496 antifrezze gone
 

I took the boat out to winterize in October checked the port motor it was downabout a quart of antifreeze.I topped it off did full winterized.I went to take the batteries out yesterday and noticed the antifreeze is gone except a 1/4 '' in the bottom of the tank I checked the oil its still on the full line not over but the oil did seem a little thicker ten the starboard side. couldn't see any in the bildge the plugs are out for draining any suggestions Pleaseeeeeeeee

Do a search on here and pressure ck it. or try this

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/g...eze-bilge.html

Mine leaked around the gromets that seal the exchanger to the block.After that the actual exchanger leaked bacause of a crack and the antifreeze drained out the air drain into the bilge and out, this happened over the winter and I didn't notice till the spring.Anyway warranty covered it

If its not leaking in the bilge, then most likely its mixing with the exhaust cooling water and the heat exchanger is cracked.

ok I filled the resivoir with anti freeze put 16# of preasure it took an hour and some of the antifrezze is gone preasure is o but nothing in the oil or bilge

Sounds like your heat exchanger is cracked. My brother has a 496 in his Monterey and last winter ran into the exact same problem you are describing. That was his first winter leaving the boat on the lift in the marina. He drained the engine but there was enough water laying in the heat exchanger (large tube looking thing in front of the engine) and it froze over the winter cracking some tubes. Lesson learned and now he runs anti-freeze through the engine after draining the water.

Not sure if this is your problem, but the symptoms you describe are the same. Good luck.

let us know when u find the problem

Where did it Go??
 

Hello Sonic 28:

Make sure you don't run that engine until you find the leak, that leak could be going into the raw water system which is not dangerous to the engine, but if its going into the pan or oil system and you run the engine, it can damage and destroy parts. I would reccommend draining all the oil into one clean container and see if the antifreeze is in the bottom of that oil. The water (antifreeze) is actually heavier than oil and will settle to the bottom, and when you drain the pan from the bottom with the hose it will come out first. the drain on a cold motor will be slow, but you should not run or heat the engine until you know where the antifreeze is going!
You can also pressure test the system again with spark plugs out and see if any antifreeze comes out spark plug holes when cranking only. good luck on nthe search, lets hope its something fairly minor and easy to fix.

Best Regards,
Ray @ Raylar

thanks guys, before i do anyything if i pump up and purge the heat exchanger and the closed cooling ssytem anti freeze comes i assume that will be the heat exchanger. am i correct?

ok couldn't wait I took my little blue pump and purged the heat exchanger Yup you guys where correct antifreeze poured out thru the little evacuation balls nice orange antifrezze.Do i assume its the heat exchanger there is only 140 hours on the boat.If thats the case I don't have to take a valium thank G-d

oops not to fast I purged the heat exchanger using the extended season pump like I said in the previous thread but then realized the anti freeze could have come from any where in the raw water area.I thought it only purged the heat exchanger then read it purges the whole system is this correct?Again the oil level is the same and I took out the first two plugs one from each bank cranked it two times all is fine in those cylinders.

Well normaly if every thing was working right the blue pump would only drain the raw water side of things and not the closed cooling side of things [Anti-Freeze] But if you have a crack some place or a head gasket, Ect, Then yes you could get both water and anti-freeze coming out when you use the blue pump. You should try what ray said for starting point, Because you may not see the water or anti-Freeze on the dip stick because it could all be at the bottom of the oil pan and not mixed in with the oil yet, And if you can't pull the oil and want to try to see it on the dip stick then you could try blowing strong air down the dip stick to see if you get a diffrent color oil with out running the engine, Also you could try pulling off the oil filter just to see what it looks like to. Good luck to you with it.

I did what Ray had said I did drain the oil just oil Question if the tubes inside the oil cooler did have a crack wouldn't that fill the heat exchanger so when I use the blue pump anti freeze would come out.I also refilled the resivoir with antifreeze an its been sitting for 4 hours it went down 1\3

There are only so many places it can go and you've eliminated 2 of them. Its leaking internally between the closed cooling system and fresh water side. Most likely its in the heat exchanger. The only way to know for sure is to isolate it and pressure test it alone.

