Air Don't Freeze Winterization

[nola mike]

but fresh water boaters hardly ever if at all replace exhaust manifolds while we in the salt pond change em every 5-7 years.
think of trailer leaf springs
some people do nothing, they rust like mad in no time and most of the time they are out of the water
other people spray them 2x a season with corrosion X or similar and they look much better
While I can see people thinking marinas use this as another way to make money, Mercruiser themselves recommends adding AF for corrosion protection in the seawater section of the cooling system as they put it.

They didn't always recommend this. And if people spray off their trailers with fresh water after every use I bet they'd corrode much less. As far as the manifolds go, well yeah. You're running warm salt water through them still. And the antifreeze doesn't make them last longer, right?

 

[Rick Stephens]

That's it. Everyone has to go with closed cooling NOW. No more messing around.

 

[achris]

That's it. Everyone has to go with closed cooling NOW. No more messing around.

But Rick, that'll cost money, and you know as well as I do, manufacturers are cheap bar-stewards....

 

[Lou C]

They didn't always recommend this. And if people spray off their trailers with fresh water after every use I bet they'd corrode much less. As far as the manifolds go, well yeah. You're running warm salt water through them still. And the antifreeze doesn't make them last longer, right?

Well, I never pushed my manifold life to the max for obvious reasons, but when I had the heads off 4 years ago I really inspected that water passage in the original intake manifold and it looked really good, not much flaking rust, I had bought a spare from ebay (fresh water parts sellers) but I probably won't need it! Always filled the engine with either -100 marine AF or I mix up a batch of Sierra PG antifreeze (cheaper). Just about 20 years now in the salt.

 

[QBhoy]

Winter storage means 2 things, cold and dry air, both of which are ideal conditions to inhibit rust, not encourage it.

Previous boat was a 33 year old 4.3l when I traded it off, current is only 20 years old. Engine looks like new with all original parts yet, including manifolds.

My routine has always been the same, pull the plugs, shove a screwdriver in there to clean out, pull the thermostat housing, and dump some RV antifreeze down to flush. The plugs stay out all winter.

This stuff you’re cleaning out the drains…you know that’s usually corroded metal ? As for a cold dry winter. Some can only wish for such settled winter weather. Doesn’t happen anywhere in most of Europe. I’d imagine the same for much of the us too.

 

[H20Rat]

This stuff you’re cleaning out the drains…you know that’s usually corroded metal ? As for a cold dry winter. Some can only wish for such settled winter weather. Doesn’t happen anywhere in most of Europe. I’d imagine the same for much of the us too.

So the stuff out of the drains was entirely sand and tiny chunks of rock. It looks IDENTICAL to the beach that I boat off of. (my lake is fairly silty, can't see more than a foot deep usually) 100% non-metallic. Again, I've never had to replace an engine or manifold, oldest being 33 years.

But yeah, I do agree. Local conditions may vary. My winter is 10% humidity and reaches -40 degrees, F or C, take your pick, its the same.

 

[achris]

... -40 degrees, F or C, take your pick, its the same.

the only place it is....

 

[tpenfield]

That's it. Everyone has to go with closed cooling NOW. No more messing around.

^^^ This ^^^

I added full closed cooling to my Formula and it was great. I'd check the coolant strength every couple of years and for winterization just run some AF in through the earmuffs and drain the H.E. - Done.

My (soon to be) Cruisers 338 has full closed cooling as well. The only issue with the Cruisers/Merc's is the Risers are iron so they will need to be swapped out at some point.

Wondering if I can find stainless steel risers for these new-fangled Mercruisers

 

[Lou C]

That’s the only way to go for us costal boaters. Spend the money up front 1x for the closed cooling and remote oil filter and put an end to the foolishness of pulling out seats crawling around in the bilge pulling drain plugs. Get a winterizing tank and add a live well pump or bilge pump to pressurize the flow and your all set. Yes it costs money how much is your time worth?!

 

[achris]

... how much is your time worth?!

Unless you'd otherwise be doing something that actually earns you money, absolutely nothing!

 

[Lou C]

It’s worth it to me because:
Know the engine isn’t rusting away over every season
You get an unexpected cold snap and can’t get to the boat at least the engine won’t be ruined
Engine runs at a better temp as GM intended
Most of all when you get older you can keep boating don’t have to give it up because of the hassle of normal maintenance
So yes it’s time but other factors as well.
here in the salt there is no question a boat with closed cooling will sell faster than raw water cooling to a buyer who’s had any experience with raw water cooled inboards

 

[poconojoe]

That's it. Everyone has to go with closed cooling NOW. No more messing around.

I love that idea!

 

[poconojoe]

Someone give me a brief description of closed cooling.

I'm guessing the engine has AF running through it like our land vehicles, so the block is always protected from freezing and corrosion. But there's no fan to cool things, so I assume raw water is circulated through the heat exchanger to cool things.

If this is how it works, then you still have to get that raw water out of the system.
How is that done? Just draining? Blow it out with compressed air? Run RV AF through it? Leave the RV AF in it or drain it out?
Thanks...

 

[nola mike]

2 basic types, full or half system. A full system has AF (real stuff, not rv) through the block and manifolds, half is block only. They don't see raw water. Coolant flows through heat exchanger acting like the radiator in your car except it uses raw water instead of air to transfer heat. The water is sucked up using drive impeller and/or motor driven pump and exits through exhaust. You leave the af in the system and just drain the heat exchanger to winterize

 

[Lou C]

Once you have the heat exchanger you can either simply drain or run AF through it.

 

[CayugaCobalt]

Winter storage means 2 things, cold and dry air, both of which are ideal conditions to inhibit rust, not encourage it.

Previous boat was a 33 year old 4.3l when I traded it off, current is only 20 years old. Engine looks like new with all original parts yet, including manifolds.

My routine has always been the same, pull the plugs, shove a screwdriver in there to clean out, pull the thermostat housing, and dump some RV antifreeze down to flush. The plugs stay out all winter.

In the spring, does one need to "prime" the empty raw water/sea pump or one can just launch boat in the lake with empty dry pump and it will pull the water out of the lake?

If "priming" pump is necessary what is easiest or best way?

 

[CayugaCobalt]

Is there no hypothetical corrosion protection from having block full of AF? Or your view is an empty block corrodes less and the whole Anti-Freeze ball game is just a cash cow for the marinas scaring folks out of their $200 when the marina could pull your plugs for fraction of the cost?

In the spring, does one need to "prime" the empty raw water/sea pump or one can just launch boat in the lake with empty dry pump and it will pull the water out of the lake?

If "priming" pump is necessary what is easiest or best way?

 

[nola mike]

In the spring, does one need to "prime" the empty raw water/sea pump or one can just launch boat in the lake with empty dry pump and it will pull the water out of the lake?

If "priming" pump is necessary what is easiest or best way?

I think you're brave if you throw the boat into the lake for the first run without starting it on muffs first, but no, no priming necessary.

 

[achris]

No need to prime. Just turn the key and go. Most people (and I would suggest everybody should do this) run the boat up on flushers before the first splash of the season...

 

[achris]

I think you're brave if you throw the boat into the lake for the first run without starting it on muffs first, but no, no priming necessary.

'Brave' isn't the first word that came to mind....