Trying to winterize 1990 4.3 mercruiser.

[Rapidroy5858]

Newbie here
Spent today trying to winterize my 4.3 engines in my searay.
It's a 1990 , tried the method of attaching ears to out drive, warming engines to operating temp then using a submersible pump in a tub attached to the muffs to push antifreeze through engine as its idling , does not seem to be moving anti freeze through eng., I see no evidence of any antifreeze at top of engine when I pull hoses.
I cannot find manifold drain plugs or the one that is supposed to be down low by water pump hose location.
Is it possible my engines do not have the 5 plugs I keep reading about but instead I need to pull hoses to drain water.
Long day trying to figure this out any help is greatly appreciated.
Newbie

 

[Lazy Daze]

1 drain on each side of the the block. 1 drain either under the middle of each manifold, or possibly at the ends, given the age. Again, given the age, there wouldn't be one on the block hose. It shouldn't be hard to figure this out. In all seriousness, if it's too hard to figure out, play it safe and hire someone. It's not an area you want to take a chance on, given the cost of a new engine.

Throw the "through the ear muffs" thing in the garbage - the way you're doing is not correct. And forget about what you might see on Youtube - any Joe Schmoe can make a video and post it... but it's probably just about a sure thing that he won't come back in the Spring and update the video when he has a cracked block.

Treat the fuel and fog the engine. Drain the engine/manifolds/cooler and just pour AF into the hoses at the t-stat housing. Done. There's lot's of posts on this forum about the drain/fill method - shouldn't have any problem finding them via a search.

 

[JVM225]

That’s how I do it!

 

[Rapidroy5858]

Thanks for relying, yesI agree no more trying the muffs and pump.
I still have not found plugs on manifolds, I pulled hoses off at the bottom to drain them.
I managed to get one block plug out the other sides going to be a challenge.
When I do get them out do I drain water reinstall plugs then pour in antifreeze?
Your saying to pour it in at tstat housing,
Are you saying remove top cover of housing or pour in through hoses?

, I am also somewhat confused if a certain amount will antifreeze will drain back out the bottom of the outdrive?
Thanks again.

 

[Rapidroy5858]

That’s how I do it!

Are you saying you remove the plugs then pour in antifreeze or you do the muffs and pump

 

[Lazy Daze]

Some older mainfolds don't have drain petcocks - may have caps at the ends.

Before we start going into the whole process again and again, did you find any other threads about winterizing? It just helps to do some homework/searching before asking questions - you'll likely answer your own questions and... most importantly... it saves my fingers!

 

[Rapidroy5858]

Is it best to pour antifreeze through with plugs out and leave block and manifolds empty for winter or better to pour some through, reinstall everything and fill back with antifreeze?
Thanks

 

[Lazy Daze]

Even though I "poke" each hole to make sure it fully drains, I still like to leave the plugs out while I pour a little bit in - just to verify that I see the pink starting to come out. Then put the plugs in and full 'er up. Not "required"... just a "feel good" thing. I don't mind sacrificing a little bit of pink stuff to the winterizing gods.

 

[Rapidroy5858]

Thank you lazy Dave, I read a ton of posts on the subject last night , this sites very helpful to a newbie. I'm going to as you said wash some through then button it up and fill.
Going back to the muff and pumping thing, after pulling hoses and the one block plug I have out so far I had zero pink stuff that came out when I drained engine after trying that method. Glad I double checked. Actually no water at all at top of engine. Cant figure out why it didnt push water up,I had engine warmed to op temp. It ran cool the few times I used it this year after I bought it. Any thoughts?had 1 new impeller installed last year.
Thanks Royboy

 

[JVM225]

Are you saying you remove the plugs then pour in antifreeze or you do the muffs and pump

