winterizing

E

edthearcher

New Member
Nov 11, 2013
22
madison wisconsin
Boat Info
1986 22 foot pachanga
Engines
magnum 350
well did i do it right, purchased a 5 gal tank from west marine to do the job. 6 gals 60 degree below rv fluid. warmed up my 5.7 engine good. hooked up my tank to my ear muffs and it sucked 5 gals in to the engine. took the thermostat housing off poured 1/2 gal down into the engine. the only question i have i have above the water exhaust. i also drained the 2 tanks. i was wondering where does the extra fluid go is there an exhaust tube on the lower unit?:huh:
 
And make sure you use use propylene gycol anti freeze not the RV alcohol based anti freeze.

The other thing about anti freeze ratings is they are rated on burst temperature, not freeze temperature. Above the burst temperature them may freeze but they won't expand enough to burst a pipe (or engine block)
So your anti freeze maybe frozen but it is still OK in your engine.
 
I followed the instructions of 2 people, the manager of west marine, and a mechanic at mineke auto repair who has a 27 foot sea ray.
tomorrow i will drain the block, and pour 100 degree fluid down the thermostat housing which i left off for the winter. the fluid i purchased was from west marine for boat use.
 
For the T Housing method of administering the AF, will you disconnect any hoses and drain those, or is that not needed in this method? Does this method have any advantages over the bucket and muffs method? This will be my first time winterizing my Merc 7.4 so Im trying to school myself. Thanks to all responders...
 
If you are going to do the bucket method remove the thermostat first because if it is closed you will not get the antifreeze in the block.
 
I always drain everything, pull the t-stat, use the bucket and then drain everything to ensure it's pink coming out. - Se far-so good.
 
1st i would like to thank sfergson727 from the bottom of my heart and any others that gave me advise i thought i had listened to 2 people in the know. WRONG
i went to the auto parts store and purchased 4 gals. of fox -100 burst marine anti freeze. I got down in the engine compartment 1st opened up the port lower block drain plug out came clear water,no purple anti freeze. same thing on the starboard side clear water, i opened up all drain plugs on both side of the engine to check. as i had the thermostat housing off so i took 2 hoses off the the housing and filled them with -100 now i feel that my engine is protected. once again thanks for all the good advice you probely save me a $4,000 spring repair bill
 
I am still at a loss about all this winterizing stuff. I just keep mine in the water and use it year round.






Sorry, couldn't resist.
 
Always good advice here. Im a first timer and have winterized my fresh water system, holding tank, A/C unit, as well as replaced lube in outdrive...all with advice and help from here. So, i have found all drain plugs on my 7.4 Merc, no problem. Can you maybe describe a little more on what steps I need to take with the T-Housing? Am I removing something or just pulling hoses and pouring AF down them? Thanks again!
 
Ok gotcha. How do you know when you have poured enough AF in?
 
Sounds easy enough. Once AF starts coming out the hoses after filling, am I just reattaching the hoses and putting her to bed with the hoses full?
 
Great. Will do tomorrow. Thanks!! Any tips for winterizing macerator and holding tank? I have already done that as well as the fresh water and A/C unit. But, for some reason I feel unsure about the my job with the macerator and associated lines. I dumped about a gallon on AF down the head and flushed numerous times, but am not getting any thru-hull spill out when I turn the macerator key, so Im still skeptical. One problem might be that I cant find where I would open/shut the sea cock for the head discharge...unless its tucked way back behind the holding tank. So, I am wondering if the discharge line is closed.
 
Ok, that is good news. Yes, we have a macerator, but would never use it while in the lake. I was going to see if I could pump it out while the boat is still in my driveway.
 
Up at our marina they winterize the blocks with antifreeze and fog the engines with storage oil at the same time. The boats are on blocks and they wheel around 50 gal barrels with hoses that fit into the sea cocks under the boats or with muffs on the out drive boats. they drain the block and manifolds. Then they start the engine and spray fog oil in the air intakes or carbs. By the time the pink flows out the exhaust the engine is fogged and winterized. It's pretty quick.
 
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