up to introduce anti freeze for corrosion protection.

there are also many places to insert grease. least on my mc-1 drive. pivot point top and bottom of the gimble ring. both hinge pins, gimble brg. i also lub (grease) the steering cable end on the inside of the boat.

agreed on likeing to check the spines on the drive shaft. i also check the coupler female splines as best as possible to. flashlight, photos, looking for the flat spot on the top of the splines, not a knife edge. i also run an alignment bar to check alignment prior to storage. this also greases up the coupler with some new spline grease.

i also clean the fa + replace the fuel filter. i replace the engine oil at end of season so that during storage it has fresh oil in place. old oil has contaminates from the summers use.

i also remove my drive. stored inside over the winter. i grease the shift shaft slide with some new grease for winter + put a cover over the bell housing to help keep the elements and varmints out.

other than that, i whole heartedly agree with your video. thank you for taking the time to make it and post it up for all to see. ya did a good job..
 

Friscoboater

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Jul 3, 2009
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Re: winterize my 350 mercruiser i/o PLEASE HELP!

The video is live for those who want to see. The link is below.
 

tmancleveland

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Joined
Oct 29, 2010
Messages
3
Re: winterize my 350 mercruiser i/o PLEASE HELP!

awesome video! alright i think i got it thanks everyone for all the help. i dumped a whole can of the fogger into the carb and it just bogged down for a bit and then came back up so i just shut i.t off. think this is ok? thanks again for all the help guys
 
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