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Winterizing
I've heard alot of opinions about this relative to draining the system, draining and using anti-freeze and then just running the engine with anti-freeze. I did the latter in my sailboat and never had a problem. I've seen a 5 gallon container that would force feed anti-freeze into the intakes as the engine was running and I believe would adequately fill it safely. Any thoughts?
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winterizing
I have always just run in antifreeze with no problems. Would also like to hear input from others on this subject.
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If the engine is properly drained, it shouldn't require any antifreeze at all.
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For winterizing, I drive my boat to the north end of our lake, dock it, give keys to the marina owners and then shed a tear and be grumpy for the day... :p
Hard to believe it is already that time again. I hope to get on the water for September 20th. This weekend it is supposed to rain Friday to Monday. |
Hi Tom,
Running straight antifreeze through your IO long enough to flush or highly dilute any water in the system should be fine for temperatures below -14 degrees Fahrenheit. Unfortunately, in California, all the drains lead to the ocean so the antifreeze flush is a big No-No unless you have a huge catch pan under the outdrive. On Bravo outdrives, the water pump is up next to the front of the motor so it's just a matter of removing 4 drain plugs and a couple of hoses and she's dry. Now I have heard different stories with the Alpha's because the water pump is in the outdrive and some say that sometimes this water doesn't drain out and if it freezes, it can crack the lower leg so it's possible that just pulling the drain plugs may not be enough. So maybe this would benefit from the antifreeze flush. I recommend you call around your neighborhood for a Mercruiser service shop and see what they recommend for dealing with the temperatures in your area. Good luck, WetWilly |
Here's what my local dealer does for winterizing:
Economy: Test run and fog engine, drain engine and outdrive cooling system, check engine oil, check drive oil, all drains and hoses disconnected. Silver: Same as economy but engine oil and outdrive oil changed, stabilize fuel systems Gold: Same as above but also fill cooling system with antifreeze, remove outdrive, check and grease gimbal bearing, check engine alignment, grease all fittings, check and top up all fluids, change water separator filter (if equipped) Economy $97.99 Silver $129.99 Gold $172.99 |
I live in michigan and I winterize using rv antifreeze and it is safe to flush into the lake ,in fact it is drinkable,never had a problem!
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Winterizing
Thanks for the info. I believe in overdoing these things and preventive maintenance. The outdrive will be pulled before next spring and replace anything that looks questionable, for sure impeller, gimbal bearing, all bellows and possibly u-joint. Since I'm not sure when the fluids were changed I'm going to replace gear lube and outdrive pump fluid. Engine oil will be changed before we winterize as will all filters. Better safe than sorry.
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