Flushing out in boards and winterizing

[Sparkey600]

How do I hook up a hose to run the engines and generator in my drive way. What is the best way to put antifreeze in both.
Engines are Mercruiser 350MAG 300 with V drives and generator is a kohler. I an use to I/O Please help it is getting COLD

 

[fc3]

Pretty simple. Open the tops of the strainers, remove the baskets and insert a garden hose into the strainer. Leave the though hull fitting open. Turn on the water and then start the engine. Excess water will mostly run out the though hull but some will go into the bilge, which isn't a problem. You can do this with both mains, the generator and air conditioning system. It's what I do. While this system being free seems to be the biggest advantage, it's not. The biggest advantage of doing it this way is that there is no way to pressurize the raw water system such that water will flow into the exhaust system if the engine is shut off before the water flow is stopped or the engine stalls. Thus you can turn the water on before starting the engine and turn the water off after stopping the engine. The impeller never runs dry and will last longer because of that. Using flushing adapters and caps works well and won't cause a problem if you remember to leave the though hull fitting open. Forget to open the though hull before turning on the water might leave you with an expensive engine repair bill.

I have a couple adapters made of hose and PVC pipe that I use to connect a 5 gallon bucket to the raw water intake hose. One adapter uses a 1/2" to 1 1/4" PCV bushing reducer, some 1/2" PVC pipe, rubber hose and a female garden hose connector that I use to gravity feed antifreeze into the mains. I have something similar for the hoses that feed the A/C and generator.

Best regards,
Frank

 

[Sparkey600]

Thanks thats helps a lot. With the A\C can I blow out the lines or is it batter to leave to antifeerze in system. So I can put the antifreeze in the motors throw the strainer. Due I have to drain the cooling system after. I blow out all water line and hot water heater because I did not want that taste in the pipes is that ok.

 

[skibum]

I used a shop vac over the thru hull to suck the water out of the AC last year. I also loosened the 4 screws that hold the two halves of the impeller housing on the AC pump together to let the trapped water out. That only took a couple of minutes. It worked fine.

 

[fc3]

I used my air compressor (5.5 horsepower 20 gallon tank rated at 8.2 SCFM @ 40 PSI and 6.4 @ 90) to blow out the lines for the fresh water system and the air conditioning. Set the compressor's regulator to 60 PSI and made an adapter with a quick connect on one side and rubber hose that fits over the 15mm tubing Sea Ray used in my boat. Run air to each outlet (faucet, hose bib, etc) until it stopped misting. You have to open the drain valve on the water heater to drain that properly.

I connected the antifreeze tank directly to the hose leading from the strainer. It's easy to remove that hose and a make the connection with the PVC adapter I describe above.