winterizing merc?

[stormulus]

The owners manual is a really good source of information. I'd post pictures of the TOC (3 pages) to show the topics covered, but I imagine that's a violation of the rules.

 

[JASinIL2006]

Chris, manual says to screw back in to prevent rust.. however I would like to leave my plugs off , Did it once and it worked but im afraid of rusting (?)

I put my plugs back in, too, after the engine has drained. The last thing I want to do is hang upside down in the engine bay so I can use a thread chaser to clean out rusty threads. If the water has all drained out, there's no harm in reinstalling them. (Plus, that's one less thing for me to forget to do in the Spring!)

 

[boatman37]

I have the manual that came with mine but it shows about 3 or 4 different systems, not specific to my boat. It shows closed cooling, one with a pump handle thing, etc

 

[boatman37]

ok. So got ll 5 blue plugs out. Was not fun...lol. Fat guys weren't meant to work on these things and skinny guys were meant to be miserable while doing it...lol. But I got them.
The starboard side has some type of electrical sensor in that spot where the plug would be but there is a blue plug in the bottom of that sensor. The 2 bottom block plugs did not have 0-rings? The other 3 did. And they weren't stuck to the block either. Is that normal?

Now I just have to get the seawater pump hoses off. When we bought the boat it was being stored at a marina and they replaced the pump before sea trial cause the boat had sat a few years. Well the ding-a-lings put the hose clamps facing in so can't get a screwdriver or nutdriver on them. Tried getting a rachet on them but not enough room. So took the serpentine belt off and plan to remove the pump bracket bolts and try to get it turned or pulled forward far enough to get to the clamps. I'll just leave the pump off and in the garage since I'm gonna replace the impeller in the spring.

Another 'oddity' was that I pulled the 3 upper plugs first then the 2 bottom ones. Did not get any water out of either of the bottom ones but did get water from the 2 in the manifolds and the one at the front of the circulation pump. Normal?

Think that's it then? Once I get the pump off then the engine should be done? Then all that's left is to winterize the AC system and drain the outdrive and pull it so I can replace the cone clutch over the winter.

I also have to get a new spark arrestor. Apparently somewhere along the line mine got lost (before we owned it) and it was replaced with a much smaller one. The plastic looks like it might be about 8" but the arrestor that is in there is closer to about 5 or 6". Looked online and all I could find was the whole entire thing with plastic and all. I just need the metal 'filter'. Guessing that is costing slight HP since it can't get as much air as it might need. I never go WOT anyway but just would rather have it right

 

[Scott Danforth]

stick a wire up the plug fittings and bust the crud loose

measure it. a 7" spark arrestor is standard.

 

[alldodge]

Yes there should be o rings on each plug. They may have fallen off when removed and are in the bilge, or since no water came out the drains are clogged. Try to clear as Scott mentioned

The thing on the starboard side is the knock sensor. The knock sensor is tied in with the TBV ignition

I use these instead of the blue plugs, they won't break off
https://www.hardin-marine.com/p-810...mercruiser-22-806608a02-8m2000874-5-pack.aspx

 

[boatman37]

Yes there should be o rings on each plug. They may have fallen off when removed and are in the bilge, or since no water came out the drains are clogged. Try to clear as Scott mentioned

The thing on the starboard side is the knock sensor. The knock sensor is tied in with the TBV ignition

I use these instead of the blue plugs, they won't break off
https://www.hardin-marine.com/p-810...mercruiser-22-806608a02-8m2000874-5-pack.aspx

might have to order a set of those. The one was pretty tight but the other 4 came out without much trouble.
I did stick a wire up in the manifolds but not the block ones yet. I was pretty uncomfortable and was afraid I might be stuck in there when i did the port side one. I got a little worried...lol. Being a lefty makes it that much harder. Very hard to bend your arm in 3 different directions while laying on top of the remote filter bracket...lol. My head was down near the floor up against my fresh water tank. Looking at it I have no idea how I got in there. Gonna have my step-son help me so will have him stick a wire up in those ones. Gonna have him get the seawater pump bracket bolts off too. I'm sure I can get it but might take me a few hours where it might take him 20 minutes. Can't get a rachet on it so have to use a wrench and the top bolt I can only turn about 1/8 turn at a time. Given the tight quarters I think he would have a much easier time.

Also, what about the PS cooler? You mentioned about taking the outlet line off there?

 

[poconojoe]

Maybe you can get to those hose clamp screws with a universal joint socket attachment or a flexible socket extension.

 

[alldodge]

The PS cooler will self drain because its behind and on top the bell housing. If either the hose on the water pump or the one feeding the thermostat housing is removed and lowered to the bilge it drains

 

[boatman37]

The PS cooler will self drain because its behind and on top the bell housing. If either the hose on the water pump or the one feeding the thermostat housing is removed and lowered to the bilge it drains

Cool. Thanks

 

[boatman37]

Maybe you can get to those hose clamp screws with a universal joint socket attachment or a flexible socket extension.

