Draining the engine in Florida

[Quit It]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

Can't find a fine thread Volvo plastic thumbscrew (can anyone help me out?). The Sierra 18-4218 seems like the next best option and I'll just have to remove the body every once in a while to ensure all the crud is out. Sierra's website is giving me errors, can someone tell me if it'll thread into a Volvo 7.4 GL block?

Any thoughts about the routing the port block drain like the starboard drain (back to the thermostat)?

 

[aerobat]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

i have no clue what the idea is to drain the block into the t-stat housing. newer saw that. you basicly flood the housing again and are not done with the drain job.

maybe it was an idea for draining it out via the exhaust to keep the bilge more dry, but i fail to see how it should work.

in any case- when block and manifolds are drained you removed the risk of a very big mess next spring !

when it come to change for the plastic drain cocks- i have exactly the same you have on my volvo- the mercruiser of my parents has the plastic ones. with both types never a problem occoured, but when there are hard to change just leave yours , when figured out how they work draining is a 2 min job , nevertheless i have to admit that the plastic on the mercruiser are a better and quicker solution.

cheers

 

[Quit It]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

Thanks aerobat, so I guess it will be the Sierra 18-4218. It's still a thumbscrew for quick drains I'll just have to unscrew the body once in a while to get the crud out.

As long as it fits, any idea if the thread count/pitch is the same for all Volvo blocks?

 

[jerome radtke]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

A little thought on this. Having lived in Texas with it's constant series of Winter Northers. There is a difference between a freezing temperature and A "hard freeze." An outside of temp of 28 degrees or above will not freeze water hard enough to do any damage to pipes or motors, if it lasts only from late night till early morning. A sustained cold snap of 28 or below calls for remedies such as draining blocks and letting exposed water pipes drip. So if your local weather forecasters are able to accurately foretell the temps, just act accordinly.

I doubt, except for Northern Florida and the Panhandle that you will encounter many "hard freezes," and "panic time" is when the orange growers do.

 

[Don S]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

Going by what a weather report says the low temp will be, and for how long is foolish at best. If they say below freezing, then you should drain the engine.
Too many times the temp at my house was 5? less than what was called for on the weather site. Which means if they call for 28?, you could be at 23? in your area. It could also last an hour or two longer than guessed at by the weather people.
Besides, draining should be a PANIC situation. If you see cold temps coming in a couple of days and you aren't going to be using your boat, then drain it.

 

[Quit It]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

I just wish Volvo or some aftermarket company would make it simpler to drain the block. I know it'll be easier next time because I "loosened" things up but still I think it should be simpler. I was thinking that it'd be nice to have the drains capped off with a hose. Mount the hoses up high and out of the way. When you need to drain you use a shop vac to suck out the water.

Anyone have any thoughts on that?

 

[aerobat]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

I just wish Volvo or some aftermarket company would make it simpler to drain the block.

thats right, but i think volvo basicly wants you to bring it do an authorized dealer or is very keen on selling you a new engine when you failed to winterize.

the situation where you can pay up with an entire engine when you just store a inboard for winter is indeed a joke. its not only the draining. e.g you should pull the drive every year for greasing the u-joint. huh? how often do we grease such a component in our car ?

i come from outboards and must say they are more winter-friendly. basicly you can there just pull the boat on a trailer and go home for winter.

any hoses to the petcocks are not practical in my view- how do you open the petcock when a hose is attached , and how do you eventually remove dirt from the hole to let the water flow ?

cheers

 

[jerome radtke]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

It is also not neccessary to remove all the water from an engine or pipe. It is the expansion of water when freezing that does the damage, not the freezing itself. The reason why old style ice trays in fridges lasted for years. The ice cubes came out with a hill on top from having expansion room. This is also the theory behind "freeze plugs in a block. Not a particularly good one, but the theory all the same, to provide a weaker expansion path thru the casting walls, than the casting itself.

Sorry for those of you who live in an area, that has many altitude elevations. That makes predictions inaccurate due to not being at the same level as the weather station. But, in fairly level areas such as Texas and Florida, predictions are fairly accurate within about 2 degrees.

As far as running drain pipes from several areas to a common point with an easy to reach petcock, run them to a LOW place. Gravity is easier to use than a shop vac.

Something else I have not seen mentioned. For those who keep their boats in the water in very cold areas, is a bubbler system, used to circulate warmer water from deeper down, up and around the boat to prevent water freezing around it.

 

[Lou C]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

There really is no 'safe' easier way, the one point systems that Merc used can get clogged with rust particles if you boat in salt water and then its not going to drain. You need to not only remove the drain plugs, but poke it with a thin screwdriver or similar because sometimes rust will plug that drain hole so it does not drain. Always probe the drains in the manifolds and block and make sure to pull off the bottom end of the big hose on the engine circulating pump because that holds a lot of water. The raw water intake hose and the hose from the t-stat housing to the impeller housing on the Volvo engines needs to be drained (remove to drain) also. Either you learn to do this, or get an outboard. Outboard drains by itself by putting the motor all the way down. I can do my OMC Cobra in about 15 min. My next engine will be closed cooled so I don't have to drain the block.

 

[Quit It]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

I'd love to change the block & manifolds to use antifreeze but that's not in the cards now. I will probably add a bilge heater though. For now things are drained but I like my Shop Vac idea and will probably try it to see if I get any more water out of the individual drains.

Thanks

 

[Don S]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

For now things are drained but I like my Shop Vac idea and will probably try it to see if I get any more water out of the individual drains.

If you drained the water out, and made sure the holes are clear, then there isn't enough water left in the block to damage anything. As stated earlier, it's all the enclosed water around the cylinders with no where for the ice to expand to that cracks blocks. Even a 1/4" of water in the bottom of the passages couldn't break the block.

You are just over complicating a very simple job that takes only a few minutes to do.

 

[Quit It]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

You're probably right, but I'm not an old salt at this. In a few years I'll have loads of experience and know exactly how much water flowed out, and how much to expect, but for now an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

 

[Don S]

Re: Draining the engine in Florida

You don't have to be an old salt or measure how much water comes out. Have the engine level as stated in the manuals, the pull the plugs. Make sure the holes aren't plugged, then, when the water stops coming out of the hole it's drained. Put the plug back in and your done.