1. By chance, is your boat parked on an incline of any degree other than perfectly flat? If so, is the bow of the boat pointing slightly down hill as most boats do when parked in non-custom driveways.

2. Where ever you have it parked, is it going "down hill" on the trailer? Reason - If you have a leak coming from the weep hole or something, lots of boats are shaped so that what ever falls in the bilge will run forward until the boat is moved... Stranger things have happened.

3. Exactly how are you winterizing?

4. You said you only pulled out a couple of plugs - one from each bank.. If you suspect water leaking from a head gasket, you need to check all eight. Crank it over with ALL plugs taken out PRIOR to cranking.

Get yourself an telescoping mirror similar to the Snap-On UIM325 and a flashlight. Check both of the press in seals at either end of the exchanger directly underneath it. Also, get a shot of the smaller hose connection directly under the center of the crossover that goes to the circ pump. This is a very short hose that is just long enough to have a hose clamp on it (it's actually a seal and not a hose...). I suggested the mirror and flashlight if you don't have good easy access to the front of the engine. So far, that's a total of four places to check including all 8 plug holes.

I highly, highly doubt it's a failed heat exchanger.

With all due respect, anyone is CRAZY to rely on that lame raw water pump out system. It is NOT adequate for cold freezes. It leaves a lot of water in the system. I don't care what the Merc Manual says on that one.. Test it yourself by pulling off some of the lowest hoses after you use the blue pump. You'll see what I mean.

What he said is very true! just spin the lower petcock on the impeller housing and that will tell you how well the bicycle pump works!!!

I completely removed the water dump system on mine and threw that blue bicycle pump in the trash. Also made the engine a lot cleaner and much more simple plumbing...

I still have mine for resale value, but you also have a Raylar setup if my memory is right? What speeds/rpm are you running? Was it worth the loot? You have to be in the 80's right? Sorry for thread jacking op...

the boat is in my barn cocrete floor boat is complely level.how I winterize change oil flush system run it for twenty mins add four stroke oil to the fuel filter while its still warm I flush the system with purple antifrezze approx 6 gallons then I use the blue pump and evac the system and open all the blue plugs,I will pull all the plugs this am.But one question what does it mean if the cyls are dry would it still be a head gasket.I will also take the heat exchanger off and test.Note I make sure that the orange antifrezze is topped off in the closed system

please helppppppp
 

ok just pulled all the plugs no anti freeze so I put 18 pounds of preasure in the res no anti freeze in the cyl or the pan not much if any came out of the purge system I closed the purge system and will wait a couple hours.Ok I am back on stresss medication!!!!!!!!!!1

you should start by pressure checking the cooling system with the end caps of the heat changer off. The end caps are there to inspect and clean the raw water side of the cooling system. There should be no anti-freeze behind theses caps. Most likely you will see the anti freeze leaking in to the raw water side at this location. This is the most common place they leak. also nothing else has to be remove from the motor to do this test.

If the anti-freeze was going into the oil pan. the oil would be risings on the dip stick each time you filled the reservoir.

problen solved thank you people.After all the tests and trouble shooting I took off the heat exchanger opened both ends it looked like brand new except there were traces of anti freeze first did a smoke test it was negative then applied 20#s of preasure then after a couple minutes you could hear air but couldn't see anything then we used soap and water mix a couple of little bubbles on the copper tubes.I will order a new one do I got so excited it slid off the bench and I cracked the neck.What the hell at least is wasn't worse and can laugh at my self.Again thanks to all my oso friends.
Paul

for sale used heatexchanger hahahaha

I have a few forsale 300 00 plus freight ROBERT 4127810881

Cool glad you found it. That's a first for me.

I just checked this thread. If it is the HE (and everything you're talking about points to it), we're offering a coupon for OSO users. Call Jim or myself at 866-726-COOL. We'd be happy to help. We're trying to make friends here as new advertisers so we'll treat you right.

Russ