Possibly but it's too cramped for me to sit in there trying to get it. I need to remove the pump anyway to replace the impeller so that might be the easier way then when I put it back together I will turn the clamps the right way for next time

 

[boatman37]

stick a wire up the plug fittings and bust the crud loose

measure it. a 7" spark arrestor is standard.

7" might be what mine should be but mine is really small compared to the plastic housing. At first I thought maybe it wasn't even there. Its about 3-4" smaller than the lid. The lid is roughly 8" so guessing 5"? Definitely not 7" cause then it would only be in about 1/2" from the lid. But gonna have to pull it and measure it. If I have to I'll order the whole thing cause my plastic is cracked a little too but then I'd have to figure out how to get the sticker off the old one...lol

 

[boatman37]

7" might be what mine should be but mine is really small compared to the plastic housing. At first I thought maybe it wasn't even there. Its about 3-4" smaller than the lid. The lid is roughly 8" so guessing 5"? Definitely not 7" cause then it would only be in about 1/2" from the lid. But gonna have to pull it and measure it. If I have to I'll order the whole thing cause my plastic is cracked a little too but then I'd have to figure out how to get the sticker off the old one...lol

This is what my housing looks like > https://www.partsvu.com/arrestor-fl...BYbjCpONUWEZEX74ydW5PXcaw8QrDdfxoCcuUQAvD_BwE

 

[boatman37]

This is what my housing looks like > https://www.partsvu.com/arrestor-fl...BYbjCpONUWEZEX74ydW5PXcaw8QrDdfxoCcuUQAvD_BwE

So this is what mine should look like. My element sits inside the lower part of the plastic by at least 1", maybe even 2". Nowhere near as large as the one in the pic

 

[alldodge]

Many replace their flame arrestor with an aftermarket filter type like K&N, they think their helping. A boat motor doesn't need a filter

 

[boatman37]

Many replace their flame arrestor with an aftermarket filter type like K&N, they think their helping. A boat motor doesn't need a filter

Yeah I'm not big into the K&N's. It's not a race boat. I ran them on my race cars back in the day but not needed on anything I operate now.

 

[thedinz]

2006 Mercruiser 5.7 TKS (turnkey start) in a 2006 Crownline 250CR. I have the manuals and in the past I have always used my Campco winterization kit where you fill the jug with pink then connect your garden hose to the T on the jug and warm the engine off the garden hose. Once warm you flip the T so it sucks the pink out of the jug. I store in an underground mine so it never gets cold enough to freeze but usually bring it home mid March and have got some pretty cold days after coming home.
So I can only find 3 drains on mine. First is down low on the front of the engine on what I guess is the water distribution block? Then IIRC there is one on the bottom of each manifold. None on the water pump that I can feel for. Was thinking this year about just pulling hoses and pouring directly into the hoses cause I'm not 100% confident the t-stat is opening to get pink all through the engine.
The only thing my manual says is to pull the 2 plugs on the sea water pump (mine doesn't have any) and the one of the front bottom of the engine. Then just says to let it drain and leave the plugs out?
Not mentioning outdrive, oil, etc as I'm ok with all that.
Wondering if maybe the blue plugs for the sea water pump got lost along the way and they replaced them with bolts? I can't see in there to see anything but can't feel much there either.

I have the same kit but it never makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.
From posting a few similar threads to this one here i beleive the best thing to do is warm the engine, drain the water, remove the coolant hoses and pour the antifreeze in there directly.

There are 2 things at play here, first off, as people will say often, air doesnt freeze, so no water is better then water thinned out with anti-freeze.

BUT, antifreeze is also anti-corrosion so for this reason i like to add that in there.

But by all means, im not expert so if anyone wants to expand on that its probably a good idea.

 

[Lou C]

That’s what Merc says to do in their shop manual!
Draining is most important but adding corrosion protection over the long haul is a great idea I’ve done it for close to 20 years

 

[boatman37]

I got all hoses disconnected except the lower one on the back of the seawater pump. I got the clamp off but can't get any leverage to get the hose off. There is a coupler about 18" back from the pump where I'm guessing the shop put that in there to disconnect it from there instead, which would give much better access but I still can't get that one off. Next step is to get that off then pour some AF into the hoses then put the hoses back on. Still need to pull the B3 off then pull the batteries and winterize my AC then it's done.

 

[nola mike]

That’s what Merc says to do in their shop manual!
Draining is most important but adding corrosion protection over the long haul is a great idea I’ve done it for close to 20 years

Fwiw, the antifreeze rec from Merc didn't come in until later. '80's instructions has it as optional. My gut is that your corrosion comes from running heated salt water through the block all year, not sitting after it's been flushed with fresh water and drained.