Winterizing engins with drives off

[88 AmberRay]

Pick up this 1988 270AJ at the end of the summer. Only ran it about 4 times as I didn't really know what condition all the mechanicals were in.

It got lifted on friday and now the process of winterizing begins.

Removed the outdrives (alpha 1) today and fresh water flushed the engins, then fogged them by pouring Marvel mystery oil down the carbs @ 1000 RPM until she smoked up a storm and shut them down. This was done 1 at a time.

Going to pull the drive apart this winter and change the pumps, pump housings ( upper & lower) O rings & seals.
Replace bellows,shift and throttle cables, gimbel bearings,
& rebuild trim clyinders & Pressure test.And I'm sure some other thing I come across in the process.

Most of the "special tools" needed I make myself with basic hand tools. I will post pictures as I go along.

Feel free to ask for more pics. and or details of tools used.

Later,

Rich

 

[Daddubo]

Hi , I have a couple of questions did you put antifreeze in and if you did how did you get the Antifreeze in with the drive off?

 

[88 AmberRay]

Hi , I have a couple of questions did you put antifreeze in and if you did how did you get the Antifreeze in with the drive off?

Hi Daddubo,

At the hose connection hanging off the transom I hook up my sump pump, put it in a 5 gal. pail with 2.5 gal. of anti freeze & 1 gal. water. I then run 2 hoses off the water exhaust, (1 on each side) onto the 5 gal. pail. Then I turn on the pump and the anti freeze goes thru the engine and the excess goes back into the pail.

I will be doing this on Sat. and will post more pictures.

 

[Lazy Daze]

You could just dump the antifreeze into the block and exhaust manifold through the t-stat or the hoses that come off the t-stat, too.

Amber: I'm looking forward to your ongoing pictures!

 

[Daddubo]

I drained the water out of mine took the t stat out and refilled it and put almost 4 gals in the block then hooked up the muffs and ran it with antifreeze siphoning out of a 5gal bucket and only got about 1.5 gals back plus whatever spilled which wasn't much. I think next year I will disconnect the intake hose from the drive and use a pump to circulate it with a bucket under the drive.
This is my first Drive with the pump in it the TRS had a pump on the engine. I'll be doing my pump this winter also so it will be interesting to see how it goes, 1st time for everything.
I'm taking off the manafolds also, she came from Michigan and there were Zebra Mussels hanging on the drive so I don't want to take any chances on things being plugged up.

 

[Lazy Daze]

I drained the water out of mine took the t stat out and refilled it and put almost 4 gals in the block then

Actually, you were just about done. All you had to do was pour the AF into the exhaust manifold hoses. No need to make this harder than it is, 'ya know?

-- Drop the water out.
-- Fill block and exhaust manifolds with AF
-- Pour AF into the water intake hose (that comes from drive)

Good idea to check up on the manifold's health. :thumbsup:

 

[JVM225]

I took my drives off last week when the boat came out of the water and just did my motors today. I had flushed the motors with fresh water before I took the drives off.
I drained the blocks and manifolds and filled them up with Anti Freeze through the hoses off the thermostat housing. It's very easy. Just make sure you get all the water out of the blocks. I removed the plugs, and then used a nail to break through the crap.
I also pulled a couple of the risers just to take a look at them and the manifolds. I bought the boat at the beginning of the 2007 season and the old owner showed me a reciept showing they were replaced in the summer of 2006. I pulled all the manifolds and risers back in the fall of 2007 just for piece of mind. It turned out that they are the coated ones so I might get a little longer out of them. Anyway, I pulled a riser on each motor just to take another look today. They still look good. I'll continue to do this each season because gaskets are cheaper than motors.
I also took this opportuntiy to pull the thermostats to give them a visual today. They looked pretty crappy and when I started to clean up the housings they looked like they had seen better days too so they will all be replaced before the shrink wrap goes on. The thermostats will be changed every other year.
Both circulator pumps (or water pumps as us car guys call them) on the motors were replaced this year after one of them went I replaced it and did the other one because I've found that these things like to go in two's.
The drives are on stands and I will once again replace the water pumps in them over the winter. These will be replaced every year. The kits are pretty cheap.
The only other thing I did that I haven't seen here is the raw water that passes through the hot water heater. I disconnected both hoses that go to and from it at the motor side (only because they had smaller nipples and were easier to reach) and using a funnel I poured AF in one until it started to come out of the other. I got a bit of water out of it before it was pure AF, then again, I did this before I did the motors themselves. It might have been overkill, but I figured that when I drained everything else there was probably still some salt water sitting inside the hot water heater and it's hoses and it turns out I was right.
I toyed with the idea of doing away with the engine water circulating through the hot water heater because I never really use it and figured it's always good to eliminate hoses and fittings that you don't have a need for, but I wound up keeping things the way they are for now. If the time ever comes for a new hot water heater I probably will not hook it up to the motor though.
It's always good to keep the cooling system in good shape.
These are all pretty easy tasks and a little bit of preventive maintenance goes a long way.
You might want to consider giving the cooling system a good once over if the boat is new to you.

