First time winterizing my boat. 97 Sea Ray 175br. 3.0 Mercruiser. I used automotive antifreeze,the red stuff. Any disadvantages to that? I mixed it a bit strong to make up for the water in the block. I put a container on the swim platform,plumbed it to the out drive thru the muffs & ran the antifreeze thru the engine/out drive until the engine got up to operating temp(abt 5 min.). I caught the antifreeze coming out of the exhaust in another bucket & pumped it back into the top bucket during the process. Should this work ok?
winterizing question..
- Thread starter Radar
- Start date
wish2fish
Active Member
is red automotive antifreeze environmentally safe?
Bt Doctur
Well-Known Member
A lot safer to flush and fog motor, remove plugs and drain, and just pour the A/F in thru the hoses.
BonBini
New Member
Doing it the way you describe, I wouldn't be surprised if your engine block is doped up good enough to be ok. I also wouldn't be surprised if you were posting back here in the spring with a split block. If it were me in your boat, I would drain a little out the block and test it.
I'll do that,Thanks! Reading the other posts it seems the favored way to winterize is to drain the block and exhaust manifold and pour antifreeze in the hoses. Wouldn't that still leave raw water in the out drive & out drive water pump. (alpha one)
BonBini
New Member
Yes it does. I believe that is where the bumping over of the engine comes in to play. I personaly don't care for the water in the line coming up from the Alpha water pump.... But thats just me.
It's actually only really needed to "bump" with the Bravo sea water pump. The Alpha drains out really well. Besides, once you put the pink through the intake hose (off the t-stat housing) to flush the power steering cooler, it will also flush out any little bit of water that may be in and around the water pump vanes. But really, there's going to be so little in there that it wouldn't cause any problems.
It's also unlikely that you would actually be able to clear all the water up and through the transom (against gravity), since there isn't a constant supply of new water behind it.
That being said, bumping certainly doesn't hurt anything.
It's also unlikely that you would actually be able to clear all the water up and through the transom (against gravity), since there isn't a constant supply of new water behind it.
That being said, bumping certainly doesn't hurt anything.
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wish2fish
Active Member
how you gonna do that and what are you going to do with it?
Am I the only one who is concerned here?:huh:
When propylene glycol is available cheaper that ethylene glycol I see why anyone would use ethylene glycol.
Well, I'd give the kittens a free pass. But once they're full grown...
I do know of a few people, over the years, that collect and reuse the AF. The way they've done it is to drain the block into the bilge and collect it as it runs out the garboard drain plug. But, yeah, I agree - the enviro stuff is easily available so why not?
It would have been better to drain the block before pumping the new stuff through. But, if it tests OK (maybe from a few spots?) then, you might be fine.
wish2fish
Active Member
if you have ever seen a dog (or any animal) die from antifreeze poisoning you would think twice. It is not a pretty sight!
- Oct 4, 2006
- 2,335
- Boat Info
- 2003 280DA and 1995 Sea Ray 175
- Engines
- Twin 4.3l and 3.0l, all w/ AlphaI GenII drives
What do you do with the antifreeze you drain out of your car? Same stuff, so I assume he's going to deal with it in the same way. Kill some cats or dogs, dump it in the driveway or take it to the local trash/transfer station. Who knows!
wish2fish
Active Member
I don't do any work on my cars. Even if you are able to dump what is in the motor I always seem to have a little drain out on the ground. If you are on a hard surface I guess the animal could come up and drink it. Apparently antifreeze taste good to a dog per our vet and it only take 2oz to kill a normal sized dog. We had a family dog lick up the antifreeze from a car that was leaking it.
Here is a video. It isn't mine but you can see the dog and the impact on what looks to be a couple of tough guys! that starts around the 1:40 mark
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Qka1qJIfw[/YOUTUBE]
Here is a video. It isn't mine but you can see the dog and the impact on what looks to be a couple of tough guys! that starts around the 1:40 mark
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Qka1qJIfw[/YOUTUBE]
