Winterizing 350 mag?

[lrdchaos]

If in remove all 5 drain plugs, let the water drain then put the plugs back in, and start the engine with muffs attached to a 5 gallon bucket of antifreeze while fogging the motor will that get the water out of the engine and fog the engine at the same time?

 

[Scott06]

Just removing the five drain plugs alone will get all the water out.

 

[alldodge]

If all the water is out, AF can be sucked in. The issue is the pumps don't suck very much at all, so there is a possiablility the impeller could be damaged doing it. Could use a pump, like maybe sump pump

 

[racerone]

Put the anti-freeze bucket above the impeller.----Make 100% sure the impeller does not run dry !

 

[Lou C]

Remember to totally drain the bottom end of the big hose that connects the thermostat housing and the front circulation pump should be disconnected in addition to the drain plugs being removed; unless Merc changed the design.
There is no need to suck AF up the drive you can simply:
Reconnect the bottom end of that big hose, disconnect it at the top end. Now stick a funnel in it and fill the engine with AF till it spurts out the thermostat housing neck. Reconnect the hose & you’re done, no need to remove the thermostat either as some think. I’ve been doing my OMC this way for like 18 years.

BTW if it gets down to or below zero where you are I would not use -60 or -50, they start to get hard at around 8* above zero. I use -100 or mix up a batch of Sierra PG no tox antifreeze 50/50 which gives freeze protection down to -26*F which is fine for most places or you can always go 60/40 if needed.

Remember the antifreezes are rated to burst temp for copper pipe not quite the same in a cast iron block. I prefer something that stays liquid in a cast iron block.

 

[QBhoy]

Don’t do either of these. Just fill the block from the t stat hoses, after draining.
fogging the usual way by spraying into the throttle body..isn’t correct for this engine (if that’s what you intended) you run 2 stroke through it. Perhaps you already know.

 

[tpenfield]

Is this in Oklahoma ??? Isn't it a bit late for winterization?

One thing 'we' have learned from winterization threads is that everyone seems to have their own way of doing it. If you are unsure of the process, it is probably best to consult the service manual for your engine.

What you described is not wrong, but it may not be right enough

MPI engines are typically fogged as per running them for a while with the fogging cocktail as fuel, so I assume you would have to run water for a while, then drain and switch to AF. 5 Gallons of AF isn't much in terms of filling an empty engine.

There are various cooling system flows for the 5.0 MPI . . . got a serial # of the engine to share?