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Winterizing question

checkmate_rider

checkmate_rider

Member
I was thinking about rigging up a jug/5 gallon bucket/gas can or somethin, filling it with -50 marine/rv (non-toxic)antifreeze and running a hose down to the "ear muffs" and running the antifreeze in that way.. I have never done it this way, always just a standard drain the block/manifold's etc and fill with antifreeze..

I have thru hull exahust so once its warm and the thermo stat is open I can switch over to this and run a few gallons through till I see it pouring out the exahust.. When the jug is near empty I was gonna hose the carb with fogging oil till it dies or almost dies then kill the engine.. I should be good right? I just need some input from someone that has done it this way before or to explain why its bad.. I know I could buy the winterizing jug but its not rocket science to rig up one of those


It should be good and circulated right? all water should be out right? I dont thinks its a problem just double checking..

Thanks,

Bobby
 
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I am not a fan at all of useing the water impeller to suck water. When your boat is at the lake and you let the drive down. The water impeller is at lake level and full of water. If you suck the water up on a trailer the impeller will run dry and mess it up. If your T-stat does not open you will get no antifreeze in the block.
 
bobby, that is one way of doing it to ensure all parts interally are hit with antifreeze, but you do run the risk of wearing the impeller. There are allot of different methods but what works for me is pulling the drains on the block and also on the bottom of the manifolds. Not sure, but i think you have a 350 by the looks of it. That shouldn't have a sea pump but i could be mistaken. If it does, pull those hoses and drain them as well. I then take the thermostat housing off and gently blow some compressed air through the hoses and down the block. From there, i start filling the sea water hoses (if equipped) with RV anti-freeze until it pours out the lower unit. Then i fill the block up from the t-stat opening and close off the block drains as the AF starts to come up. I'll fill the entire block and replace the t-stat with a new one as well as a fresh gasket. My big block takes 7 gallons to accomplish this, a 350 somewhat less.
 
Engine size does no determined if it has a sea pump or not. Alpha drives have the pump in the drive. Bravo uses a sea pump on the engine.
 
I would run it on the hose (water) until it gets up to 160, kill the engine then switch it over to antifreeze jug, start it back up and in theory the whole drive will be full of water at this time when I switch over.. also the stat should be open, circulating the antifreeze through until its coming out the exhaust.. once its coming out the exhaust I would start hosing fogger down the carb until it sputters or stalls, If it doesnt stall I would kill the engine and the process I thought would be good to go....

So I take it this wont be good enough? I guess I will do it the standard way, I wasn't sure, just seemed easier and everything cooling system related would get antifreeze..

Thanks,
Bobby
 
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I did it the way you are describing. BR it does make since what you're saying...when I did it I just set the jug of antifreeze up on a ladder so gravity would work for me. That way the impeller wasn't having to suck out of the jug. I was also kind of worried that for some reason the thermostat hadn't opened so I took the lines off the top of the housing to double check there was pink in them...and there was. This method seemed to work good.
 
Big Red said:
Engine size does no determined if it has a sea pump or not. Alpha drives have the pump in the drive. Bravo uses a sea pump on the engine.
Click to expand...

Engine size in most cases does dictate what drive it has. The 202 Persuader did not come with Bravo drive as only small blocks were used. therefore the pump is in the drive. Up north anyway, we call the pumps that hang off Bravo equipped motors 'sea pumps'. Anyway, gravity feeding the lower unit can be done but i've seen worn impellers from doing it too often or too long. Overtons used to have a jacket of sorts that encompassed the lower unit on a alpha in which you fill with water via a hose attachment. From there you can introduce antifreeze. I would'nt gravity feed via water ears though.
 
winter said:
Engine size in most cases does dictate what drive it has..
Click to expand...

Okay brother how about all the early 454's that used alfa drives. You can not determind crap on engine size to decided if it has a sea pump or not. The drive tells the story not the engine. Any boat can be bought new with any drive. Checkmate has used bravo's on small block boats.
 
Big Red said:
Okay brother how about all the early 454's that used alfa drives. You can not determind crap on engine size to decided if it has a sea pump or not. The drive tells the story not the engine. Any boat can be bought new with any drive. Checkmate has used bravo's on small block boats.
Click to expand...


