Winterizing fountain 33 fever. 502 mpi.
 

Does anyone have a step by step instruction to winterized my 1998 fountain fever with 502 MPI?

Thank you

It's half way through January. Not too late is it? Can't see where you're from.

You mean 32 fever? The 32s are tight..you be better off draining the exhaust manifolds removing the lower water pump J hose and draining as much of the engine as possible..put a large bucket underneath the Out drives to catch The antifreeze as the engine is running,get some flexible 4 inch hose like dryer vent hose the aluminum type, put it on the exhaust Tips and the other end into the bucket so you can recirculate the antifreeze as its coming out,Fill the bucket with straight antifreeze, connect the muffs to a sump pump, start engine and keep running it until the thermostat opens and the antifreeze mixes in the engine .once thermostat is opened up check the strength of the antifreeze coming out of the exhaust tips, add antifreeze to the bucket as needed

I do it like Boatnt except I remove the thermostat housing pull the thermostat, the replace the housing then do what he says. I just put the thermostat back in the spring. Shut the fuel line lever to off and your done.. They do sell the 5 gallon jugs at marine stores that have a diverter valve for the mixture that makes it easy.

Thanks guys. It's already winterized just wanted the info for myself.

There is a HUGE thread on here I read about winterizing and unwinterizing. I found it when I first got our boat it was very helpful!

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...-full-way.html

My suggestion to you and anyone else that does their own work is to replace the 1/4 inch plugs on each side of the block with ball valves. The ball valves are made in brass and stainless steel...pick whichever you want to use. You will need a 1/4" nipple 3 inches long, a 1/4 to 3/8 adapter and a 3/8 ball valve. Use a 3/8 ball valve because the handle on a 1/4 is just too small. It's tough to get in there to get the inside plugs on a twin, especially tough on a fountain but it can be done. Assemble all three parts using teflon tape and tighten them up, then install it into the block and tighten it so that the ball valve handle is easy to get to. Next time you need to winterize and drain the water from your engine(s), all you have to do is reach down and turn the handle on the ball valve 90* to drain out the water. After the water is out, you can reach back down and close the valves and then fill the motor(s) with the pink stuff antifreeze or not. Pull the bottom hose off your sea pump and drain your exhaust and you are done. It takes me about 20 minutes to winterize my twin.

Don't just open the valve, visually see that water is flowing out the valve otherwise the block or valve is clogged with sand which needs to be removed using a nail, ice pick etc.

Also, many of the Fountains have the water pressure pick up located at the port side drain so the hose must be removed to drain the block.

My 95 32 Fever has hoses there if I recall but an easy way to drain the blocks would be nice. I "winterized" mine in September here in Oregon but I don't remember if there was a drain on the other side of the blocks as well that I used? Hmmm...makes me want to uncover it and check! Nah...It's too damn cold out still!! Lol

There is a drain plug for each side of the block and each side must be opened up or you drain one side while the other is still full. If you cant see water coming out, or feel water coming out when you open the valve, then yes, you will have to poke something up it to clear out any junk blocking the flow. A 6 inch 1/8 drill is good as you can turn it by hand and it will dig its way in if necessary. Another thing that you can do when boating is to have the motor(s) running and before the exhaust gets too hot...open the valves and let the water pressure blow out any junk that might be trying to plug it up.

As for a hose connected to a drain...move the hose to the back of the intake manifold.

I've heard about moving that water pressure line to the manifold before funny you mention that. I already had to replace the gauges that were plugged or corroded etc. and it took FOREVER to unclog the lines going to them. My blocks had a little crud in them but I got it all out I think. I don't want my new gauges to suffer the same fate so I think I will move the lines and install the drain valves like you suggest. Does moving the line to the intake in the back involve any drilling or tapping or is there already a same size port there? I have 502 MPI engines btw. Any pics anyone has of this mod would be helpful.

I dont want to steer you in the wrong direction on moving the water pressure line because I am just not sure on an MPI setup. I want to say that you can, but I dont remember. I have a buddy down the street from me that has twin 502's in his boat, so I will go down there and check on that for you tomorrow. I know that you can on a carb setup...especially if you have an Edelbrock intake. If there is a provision on a MPI manifold, you might have to use an adapter like you would if you are running an Edelbrock. There are 4 holes in an Edelbrock (2 in front and 2 in the back by the distributor) and they are 1/2npt.

If you put the ball valves on there, you will be very happy about it when you go to winterize it again.

Thanks! That would be much appreciated! In moving this line to the manifold will there be any difference in the gauge pressure readings would you think? Or even due to extra fittings needed? I just want to know what to expect if I can make this conversion happen on my setup.

Yes the ball valve mod sounds like a good thing! I was REALLY worried I was going to strip those plugs out or break them off in the block when I did it this time (which is my first since we just bought it) I don't think the previous owner ever took them out either... it was pretty sketch taking them out... eek!

Welcome to the board Chris. Glad you joined. Lots of great info to be had here.

Can't wait to see her running on our home waters this summer. FYI, I've never ridden in a Fountain, never driven a left hand throttle boat, nor driven a Fountain. I won't pressure you too hard on two of those, but the ride is a must.

Are Cigs and Fountains allowed to tie up together on Beaver Lake? ��

Buck

I went down and had a look at my buds MPI motors and there is no provision in the back of the intake to install a fitting needed to connect a water line for water pressure. Went to a dealer here and looked at another MPI motor and no provision there either. I know there is a provision on "carbed" motors but that doesnt do you any good. You might look at your thermostat housing and see if there is a port plug in it that could be removed. I have seen some that have 4 ports and only use 2 of them with 1/2 inch plugs in the other 2. You could pull a plug and install a reducer bushing and pull your water pressure from there. The other way you could do this would be to drill straight down in the back of your MPI intake directly over the center of the water port that is blanked out over the top of the water opening in the head. Use a vacuum hose to suck up the metal shavings and then tap the hole for a 1/4npt. However you plan to maybe move the line...I would move it to a higher location so that you dont have to play that game of un-plugging it again.

Thanks for checking that out for me you really went out of your way to help and that is super cool! Wish you had better news though! I will have to poke around on the engine to see if there is a port buried there somewhere? You would think there would be! If not drilling and tapping it like you said will be the solution but I'd rather avoid that though if possible.

No problem. I will almost always try to help another boater with an issue. Gimmie a holler if I can do anything else for you.

Thanks I appreciate that! I'll post up something if I figure it out also.