will this drain the whole block? BBC
 

if i pull the drain plug on only one side of the block BBC 502 will this drain the whole block? i cant for the life of me get between the 2 motors to get to the drain plug...i can only drain from the outside of the motors. I would say about 1 1/2 gallons of water came out.

No, that will get some but not all! Manifolds & risers need to be drained & flushed with RV antifreeze.

winterizing
 

why for the life of me do i see these same questions year after year?you spend a small fortune on your boat,then want to winterize it yourself without any knowledge of how to do it correctly..then you ask people on the internet that you dont know how to do it.spend the small amount of money with a reputable shop to do it right,if they dont ,there insurance will take care of the problem..your insurance as a boat owner will NOT cover freeze damage jus tmy 2 cents....

ok i was just asking about the block drain....not how to winterize, not is this enough for winter. but just the simple question will this drain the blocks...i didnt know if the casting of the block had a water jacket that was shared....thanks for the info....

No, you will still have water in the side not drained, up to the level of the circulating pump openings.

The only shared passages are the intake and cir.water pump, with the pump being the lowest

and once the plug is removed you sometimes have to poke the inside of the hole to get the watrer to come out and make sure you get it all out..then gige the engine a quick start and shut it off,this will get the water out of the pump,,also need to pull the plug in the oil coolers and pull off the hoses if ytour not using antifreeze..

i drain blocks empty. then reinstall plugs and pull thermostat housings. and fill blocks with real-not rv-antifreeze to the level of thermo hsng flange. needless to say, drain exhausts empty and leave them that way. also, put your drives back down when boat is where itiis gonna stay for 4 to 6 months. shift cables, boots don't like to stay stretched. and every spring we get millions of posts-"my drive won't go back down! what do i do?"

I can't figure out why boat manufacturers don't think of this when building boats. Part of building a good boat ought to include remote drains and flush fittings. Also oil drain hoses should be standard equipment. A few cheap parts could increase owners enjoyment of their product. On my ski nautique, I take the time to install brass valves in all the drains(save the knock sensor.). I can turn the valves and drain the block in less than a minute.
In a tight twin you could put a brass nipple fitting in the block and run a rubber hose to a valve drain. Would be well worth a few minutes to do it.

Thanks for the input...downside with all your ideas, the only way to get to it is by pull the headers....im in no way going through all that hassel when i can just dump straight anti freeze in and the little water left will mix with it and be enough...
But back to my original question, I was just unsure if it would drain the whole block or not and you answered it so thanks guys!

I agree that it is frustrating this time of year, the winterization and upgrade questions....however, if they are going to learn they have to start somewhere right? We all did.

BTW, I know of two people that have winterized improperly, and were both covered by insurance. One was a 3 year old formula. Insurance does cover stupidity

I actually don't believe that a repair shop's insurance would cover anything. Who is to say that after they winterize you didn't go home and run it again?

Don't remove the headers. Borrow the 10 year old neighbor kid and show him what to do. You'd be amazed how well they fit in there! (Yes, I have had to stoop to this.)

And as has already been said, pulling the plug on one side will not drain all the water out of the block.

Any reputable marina will cover freeze damage to a boat they winterize. How do we prevent somebody from running the boat after it's winterized? Most of us remove all of the plugs and place them in a bag tied to the steering wheel. We then attach a tag stating that the engine has been winterized / disabled and it must not be run until a qualified marine mechanic has replaced all of the plugs and hoses. If you try to start the thing, all you'll get it a shower.

Is that all we gotta do to get new engines???? oops....

I took my shop vac and vacuumed the hoses dry as well then filled them with Anti freeze. you cant be sitting up worrying when its 20 below. took one sea pump home, took out the thermostats, changed the oil, new filters everywhere and I may pull the drives and spruce them up in a nice heated environment. Shrink wrap and plane tickets next. see ya in the spring !

Not a bad idea huh? The underwriters are smarter than you think however. My friend that cracked both blocks, the insurance had the dealer tear down both engines for internal inspection, also took them til mid July to pay out and get the boat going again after it was discovered in may

Oh I know it too well, lots of friends on boat buisness, not easy to get stuff past most companys, others dont even ask and just cut a check... thatsb rare though!!

If the front of the motor is easily accessable you can pull off the circulating pump (4 bolts) or crossover and feed a piece of small plastic tubing down through the holes to the bottom of the jackets and siphon it out. Then put the pump/crossover back on, remove the thermostat housing and fill to the top with 50/50 antifreeze mix. Done.

Never leave the plugs out, unless those piece of crap plastic plugs. No plug in cast block or manifold and you will have to tap it out in the spring. They rust real bad.

I was going to do the same thing except every once in a while I get some scale build up and I have to clean it out before the water will drain. So I'm relegated to pulling the plugs, just glad I only have one motor to deal with..

When you work at a marina (as I do) and you cannot trust your customers not to try taking the boat out "one more time", you really don't have any choice. And yes, we've had folks take a boat out after we winterized it and try to blame a cracked block on us. I've never had to tap anything out in the spring, but we're 100% fresh water. In salt water, you might have a point.