Antifreeze amount for 5.7

[dvx216]

FYI using the method of pouring antifreeze through thermostat housing.After draining block and exhaust manifolds it took 2 gallons and the neck of the bottle of the third gallon to to top off the 5.7 engine block .The rest of the third gallon was used up on the in coming water line from the out drive and the exhaust manifolds.Plus a 1/2 quart went into fresh water holding tank to winterize fresh water system with no hot water heater.So to winterize 5.7 260 HP.with raw water cooling system it takes 3 gallons.Used Quicksilver blue -100 antifreeze. So screw you Ohio winter I'm read for all your crap.The engine was also fogged and fuel stabilizer put in fuel tank.

 

[Strecker25]

cool thats good to know, I'm doing the same tomorrow to our twin 350's. How did you fill the intake hose from the outdrive? The only way I could get to ours would be to unhook the inlet/outlet of our power steering cooler.

 

[Lazy Daze]

DVX, are you sure you got enough through the manifolds? I usually use AT LEAST a good 1/2g+ on each manifold. Probably 4+ gallons total for just the engine/manifolds/outdrive. About 2-1/2 sounds right for the block.

 

[Strecker25]

Now I'm concerned with my planned process. Manual says to fill the block through the tstat, how do you guys fill the manifolds? I could see taking the hose off the tstat and holding its end above the riser and filling there? I would assume fill until the af comes out the exhaust.

How about the outdrive? Manual says the alpha drains on its own?

 

[JimG]

I use 5 to 6 gallons in my 350's... in my case, some of it dumps into the mufflers. That's when I know it's full.

Are you sure you got all of the drain plugs?

 

[skolbe]

I drain mine and pull the thermostat and then run antifreeze through the strainer, I modified a cap to the strainer and I run 7 gallons through. The last gallon or so seems to be extra. It takes 5 or so gallons before it starts coming out of the exhaust.

 

[BillK2632]

Manual says to fill the block through the tstat, how do you guys fill the manifolds? I could see taking the hose off the tstat and holding its end above the riser and filling there? I would assume fill until the af comes out the exhaust.

That's what I do - in my 4.3, I get close to 2gal in the block (through the thermostat housing) and close to 1gal in each manifold (through the hoses until it comes out of the exhaust). Drive drains itself - if it is trimmed up for some reason and subject to collecting rainwater, bag the propeller to keep water from collecting in the propshaft housing and freezing.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Now I'm concerned with my planned process. Manual says to fill the block through the tstat, how do you guys fill the manifolds? I could see taking the hose off the tstat and holding its end above the riser and filling there? I would assume fill until the af comes out the exhaust.

How about the outdrive? Manual says the alpha drains on its own?

I believe your t-stat housing has (4) hoses. A big one, a small one, and two the same size. Take the big hose off, fill it till AF comes back out the t-stat housing. Fill the small one till it fills up - let the level go back down and fill again (this will cover your fuel cooler, power steering cooler and on the off chance that there are any traces of water left in the drive). Fill each of the two, identical hoses (holding them as high as possible) - these cover your manifolds. Done. This is all done, of course, after fully draining - which in your case should be 5 or 6 blue plugs.

If you listen close enough, you'll hear AF dripping on the ground outside the boat - out the water intake from the small hose, and out the exhaust tubes from the manifolds.

Bill's water intake hose is routed differently than yours. You MUST drain/fill that hose or you WILL need a new fuel cooler in the Spring.

 

[dvx216]

Ok so I went out and with the fourth gallon was able to put antifreeze into both Ext. manifolds through the bottom hose to the Exh. manifolds until it poured out of the exhaust by the out drive .And with the rest of that 4 gal.back filled the line coming line from the outdrive until it ran out of the water intakes on the outdrive. So when i was all done I used 4 gallons for my system.I am not a gambling man when it comes to this so if Lazy Daze says fill the Exh. manifolds up then that's what I'm going to do.Never have done this in the past but who am I to argue. Live and learn.

 

[Strecker25]

Got it, now I see what you meant by the drive. Thanks!

