1993 4.3 engine winterization

[mcmarcia]

I know winterization has been beaten to death and there are many opinions and techniques employed for different boats and motors, but I am a newbie with a month old recent purchase of 27 year old Rinker Captiva 209 and today's 75 degree by day and 50 degree by night temps are turning tomorrow to a low of 18 and rain and snow. So hoping I did the right thing today to keep my block happy as I certainly was not expecting anything like this for another 6 weeks at best. I did some reading here and Utubing to see what people are doing with my vintage motor for winterization and decided to drain out the 4 drain plugs and flush some RV antifreeze after doing my first oil flush with some BG EPR and oil change with merc 25-40.

Here is what I did to winterize block: . I have the thermostat housing with the 3 pairs of hoses and the plastic balls. I opened up all the 6 hoses that attach to the thermostat housing. I removed the 2 plastic drain plugs from both manifolds. I removed the 2 block plugs I found, port and starboard, which someone had installed steel plugs in place of the OEM plastic plugs. I never found a 5th drain plug on the manifold and figure/hoping my endelbrock manifold must not have a drain plug. I removed and drained the hose that attached to the power steering cooler on port side lower block. I stuck a small allen key into all the drain holes, but they were all clear of rust. Starting with the large hose that goes into the water pump from thermostat, I ran a gallon and a half of RV antifeeze into all 6 hoses and saw plenty of pink PG antifreeze exiting the motor and manifolds. I gave the ignition a slight bump 2 times to turn the impeller ever so slightly. I blew out the hoses with a my 18 volt makita leafblower. I left all the hoses and plugs out/open. I spent twice as much time cleaning the bilge of PG/RV antifreeze and rust particles as I did actually draining the block and manifold. I used the leaf blower to dry everything and covered the boat.

I think I did it right? Did I miss anything? Want to make sure I do not have cracked block in spring. Thanks anyone who can help advise if I need to do more work tomorrow before all hell breaks loose with this crazy record breaking front coming in on Sunday.

 

[Lou C]

That sounds good I’d replace the plugs though so the threads don’t rust over the winter. Put some gasket sealer on the threads.

 

[mcmarcia]

That sounds good I’d replace the plugs though so the threads don’t rust over the winter. Put some gasket sealer on the threads.

Okay, I will get some plugs in there. I ordered a new set of the cheap blue plastic ones, but I think I will try and find some brass plugs. So actual gasket sealer? Not some copper ant seize or dielectric compound?

I know it will turn warm again and I want to finish up flushing some lube through the stern OD and grease nipples. And get all the hoses off and cleaned up with silcone grease, I bet some have never been off. I think I will deal with impeller and pulling OD in spring for inspection and alignment. I have receipts showing new bellows 3 years ago, probably last time the OD has been off and serviced. I might get a mechanic for that, not sure if I am up for dealing with that kind of weight.

 

[Lou C]

Gasket sealer works fine, you could even use marine grease, I like OMC/Evinrude gasket sealer, Merc Perfect seal is the same thing, I use it on all the bolts on the outdrive to prevent seizing because it seals water out of the threads. So even better than anti seize. A good substitute easier to find is Permatex Aviation sealer.

 

[mcmarcia]

Okay permatex aviation it is. The arctic storm blew in and started raining hard at noon. I checked my boat cover and tightened most the straps a bit and noticed the spray waterproofing I applied a month ago was beading the water very well. Record breaking non seasonal front happening full force now. Batten down them hatches!

 

[BobMaio]

Okay, I will get some plugs in there. I ordered a new set of the cheap blue plastic ones, but I think I will try and find some brass plugs. So actual gasket sealer? Not some copper ant seize or dielectric compound?

I know it will turn warm again and I want to finish up flushing some lube through the stern OD and grease nipples. And get all the hoses off and cleaned up with silcone grease, I bet some have never been off. I think I will deal with impeller and pulling OD in spring for inspection and alignment. I have receipts showing new bellows 3 years ago, probably last time the OD has been off and serviced. I might get a mechanic for that, not sure if I am up for dealing with that kind of weight.

Why not just use the blue plastic plugs without sealer. They have an o-ring to prevent leaking. They are easy to install and remove, and if they ever break they can be remove easily.

