Winterizing Diesel engines

[osd9]

Unfortunately, this time of the year, us Northerns have to start thinking about the process of putting our toys away for the winter. We have a few months left, but sometimes life just catches up, so I'm trying to prepare now.

This is my first season winterizing Diesel engines...Genie and Mains....and I have a few Q's.

Fogging....do you fog a diesel....and if so how?

Also, on my mains, CAT 3126, approximately how many gallons of non-toxic antifreeze will be required to fill the raw water circuit?

Do I need to Drain anything on the engines?

On my gas engines, I used a bucket with a 5/8" garden hose attached that I would hook into the raw water line south of the impeller. Generally, I would suck about 6 Gallons of AF through the raw water circuit and call it a season. Is a 5/8" garden hose too small for the CATs or will my same bucket setup still work?

thanks,

[ImpulseIII]

Dominic,
I am no expert but I do not fog the engines. They basically run on the stuff you fog them with so its in the cylinders already.

I run 6 gallons of the pink stuff thru each engine. I use 3 for the genny and I think about 4 for the A/C units. I drink any that is left over :thumbsup:

I think your hose set up is just fine.

My burgee did not arrive... :smt089 I think I am on Jim's "you know what" list for something I may or may not have said!! :smt018

My $.02....hope this helps..

[festivus44]

That's good to know about the 5/8" hose... I figured the bigger pumps might collapse a hose that narrow.

Frank, I must be on the same "list" with you. I haven't received my burgee either! :smt089

[osd9]

..... I drink any that is left over :thumbsup: ....

Well that certainly answers a lot of questions.... :grin:

Thanks for the input... :thumbsup:

[Warren]

Question Frank H.: You said that you use 6 gal of pink antifreeze/engine. Do you close the through hull and just pour it into the strainer body with the engine idling? Please elaborate.. as this will be my first winterizing too!
Thanks,
Warren

[ImpulseIII]

Warren,
I pour 4 gallons of A/F into a 5 gallon pail. I have a throughflush strainer cap that has a hose connection built into it that I replace the standard cap with. I place a length of hose into the pail of A/F, and with the thru-hull closed, start the engine. The water pump pulls the A/F through the engine. while the engine is running I add another 2 gallons of A/F and shut the engines down when most of the A/F has been run through. I do the same thing for the Gen set and Air Conditioning systems. Hope this helps. I think Throughflush is no longer in business but you can make a cap or perhaps find one on ebay.

I

[Warren]

Thanks for that Frank. WONDERFUL suggestion! :smt001 It would appear that adding individual 1 gal. bottles into the strainers would be difficult due to the flow rate (anyone use this method?) I would dearly love to get such a strainer cap as it would save the effort of removing hoses from 4 strainers once a year - although I guess the caps are different sizes on at least 1 and possibily 2 of the 4. And no luck through my regular contacts as Thoroflush are by all acounts out of business as you say..

I wonder if anyone out there has made such a cap and could save me the grief of reinventing it??
Warren

[ImpulseIII]

Warren, I don't know if anyone else makes similar caps but I would guess they are not too hard to make. I have 2 different size strainers. The mains are one size and the gen set/A/C are another so I have two different size caps. I recall that someone made similar caps a while ago. Might be worth a search or maybe someone else recalls the details.

[Warren]

I agree Frank - shouldn't be too difficult! And I will do a search as you suggest.

I will have to have another closer look at the strainers to see how the cap mates with the top strainer casting, but I was thinking of just using 1/4" painted plywood (or starboard) cut to the appropriate sizes (2 as you say) with a hole on 1 side and a slot on the other to fix it to the 2 threaded strainer bolts. I would drill the center and mount a nylon through hull fitting into the hole cut into the wooden "cap" and attached to some rubber hose to be placed into the bucket.. a piece of foam or rubber might have to be attached to the underside of the wooden "cap" in order to ensure a good seal. Simple!

Do you think this would work? Comments?
Thanks,
Warren