Pour it in?

[MikeWood]

Hey all, I'm getting ready to do my winterizing and I've seen/read a lot of posts related to adding antifreeze using a couple different methods...pouring it in, or by running the motor with muffs.

When pouring it in on a RWC engine, it makes perfect sense to me to work from both sides of the Thermostat to make sure everything is protected. In my case though, my motor has the Seacore setup, so with this where do you pour in the antifreeze to make sure you are protecting the raw water side of the system? Can it be done from one hose, multiple hoses?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

 

[rmandes]

Hey all, I'm getting ready to do my winterizing and I've seen/read a lot of posts related to adding antifreeze using a couple different methods...pouring it in, or by running the motor with muffs.

When pouring it in on a RWC engine, it makes perfect sense to me to work from both sides of the Thermostat to make sure everything is protected. In my case though, my motor has the Seacore setup, so with this where do you pour in the antifreeze to make sure you are protecting the raw water side of the system? Can it be done from one hose, multiple hoses?

Thanks in advance,
Mike

Mike, I've been winterizing my own RWC engines for years. I did the pour in for years, then I switched to suck in through the muffs (only two years), and I'm back to pour in. Using the muffs with the antifreeze doesn't allow you to drain the block properly and there is no pressure to push the antifrezze up to the raw water pump. Pour in allows you to drain the block properly, poke the drain holes with a stiff peice of wire to get all the scale out of the block. Replace them, then I pour in from the engine circulator pump (water pump on a car) hose, it's the big one on the thermostat hosing. Once that fills and spills out, I replace it and move on to the other small hoses on the theromostat hosing. They are the hoses that take the antifreeze through the manifolds and out of the boat. You'll want someone on the outside of the boat to tell you when they see pink.

Make sure you take all the drain plugs out. Start at the top and work down. Then I ussually put a little grease on them so they come out easier next year. Some models have quick connects on the side of the block, mine does. Push in the tab and pull the hose off. You'll also need to drain the raw water pump, it should have a high and low plug.

If you pick up water through the drive you're all done once you fill it. If you have sea strainers I drain, and fill them too,.

Using the suck in method doesn't allow for all the water to drain, becasue there are pockets of scale that can make dams. my brother inlaw had a freeze plug fall out when he launched last year. fill the engine compartment with water. It wasn't easy putting a new freeze plug in either.

Drina and pour in is the manufactures recommended method, and having done it both ways and having on way fail, I'm sure they're right

Good luck

Bob