Antifreeze for winterizing??

[dutchman]

Will be putting the boat to bed for the winter and want to throw out an idea. I understand the part of winterizing about draining the water from the engine and the outdrive.
In addition to that, I thought of running glycol antifreeze through the block and the drive. Looks like an easy job by pulling a hose or the main lid off the housing right on the top/front of the engine. I was going to pour the fluid down and let it drain right back out. Or I could even fill up the block and just let the fluid stay inside.
Besdies getting any leftover water out, I figured it would also help with corrosion.

Just wondering if this is overkill, wasting my time or a good preventive maintenance procedure.???

 

[Lazy Daze]

Welcome aboard!

That's pretty much the normal way of doing things.

If you want some more info, try the search - use a "title only" search to help narrow things down. You'll be amazed at the info here.

 

[dutchman]

Thanks LD for the quick response.
I have been surfing and found lots of variations on this. Most people I know that own a boat say they just drain the water and leave it alone.
As you say, " that's the normal way", but what part?
Flushing the system with antifreeze or actually leaving it inside the block?

 

[Daytripper]

Leave the anti-freeze in the block to prevent corrosion. Your engine owner's manual should give you the details as well.

 

[wish2fish]

Thanks LD for the quick response.
I have been surfing and found lots of variations on this. Most people I know that own a boat say they just drain the water and leave it alone.As you say, " that's the normal way", but what part?
Flushing the system with antifreeze or actually leaving it inside the block?

in canada??

I'm not sure draining gets all the water out. I think most people drain and then use antifreeze. I don't know how cold it gets in Alberta, but in most northern colder climates, people use the -100 antifreeze.

 

[Lazy Daze]

As you say, " that's the normal way", but what part?
Flushing the system with antifreeze or actually leaving it inside the block?

Oops. Like mentioned above, leave it in. I don't know why anyone would drain it back it out. It defeats the purpose of putting it in, you know? I guess you would eliminate the freezing potential since it would get the water out (or at least mix). But, like Shel said, if you don't leave it in you've got bare metal inside that is susceptible to rust and corrosion.

Good luck!

 

[cbougher]

How do you "leave it in"? Won't it drain anyway in an open raw water system?

 

[Lazy Daze]

How do you "leave it in"? Won't it drain anyway in an open raw water system?

It will stay in the block, and up to an equal point in the risers. Most of the rubber intake hose will drain out. An outboard would drain right back out (as does the water) which is why you don't use AF in OB's. But an inboard engine isn't mounted vertically.

 

[wish2fish]

It will stay in the block, and up to an equal point in the risers. Most of the rubber intake hose will drain out. An outboard would drain right back out (as does the water) which is why you don't use AF in OB's. But an inboard engine isn't mounted vertically.

its and alpha drive. how will the water drain past the impeller?

 

[sbw1]

Most run the engine and run antifreeze through the engine until antifreeze comes out the exhaust. The antifreeze that comes out the exhaust is tested until the protection level is equal to the expected low temperature. The most common repair marinas do in the spring is replacing engine components that freeze from improper winterizing. As was suggested earlier, read your manual and have someone do the first winterizing while you watch, learn and take notes. Otherwise you are likely to have a tuition bill in the spring.

 

[wish2fish]

this just drain and leave mentality makes me think of something else. You should consider draining and refilling the outdrive lube. If water is in there you could damage the drive over the winter

 

[dutchman]

Of course there are other things to do, which are not a problem; fuel system, oil/lube changes, fogging.

The manual states to drain the water using the "single point drain system". Quite simple draining by using those 2 blue hoses. The leg is supposed to drain just by having it in the down position. But to me, that just doesn't seem enough.

After reading the manual again, I did find a paragraph, quote;
For additional assurance against freezing and rust, after draining, fill the cooling system with propylene glycol .......to protect engine......during freezing temps and extended storage."
Doesn't tell me how to.

So after all the service work is done, I figured the easiest way would be to pour the AF into the engine. I don't have a picture but there's a housing at the highest point where all the hoses attach. I'm guessing it's the thermostat housing. Pull the plate off (2 bolts) and pour. It should fill the block up and also flow down the main feed tube back down to the leg and out the pickup holes.

 

[Lazy Daze]

You got it, Dutch. Although, I just pull the hoses off, not the housing/plate. The reason I like this method (and the reason it's the way we do it for customers - as opposed to using the engine to pull the AF though - don't get me wrong, that way can work, too) is it ensures full AF in the block w/o having to test. Typically you'll use less AF and it's faster, as well. Plus, it's a lot harder to try and fog the engine at the same time you're trying to monitor AF quality.

The impeller doesn't make a perfect seal, so it'll leak past.

 

[Bodkin Creek George]

You have the right idea, just don't use the pink stuff. It doesn't have any rust and corrosion inhibitors in it.
George

 

[195sport]

Thanks LD for the quick response.
I have been surfing and found lots of variations on this. Most people I know that own a boat say they just drain the water and leave it alone.
As you say, " that's the normal way", but what part?
Flushing the system with antifreeze or actually leaving it inside the block?

Drain and leave..in Alberta?...over winter?...only the very rich do that.

 

[Weave]

I may beg to differ on this point of view.....I believe the pink Merc stuff has corrosion inhibitors in it.

You have the right idea, just don't use the pink stuff. It doesn't have any rust and corrosion inhibitors in it.
George

 

[SeaRay]

I use a 5 gal bucket that has a garden hose bib attachment and a shut off. I then attach a short piece of hose from the bucket and put muffs at the other end.

Fill the bucket with RV antifreeze, put the muffs on, start the engine, open the vavle right away and let it suck it in. Let it run until you see the antifreeze coming out the exhaust. You can add more antifreeze while it is running but a few gallons is usually enough.

I suppose you can also pull the drainplugs and impeller hoses first to get more water out.

 

[dutchman]

Just to give an update to anyone else trying this.
I did remove a couple hoses but it seemed a PITA to fill. So I ended up removing the lid off the thermostat housing. From there I poured in 8-10 litres of AF. The block is full and some drained out the leg. It did ruin the gasket for the lid but that only took a minute to make a new one.

This was very easy, so I have no idea why lots of people up here don't do this. A few bucks worth of AF is a lot cheaper than damage from freezing.
Thanks for everyones input.:thumbsup:

 

[Lazy Daze]

Just to give an update to anyone else trying this.
I did remove a couple hoses but it seemed a PITA to fill. So I ended up removing the lid off the thermostat housing. From there I poured in 8-10 litres of AF. The block is full and some drained out the leg. It did ruin the gasket for the lid but that only took a minute to make a new one.

This was very easy, so I have no idea why lots of people up here don't do this. A few bucks worth of AF is a lot cheaper than damage from freezing.
Thanks for everyones input.:thumbsup:

Good deal - congratulations!

You know, in hind site, I'd probably just remove the lid, too. On a V-6 or V-8 I think it's easier to remove hoses. But that plate on top of the T-stat housing for the 3.0L is easy.