 

[Lazy Daze]

Ok so I went out and with the fourth gallon was able to put antifreeze into both Ext. manifolds through the bottom hose to the Exh. manifolds until it poured out of the exhaust by the out drive .And with the rest of that 4 gal.back filled the line coming line from the outdrive until it ran out of the water intakes on the outdrive. So when i was all done I used 4 gallons for my system.I am not a gambling man when it comes to this so if Lazy Daze says fill the Exh. manifolds up then that's what I'm going to do.Never have done this in the past but who am I to argue. Live and learn.

IF drained well, you're probably right - they'll be OK (from freezing). That's assuming there is no build-up of scaling/sediment that prevents all of the water from draining, though. But remember that another reason to use AF is to help keep the inside of the manifolds from rusting/corroding.

 

[dvx216]

Lazy Daze you are a hard man to argue with and for another $10.00 worth of antifreeze it's cheap insurance to protect my favorite pass time.

 

[Strecker25]

Did both of ours today, everything went as described by lazy daze, not sure how much I used because I overdid it to make sure it all dumped out the exhaust and drive.

Two of the blue plugs have a very slow leak of about a drop every 30 seconds. One is the port side block plug, the other is the cool fuel module. The orings are fine and I tightened as much as possible but they still drip. Any advice on stopping the drip? Should I not care? I'd hate to waste all the AF but was thinking maybe some pipe dope would help it seal up. If I leave it I think the block will be empty in a few months

i can't see the link ( I really need to contribute to the site) but I'm guessing it's similar to the socket I just dremeled through to make a nice tool to remove those plugs. The cool fuel one in our 290 on the port engine is basically impossible to get leverage on

 

[Lazy Daze]

It still could be a failing o-ring - they can very often "look" good, but not seal as well as they used to. I'd probably pop a new one in, first. But to answer your question, sure, a little (and I do mean a little!) dope might stop it (never apply it on the first threads). There might be a little rough spot on the mating surface that's causing the issue, too. But a new oring might solve that, as well. If not (in the Spring) you can try a brass or SS wire brush and clean the hole out to see if that helps.

Normally, you don't need to apply much force to make the seal (moderately, hand tight is all that's needed). But if you want to try just a little more force, take a look here: http://clubsearay.com/showthread.ph...of-blue-water-drain-plugs?highlight=blue+plug This is a good tool to have on-hand, anyways, as sometimes the location of the blue plug makes it difficult to remove by hand. A stubby socket wrench and a few extensions help, too.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Lazy Daze you are a hard man to argue with and for another $10.00 worth of antifreeze it's cheap insurance to protect my favorite pass time.

That's the way I usually look at it, too. And, like Strecker said, I always tend to sacrifice a little extra of the pink stuff to the winterization gods!

 

[Strecker25]

I have a couple spares, I'll try it again tomorrow. Maybe I can swap it fast enough to not let the block drain. Seems silly to let it go and ultimately drain over winter. Thanks, as always

 

[Strecker25]

You guys will probably laugh and call me too paranoid, but first winter with the boat....

Last night i realized I don't think I disconnected the lower water pump hose to drain out the circulating pump prior to filling with AF on the stbd engine. I use the -50 pink, and drained the block very well using a wire to clean up the drain holes. What are the chances the water left in the circulating pump/hose was enough to dilute the pink to dangerous levels?

I could also take a gravity reading of the stuff in the block to check dilution, assuming of course the dilution is even throughout.

 

[Lazy Daze]

You don't have a blue plug in bottom "bend" of the big hose that goes to the circ pump? If you do, maybe you pulled that plug but forgot that you did?

 

[Strecker25]

I don't, on the port engine I removed it from the lower part of the circ pump to let that bit of water out, but I think I forgot to do it on the stbd side.

The circ pumps were replaced not long ago so maybe they changed over to the no plug version

 

[Lazy Daze]

Somewhere along the line someone replaced that hose and went the cheaper route, I suspect. The circ pump, itself, doesn't really have anything to do with it.

So... I'd give it a 99.9% chance that everything will be just fine as is. But I know what I would do - if for nothing else than I'm not thinking about it over the winter. A few gallons of pink stuff is cheap "sleep well" insurance.