question about winterizing and sticky

[SUNB15]

I have a 1990 searay 220 DA, Merc 350 5.7L 8 cyl (260hp?) thunderbolt i/o with SE106 outdrive, first time winterizing it (did outboards before). I've looked at the sticky and also this link: http://www.mercstuff.com/winterizing.htm
The instructions in the link seem simpler but also omit things mentioned in the sticky. Are they ok to go by?
My other question about the merc link is Im getting somewhat confused after step 7 with the draining- I know the engine has a closed system with antifreeze in it, it says to skip draining engine- which steps would I skip then on the list? Another reason for the confusion is ive been told no cooling system is a closed system and water gets into all of them, but the discrepancy is some people told me water only gets into outdrive (like an outboard) and others that it goes into half the engine itself, which would mean having to drain water. Can anyone with this engine/system help out with the steps or point me to the right ones?
Thanks in advance

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

There are different types of closed systems.....
Some are just the engine, some are engine/manifolds.......
The risers are always raw water.....
You need to determine what type of system you have.....
Watever it is, you will not need to drain the block as long as the AF/water mixture is 50/50......​

 

[Bondo]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

Ayuh,...........

Regardless of how much of your motor is Freshwater(Closed) Cooling,.........

You still have a Heat Exchanger somewhere that cools the motor's coolant,.......
It's 1/2 full of Raw Water...... That'll need Draining........
You might also have a P/Steering Cooler on the Raw Water side of things.....
And,.... as noted by Haut,....
The Manifolds, may, or may not be on the Freshwater side of things......

Maybe Don will have some Pictures of what Merc offered back then,..??....

 

[Don S]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

Maybe Don will have some Pictures of what Merc offered back then,..??....

Better yet. Here is the link where you can download the OEM service manual for your engine and drive.

http://www-alt.mercurymarine.com/mnetdata/sisdata/srvcovr.pdf

#15 for your engine, and #6 for your drive.

Section 6B of manual 15 has compelete discriptions of the closed cooling system and diagrams of the system.

 

[SUNB15]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

Thanks guys and Don... youre the man, looks like Ive got some reading to do..

 

[SUNB15]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

i looked at the cooling system diagrams and read about draining, but then went to the local boat store and was told it can be much simpler:

-run antifreeze (pink) through holding tank/sink and bilge pump hose
-change oil and filter if theres a possibility of moisture being in there
-spray fogging spray right into carb till engine stalls
-take out all 8 plugs and spray fogger in there, replace plugs and use perfect seal
-after warming up engine on earmuffs+water, run about 3-4 bottles of antifreeze (using a hose kit) into outdrive saltwater intake to flush out water and replace by antifreeze
-spray engine with inhibitor

Two questions- does this sound like everything, and most importantly, what order do I do it all in?


On the issue of bilge pumps, I assume its safe to run the antifreeze right through the pump without disconnecting hoses? Im going to try to get all this done tomorrow
Thanks!

 

[Bondo]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

-after warming up engine on earmuffs+water, run about 3-4 bottles of antifreeze (using a hose kit) into outdrive saltwater intake to flush out water and replace by antifreeze

Ayuh,....

For various reasons,..... This is the 1 that tends to Bite folks in the Butt.....
Done Right,...... Everything is Fine.......
Done Wrong,...... You'll be buying Parts in the Spring......

On the issue of bilge pumps, I assume its safe to run the antifreeze right through the pump without disconnecting hoses?

Why,..??..??..??..??

Bilge Pumps are self draining,....... And I would think you'd have a Dry Bilge for the Winter.......

 

[Don S]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

after warming up engine on earmuffs+water, run about 3-4 bottles of antifreeze (using a hose kit) into outdrive saltwater intake to flush out water and replace by antifreeze

You better have a closed cooling system if you want to do that. with a raw water cooled system, the chances are good that the engine block will NOT get enough antifreeze.
That is what people do every year, and every spring it the same ones crying about water in the oil, and how they winterized by running with antifreeze.
Even doing it the hard way and draining everything is a lot easier than replacing an engine block.

 

[SUNB15]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

Thats what I thought about the bilge pumps but the guy mentioned putting antifreeze in "bilge hoses", I guess I dont have to worry about it then.

The system is only partially saltwater, the heat exchanger and all that is in the closed part of the system. In that case I should be ok right? I mean there are 2 parts to it- the one thats full of coolant already and the part that gets saltwater in and out, there is no "pure freshwater" part?
It sounded like the most popular option at the store, and I know not everyones got a closed system thats why I thought I was better off than most, now im having second thoughts...

Bond-o, when you said earlier heat exchanger is half full of water, do you mean the coolant that came out of the bottle was a 50/50 mix and it needs to be drained because even a 50/50 mixture would freeze?

 

[Bondo]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

Bond-o, when you said earlier heat exchanger is half full of water, do you mean the coolant that came out of the bottle was a 50/50 mix and it needs to be drained because even a 50/50 mixture would freeze

No,.....

The Heat Exchanger is where the heat is removed from the Coolant by the Raw Water.....
It has a Coolant side,+ a Raw Water side......
In other words,...... It's 1/2 full of Coolant,+ 1/2 full of Raw Water........

 

[SUNB15]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

right, thats part of the saltwater system, but from the diagram it looks like its the first, well second thing from the raw water inlet, so shouldnt it easily get antifreeze in there if i flush the system with antifreeze?

 

[Don S]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

Since you have a closed cooling system, it's very easy (and safe) to run your AF thru the raw water side of the cooling system. You don't have strange shaped thermostat housings and thermostats to prevent the AF from getting to all areas.
What you need to do, is to take a sample of the water (AF) coming out of the drive and check it to see what the temp is incase it's just mixed with the water and hasn't displaced it all.

 

[SUNB15]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

thats a relief, they just say to use 4.75 gallons of AF, dumb question, what should the temps be whether its displaced the water or just mixed with it? never done that...

 

[SUNB15]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

sorry 2 more things, they say after running the AF through it leave the outdrive on but Id rather take it inside and over the hole with one of those plastic covers, if i do that is there any risk of the AF i just put in there coming out when the outdrive is taken off?

lastly, when i run the engine with the 5 gal of AF instead of water, they tell you to stop engine before AF runs out of bottle, do I have to time the carb fogging into that to make engine stall(would rather concentrate on AF and not running out of it), or can I do the fogging after the AF steps without starting the engine just turning it over like with an outboard?

 

[SUNB15]

Re: question about winterizing and sticky

Nevermind those last 2, pretty much got my answers. Only thing I wanted advice on was fuel, since I have a much larger tank now (60 gal vs old 10 gal that was easily accessible), is it safe to say that if the tank is filled and stabilized properly the fuel will be usable in lets say 6 months? After reading up on how much the tank should be filled (only leaving room to allow expansion) its a bit of an investment to fill it up, wouldnt want to have to drain it in the spring. On my small outboard after stabilizing boat wouldnt always start in the spring on old fuel but started right up on new.....