bonesmalon

iTrader: (1)

Ok we have some sharp guys here...anybody else beside me consider using the single point water drain system off a 496 on a 525? I have 496 HOs and they are a breeze to winterize and now I have 525s also and I winterized and it was no fun...I have the bruises to prove it. I found the merc pn for the valve assy. It looks like you need one for each side of each motor (4 total)?? Cant find a full schematic to show plumbing?? love to see one. At $200 a motor its a no-brainer. If you need two per motor it would sting but its a breeze compared to contorting my body to get to the blue mickey mouse ears and get them back in without losing oring, dropping in the bilge yada yada

Dave M

I did like the air actuated system on the 496 I had. I have a 525 now, but it's pretty easy to reach the blue plugs on mine.

I always run rv antifreeze through my motor just in case. I think the air system is good to extend the season a bit, but I don't completely trust it.

bonesmalon

iTrader: (1)

yeah I like to drain the system, run pink stuff in through muffs till I see it in exhaust, shut down and drain again and call it a day. Doing this on the 525s is a PITA and very time consuming. Anybody got a pic that shows the air valve installed? My HOs onlyhave 160 hrs and fortunately have never been out and in the Outlaw its near impossible to see around the engines. At least on the AT I can see pretty good cause the rear seat rises with eng cover and bilge on sides of engine are nice and clear to crawl into

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

It's been discussed on OSO in the past, that simply pumping the water out of the systems is not good enough for a full winterization. Especially not as far north as NY. The can be pockets of water left in the coolers and other passages. The 496 air displacement system is designed to prolong your boating season.

It's truly best to winterized the old fashioned way, on 525s AND 496s. There are the horror stories on here that prove it.

BTW, I got your VERY well thought out email. I need to get a reply to you.

bonesmalon

iTrader: (1)

Hi Brian, yup no doubt that anti-freeze is a must to make sure pockets are properly protected. Use of air drain is simply to make get intitial drain of water and secondary drain after running in pink stuff as easy as possible. BTW email to you was simply to share some opinions from a guy who uses a boat to do it all...poker run, party at the beach, weekend on it, etc. with someone that might have an opportunity to influence boat design (30 years aerospace life support systems and flight controls systems). I looked at so many boats looking for the features and value I was after and in the end AT covered the most bases at the best value for me (looked at 42 Tiger, 39 Quattro, 35 Outlaw, 40 Outlaw, 388 Hustler, etc. My comments were simpy to address those few shortcomings I knew about going into an AT (anchor locker) and a few after owning one for a couple months (water standing on deck, cleats, commode orientation).

TWIN-SPINS

if you pumped five gallons of r. v .antifreeze throught the drive and engine ,,,wouldnt that be enought to winterize the engine,,and opening the blue valves would be optional,,,

bonesmalon

iTrader: (1)

Twin spins...it might....however if it isn't....CHAA-Ching. I think people tend to forget there's roughly 3-4 gallons of water in the system when you start the process and running AF would be merely diluting the water (in a perfect world all areas would be about 50/50). In the real world, according to Murphy's laws...some areas would be closer to 100 pct and others closer to pure water (and Murphy was an optimist...). For those reasons I like to drain as much water as I can, run in the pink stuff to maximize dilution ratio, and then drain again so remainder in any little pocket(s) is is a pretty strong solution of AF and maximize area for expansion should Murphy win another one.

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

I like to drain the motor before I run the pink stuff though as well. As a matter of fact, I use the air pump on the 496 first, then I go back and pull the blue plugs. I always get more water coming out when I pull the blue plugs.

One could use -100 AF, and worse case scenario would be ~50% dilution with water giving you -50 protection.

bonesmalon

iTrader: (1)

Yeah that's a thought...using the -100 stuff. I pulled a couple blue plugs the 1st and 2nd season but found I got very little out after having used the air drain so I skipped it after that. All in all it's a pretty convienent add on. Ok so who's gonna send me some pics or a schematic so i can see if I can add one to the 525s?

Sydwayz

iTrader: (1)

Check out www.bammarine.com. Look up a 496 and drill down to the cooling system schematics.

Also, those damn actuators do go bad, at the worst time. Like when you are bouncing around the Keys with your buddies, and an air actuator spring goes bad and you are spraying salt water all over your bilge at speed.