Winterizer "Kit" vs. Direct into Hoses?

[johnb]

Was looking on www.mercstuff.com and see that they don't recommend using the winterizing kits that use the ear-muffs and a coolant container w/ hose. Claim that some have cracked their blocks by use or mis-use of these kits.

Instead, they're claiming the better technique is to simply drain the coolant, disconnect the front hoses and deposit coolant directly into them. Then replug and reconnect appropriately.

Side benefit would be that you could fog your engine beforehand, without worrying about timing the engine stall w/ the coolant.

Any feedback or thoughts on this one appreciated.

John Bailey
2003 176 SRX (Baby Sea Ray)
3.0L Merc w/ Alpha 1 Gen II

 

[johnb]

Want to add:
1) did a quick search and didn't find any discussion on this. Hope I'm not re-hashing.
2) meant to say "drain water" above, instead of "drain the coolant"

Thx,
JB

 

[bigduby]

I would also like to know how everyone winterizes their AC, Generator, Fresh water and gray water. Im guessing emptying fresh water, put some RV antifreeze in and run through system and also pumping RV antifreeze into head for gray water system but I don't have any idea about the others. Sorry for hijacking.

 

[estebanj]

BigDuby:

A/C - I disconnect the hose leading into the water pump. Drop the hose into a gallon of pink antifreeze and run A/C until pink comes out the side. Don't forget to empty the strainer if there is one.

Generator - Disconnect hose leading to engine water pump. Drop into gallon of pink stuff (you may need more than 1 gallon). Run gen until pink stuff comes out. At that point, spray fogging oil before shutting it down. Don't forget about strainer.

Fresh water - Empty water tank. Disconnect hose into water pump. Drop into pink stuff. Run each faucet until pink stuff comes out. Some people prefer to leave the lines empty and push the water out with air.

Black water - I'm guessing you mean your holding tank for black water and not gray water. Black is normally the head. Gray is for sinks, which is not as common (although many boats also have this tank). I would empty the holding tank (pump out) and then run 1-2 gallons of pink stuff through the head.

Hope this helps. Others will offer their own routing for doing the above, and there may be differences. My boat was in Maryland, Upper Chesapeake Bay and never had a problem. Well, once I did because I left some water in a closed seacock and it cracked when it froze. (

Esteban

 

[Dave S]

JohnB

If you don't use a "winterizing kit", the most important thing is to make sure your block and out drive are drained properly before disconnecting hoses and adding coolant. Read your owners manual and follow the procedure they outline for draining the engine of water. On some engines there will still be water trapped in the sea water water pump even after draining the block and the antifreeze may not protect a component like that if the water isn't first removed. Also, be sure your outdrive is thoroughly drained of water as well. That usually only requires you lower the drive fully and let it drain.

 

[boatdoc100]

John B
It is indeed better to pur the antifreeze directly into the engine. For a four cylinder you only need 2 gallon of antifreeze. Simply remove block drain plug and manifold, start engine and rev 3 times then shut off. Remove large hose from thermostat houing, hose to manifold(from therm. housing) and intake hose at thermostat housing. Reinstall plugs. Pour 1 gallon directly into large hose. 1/2 gallon into manifold, and the other 1/2 gallon into intake hose. The intake hose will slowly darin back through the outdrive. Keep filling intake hose until antifreeze is gone. Star engine and fog. Your done.
Brad
Pflieger Marine Services.

 

[boatdoc100]

I would also like to know how everyone winterizes their AC, Generator, Fresh water and gray water. Im guessing emptying fresh water, put some RV antifreeze in and run through system and also pumping RV antifreeze into head for gray water system but I don't have any idea about the others. Sorry for hijacking.

They are basicly correct but I would not use RV antifreeze. Do yourself a favor and use the blue -100 antifreeze.
Brad

 

[Alex F]

Falks,

I would have to disagree on using method of draining water and filling the block with antifreeze over the method of running the antifreeze though a complete system from a bucket. I had the same question few years back and I found the answer in one of the seminars at West Marine. The difference is that it's impossible to drain all the water out 100%. There're always some pockets (e.g. water impeller) that will collect remaining water and will have a risk of getting frozen. So, this would be not a buletproof method. When you use the kit or simply put the antifreeze in the 5gal bucket and run it through the system the antifreeze will fill all pockets that were filled with water. When you see that only pink stuff is comming from the exhsots this is an indication that the water is completelly replaced by the antifreeze. Also, important step is to worm up the ingine to make sure the termostat is open, so when you run the anifreeze it'll gow throught a full circulation of the block.
I use this all the time and it works great.

If you leave in warmer states where temps don't drop very low, you could be fine with just using the drain and re-fill method. But, up north, I would recommend using the kit.

My 2c.

Alex.

 

[bigduby]

Esteban, Thanks for the info. This is exactly what I was looking for. You were correct, I did mean black water, not gray water. Fogging oil(?) ... It appears I still have a lot to learn. What is fogging oil?