 

[Lou C]

You can do either, if you use the plastic ones just don't overtighten. The brass ones will last forever and if you use gasket sealer, I've never had any trouble getting them out with 100% salt water use. I've seen cases where the plastic one broke and caused a headache getting it out, so on my engine I'd use the brass ones.

 

[BobMaio]

You can do either, if you use the plastic ones just don't overtighten. The brass ones will last forever and if you use gasket sealer, I've never had any trouble getting them out with 100% salt water use. I've seen cases where the plastic one broke and caused a headache getting it out, so on my engine I'd use the brass ones.

Plastic will break eventually for sure. But if you replace them every few years, you probably will never see it happen. They are cheap and easy to remove. I remove mine every time I return from using the boat to drain the engine. In 10 years I had one break that had been in the engine 8 years. It was very easy to remove with an easy-out because the tool grabs the soft plastic without much trouble.

 

[Rick Stephens]

Why not just use the blue plastic plugs without sealer. They have an o-ring to prevent leaking. They are easy to install and remove, and if they ever break they can be remove easily.

The issue without sealer or some other protection method is the rust that builds up on the bare threads. The sealer is used to protect the metal, not stop leaking.

Personally I use Vibra-tite. It's a high viscosity coating. I especially use it to coat any dissimilar threads - such as stainless into aluminum, to prevent electrolysis. The non-hardening aviation gasket sealer does the same thing.

 

[Lou C]

yep because cast iron always rusts. Anti seize works on things that don't get wet but sometimes it can cause galvanic corrosion depending on the metals in contact and what's in the anti seize. For aluminum you don't want a copper based anti seize.....The gasket sealer works great, a test:
I have an outdrive that lives in salt water for approx 5/6 months a year. Coating the threads with it, means that they will come apart with out pulling the threads out of the aluminum. So the bolts that hold the anodes on, the bolts that hold the upper and lower gear housings together, the impeller bolts, all of them, will come out when coated with gasket sealer.

 

[mcmarcia]

All of this has been very helpful and interesting, thx

 

[Boomoo]

I know winterization has been beaten to death and there are many opinions and techniques employed for different boats and motors, but I am a newbie with a month old recent purchase of 27 year old Rinker Captiva 209 and today's 75 degree by day and 50 degree by night temps are turning tomorrow to a low of 18 and rain and snow. So hoping I did the right thing today to keep my block happy as I certainly was not expecting anything like this for another 6 weeks at best. I did some reading here and Utubing to see what people are doing with my vintage motor for winterization and decided to drain out the 4 drain plugs and flush some RV antifreeze after doing my first oil flush with some BG EPR and oil change with merc 25-40.

Here is what I did to winterize block: . I have the thermostat housing with the 3 pairs of hoses and the plastic balls. I opened up all the 6 hoses that attach to the thermostat housing. I removed the 2 plastic drain plugs from both manifolds. I removed the 2 block plugs I found, port and starboard, which someone had installed steel plugs in place of the OEM plastic plugs. I never found a 5th drain plug on the manifold and figure/hoping my endelbrock manifold must not have a drain plug. I removed and drained the hose that attached to the power steering cooler on port side lower block. I stuck a small allen key into all the drain holes, but they were all clear of rust. Starting with the large hose that goes into the water pump from thermostat, I ran a gallon and a half of RV antifeeze into all 6 hoses and saw plenty of pink PG antifreeze exiting the motor and manifolds. I gave the ignition a slight bump 2 times to turn the impeller ever so slightly. I blew out the hoses with a my 18 volt makita leafblower. I left all the hoses and plugs out/open. I spent twice as much time cleaning the bilge of PG/RV antifreeze and rust particles as I did actually draining the block and manifold. I used the leaf blower to dry everything and covered the boat.

I think I did it right? Did I miss anything? Want to make sure I do not have cracked block in spring. Thanks anyone who can help advise if I need to do more work tomorrow before all hell breaks loose with this crazy record breaking front coming in on Sunday.

I do that too but at the end I put all the plugs back in and I fill everything up with antifreeze until it runs out of propeller I’ve never had a problem

 

[Lou C]

Sounds like you got it right, I'd just disconnect the raw water intake hose where it connects to the thermostat housing, put the drive down and point that hose down so it drains, then fill it with -100 AF till it runs out the drive water intakes. Bump starter for a sec, that puts AF in the impeller housing and flushes any remaining water out of that hose, as well as any coolers that are in line with it like a power steering cooler which most I/Os have.