Yet another winterizing question comes forth...

[rhillman75]

To make it a very short story... we traded for a cruiser with a Mercruiser 5.7L engine. Any other time, any other season, I would not ask this but I did do the winterizing a little differently this year due to lack of time available. In years prior, I drained the block, re-installed the plugs, pulled the t-stat, and poured in the pink stuff. This year I actually only had time to go the storage yard with limited tools and lighting and proceeded in doing this... I removed all the drain plugs and and the large water hose from the pump and simply let it drain. I also cranked the boat up to the highest level to get the water out of the bilge. I then took the boat and trailer 15 miles away to have the trailer serviced. My question is... since I did move it 30 miles on a round trip, do you think with the motion of travel, all the water has been removed? I keep questioning myself enough to entertain the thought of making another trip to re-install the plugs and hoses and just filling it with the pink stuff. I know, I know, "air doesn't freeze", but how do you "KNOW" if all the water is out or there isn't enough residual left in it to damage the block?

 

[stonyloam]

Re: Yet another winterizing question comes forth...

Why even bother to ask? You know you won't feel comfortable till you do it, so just get get it over with and sleep tight all winter.

 

[thumpar]

Re: Yet another winterizing question comes forth...

I just let mine drain and drove round the block. Our block is about a mile but has up and down hills. I am confident in mine. Do you have an engine driven seawater pump? If so make sure that was drained by pulling the hoses and turning the to to get the motor turned over a couple times to drain the fins.

 

[ricohman]

Re: Yet another winterizing question comes forth...

If you have all the drains open then you should be good. No need for pink stuff as that can give you a cracked block if it mixes with any residual water in the block. Make sure the pumps are drained.
Any water left in the block will freeze, but it won't hurt anything.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Yet another winterizing question comes forth...

To make it a very short story... we traded for a cruiser with a Mercruiser 5.7L engine. Any other time, any other season, I would not ask this but I did do the winterizing a little differently this year due to lack of time available. In years prior, I drained the block, re-installed the plugs, pulled the t-stat, and poured in the pink stuff. This year I actually only had time to go the storage yard with limited tools and lighting and proceeded in doing this... I removed all the drain plugs and and the large water hose from the pump and simply let it drain. I also cranked the boat up to the highest level to get the water out of the bilge. I then took the boat and trailer 15 miles away to have the trailer serviced. My question is... since I did move it 30 miles on a round trip, do you think with the motion of travel, all the water has been removed? I keep questioning myself enough to entertain the thought of making another trip to re-install the plugs and hoses and just filling it with the pink stuff. I know, I know, "air doesn't freeze", but how do you "KNOW" if all the water is out or there isn't enough residual left in it to damage the block?

Ayuh,.... So long as ya poked, 'n prodded the holes, so the water could flow out,...


Yer Good to Go, drained Dry,... No road trip necessary,....

 

[skydiveD30571]

Re: Yet another winterizing question comes forth...

Like Bondo said, if you poked the drain holes to make sure they actually drained, you'll be fine. It's not small puddles that crack a block, it's cooling jackets full of water that has no room to expand when it freezes. Draining gets more than enough out.

Also, you gotta keep in mind that GM/Volvo designed these things to give you the best possible chance at not destroying your engine. If it was necessary to tow the boat around to remove all the water, the cooling system would have been designed accordingly and the manual would insist on it. The drain plugs are at low points in the cooling system so if the boat was somewhat level at the time of draining, you removed most (if not all) the water. No need to worry, sleep well!