Freeze-proofing 4.3, 195 Sport

Arminius

Well-Known Member
Oct 30, 2019
1,059
Seattle
Boat Info
Bowrider 200 Select, 2003
Engines
5.0L MPI, 260 hp w/Alpha 1 Drive
Hyperlink references are included to two YouTubes showing removal of five very accessible blue petcocks on a raw water cooled V-6 and five more difficult ones on a 5.0. The videoed 5.0 has a factory access port cut through the engine bulkhead separating under seat storage which might be improvised by an owner.
 
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You will be like the rest of us. Lying awake on a very cold sub zero February night. Hoping you remembered everything and praying come April the block ain’t cracked.
No boat owner sleeps well January to April.
 
You will be like the rest of us. Lying awake on a very cold sub zero February night. Hoping you remembered everything and praying come April the block ain’t cracked.
No boat owner sleeps well January to April.
It drives my wife crazy. I am glued to the thermometer for those months.
 
I have my own method. and so far after 54 years of boat ownership it never failed.

Drain the silly blue plugs. Then put them back in and run the engine on muffs with a tank to put 5 gal of the pink stuff in the block. At the end, drain a cup of the block water into a small container.

The boat is stored indoors, in an unheated space.

Put the container on the trailer tongue and inspect it when the weather gets bad. So far, the container hasn't frozen yet.

Two comments - I prefer to fill the block with anti-corrosion chemicals as opposed to leaving it full of air. Second, if any water still remains after the drain, my anti-freeze surely would dilute it.

Now, I am sure that others will say that my method is wrong, and they simply drain the block and have never had a problem either. My response is that I simply followed Mercury Marine's Owner's Manual. Remember that silly book?

On a similar topic, all this crap about Sta-Bil and ethanol is simply fake news by the youngins and the manufacturer of the product. My 1952 Evinrude manual, and my 1941 Mercury manual recommended stabilizing the fuel even way back then.
 
I have my own method. and so far after 54 years of boat ownership it never failed.

Drain the silly blue plugs. Then put them back in and run the engine on muffs with a tank to put 5 gal of the pink stuff in the block. At the end, drain a cup of the block water into a small container.

The boat is stored indoors, in an unheated space.

Put the container on the trailer tongue and inspect it when the weather gets bad. So far, the container hasn't frozen yet.

Two comments - I prefer to fill the block with anti-corrosion chemicals as opposed to leaving it full of air. Second, if any water still remains after the drain, my anti-freeze surely would dilute it.

Now, I am sure that others will say that my method is wrong, and they simply drain the block and have never had a problem either. My response is that I simply followed Mercury Marine's Owner's Manual. Remember that silly book?

On a similar topic, all this crap about Sta-Bil and ethanol is simply fake news by the youngins and the manufacturer of the product. My 1952 Evinrude manual, and my 1941 Mercury manual recommended stabilizing the fuel even way back then.
I have a friend that swears draining the water out is all that needs to be done. I follow your approach. I drain the water and then fill it with the pink stuff. I still watch the weather.
 
Does anyone remove the drain plug on the front of the intake manifold ?
 
You will be like the rest of us. Lying awake on a very cold sub zero February night. Hoping you remembered everything and praying come April the block ain’t cracked.
No boat owner sleeps well January to April.
If you clear your block and manifold drains (not just remove the plugs and hope it drains) you’ll sleep just fine. Add some antifreeze and you’ll sleep like a baby.
 
Should be as easy as opening the three very accessible blue petcocks on this raw water cooled V-6. Am I wrong?
Think it through... if that's all you do, hwo do you know for SURE that both sides of the block and both manifolds fully drained? What if one of the drain hoses is plugged?

And, I fully agree with the comments about filling backup with AF. "Could" just draining it be OK? Sure. "Could" just draining it cause a problem? Sure.

Filling with AF is "best practice". $40 of AF once a year is some of the best insurance you can buy.
 
The 5.0 2003 Blue knob V-8 does have smaller quick release fittings on block whose drain flow needs to be verified physically for best confidence. However, this 2006 4.3 appears to have a petcock draining the water jacket on each side of the V-6 and a central third (blue) plus 2 more on exhaust manifolds (total of 5). Looks like the 4.3 can be fully drained with more assurance than the 5.0. I started this thread with the simple issue of "freeze-protection," not winterization.
 
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The 5.0 2003 Blue knob V-8 does have smaller quick release fittings on the back 2 cylinders whose drain flow needs to be verified physically for best confidence. However, this 2006 4.3 appears to have a petcock draining all 3 cylinders on each side of the V-6 and a central third (blue). Looks like the 4.3 can be fully drained with more assurance than the 5.0, any issues? I started this thread with the simple issue of "freeze-protection," not winterization.
Please reread my answer (and others) above.

FYI, all of the answers ARE about freeze-protection.
 
All fittings on both engines seem to be about 5/8th" ID except for two block drains on 5.0. I'm trying to pedal this 4.3 and have added "EZ Freeze-proofing" to my ad and don't want to be lying.
 
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All fittings on both engines seem to be about 5/8th" ID except for those back two cylinders on 5.0. I'm trying to pedal this 4.3 and have added "EZ Freeze-proofing" to my ad and don't want to be lying.
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"Easy" is in the eye of the beholder. But facts are facts regarding "freeze proofing" - an individual can make up their own mind as to whether it's easy or not.
 
All fittings on both engines seem to be about 5/8th" ID except for those back two cylinders on 5.0. I'm trying to pedal this 4.3 and have added "EZ Freeze-proofing" to my ad and don't want to be lying.
This doesn’t seem to be the only thing you are peddling. By the way, is it a lot of work hauling that 195 from place to place in an effort to sell it?
 
It drives my wife crazy. I am glued to the thermometer for those months.

I’ve made a habit of testing a couple places on each engine using a refractometer and even noting it in my phone so when I wake up in February On a -10* day I can be confident we won’t have something cracked

I did it with our 5.7’s and it put me at ease and now with a significantly more valuable engine room on the 410 I really like the confidence the AF got to everything
 
This doesn’t seem to be the only thing you are peddling. By the way, is it a lot of work hauling that 195 from place to place in an effort to sell it?
Its almost October, for Gosh's sake. The boat's value is now about the lowest it's ever going to be.

WD40 the outdrive, vaseline the hull and put it on your front lawn. No amount of money you spend to upgrade or improve it will ever be realized. In your ad, post that the Owner's Manual is included. Let the new guy read the book.

Its an old boat. In this post-covid climate its not worth to much now anyway.
 
Last year, Bt Doctor pointed out that the Blue Handle on the 5.0 relied on 2 small block drains that would have to be observed and potentially rodded out to ensure complete drainage. Does the 4.3 also include the 2 small block drains?
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