winterizing?

OK, so with the plugs out when you poured the pink in there's a possibility that there's still pockets of water. Your call on that. Chances are quite high that you'll be fine - but it's still a chance. I prefer not to gamble, especially when it's so easily avoidable.

You should never use the pink stuff with ethanol in it - use propylene glycol. That's been discussed many times so there's plenty of info out there about it if you wanted to read more.

What about the small drain hoses?

Leaving it full of the proper AF is, without question, a step up over leaving it empty.
 
small drain hoses? I poured it in the 2 that went to the bottom of the manifolds, the 2 that went into the front of the risers, and the 2 larger hoses (1 to the recirculation pump and 1 to somewhere I couldn't see...lol. But it ran out the block drain when poured into there.
 
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small drain hoses? I poured it in the 2 that went to the bottom of the manifolds, the 2 that went into the front of the risers, and the 2 larger hoses (1 to the recirculation pump and 1 to somewhere I couldn't see...lol. But it ran out the block drain when poured into there.
The block drains should be 2 small 3/8” hoses attached to the drain manifold that runs under the crankshaft pulley. They are originally installed with aluminum compression clamps. I cut them off and use worm clamps so I can disconnect them and blow water through to clear the mud that usually blocks the hoses. That way I know that the block is drained and the antifreeze won’t be diluted.
 
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small drain hoses? I poured it in the 2 that went to the bottom of the manifolds, the 2 that went into the front of the risers, and the 2 larger hoses (1 to the recirculation pump and 1 to somewhere I couldn't see...lol. But it ran out the block drain when poured into there.
No, those are circulation hoses. The drain lines are the ones that go from the block and manifolds to the water distribution housing.

However... something is confusing... in your first post you mentioned you have the WDH... but later it sounds like you removed a block plug? This is an either/or thing, not both. Which setup do you have?

"But it ran out the block drain when poured into there." Also, there are TWO block drains... what are you referencing here?
 
Mine has a blue plug at the lower part of the block on each side. Then there is one under each manifold, then one at the output side of the recirculation pump. Those are the only ones I can see and my manual actually only says there are 3 total. When I poured AF in the hoses some came out the block drains, some out the exhaust manifold drains, depending on which hoses I poured into. The bigger hose on the port side ran out the outlet hose of the seawater pump and the big one on the starboard side ran out the blue drain plug on the circulation pump.

That 'manifold' under the damper you are showing...I don't see that on mine. Not saying it isn't there but didn't notice it and I was just scrubbing the bilge yesterday and was working in that area.
 
When we had our 1986 250DA I always just drained everything and left it empty. Air doesn't freeze. With this one I was trying to do a little better with the rust inhibitors but also keep hearing to leave it empty. So yes, I drained everything then poured the pink in with the plugs out to make sure there were no blockages and that it came right back out. Leaving the block empty this year. Keep hearing of issues with alcohol in the pink stuff and how hard it is on seals, etc so was kind of on the fence there.
I leave everything empty, block, fresh water system, ac system.
 
So next question...Since my seawater pump does not have drain plugs is there a replacement that does? If not is there a T that I can install inline in those hoses that I can put a drain in? It is very hard to get those hoses off. I tried for about an hour and was in a very awkward position and making no progress. Step-son is much smaller and very mechanically inclined and took him about 30 minutes of fighting with it. It had to come off due to wanting to replace the impeller anyway but for those other years that I don't need to change the impeller it would be nice to just have an easy drain system.
 
In 2017 I replaced the sea water pump on the boat I owned then. The pump had 2 blue drain plugs. Also replaced the cool fuel module, it also had drain plugs. My 2007 Merc had 2 drain plugs on the raw water pump as well.
 
I’m a little late here but I follow this procedure for our 5.0 (small block) At 2:50 he mentions the hoses under the manifold. My starboard side, when I pull the hose always seems to have water streaming well after all the main plugs have drained out.

Eddie does a good job here showing the hoses to pull for filling with AF.

 
Ollie, I only watched that video from about 2:45 to 2:55 to see what you were referencing at 2:50. But at that point he's working on the hoses for the HWH, which you don't have, right?

But, you shouldn't need to pull any hoses off from under the manifolds. Just remove the blue plugs. If you're doing things the way you usually see me recommending, when you backfill the hoses at the t-stat housing, any little bit of water remaining in the exhaust hoses gets pushed out (if there was any at all).
 
Ollie, I only watched that video from about 2:45 to 2:55 to see what you were referencing at 2:50. But at that point he's working on the hoses for the HWH, which you don't have, right?

But, you shouldn't need to pull any hoses off from under the manifolds. Just remove the blue plugs. If you're doing things the way you usually see me recommending, when you backfill the hoses at the t-stat housing, any little bit of water remaining in the exhaust hoses gets pushed out (if there was any at all).
Thanks LD. I have the exact motors Eddie does so his vids have been helpful - although I’m not pouring Marvel Mystery oil into my throttle body. (another vid). He mentions it around 4:15 not 2:50. I swear I didn’t have any Miller Lites when I originally typed this, so I’m not sure where my 2:50 reference came from:oops:. You are correct, I have no hot water.

Forgive my terminology or the location, but I do have a quick disconnect hose, I believe it’s on the block and not the manifold (below the manifold) on both port and starboard sides that I pull, then put a small nail or screwdriver in to loosen any debris. As I mentioned before, there seems to be a significant amount of water exiting the starboard side. It’s been a habit since I’ve had the boat and only takes a few seconds. I see what your are saying though, the AF would just push it through.
 
Ollie, at that mark in the video it seems as though he's just "generalizing" - older manifolds had a different hose setup and I believe that was what he was referring to. Unless I missed it, I don't think he talked about the check valve that is inline with the intake hose that comes from the drive? Most likely, your engine has this. In theory, this shouldn't make a difference for draining - but you won't be able to backflush AF through the intake hose and out the drive (just check out the hose to make sure there's no dips in it). Even on the drive side of things, it really "shouldn't" matter since the drive easily drains (including the impeller on an Alpha). BUT, I usually take the extra step to help ensure the fuel cooler is safe, even though "in theory" it should be fine via a normal drain. Follow your intake hose from the oil cooler - it's usually shortly after that - but could be anywhere between there and the t-stat housing. You can remove one side and pour AF in to flush the fuel cooler... you could even backflush through the drive if you wanted to, just for fun.
 
Yeah it seemed like more of a generalization.

Next question...where my 2 smaller hoses connect to the t-stat housing there is a spring loaded device sticking out of each side. I'm familiar with car engines but is this the t-stat? Or what is it?
 
Yeah it seemed like more of a generalization.

Next question...where my 2 smaller hoses connect to the t-stat housing there is a spring loaded device sticking out of each side. I'm familiar with car engines but is this the t-stat? Or what is it?
It's there to balance water flow left and right. If you ever start to overheat at idle but not at higher RPM's, first thing you do is stretch that spring out some.
 

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