mercury 4.3 freezing

deere342

Cadet
Joined
Feb 13, 2012
Messages
10
I recently bought a ski boat with a 4.3 mercury inboard. This is my first inboard. When i bought the boat it had been winterized but we put muffs on to see that the boat ran. It had antifreeze and the owner told me that the plugs had all been taken out of the boat. I brought the boat home knowing it would get down to 16 that night. I saw that the plugs were still in the block...two plugs on each side of the engine. I took them out with a wrench and it drained out orange out of both sides.I let them drain completely. I didnt take any other plugs out...the morning after i could feel ice in the small rubber hoses on each side. I understand that i probably cracked the manifolds by not draining them but was wondering if the block would possibly be ok. Like i said im new to this and understand i made mistakes just wanting some input.
 

brhodes

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Aug 25, 2009
Messages
102
Re: mercury 4.3 freezing

don't know for sure, but sounds like thermostat was not open, sounds like you guessed same thing. Only way to know is to run it, let it warm up and check oil/look for exterior cracks. From what I've read you really won't know for sure until you run it under load. Check oil level before and after. Good luck.
 

deere342

Cadet
Joined
Feb 13, 2012
Messages
10
Re: mercury 4.3 freezing

thanks for the help and sorry i posted this twice. I also took the took rubber hoses off underneath the manifold and let them drain before the freeze so hoping i saved them to
 
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