Pump not Pulling Antifreeze??

M

MikeWood

Member
Jan 19, 2012
114
Seneca Creek, Baltimore
Boat Info
2008 270 Amberjack
Engines
6.2 MPI & Bravo III
Guys, trying to get my winterizing done. I'm hooked up to the strainer with a hose into a bucket of antifreeze, but when I start the motor the pump is not pulling the antifreeze. I'm FWC, so I'm only trying to protect the raw water side. Should that pump be sucking antifreeze immediately? Or is there a thermostat somewhere that waits for the temp to rise before it starts pulling into the raw water side/heat exchanger? I was expecting it to immediately start pulling antifreeze and when that didn't happen, I shut her down. I'm afraid to damage the pump. But maybe it just needed to run longer?
 
Your sea water pump is not going to pull from a bucket. Your going to need gravity to help you prime the pump.

Good luck.
 
wow, I didn't think gravity was needed for the sea water pump? I'm using the Seaflush with the snorkel which I know a lot of other people have used. I never read where this was an issue?
 
No thermostats anywhere Mike, water needs to move through your system all the time, if it didn't, your exhaust gasses would melt your exhaust hoses.
I have never seen a raw water pump fail to pull water from a bucket unless the impellers are on their way out or there is an air leak somewhere.(be sure the sea cock is closed all the way).
I have always winterized my boats by drawing A/F from a container.

Air conditioning systems are a different animal, the centrifugal pumps need a little help. good luck
 
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Thanks Mark, that's what I thought. I just took another look, pulled the SeaFlush out of the strainer. The strainer is still full of the antifreeze I poured in there. I bumped the engine and the antifreeze in the strainer never moved, nothing. Something doesn't make sense. I had the boat in the water 10 days ago and she ran perfect with no issues. I'm wondering if the cold weather we had last week might have frozen a little water somewhere that blocking the flow? But when I opened the drains in the system, I didn't see any evidence of ice, the water drained out just as I would have expected. Water was in the strainer too, no ice. And its 47 degrees here today. I'm confused and thinking I need professional help.... for me and the boat.
 
I had a little bit of a problem pulling antifreeze the first time i used the Snorkel for fairly big diesels. Somewhere in the Sea Flush instructions there is guidance to create a "gasket" around the funnel. Pretty simple, just fold up a couple of paper towels and stick the bottom of the funnel through the center of the towels. Then, the paper towel will be between the funnel and the sea strainer housing. Doing this made the difference for me.
 
Thanks Al, I tried that. Plus when I pulled the Seaflush out and watched, I don't see anything happening in the strainer. So I dont think its a seaflush issue.
Mark, the BIII is an outdrive yes. I guess I could use the muffs, I thought this would be easier!
 
Thanks Bill. I thought about this earlier today. I thought it would pull from both sources and be ok as long as it got adequate flow from the strainer, but maybe you're right about the low RPMs? I guess it was wishful thinking on my part, probably a stupid mistake. Hope it didn't cost me.
 
Mike,

I had the same issue with my 8.1s, they wouldn't pull without burping air and fluid out first. You've probably created an air lock between the strainer and the engine, which needs to get burped out. As stated earlier, make sure the seacock is fully closed and the Sea Flush unit is fitted snugly into the strainer (wrap the cords around the inlet/outlet as many times as possible before final connection up top to make it tight). Then fill the strainer with AF and sit the AF bottle on top of the main blue Sea Flush funnel as it fills and burps vacated air into the bottle to create positive pressure at the strainer. Leave the bottle in place and then bump/start the engine, or use the snorkel (preferably full of antifreeze and as little air as possible in the tube). Don't let the engine continue to run without fluid being pushed through.

Should be good to go this way. Worked for me once I figured it out.
 
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