How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

[superpop]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

I followed my Volvo owners manual and just drained the block. I also took the 4 brass plugs out of my block and manifolds and installed brass ball valves from Home Depot. Takes about 2 minutes to drain the motor and manifolds, then before I park it for the winter I poke wire up the valves but there is never anything there. I also drive around my couldesac which is on a hill just to get any water left to come out as the boat goes up and down the hill. Then I drop the drive and call it good for the winter. Air does not freeze and I heard somewhere that the water jackets on the newer motors were coated anyway to prevent corrosion. Not sure about that though.

 

[Lou C]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

Ayuh,... Think for a minute,...
What do you think that T-Stat does as Soon as that cold antifreeze hits it,..??

Sounds like You've been Lucky,.... So far.....

For you guys who insist on Antifreeze,....
You simply can NOT skip the draining step, or eventually,... You'll Loose....

Bondo is absolutely for sure right here...I tried this short cut once...and checked the block drains....found mostly water...drained...backfilled as per the OMC 'alternate witnerizing procedure' and have done it that way ever since...
BTW...I am going to post a pic of my thermo housing...the next time I change the thermo (spring time before launch) to show that...adding the RIGHT ANTIFREEZE (-100 NOT THE CHEAP STUFF....) does slow corrosion on raw water cooled engines in brackish water....this one has 7 seasons in salt on it...and looks a lot better than the one I took off...7 years ago....

 

[ziggy]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

guess i made my decision today. i filled w/antifreeze. didn't see my method in the poll.
drained all the water out of it.
took the tstat out and filled thru the tstat opening till the block was full.
took the hose off the front of my manifold and filled it up with antifreeze till it was full.
put the tstat back and reconnected the hoses...
that was pretty much per the mercruiser s/m.
drive is off.

edit, used pink antifreeze. safe to -50*F. anti corrosion protection. which is the only reason i bother layup with antifreeze. generally considered safe for the environment...

 

[scbackpacker]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

Why remove the out drive? Does the water not drain out when the out drive is put in full down position? Also when you say that you put antifreeze in the manifolds where do you add it at?

 

[joncrisler]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

The problem with storing dry is that you have to make sure you drain every last part, every last hose etc. When I had an experienced mechanic winterize my boat, they forgot to drain the oil cooler, which admittedly is in a very hard to reach spot, and it burst over the winter. $200 mistake.

Its not enough to just drain the block- you need to get all the hoses, the oil coolers, p/s coolers, water pumps on those boats with belt driven sea water pumps etc. Some boats are easy to completely drain, others are a major pain. For those that are hard, drain the block, then run on muffs sucking up the pink stuff. When you are down to your last 1-2 gallons of AF then fog the engine to stall it.

As for the "bucket of pop", anybody that has done that once never does it again - the reason is that you need way too much AF to fill any bucket / tubs etc. You need quite a large tub to get a drive submerged to the water pickup, and that can take 10 or 20 gallons or even more of AF just to reach water pickup. Cheap way is to use an old cut-off piece of garden hose from the muffs to a bucket, but there are kits that do similar functions a little better. I use a kit from Camco that has a clear 5 gallon tank and clear lines so that you can see what you are doing.

 

[ziggy]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

Why remove the out drive?

it has to come off to lub and inspect the ujoints, gimble brg and coupler + to check alignment. so since it's off, i just store it inside and delay maint. a little longer. the impeller needs inspecting too once a year. also, stored inside it'll be harder to steal.

Does the water not drain out when the out drive is put in full down position?

yes.

Also when you say that you put antifreeze in the manifolds where do you add it at?

mines probably about as simple as it gets. one hose from the tstat to the ft. of the manifold on my L6 engine. pull that hose and fill her up.

 

[Nev'r Enuff]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

Just did my 5.7's yesterday and drained the 2 petcocks on the block till the sand and water came out (after I used a wire to clear sand), also drained the manifolds. All petcocks were left slightly open, put prestone in water pump inlet hose until you hear prestone come out petcocks on block. Shut petcocks on block and add 1/2 gallon prestone. Pour prestone in each manifold upper rise hose(until you hear it come out), close petcock. Add 1/4 gallon to each manifold. Also remove the hose from the power steering cooler to drain water and add prestone if possible.
In the summer we get rust in the engines all summer, prestone has some oil to lubricate to prevent rusting. I don't fill the engines with prestone. Great advise has been exchanged here. Thanks..

 

[yjanray]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

Hey Ziggy,

I pretty much have the same engine set up as you, i think, except mine's in a sea ray SRV 190. First boat and first time winterizing her. Just wanted to know any tricks that you might have for first timer winterizing that chevy L6.

Thanks

 

[jy118lfd]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

Full Closed cooling kit here. Just run on the muffs with antifreeze till exhaust runs pink then fog the motor till it dies. Done in 10 minutes. I boat until late December and I just drain the risers and heat exchanger in the water if the temp is going to get too low. Raw water just runs through the heat exchanger and Risers. So no real worries.

 

[fishingman220]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

how do you drain the risers? i have the same setup raw only in the exchanger and risers, i thought it was just drain the exchanger and pull the hose apart at power steering cooler, thats what i did last year.

 

[jy118lfd]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

how do you drain the risers? i have the same setup raw only in the exchanger and risers, i thought it was just drain the exchanger and pull the hose apart at power steering cooler, thats what i did last year.

Yes when you drain the exchanger the risers drain as well. Kinda worded my reply wrong.

 

[Fun Times]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

Yes when you drain the exchanger the risers drain as well. Kinda worded my reply wrong.

What engine do you have in your boat??? Something dose not seem right with your post here?

 

[Don S]

Re: How do you store your I/O Engine over the winter? With or Without Anti-Freeze?

This thread is turning into a "How do I winterize my engine" thread with nothing to do with the poll.
If you have a question about how to winterize your engine, start a new thread or check out the adults only post at the top of the forum. Lots of info there 9n the subject.

This thread is now closed.