Winterize question

[agallant80]

I removed the three plugs, drained all of the water, poored in a gallon of the pink stuff, turned the motor over for about 30 sec and removed the plugs. Do you think I am OK?

 

[Bondo]

Re: Winterize question

Ayuh,.... What motor,..?? What drive,..??

 

[southkogs]

Re: Winterize question

Didja' just do it today? That's more of a pre-winter question, isn't it?

 

[agallant80]

Re: Winterize question

Sorry guys. It has been strange in NC this winter. We had a few days in the high 60's the last few days it has been getting down to the high 20s low 30s at night. It is a 2013 5.0 with B3. I had it in the water a few days ago (Friday). When I took it out I removed the three plugs let the water drain, put the plugs back in (well the two on the bottom) poored a gallon of pink stuff in through the plug on the thermostat housing, put the plug back in cranked over for about 30 sec then removed the plugs. Also the boat was on the trailer, when I drive it back to the place I keep it (about 3 miles) I left the plugs out. It is up hill/down hill so I figured that would be enough to tilt the motor and what not to get the rest of the water out. I left the three plugs out.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Winterize question

- gotcha'

I don't usually put anti-freeze or the pink stuff in mine as our winters aren't so severe, and mine is kept in the garage. That said, the only think I think I would do that you didn't mention (mine's an old OMC) is drop the drive down and crank it over a couple of times. That let's water run outta' the drive and helps clear the lines a bit.

Otherwise, for the remainder of "winter" you probably have in NC, you sound okay.

 

[Don S]

Re: Winterize question

What is your engines serial number? Do you have a closed cooling system? 3 plugs doesn't sound right, unless you have one of those sorry drain systems on it. Also, as I recall from another post, you have an MPI with a light on and catalytic converters on that engine. Are you sure all that is drained as well?

 

[agallant80]

Re: Winterize question

Don't know what the SN is. I left all of the paper work on the boat. When I bought the boat the mechanic showed me the three drain plugs. It is raw water cooled.

 

[tazrig]

Re: Winterize question

Maybe a stupid question but why didn't you just run the engine up to temp on muffs and then suck up the anti-freeze "pink stuff" through the muffs and into the engine until you saw it coming out the drive exhaust? Wouldn't that have been easier and your best bet for getting into all the nooks and crannies of the cooling system? Just curious.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Winterize question

No hose at public ramp and storage place is just a flat lot.

 

[Don S]

Re: Winterize question

Maybe a stupid question but why didn't you just run the engine up to temp on muffs and then suck up the anti-freeze "pink stuff" through the muffs and into the engine until you saw it coming out the drive exhaust?

Because that is a SURE way to end up with a cracked block. Protects the manifolds, but does little for the block.

That has been discussed so many times it's like an oil thread.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Winterize question

Maybe it does not get cold long enough in NC but I have never had an issue doing the muffs and pink stuff. My kit connects the jug to the hose then to the muffs, get the motor up to temp flip the valve over, hose water stops pink stuff starts suck in 4 gallons kill the motor remove the drain plugs.

 

[Don S]

Re: Winterize question

Luck helps, but not everyone is lucky. Come spring we will get a lot of posts about cracked blocks only to find that is how they winterized. It's up to you though, we help people change blocks too.

 

[agallant80]

Re: Winterize question

So how is suching the pink stuff through the motor not enough? I want to know what I am missing here.

 

[tazrig]

Re: Winterize question

Because that is a SURE way to end up with a cracked block. Protects the manifolds, but does little for the block.

That has been discussed so many times it's like an oil thread.

Don I'm not sure if we are talking about the same thing. I'm talking about using one of these:

Do-It-Yourself Winterizing Flush Kit - Star Brite 035001 - iboats

You flush with fresh water for 10 minutes at temp. Then run motor on the antifreeze until it comes out the prop hub for a minute or two. This is the way I have winterized my blocks for 25 years and many others as well. Never, not even once, had any kind of a problem and we have freezing, sometimes sub "0" winters here. Every certified Mercruiser dealer I have ever seen winterize a boat uses some version of the above. (usually coming out of a 55 gallon drum or some such) Why would it not protect the block? It goes through the block via the circulating pump.

 

[Don S]

Re: Winterize question

Yes, that's exactly the setup I was referring to. You do realize the antifreeze can run out of the prop and never go through the engine block at all don't you.

 

[Eric 3.7LX Alpha 1]

Re: Winterize question

The problem is the thermostat in the engine. Do you know when it is open or closed? How fast does it close when that cold antifreeze hits it? There is a good chance it can get to the thermostat and sent back out without mixing enough with the water in the block.

 

[tazrig]

Re: Winterize question

Yes, that's exactly the setup I was referring to. You do realize the antifreeze can run out of the prop and never go through the engine block at all don't you.

Yes but isn't that why you put 4-5 gallons into the system. If the temp doesn't jump then you know its going through the block. If it wasn't what would keep cooling the motor? Curious, when you winterize a sterndrive how do you do it to protect from freeze damage? I'm not asking to be argumentative I'm asking because I want to learn. I understand that draining the block of all fluid would be the best way as there wouldn't be anything left to freeze, but numerous mechanics who all go to Mercury school every year for their "in service training and certification" winterize the way I described and have told me you don't need to drain if you run enough antifreeze through at temp. They were the ones who taught me the procedure.

 

[tazrig]

Re: Winterize question

The problem is the thermostat in the engine. Do you know when it is open or closed? How fast does it close when that cold antifreeze hits it? There is a good chance it can get to the thermostat and sent back out without mixing enough with the water in the block.

Eric, I'm not trying to argue this, only understand it better as this is the first time I have ever heard about any of this so please correct me if you feel I'm wrong about any of this. The thermostat opens and stays open once the engine reaches temp, correct? It does this when running cold fresh water from your house through the muffs so why would it close when you swap over to the antifreeze which is basically the same temp as the house water? Even if it did close due to a temp differential wouldn't it re-open when the engine started to heat up? I would think if you run 5 gallons of antifreeze (and I run the -100 degree stuff just to be sure) that would be enough fluid and a long enough period of time to ensure the thermostat would be open long enough. Yes? Am I still missing something? I had 160 degree stats in the engine and would cut the water down slowly to get the temp up to 170+ just to be sure the stats would stay open. Then switch over to the antifreeze.

 

[Don S]

Re: Winterize question

The thermostat opens and stays open once the engine reaches temp, correct?

When just on muffs it may never open fully, just enough to keep the engine cool, and that may run all the antifreeze out of your container before it gets the engine complete antifreezed.
Like I said, if you can do it, it's up to you. But there have been a lot every year, that post here about broken blocks that have used the same method.

So for someone with a brand new engine like the OP, I sure wouldn't suggest him to try that to find out if it works on his engine or not. Also not too sure how it would work with the catalitic converters he has on his engine.

 

[Bayou Dave]

Re: Winterize question

Don I'm not sure if we are talking about the same thing. I'm talking about using one of these:

Do-It-Yourself Winterizing Flush Kit - Star Brite 035001 - iboats

You flush with fresh water for 10 minutes at temp. Then run motor on the antifreeze until it comes out the prop hub for a minute or two. This is the way I have winterized my blocks for 25 years and many others as well. Never, not even once, had any kind of a problem and we have freezing, sometimes sub "0" winters here. Every certified Mercruiser dealer I have ever seen winterize a boat uses some version of the above. (usually coming out of a 55 gallon drum or some such) Why would it not protect the block? It goes through the block via the circulating pump.

This item is for sale on iboats. Does that make it a good product?