I did however say 'in most cases', not all cases. Unless his 202 was re-rigged after it was sold, it came stock with anything from a 4.3 to a 350 mag, all with alpha drive.
Yes, the drive tells the story first and foremost, just adding more info to the discussion.
 
:DWinter are you hi jacking another thread? This isn't about what drive came on what its about winterizing!! J/K:lol:
 
winter said:
Comedian! Red started it, i 'was' on topic! ;)
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in total respect to you and "big red" i would love to be there if you two ever meet:eyecrazy: i would put 100 bucks on his knowledge of bb's:eyecrazy: sorry bro:o he has helped me out A TON and is VERY WELL VERSED in the bbc's catagory:poke: no bad means intended:cheers::popcorn:
 
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ross said:
in total respect to you and "big red" i would love to be there if you two ever meet:eyecrazy: i would put 100 bucks on his knowledge of bb's:eyecrazy: sorry bro:o he has helped me out A TON and is VERY WELL VERSED in the bbc's catagory:poke: no bad means intended:cheers::popcorn:
Click to expand...

Talk about off topic! :sssh: I don't recall asking for a dick swinging contest over who knows more about BB chevys though. Red's answered allot of questions i had when building up my various boats and i'm thankful for that. But accuracy is key and sometimes i feel he's a bit skewed towards personal preference. Then again, aren't we all? :o
 
ross said:
in total respect to you and "big red" i would love to be there if you two ever meet:eyecrazy: i would put 100 bucks on his knowledge of bb's:eyecrazy: sorry bro:o he has helped me out A TON and is VERY WELL VERSED in the bbc's catagory:poke: no bad means intended:cheers::popcorn:
Click to expand...
Hey Ross, you got some brown sh*t all over your nose you suck a$$!!! LOL, Jaymie is very smart when it comes to anything motor. There is a few people I would trust to ask tech questions to and he is one of them.

As for winterizing, warm it up first.
Drink a beer!
Drain block and exhaust.
Drink a beer!
Hook up antifreeze setup.
Drink a beer!
Run till motor spits antifreeze out exhaust.
Drink a beer, Drink a beer, Drink a beer!:cheers:
 
checkmate_rider said:
I was thinking about rigging up a jug/5 gallon bucket/gas can or somethin, filling it with -50 marine/rv (non-toxic)antifreeze and running a hose down to the "ear muffs" and running the antifreeze in that way.. I have never done it this way, always just a standard drain the block/manifold's etc and fill with antifreeze..

I have thru hull exahust so once its warm and the thermo stat is open I can switch over to this and run a few gallons through till I see it pouring out the exahust.. When the jug is near empty I was gonna hose the carb with fogging oil till it dies or almost dies then kill the engine.. I should be good right? I just need some input from someone that has done it this way before or to explain why its bad.. I know I could buy the winterizing jug but its not rocket science to rig up one of those


It should be good and circulated right? all water should be out right? I dont thinks its a problem just double checking..

Thanks,

Bobby
Click to expand...

You will be fine with 6 gallons. That should put your concentration at about -20 without draining the system. I have a 5 gal bucket plumbed with a line that I fill for on-site winterize. You will have a problem with Bravo and Yamaha, they will need to be drained and filled with a couple gals of antifreeze. Trim it down when done, then trim it back up and fill with antifreeze so rodents don't crawl in from the prop to make a nest and water doesn't get in and freeze.
 
Thanks guys,
I just winterized it the standard way. I didnt have anyone to watch the exhaust/jug of antifreeze anyway.. my boys hoe'd me out.. For the record since it seems so important here, this 202 has an Alpha 1 Gen 2 until I can fit the turbine in it..

Bobby
 
Late to the party and if all else fails RTM

I just saw this thread today, so I am a little late to the party.

My boat's been winterized for a while by the local boat shop.

This post did make me think about wanting to do it myself.

Below is a link from the Merc website with the maintenance instructions for most Bravo outdrives (for those how beleive in RTM as a last resort).

http://www.mercurymarine.com/_media...y/sterndrive-models/EC/90-899883274-Maint.pdf

Pages 107 and 108 showing what you need to run the engine if boat is out of water.

My guy charges $80 to winterize... and he does a once over on everything at the same time. I wonder if it is worth the trouble for me to try to do it myself?
 
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