Boat Winterizing

[signfan]

Kinda off topic, but not too far.  Bought my first I/O this summer.  2007 4.3 litre mercruiser throttle body motor.  Is a treatment of seafoam and a full tank of premium fuel sufficient?  Or do I need to fog the motor through the throttle body?  Been re-searching frost protection for the block.  Am I better to feed non toxic anti freeze into a set of muffs with the engine running?  Or pull the hoses off the motor and dump it in there.  With either process how do I know the anti freeze got into everywhere?  Is there a way to tell if the thermostat is open vs closed?  Also after I go through one of these two procedures do I still pull the water jacket plugs?  Lower end seems easy.  Have done that with outboards for years.  Other than a good cleaning am I missing anything?  Sad to be putting it away, but trail permit is on its way so happy to get the sled out and gone over once the boat is tucked away.  Thanks for any advice in advance.

[PISTON LAKE CRUISER]

38 minutes ago, signfan said:

Kinda off topic, but not too far.  Bought my first I/O this summer.  2007 4.3 litre mercruiser throttle body motor.  Is a treatment of seafoam and a full tank of premium fuel sufficient?  Or do I need to fog the motor through the throttle body?  Been re-searching frost protection for the block.  Am I better to feed non toxic anti freeze into a set of muffs with the engine running?  Or pull the hoses off the motor and dump it in there.  With either process how do I know the anti freeze got into everywhere?  Is there a way to tell if the thermostat is open vs closed?  Also after I go through one of these two procedures do I still pull the water jacket plugs?  Lower end seems easy.  Have done that with outboards for years.  Other than a good cleaning am I missing anything?  Sad to be putting it away, but trail permit is on its way so happy to get the sled out and gone over once the boat is tucked away.  Thanks for any advice in advance.

I have an older carburated 4.3. When I first bought the supplies to change the oil and winterize it 26 years ago, the parts guy at the Merc dealership in beautiful Maryhill told me to do a real good job or it would cost me $2200.00 in the spring. Sage advice that I have never forgotten. Only the price has changed. 

I install stabalizer one day and change the lower unit oil. Next day I run the engine for a minimum 20 minutes with the muffs. Change oil and filters and run engine and fog it.  Next I open the 4 petcocks on the block, pull all the coolant hoses and drain them and blow out the coolant exhaust hose that goes to the outdrive. I also take the thermostat housing off. I then fill all hoses with antifreeze (making sure to blow some throughthe outdrive) and dump a couple of litres down the thermostat opening on the intake manifold. Lastly, I tighten the hose clamps, grease all the zerks and remove the battery.

This process takes a lot of time but by doing it I'm confident i won't have any big bills next spring. Hope this is of some help to you Signfan.                       

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Edited October 1, 2020 by PISTON LAKE CRUISER

[Poo Man]

I now have twin 4.3l's so I'm thinking instead of doing plc's method for winterizing I'm going to invest in a system to pump antifreeze to save time. I've also heard not to reinstall the hoses as leaving them off allows water to evaporate if there is still some. New longblock is $2600 doing it yourself, so worth the day to do properly for sure

[Strong Farmer]

54 minutes ago, Poo Man said:

I now have twin 4.3l's so I'm thinking instead of doing plc's method for winterizing I'm going to invest in a system to pump antifreeze to save time. I've also heard not to reinstall the hoses as leaving them off allows water to evaporate if there is still some. New longblock is $2600 doing it yourself, so worth the day to do properly for sure

Windshield washer fluid works good and is not harmful to environment either. Only thing is you have to make sure thermostat is open when you apply antifreeze, via muffs. Some people take it out when they do it and put it back in, in spring. Any belt driven pressure washer can pump fluid from a barrel to muffs. Very handy to have one. 

[Poo Man]

21 minutes ago, Strong Farmer said:

Windshield washer fluid works good and is not harmful to environment either

That's a horrible idea as methanol is very corrosive to aluminum/cast iron. The rv anti freeze is no toxic anyways....

[whits-end]

I owned a couple of 4.3 I/O's.  First was an old carbed engine in a dog house so tight it was a real pita to reach multiple drain valves. Also had a hidden power steering cooler that required blowing out to drain.  Lotsa swearing every fall.

Last I/O was a Doral B/R186 with 225 hp multiport 4.3, a beautiful boat with tons of room all around the engine.  Oil filter was located on top of the engine, plumbed via stainless tubing.  Multi coolant drain points tied together to a single drain valve located on top as well.  Maintenance heaven.

A number of years ago I bought a coolant winterizing kit from RD that you could easily make for cheap.  Consists of a vented 20 litre anti-freez container with a shut-off valve (locate this above the engine for gravity feed). Plastic tubing connects this thru a tee to your garden hose and muffs.  Simply run engine til warm, then close garden hose and open anti-freez valve.  When anti-freez container is empty, shut off engine immediately.  Eazy-Peazy.

[gtserider]

I do about 10 -12 4.3s a year. They all have difference depending on the year. I don't have time at the moment but will reread tonight and offer any advice I can.

[catinental couch]

I have a plastic barrel with the side cut out of it. I put a bulge pump hooked to a hose with a garden hose end on it attached to the ear muffs. Run engine until the antifreeze in the barrel gets hot.

[Strong Farmer]

1 hour ago, catinental couch said:

I have a plastic barrel with the side cut out of it. I put a bulge pump hooked to a hose with a garden hose end on it attached to the ear muffs. Run engine until the antifreeze in the barrel gets hot.

That would work too only flaw is you will have water mixed with antifreeze, deluting it. Unless you test final solution to ensure it is adequate still. Then can adjust ratio and re run engine. 

