Search results

  1. Lou C

    Fluid Changes for Winterizing, Do I Need to?

    I start it to check for leaks at the filter then fog & drain it
  2. Lou C

    Antifreeze circulation through engine

    Ah just saw your post, if that’s in the hose leading to the manifold from the thermostat housing I’d remove the housing and see what’s going on in there. If the intake looks really rotted right under the thermostat you may need to replace it. There is a water passage at the front of the intake...
  3. Lou C

    Antifreeze circulation through engine

    Is that from the engine block or the exhaust manifold? Either way that’s a LOT of rust flakes….I’ve been boating in salt water close to 20 years with the same boat and engine and never seen that many rust flakes when I winterized it. Salt water use? If from the block I’d remove the thermostat...
  4. Lou C

    Antifreeze circulation through engine

    PS I tried that way the first year I winterized and then thought to check the strength of the AF in the block, drained some into a paper cup and it looked like rusty water, did not seen to have any AF in it....so if you do this method it would be interesting to take a sample from one of the...
  5. Lou C

    Winterizing a 2004 3.0 glm-b

    you're welcome!
  6. Lou C

    Second Happiest Day . . .

    The one I have heard of people using here is Svensson's they are actually local to me, I patronize an auto parts store across the street from them! https://www.svenssonboattransport.com/
  7. Lou C

    Winterizing a 2004 3.0 glm-b

    That is correct, for freeze protection all you have to do is properly drain. The AF is only for added corrosion protection and probably unecessary in the fresh water Great Lakes. Here in salty LI Sound, we do it, lol! We also have to replace exhaust systems every 7 or seasons, which you probably...
  8. Lou C

    4.3 GXI hydraulic steering leak.

    that would be a nice easy solution. In my case it was the control valve leaking where it mates up to the hydraulic cylinder. Installed:
  9. Lou C

    Second Happiest Day . . .

    LI Sound when it gets windy or the wind is against the tides can get 'interesting', I only have ventured there on very calm days early in the day before the wind kicks up. Then there's the rest of the trip, Block Island Sound with the New London Ferry traffic, the Vineyard, etc. To me it looks...
  10. Lou C

    Second Happiest Day . . .

    Even for my friend, with a boat about the same size as ours, his marina/maintenance costs were close to $10K a year whereas I was paying $400 to rent a mooring and $500 to get bottom paint done, the rest I did myself. Even if I add the water taxi service from the boatyard to the mooring to the...
  11. Lou C

    4.3 GXI hydraulic steering leak.

    While V/P says you cannot rebuild the ram, which is about $900 new, there is a company in Florida who can rebuild them for about half that. Getting at that thing is not easy, I just replaced the older style one used by OMC and Merc on my old '88 Cobra. Its behind the engine up against the...
  12. Lou C

    Second Happiest Day . . .

    And those are Long Island prices! I recall some years back a friend asked us how much it cost to keep our boat on the mooring; he was in a very nice local marina and had them do everything whereas I like most people on this board do everything myself except for bottom paint. I have always kept...
  13. Lou C

    4.3L OMC leaking water.

    Drain and poke holes, or suck AF up the drive with the handy dandy crack the block kit?
  14. Lou C

    4.3 mercruiser how to winterize with outdrive on

    I've always just put the drive down and poured AF in the raw water intake hose till it came out the water intakes. There is a drain on the cooler but it's hell to get at. The Cobra drive has a drain where the intake hose passes through the pivot housing, these passages get clogged sometimes...
  15. Lou C

    Mercruiser 7.4 Starter Grinding/Partial Engagement?

    Can you see the teeth on the engine flywheel? How do they look?
  16. Lou C

    Flooding...

    This is what killed inboards for me. Since 2012, all inboards have been required by the EPA to have this super expensive cat converter exhaust with upstream and downstream O2 sensors, just like modern cars. Mercruiser, Volvo, PCM, Crusader etc. And, when it comes time to replace them, I know a...
  17. Lou C

    Mercruiser 7.4 Starter Grinding/Partial Engagement?

    comparing the lengths of the bolts and the amount of threads showing it is possible that the old bolts you used were allowing the starter to shift slightly under load. The bolts must clamp the starter fully to the engine block or else there will be problems.
  18. Lou C

    Flooding...

    I agree that outboards are very expensive to buy and to repair eventually. However, for newer boats, the I/O parts prices esp the cat converter exhaust are nearly as bad. I/Os made sense when the engines were simple carb engines with standard exhaust and outboards were less reliable 2 strokes...
  19. Lou C

    Channel Lock Stuck In Distributor?

    In fact I usually put a bit of grease on mine just so it DOESN'T get stuck, and going back to the mid 70s when I started doing tune ups, never had a stuck rotor!
  20. Lou C

    Channel Lock Stuck In Distributor?

    Why does Merc want Loctite on these? Had a number of old school distributors never had to do that
Top