Winterize question
 

on my boat, several weeks ago I drained both blocks, oil coolers, exhaust manifolds,etc. i didnt run any antifreexe thru it yet. I plan on going over there and pulling the fat hose off the circulating pump and filling it from the top of the hose with straight antifreeze. Will this be ok? It has been cold here, so I hope nothing froze yet. Tomorrow it will be down to 15 here. :eek:

Re: Winterize question
 

if going to be 15 I would run some anti freeze through NOW!!!!!!!....your just asking for problems y take the chance???????

Re: Winterize question
 

Nothing froze yet, but today it will, get pull the thermostats and filler her up.

Easiest way is run anti freeze thru the muffs till green spits out and you are done. No messing with draining block etc.

Re: Winterize question
 

I just winterized my twin 6.2's in a 292 FASTech yesterday. After reading all the manuals and getting ideas from OSO, this is what I did. It was EASY and I will do it EVERY year.

Got a 3 gallon fuel tank and mixed 2.5 gallons of gas with 1 quart of two-cycle oil and some Mercury fuel treatment/stabilizer (this mix combo is from the Mercury owners manual for engines with electronic fuel injection). Disconnected the main fuel line and connected the engine to the 3 gallon tank which has a filter and primer bulb in line to get everything primed and ready. Start the engine on the muffs using regular water and warm up the engine (about 5 minutes). Once warm, shut it off, pull the three plastic drain plugs and vent plug (mine has the 3 point drain system) and let it drain for 5 minutes. I bought a large 15 gallon rubber pail and a 10 GPM 12V pump through McMaster Carr ($120). Put 12-14 gallons of RV antifreeze in the pail (enough for two 6.2's). Reinstall the drain/vent plugs in the engine. With the large pail under the outdrive to catch the majority of antifreeze, I connect the 10 GPM pump to the muffs, power it with a car battery, and fire up the engine. In a few minutes you have antifreeze circulated through the entire engine and the gas mixture from the 3 gallon fuel tank has purged through the fuel system and engine giving all the internal parts a nice oil coating.

This is exactly what the manual says to do and it works for me. :D

Re: Winterize question
 

Ok, just got home. Went and bought 9 gallons of A/F. filled both blocks from the upper circ pump hose till a/f came out the thermostat housing. Approx 3 1/2 gallons per motor. No leaks, so I assume im ok. macerator pump for head was froze, poured a/f in the toilet and let it sit for 10 min. Pump thawed, no leaks. Im a happy camper, I think I got it in time. It was however, extremely brutally cold, with 30mph winds, no gloves, trying to recover the boat with near 0 windchill! Also found two cases of soda that were not frozen, but soon would have been, and that would cause a major mess in the cabin!

Re: Winterize question
 

Don't wait so long next time!!! The cold really blew in early this year so I'll let you go this time :D

I have mine in heated storage but still winterize, ice storms can kill the heat real quick.

Re: Winterize question
 

If you filled the blocks thats great but whatdid you do for the coolers and seawater pump????

Re: Winterize question
 

easy way to fill the coolers is to pull the raw water hose off at the drive, fill the line with af, crank engine a few seconds, refill hose and reinstall on drive. Pull oil cooler outlet hose off at top and puor af in there too. Pull manifold water inlet lines off at t stat housing and pour af in those too. Fill block from recirc pump hose and shes all set. The big problem with filling thru the drive with muffs is that the cold af can cause the t stat to slam shut sending the af out the exhaust before it ever fills the block.

Re: Winterize question
 

Warm up for about 10min till thermstat opens, water temp gauge will drop some, then run af thru muffs. Good point, I didn't mention. Have done this system for 8yrs with zero probs.

Re: Winterize question
 

I have the old bellhousing coolers. I drained and filled them too. But thanks for looking out for me.