Re: 1st I/O Winterizing - ??? on filling w/antifreeze
I've been using a West Marine winterizing kit for the last several years. In fact, my neighbors and I take turns using it. It's about $40 and consists of a 5-gallon, clear plastic jug equipped with a valve and a clear plastic hose. You close the valve on the jug outlet and put a couple of gallons of non-toxic water/antifreeze mixture or pure antifreeze in the jug. Set the jug on the stern of the boat. If the boat is on a trailer, attach a garden hose to the engine muffs and turn on the water and run the engine until the thermostat opens. Unscrew the garden hose from the muffs and screw in the plastic hose. Open the valve on the tank and run the engine until antifreeze comes out of the exhaust. The antifreeze has replaced all of the water in your seawater cooling system.<br />I keep my boat on a lift so I don't use a garden hose for the first step, I just lower the boat into the water and run until it is hot. Then I raise the lift and slip the muffs on to the outdrive and run the engine again.<br />The West Marine model # is 520411.<br />I found it when I noticed one of the local marinas does dockside winterizing using this device.
