Did I winterizing my 4.3GL right??

[boater535]

hey guys i wanted to winterize my boat by myself this year instead of taking it up to the marina and save a couple hundred bucks.. was wondering if I did it right and if I did not or need to do more please comment below!!

1- drained engine blocks, right side and left side, used wire to loosen up any debris or sand at the hole where the plug is
2- drained both exhaust/riser manifolds
3- removed/loosened water pump hoses, both IN and OUT hoses, let water drain completely
4- removed/loosened thermostat hose and let that drain, lifted boat as high as it could go so all water would drain out
5- removed square bolt infront of intake manifold, lowered my trailer as much as possible so water would drain towards bow of boat
6- turned key in ignition to have any remaining water get spit out from water pump, did this three times, I DID NOT START ALL THE WAY, just a small turn and shut off.
7- Put left exhaust/riser drain plug back in, and loosened/removed hose that leads to opposite side of riser near intake manifold and filled with antifreeze - waited for antifreeze to come out of the drain hole in riser then tightened, filled exhaust/riser manifold with a little antifreeze, then put hose back on and tightened clamp
8- Put right exhaust/riser drain plug back in did the same for this side, filled with antifreeze watched it come out then tighten and topped off with more antifreeze and tightened plug.
9- Filled thermostat hose with antifreeze and made sure antifreeze came out of both drain holes in the engine block, then tightened.
10- LOWER UNIT; filled antifreeze in intake hose which is used for garden hose to start without muffs and waited for antifreeze to come out of lower unit.

Thats all i did to winterize my Volvo Penta 4.3GL Engine. Please let me know if I did this right, and if there are any concerns or issues you guys find I would like to hear!! I know you don't have to fill the engine block or manifolds with antifreeze but I did just as a preventative measure.

THANKS IN ADVANCE GUYS!!

 

[alldodge]

Did you remove the large hose on the bottom of the circulation pump to drain water?
Filling the block with RV stuff up to the thermostat housing you should be good without removing the hose.

You should be good

 

[tpenfield]

:welcome: to iBoats. . .

Sounds like you did OK.

What are your typical winter low temperatures during a cold snap? You want to make sure your AF spec is well below the lowest temperature that you expect.

 

[boater535]

AllDodge Yes i removed the large hose on the bottom which feeds both to the engine block and then there are two hoses for the water pump which i also drained out completely. Thank you for your input! Any recommendation for using a fuel stabilizer? Should I leave the gas in the tank or should I top it off and add some stabilizer?
Thanks in advance!

 

[boater535]

tpenfield Thanks for the welcoming lol! But im in Michigan, it gets super cold during the winter months. Can range to -20 windchill, to -10 degrees farenheit! Burrr!! The thought of putting the boat away and getting ready for winter is no fun! Also on the AF, yes i got some good heavy duty stuff i think the gallon said -84 degrees! Haha! Thanks for your input!

 

[alldodge]

I leave the tank in the boat at what ever level it is when I winterize, doesn't matter if its empty to 90 percent full. Don't use stabil in any gas that will not be setting for well over a year, and never in E0 gas. Most the time I have between 1/4 to 1/2 tank, and this is just what I do.

 

[jimmbo]

That's more than I do, I just drain the block, manifolds, hoses, spin the engine to drain the water pump. Than I reconnect the hoses to the water pumps and put it away for the winter. Been doing it like that for 16 yrs and it gets down to -35 so I must be ok.

 

[boater535]

Any of you guys do the fogging to your engine? I know its not mandatory, but I was wondering if its worth it??

 

[alldodge]

Use to many years ago with carbs because its real easy. I would use about any spray oil I had on hand. Since getting my MPI, I no longer do the carb and have never done the MPI

 

[jimmbo]

On older engines spray away, the newer ones with cats it’s a different story. Mercury has a recipe for use in a portable tank consisting of mix of gas 2 stroke oil and fuel stabilizer. Same goes with outboards

 

[boater535]

Any of you guys have a good way to clean the air filter element on the 4.3GL? Or just get a replacement one?

 

[alldodge]

Would have to look at yours, but everyone I've seen are metal, so I use diesel then soap and water, then spray off with a hose. Could just use dawn soap and water

 

[USA_boater]

I am also going to be winterizing my 4.3GL and would like to avoid removing hoses if I can...My plan was to use an air blow out plug with my air compressor to blow through the system and then use the Camco winterization kit to fill the system wit RV antifreeze and then fog the carb while the motor is running right before I shut it off. I just entered another post about whether the blow out plug would work for my boat...if not then I'll probably drain the hoses and reinstall them and then go ahead and use the Camco to fill it with RV antifreeze. in my neck of the woods the -50F stuff should work okay.

Is the blow out plug able to save all the bumping the starter and draining hoses, etc? Or should I just save my money?

Thanks to the OP for the details on what he did; this will be helpful and I am a new boat owner and have the same engine.

 

[alldodge]

If your thought is to pump air pressure in and it blow all the water out, that is not going to happen, it has to be drained

 

[USA_boater]

okay then the air blowout plug is worthless to me...I will just drain the raw water, circ, and t-stat hoses, the block & risers, and then run the pink stuff through...BUTTTTTTTTTTT if you drain the water first, then won't the t-stat be closed when you try and add the pink stuff???

If I warm it up first, not sure if it is safe to try and drain the water immediately after wards to keep the stat open for when I add the pink stuff? Perhaps I'd be better off to forget the hoses and just:

- warm it up to op temp on trailer with regular water
- add pink stuff via Camco device
- drain block and risers "just to be safe" and hope the rest of the reaming liquid in the system is pink stuff?

Otherwise, how can one drain all the water and then properly add the pink stuff if the stat is going to stay closed while trying to add it?

 

[tpenfield]

^^^ Agreed. You really can't blow air through the engine, or various parts of it, to effectively purge the water. Odds are that the water will get out of the way of the air, but never truly purge from the engine.

There are those who try to do the anti-freeze thing via the muffs. What they may not fully understand is that there is not a 1-for-1 swap of AF in vs. water out, and as a result they end up with an engine full of diluted anti-freeze waiting for the cold temperatures.

 

[alldodge]

The thermostat is almost always closed, even when running. It opens when it reaches temp, colder water enters and it closes again. Not all the water is transferred with each opening, and normally doesn't open all the way.

The block is filled from the water pump area and not the thermostat. The thermostat does have a small hole to allow some air and slight bit of water to bypass always. So the thermostat is the exit and not the entrance.

If you pour AF in, it will go throughout

 

[USA_boater]

Okay, sounds like I wasted my money on the Camco system but a LOT of people do use them so they must work or there would be a LOT of cracked blocks out there and they'd probably go out of business?

I suppose I could run the camco and then drain and then run again to get 99% of the water out? It would take twice the pink stuff though...I just "hoped" to find a way in my area where it generally doesn't get below 30* too much (but can get to teens) to winterize my boat without a lot of work. I think draining the block & exhaust after using the pink stuff might be a compromise I could make...the previous owner only ever drained those and NOTHING else...boat was in same state with that as a winterization method for 11yrs and never cracked...I should probably just drain and fill like the OP explained how he did it...lotta people using camcos though...perhaps Michigan or where ever he said he was is more risky to try that vs. my neck of the woods (OK).