 

[Lazy Daze]

The only other thing I did that I haven't seen here is the raw water that passes through the hot water heater. I disconnected both hoses that go to and from it at the motor side (only because they had smaller nipples and were easier to reach) and using a funnel I poured AF in one until it started to come out of the other. I got a bit of water out of it before it was pure AF, then again, I did this before I did the motors themselves. It might have been overkill, but I figured that when I drained everything else there was probably still some salt water sitting inside the hot water heater and it's hoses and it turns out I was right.

Yes, absolutely a good idea to do the HW tank's raw water system. I usually just blow the water out by mouth (disconnected at the engine, as well). Then fill with pink. Only reason I do it that way is to save a little pink.

One question, though. You say you did the HW tank, then flushed the engine? Had you capped the fittings on the engine or re-attached them? I may have misunderstood what you wrote... but if not, you've got water back in your HW heater's raw water coil.

 

[JVM225]

I flushed the engines using ear muffs before I took the drives off or did any winterization.
I winterized the fresh water, head, and AC last week, then drained and winterized the motors yesterday. I did the raw water side of the HW heater just before I did the motors.
I think pulling the hoses off and filling everything with AF is actually easier than using a gravity system, plus it provides a great opportunity to check the condition of your hoses and make sure all the clamps are tight.

 

[88 AmberRay]

Pumped the anti freeze onto the engines today. Attached are the pictures I promised.

Pic. 1 - Outdrive off

Pic 2 - Alum. plate I made to hold the 3/4 hose X 1/2" NPT adapter. This is where the hose from the sump pump in the 5 gal. bucket feeds into the engine.

Pic 3 - Another view of holder

Pic 4 - Holder bolted on w/ white adapter in place

pic 5 - Sump pump in 5 gal. pail

Pic 6 - Another view of pic 5. White hose if feeding onto water pump inlet (where water pump from outdrive would feed into).

Pic 7 - Sump pump on and anti freeze circulating thru engine. Notice clear hose against transom (green anti freeze going thru). That is the exhaust port from engine. There is 1 port on each side of gimbel housing. As the anti freeze is being pumped thru engine it is returning to 5 gal. pail to be re-circulated thru engine.

Pic 8 - On the starbpard engine I didn't use the alum. plate to hold the hose into the water inlet into the unit. It worked as well as the alum. piece (which took over a hour to make).

I mixed 2 gals. anti freeze (full strength) with 1 gal. water in the 5 gal. pail to start. I only drained the upper part of the engines, from the exhaust manifolds up. To get to the lower block drains is a PIA. That's why I only used 1 gal. water to the 2 of anti freeze. If the block was drained completely I would have used 2 gals. water. I plugged in the sump pump
(120 Volt) and let it all circulatd thru the engine for 60 seconds.

This is the first time I tried this method of winterizing the engine(s) and will be the future way I do them. I feel confident that the engines are completely full of anti freeze.

There's alot more to do on this Amberjack in the up comming winter months. Will keep posting & taking pictures

 

[Daddubo]

I would be leary if antifreeze got through the water pump and to lower water pump hose with out running the engine?? I would take it off just to check. If all is good I it is a lot easier way to do it.

 

[88 AmberRay]

I would be leary if antifreeze got through the water pump and to lower water pump hose with out running the engine?? I would take it off just to check. If all is good I it is a lot easier way to do it.

Good Idea. I'll pull off the hoses, take a look and add anti- freeze if needed.

 

[Lazy Daze]

That's quite a set-up you got going there, Amber! :smt001

Just one word of caution - from the pics, it looks like you have automotive antifreeze - don't forget to collect it in the Spring before going to the water for the first time (or, for that matter, even before running it in your yard). Don't want to pollute! :smt089

Thanks for the pics - very nice!

 

[88 AmberRay]

That's quite a set-up you got going there, Amber! :smt001

Just one word of caution - from the pics, it looks like you have automotive antifreeze - don't forget to collect it in the Spring before going to the water for the first time (or, for that matter, even before running it in your yard). Don't want to pollute! :smt089

Thanks for the pics - very nice!

Yes! I put the 5 gal. pail under the drain plug and drain the engines into that. Then I put that back into the 1 gal. anti freeze bottles to use again next season.

I don't even throw my cigarette butts in the water!!!

 

[Daddubo]

Good Idea. I'll pull off the hoses, take a look and add anti- freeze if needed.

Let us know one way or the other. I would think you could run the engine with the drive's off with out damaging anything while winterizing it..