Was saying I do what Lazy Daze outlined. Drain block and manifold and pour in antifreeze through hoses at thermostat housing. That’s usually my last step in winterizing.
That’s how I do it on my son’s 18 footer, and how I did it on my old 300 when the old motors were raw water cooled.
Never liked the muffs.
When I repowered the 300 I put FW half systems on the new motors, so no more need to do the blocks, only the exhaust side.
Pulled the Alpha drives off (so they wouldn’t walk away over the winter) that boat every Fall the day the boat came out so I had a hand pump set up rigged so that I could pump antifreeze manually in through the raw water intake in the transom assembly once the drives were off.
I treat fuel just before last ride to the ramp where the boat gets pulled out for the season. That way it gets nice and mixed.
I don’t pull plugs. Instead, I use Marvel Mystery Oil to fog the motor by slowly pouring it down the carb until motor smokes. I do this right at the ramp before we pull the boat up on the trailer.
Additionally, I change the oil, filter and fuel filters as soon as it comes out of the water for the season.
Diesels in my current boat are even easier to winterize.

 

[Rapidroy5858]

Thanks for your reply! I think I'm on the right path now. These darn port side plugs might be the end of me! Lol

 

[Lazy Daze]

Going back to the muff and pumping thing, after pulling hoses and the one block plug I have out so far I had zero pink stuff that came out when I drained engine after trying that method. Glad I double checked. Actually no water at all at top of engine. Cant figure out why it didnt push water up,I had engine warmed to op temp. It ran cool the few times I used it this year after I bought it. Any thoughts?had 1 new impeller installed last year.
Thanks Royboy

Depends on a couple things... whether the pump was able to pump past the impeller (not hard in an Alpha) and up/through the transom... whether enough was pumped in to start filling the block... whether that particular block drain had some scaling plugging it up.

The t-stat closes quickly, which is why the bucket method isn't always successful.

 

[Rapidroy5858]

Lazy thanks again much appreciate your help. I had no plugs out when I tried the muff and pump method, perhaps couldn't push antifreeze up with no venting at engine? Idk.
Also one more question I forgot to ask, regarding power steering cooler, will pouring water in block hose force any water in cooler hoses out or do I need to remove hoses prior to filling up with anti freeze? Thanks again!

 

[Lazy Daze]

Is your power steering cooler mounted up high, behind the engine... or is it mounted down low, by the port-side motor mount?

 

[Rapidroy5858]

I am not sure on location , I never checked, I will be going to to work on it soon, I can let you know then
Thanks

 

[Lazy Daze]

If you follow the cooler hose, you should see that it connects at the t-stat housing on the port side. That is where you will fill with AF. It will backflush through the cooler and out the drive's intakes. If the cooler is up high, you're good as it self drains. If it's low, it should be drained, first (a couple ways that can be done).

 

[Rapidroy5858]

Its mounted low, any advise on draining prior to filling with antifreeze
Thanks Royboy

 

[Lazy Daze]

Its mounted low, any advise on draining prior to filling with antifreeze
Thanks Royboy

Advice? Yes... drain it.

You can do it by removing the hose on one end or the other, or snaking the intake hose (from the t-stat housing) down to the bottom of the bilge. You could also cut the hose (closer to the front of the engine) and install a T-fitting with a more easily accessible/removable drain.

Not the "best" way... but you could just keep pouring about 2 gallons of AF into the intake hose (keep it as high as possible) and that should force all of the water out. With a strong enough pump, you could also pump AF through the drive until a good stream of pink came out the (unattached) intake hose.

 

[Rapidroy5858]

I poured antifreeze into hose, had someone watch till it ran steady pink, seemed to work.
So in review lol
Disconnected both large hoses from each engine at water pump drained, attached back to bottom of pump poured in af till it ran out block drains, installed block plugs, poured af into water pump hose till it was full and ran out of tstat housing, attached top of hose to housing.
Drained exh manifold lines, washed down with pink, reAttached hoses to bottom of manifolds (no plugs on mine) filled through hose till full reattached to tstat assembly,
Pour af through oil cooler line where it was disconnected from tstat assembly till it ran pink reattach.
Hoping I am good to go, if it sounds like I missed anything please feel free to tell me.
Thanks so much for the help and advice!
Royboy