Re: winterising 496
 

thanks chris. i did stablize the gas in the tank. what i did is spray the fogging oil in the cylinders and put in new plugs. now i have to pull the plugs again and crank it a few times and put the plugs back in. my stupidity. thanks again chris. this is my first winter with this motor so i want to be sure i do everything right.

Re: winterising 496
 

[QUOTE=Sydwayz]Glad all went well. I forgot to mention, but I am sure you know, to make sure you get pink to shoot out of the transom shower too, (if you have one).

Man I need a brain, never used the transom shower, never thought about it. But i guess i havent used anything on the boat yet. Making a trip over in the morning.

the access panel is on the left wall if you are sitting on the toliet down low? it is not on the floor right? the shower drains into the front step? i wonder if it is hard to add drain plugs in that step?

thanks you are a lifesaver on the transom shower i owe you drink.

scott

Re: winterising 496
 

yzbert,
(-37Active Thunder details-)
That access panel gets you the fuel lines; it will not access the step-bilge. If you are sitting on the head, some boats have an access panel near the floor in front of your left foot, above the drain. Some don't. (It would be convenient to add one.)

It is not feasable to add the drain plugs. Docmanrich37 tried, and all he drilled into was foam. He plugged them back up and re-glassed.

Yes, the shower and the drain in the cabin in front of the steps drain into your step-bilge. The automatic pump is down there to drain it, but it only does a mediocre job. By the time it pumps the water out the side of the boat, and realizes that it is dry (water sensor switch), it shuts off, and lets all the water in the hose heading out the side of the boat, to run back down into the step-bilge. However, its not enough to turn the pump back on. It would be nice to just have a regular bilge pump down there with a switch instead of an automatic one.

Re: winterising 496
 

My modifications to the do it yourself winterization kit:

1. Make the vent hole bigger by drilling it out, and washing out the shavings (if you are going to rely on gravity feed).

2. Use a bigger hose (3/4 inch) and bigger fittings (regardless).

3. I bolted in the valve stem using its hardware, and I used rubber cement as well. Unit is available at Napa for about $3.

Re: winterising 496
 

Again, I don't use the garden hose to prime, then switch method. I added the valve stem to utilize air pressure. I also hook my kit directly to my flush kit, not the earmuffs. (Tip, if you have a water pickup for your head/toilet system, this tool works well just as I have modified it to winterize your whole system as well.)

1. Here is the jug with just two gallons of antifeeze in it, no air pressure.

2. Hook up the cheapy air compressor (not an industrial air compressor) and build some pressure in the jug, (just go by looks on this, I don't go by a guage; you just want the jug to expand a bit, and be tight to the touch.)

3. Pressurized

Re: winterising 496
 

So, my proceedure:

--Fill jug with 5 gallons of antifreeze.

--Make sure vent is closed and tight.

--Pressurize the jug with the air compressor.

--Hook the hose end up to my fresh water flush inlet. (Or earmuffs in other cases, you would want to have a longer hose more than likely.)

--Turn on the ignition, and get the engine's fuel pump ready to fire.

--Open the T-valve on the jug.

--Fire the motor.

--Turn the air compressor on again.

--Watch the exhaust for pink stuff coming out.

I shut my motor off about half way through the 5 gallons, and remove the fuel filter, and fill 1/2 the fuel filter with 2-stoke oil to 'fog' the motor. (Turn off air compressor).

--Might add some more antifreeze to the jug, re-pressurize it.

--Repeat above proceedure until the antifreeze jug is nearly dry; after the engine has pumped at least 5, maybe 6 gallons of antifreeze through the exhaust.




It works well for me.

Re: winterising 496
 

Yes, sounds like you are o.k. ,, You did not mention the fogging oil in your first post, just the 2-stroke and stabil in the gas can. I would just pull the lanyard and tap the key, thats about it.

Re: winterising 496
 

I stand corrected, maybe they should put this in the manual rather than the misleading winterizing instructions :rolleyes:
http://www.mercurymarine.com/winterization_faqs2
Wouldn't that be a novel idea :mad:
So much for the simplicity idea for the 496HO. I think I'll have to go back to blower motors :D :D
Back to the shed :(
Dave

TTT, worth another pass.

Just pumping the water out of a 496 sea-water system is NOT good enough for winterization. You need to do a full winterization with antifreeze. Also the antifreeze will have a rust inhibitor. Pushing the water out and replacing it with air opens exposes all of you internal cooling passages to air allowing rust to form.

Internal cooling passages of what? Other than those motors with cast iron manifolds instead of aluminum, what is there to rust? I've pumped the water out using the blue pump and pulled the 4 plugs (2 on the fuel cooler, 2 on the sea water pump) and have had zero problems after 4 seasons. It got well below zero in my storage shed last year. I agree running antifreeze through is the safe way to go but my experience proves it is not necessary.