Edited October 1, 2020 by Strong Farmer

[Rich Saul]

2 hours ago, Strong Farmer said:

That would work too only flaw is you will have water mixed with antifreeze, deluting it. Unless you test final solution to ensure it is adequate still. Then can adjust ratio and re run engine. 

Drain the water from the block. Manifolds.  Etc... stick to pressure washers.. you might  be  over your head...

[catinental couch]

The flaw lies where you are misinterpreting what you read. I put antifreeze in the barrel. Not premix. If the antifreeze tests better than -20f then the mixture will only turn to slush, and will not do any damage. Concentrate antifreeze requires water to be mixed with it at 50/50 to achieve -35f freeze protection. 

[signfan]

So how can you tell if the thermostat is open vs closed?  Is there a way to tell when the motor is running?  I'm leaning towards flushing it with antifreeze if I can prove to myself the thermostat has opened.

[PISTON LAKE CRUISER]

43 minutes ago, signfan said:

So how can you tell if the thermostat is open vs closed?  Is there a way to tell when the motor is running?  I'm leaning towards flushing it with antifreeze if I can prove to myself the thermostat has opened.

No temperature gauge on the boat?

[signfan]

Yeah it does have that.  Usually runs between 150 and 180 running down the lake.  Any idea what temp the thermostat would open at?

[PISTON LAKE CRUISER]

15 minutes ago, signfan said:

Yeah it does have that.  Usually runs between 150 and 180 running down the lake.  Any idea what temp the thermostat would open at?

Mine has a 160 degree stat. I have read that some older 4.3's have 140 degree stats and some have 160 degree stats. From what you are saying, yours must open at 180 degrees.

[catinental couch]

Run it until the heat guage  is higher than normal and if the antifreeze in the barrel is steaming and the antifreeze exiting all ports of the engine is hot, the stat has opened. There are a number of 4.3l engines and others that you have to run them to get antifreeze into the belly of the intake manifold. Flushing won’t push the water out from there unless you are using a strong power flushing unit. If you end up with a cracked intake manifold in the spring, you know what happened. 

[gobills]

Maybe take it and get it done by a professional to avoid any extra costs come spring start up.  Im sure guys could recommend places to depending on where you are located.

Edited October 3, 2020 by gobills

[signfan]

9 hours ago, gobills said:

Maybe take it and get it done by a professional to avoid any extra costs come spring start up.  Im sure guys could recommend places to depending on where you are located.

Lol, I think I'll figure it out.  Been some great info provided here.  Am thinking I'll get it hot on the muffs with water.  Then pull the plugs and drain.  Then give it the anti freeze treatment through the muffs.  Am going to see if there is a way to temporarily remove the thermostat.

[catinental couch]

If you have an engine coolant heated water heater, I wouldn’t pull out the thermostat. You need the stat to block enough flow to force the antifreeze through the heater hoses. Just run it until all the hoses are hot and you have steam in the barrel making sure you are capturing all the engine released antifreeze. 

[Poo Man]

2 hours ago, signfan said:

Am thinking I'll get it hot on the muffs with water.  Then pull the plugs and drain.  Then give it the anti freeze treatment through the muffs. 

Check this out, I'm thinking I'm going to try it this year. No worries about stat being closed. Think I would drain after running it through. 

https://www.amazon.ca/Camco-65501-Yourself-Boat-Winterizer/dp/B0000AXQU2/ref=gp_aw_ybh_a_9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HHCFYEPZPZW74YYXPRB5

[Strong Farmer]

10 hours ago, Poo Man said:

Check this out, I'm thinking I'm going to try it this year. No worries about stat being closed. Think I would drain after running it through. 

https://www.amazon.ca/Camco-65501-Yourself-Boat-Winterizer/dp/B0000AXQU2/ref=gp_aw_ybh_a_9?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=HHCFYEPZPZW74YYXPRB5

That would work well with mins 40 washer fluid to supply muffs. That way no mixing like barrel method and washer fluid is much more stable inside engine over winter too. I freeze my pressure washers with washer fluid too and can use muffs in spring and re claim what you can and put it in truck. 

[gtserider]

On 10/3/2020 at 4:00 AM, catinental couch said:

Run it until the heat guage  is higher than normal and if the antifreeze in the barrel is steaming and the antifreeze exiting all ports of the engine is hot, the stat has opened. There are a number of 4.3l engines and others that you have to run them to get antifreeze into the belly of the intake manifold. Flushing won’t push the water out from there unless you are using a strong power flushing unit. If you end up with a cracked intake manifold in the spring, you know what happened. 

Thank you for mentioning that.Ive been too busy winterizing boats. There is a plug in the front of the manifold that can be removed.Quite surprised who much water comes out.That manifold is hard to get as well.

[catinental couch]

1 hour ago, gtserider said:

Thank you for mentioning that.Ive been too busy winterizing boats. There is a plug in the front of the manifold that can be removed.Quite surprised who much water comes out.That manifold is hard to get as well.

No problem. Just trying to be helpful. Apparently some on here are self proclaimed professionals and don’t want to listen. I am glad that a professional marine tradesman like yourself has backed up my statement. I am just a lowly Automotive Diagnostic Technician so apparently what I say means nothing. 

[Poo Man]

3 hours ago, catinental couch said:

No problem. Just trying to be helpful. Apparently some on here are self proclaimed professionals and don’t want to listen. I am glad that a professional marine tradesman like yourself has backed up my statement. I am just a lowly Automotive Diagnostic Technician so apparently what I say means nothing. 

I appreciated your advice, that's why I'm looking at a method to use while running vs just pouring anti freeze in.

[catinental couch]

Thank you for your appreciation Poo Man. It was others whom I was referring to.