That’s there because the oil cap is put there by GM for automotive applications but that’s not good for marine use running at 3500-4000 rpm all day….
Merc says 25/40 and you can use 15/40 or 20/50.
Here’s what I would say to people trying to decide; if you remove the stat housing & drain the block down you can see how much corrosion is actually forming in the engine since both the intake & block/heads are the same cast iron. Mine still looks pretty good despite the salt water use..I do...
Wait a minute…when you say neat antifreeze to you mean full strength not mixed with water? Better check that. If it’s a marine or RV antifreeze you can just use it those are premixed with water. But if it’s like full strength automotive antifreeze, they will actually solidify at a higher temp...
In fresh water probably not, here the only trailers that last are either hot dip galvanized or aluminum. Although some fresh water can be pretty corrosive…
If you’re in fresh water you may not need antifreeze but us salt water people have a whole different view on it…just like coating your trailer springs with grease & corrosion X. Like I said I never get rusty water out the exhaust during spring start up. 22+ years on the same short block in the salt…
What happened was that the Ram rod was pitted & tore the seal in the end cap. Salt water boat moored in salt water. So I think I got great life out of them and it only costs $55 each to get the OEM kit to rebuild them (OMC Cobra & early Volvo SX have the same exact rams).
I left the old...
https://www.westmarine.com/west-advisor/Selecting-Antifreeze.html
read this, you'll see if you get zero or below, do not use -50 or -60, use -100! remember those are burst temps....
The basic problem with raw water cooling and running in antifreeze is this:
your cooling system has excess capacity to cool the engine and exhaust,
the manifolds & elbows get full flow from the 'stat housing (except in Merc warm manifolds, not until the 'stat opens) and the engine 'stat, opens...
Well yes things are better now for sure I recall manually repacking the front wheel bearings of my VWs in the 1970s with that nasty smelling fibrous yellow grease! Yuk!
There are charts online that show which grease is compatible with which. If you have lithium complex grease it’s easy since that’s the base of most greases.
I recall hearing that the triple guard was not for wheel bearings; I used it on driveshaft splines on my I/O and on the shifter bell crank inside the transom mount on the Cobra outdrive. BRP actually marketed a different grease for wheel bearings. Years back I used Pennzoil Marine (also blue)...
If you will be changing motor oil and outdrive oil, for the engine you can use a 15w/40 like Rotella, or a 25/40 like that sold by Merc or Quicksilver, the drive oil you should be using Volvo's I have heard of problems using other brands.
For the engine winterization, after changing the motor...
I saw that website too, and the phone # is disconnected and the business address is some run down house in Houston Tx.
I buy from Eastern Marine, Etrailer, and Trailer Parts Depot as well as directly from Load Rite
Also note to all:
When buying AF for winterizing keep in mind the way storage AF is rated; burst temp is not the same as freeze temp. I do not want AF getting solid inside a cast iron engine even if it doesn’t expand. So ignore burst protection and go by freeze protection. -50 & -60 get solid at...
As far as winterizing I I manually drain the engine & manifolds & raw water intake hose & then back fill with my mix of Sierra AF & water (-26*F) via the hoses. After engine & drive oil is changed and engine fogged. After spring start up and the AF washes out I see no rusty water coming out the...
