Winterize 34' SeaRay

JByers

JByers

New Member
Oct 14, 2008
29
Woodstock, Ontario, Canada
Boat Info
340 Sundancer 2001
Engines
6.2s 320hp
I have to winterize my own boat engines this fall. The SeaRay manual says see Merc manual, which I don't have. The boat is a 2001 34' with Merc 6.2 engines.
Does anyone have a manual they want to sell?
Does anyone know how to winterize the oil coolers on the bottom of the engines?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks John :smt100
 
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Hi, John. Have you checked the Merc website? You can order the owners manual for around $25.00. That will give you all the info you need. mercurymarine.com/shop online/manuals
 
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You need to run antifreeze through the raw water side of the system. Around here we use the -50 degree (pink) stuff. In Canada, you would likely need the -100 degree stuff. You can do this through the strainers by various methods. The oil coolers (both transmission and crankcase oil) will be, by default, be winterized since the antifreeze you run through will fill them as well.

I think your engines may have a block draining system - either by pulling some spring-loaded plugs or by attaching a little bicycle air pump(clipped to the heat exchanger) that you hook up and blow out the water with. I had this on my 2002 Crownline with 350MAG Horizon FWC. Wouldn't trust that though!
 
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I have an 89 340/345 DB too and this year I would like to winterize my raw water cooled 454 7.4L Mercs myself. I do the rest of the systems without issue but fear has held me back from attempting the engines.

I got hold of a service manual for these and the whole process seems to involve petcocks, drain plugs and removing hoses / thermostat. I know my marina does not do all these things and am convinced they simply rig up some way to get their antifreeze to flow through the engines.

The hoses in the manual are completely inaccessible to me (as anyone else with a 340/345DB knows) and even if I had the body of my 8 yr old kid, my arms would never reach these spots by hanging over the engines or crawling inside from the generator hatch...

Could you enlighten me on your methods for these engines? It gets pretty cold up here in Canada and I don't want to risk cracking anything in my engine, exhaust or the water heater (I drain it but assume the engine feeds it water so the heat exchanger inside needs to be winterized).

Thanks for any jewels of wisdom...
 
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I've got these pix up somewhere on CSR but I just couldn't find them, so here they are again. Bgordon, this is what I use. Mark (Wiliecoyote) has a similar system. As I said in the PM, marinas don't mess with pulling hoses and thermostats. They run antifreeze through the raw water side of the system and call it a day. You need to figure out a way to get the antifreeze in the strainers and be able to feed then engine the 4 gallons it needs to fill the passages and then shut down.

PortFinished2.jpg


PortStbdFinished.jpg
 
I have an easier way to do this. I bought some spare perko strainer caps. One for the 3/4" strainers and one for the 1 1/4" strainers. I drilled/cut a hole in the center of each cap and put a plastic thru hull fitting in them. I then put a plastic thru hull fitting in the side at the bottom of a five gallon bucket. I connect a piece of hose from the bucket to the modified strainer cap. I use some hose larger than a garden hose. You have to remove the strainer baskets to put the modified lids on, then close the thru hull connection, hook up to the five gallon bucket, pour the antifreeze in, and start the engine up. You'll see the antifreeze come out the exhaust when you are done. I use about five gallons on each engine. This works on a FWC engine. If I remember correctly you have to warm up a raw water cooled engine (thermostats open) first before you can run antifreeze through them. Somebody else reading this can verify or correct the process on a raw water cooled engine since I haven't done one of these for a long time. I just made one of these systems for the groco caps too. I hope this helps. This way you are not taking clamps, hoses, and fittings apart.
 
AAK said:
I have an easier way to do this. I bought some spare perko strainer caps.
Click to expand...

There's an easier way still... The way I do my ac and gen set is similar except I'm to cheap to buy a spake perko cap. Get any hard piece of rubber and cut it to fit. I bought a cap for pvc pipe (I think it was 3" but am not certain.) Cut the sides of the cap and made 2 holes for the perko screws and one hole in the middle to accept a hose 3/4" screw adapter. Siliconed the threads around the hose bib for good measure. I'll post a picture of my contraption. The whole thing cost $6 and works fine for the 10 minutes I have to use it each year.
(The PERKO cap way is 'better' so consider my solution the 'git'r'done' option.)
 
gerryb,

I always like the git'r'done method too. I did the flush thing a couple of different ways and then I decided to do it with the perko caps. It has really held up well because I've lent it out to friends with no problems. I'm still waiting for somebody to reply with the quick way to get my 6.2L v-drive raw water impeller install done on my current thread. No takers so far.
 
AAK, I actually did the same but used a brass boiler valve (see pic). I only made one which fits the genny and the air condx strainer. I do NOT leave this in place. It's used only in the fall for pink stuff. I did the engine setup differently b/c I flush after each weekend of use during the season.

valve on the right is threaded into the extra Perko cap...

100_0849.jpg
 
I don't think I would use brass where it is in contact with brine especially below the waterline. The zinc and copper are far too active when immersed in electrolyte. Boiler valves also have too many types of dissimilar metals to be reliable. Think you'd be better off with marine grade plumbing components.

What you gain in flushing is marginal. What you could lose is substantial.

I pulled the exhaust system this spring. The manifolds, risers and elbows all looked nearly new. The only "problem" was that the "ceramic coating" that Mercury applies was flaking off. I don't flush my raw water circuit during the season. The exhaust components were installed in 2005.

Best regards,
Frank
 
Frank, I've been chastised about the dissimilar metals in an electrolytic environment several times. Very aware of this. But I'm down there each and every weekend when I flush. Also aware of the argument that flushing is a waste of time. But it makes me feel better (placebo??) and it gets me in the bilge looking around and checking things, including the metals. This is my 5th full season with this setup and the valves look and function as well as they did day 1. No evidence of electrolysis in any of the components (bronze pipe fittings, brass valves, stainless steel hoses).

My elbows (I dont have risers) are coming off this winter for new gaskets and manifold inspection. Last check (and gasket job) was March 2006 and everything was in very good to excellent condition (according to my own grading system). I don't know when these elbows were last replace but it wasn't on my watch (I've owned the boat since Aug 2004). It will be interesting to see how the risers look at this point. I'll take pix. If they are still graded excellent, I'll point to it as a case study in why one SHOULD flush one's engines!
 
This sounds great. Any chance of you throwing up a couple of pictures? You know what they say about a pictures and a thousand words. Thanks
 
rondds said:
AAK, I actually did the same but used a brass boiler valve (see pic). I only made one which fits the genny and the air condx strainer. I do NOT leave this in place. It's used only in the fall for pink stuff. I did the engine setup differently b/c I flush after each weekend of use during the season.

valve on the right is threaded into the extra Perko cap...

100_0849.jpg
Click to expand...
I have a question and please forgive my ignorance as I am new to boating. If I want to winterize my engines, this set up would take care of that? Do I shut off the seacock to the raw water pump? Will this also take care of winterizing the raw water pump? I recently purchased the service manual and changed the Portside Raw water pump on a Merc and I enjoy doing the work. I've gotten great advise thus far from this forum. Thank you all!
 
Book 'Em,
I have the exact same boat as you. You don't really need all that stuff to winterize:

- Pop off the strainer top and get ready to pour "the pink stuff" in
- Shut the seacock so the pink stuff doesn't run out the Seacock
- Start the engine and start pouring the pink stuff in until it comes out the exhaust. No need to wrm up the engine since it is a closed system with heat exchanger.

Now the question is to "FOG" the engine or not. Some frown on fogging EFI engines, I believe that manuals say not to.
If you are not fogging then you can remove the water seperator filter and pour some 2 cycle oil into and replace it, it before doing the above steps.

- once the engine has run a little while and the pink is coming out the exhaust, shut it down.
- open the seacock and pour a little pink in the seacock and let it run out the inlet.

you are done.

Bob
 
Danno
That setup would work for your boat IF the strainer cap is the right size. The one you see with the hose attached in the pic would work for your generator and your air condx. You would need to buy the larger strainer cap and modify it to do your engines. OR you can do what Bob above says. OR you can put a T in your raw water line that feeds the strainer and connect to that to draw from a bucket of pink stuff. That is the setup you see in the pic on the far left edge of the image. That is attached to the strainer that feeds the stbd engine. SHut the seacock, attach the hose to the valve and draw from the bucket of pink.

This was the setup on my old boat. New boat is a little different, but still relies on a T. The blue striped hose goes to the seacock. The bronze plug is removed from the bronze T, a hose is connected to it and the seacock is closed. Hook to bucket-o-pink and start the engine up.

0830130928_zpse1648245.jpg
 
rdevans said:
Book 'Em,
I have the exact same boat as you. You don't really need all that stuff to winterize:

- Pop off the strainer top and get ready to pour "the pink stuff" in
- Shut the seacock so the pink stuff doesn't run out the Seacock
- Start the engine and start pouring the pink stuff in until it comes out the exhaust. No need to wrm up the engine since it is a closed system with heat exchanger.

Now the question is to "FOG" the engine or not. Some frown on fogging EFI engines, I believe that manuals say not to.
If you are not fogging then you can remove the water seperator filter and pour some 2 cycle oil into and replace it, it before doing the above steps.

- once the engine has run a little while and the pink is coming out the exhaust, shut it down.
- open the seacock and pour a little pink in the seacock and let it run out the inlet.

you are done.

Bob
Click to expand...
Thanks Bob. That's why I love this forum. Thanks again. Dan.:smt038
 
Thanks Ron. Much appreciated. Dan
 
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