Winterizing an I/O

[hijinks]

I was wondering if someone could give advice on how to get antifreeze into the engine of a 1987 Four Winns I/O 3.0 litre.<br /><br />I put the cups on the water intakes with the hose going into a bucket of antifreeze. The engine would not suck the fluid up through. <br /><br />Is there something I'm missing in this aspect? I'm not overly familiar with the engine, so it would be a great help.<br />Thanks!

 

[merc 140 pontoon]

Re: Winterizing an I/O

Yes, that is a very bad way to do it. I tried that once, and trashed my pickup pump impeller. Hope you didn't do the same. I found that unless the hose was primed (pre-filled), the antifreeze mixture wouldn't be pulled through. Anyway, the bucket method is a bad one. There are two accepted methods: (1) the old way, where you loosen hoses and fill from the top (opening drains and petcocks), (2) where you suck through the water pickup, but use a Camco or similar winterizing kit (and later open drains and petcocks). These kits allow you to warm the engine on hose water, then flip the valve to pull the antifreeze mixture through while you fog (the tank sits above the transom for gravity feeding). I strongly suggest you go here, http://www.boated.com, click on "Winterizing and Springizing", read the "Winterizing in General" post, and then read the rest of the posts. You will learn a lot. I'm going to try the Camco route this year; I bought the kit last month. If I'm not happy with that, I'm going to stick with the old method of removing hoses. Winterizing is the most important thing you do to your boat; do it right.<br /><br />Steve

 

[hijinks]

Re: Winterizing an I/O

Steve - thanks for the info. I just got done utilizing the gravity method and it worked pretty well. Pushed through about 4 gallons and it was coming out of the lower unit pretty well.<br /><br />Alright - the stupid question - can you tell me exactly where the petcocks are and drainage? i'd like to see what there are, and potentially run some fluid down through them as well.<br /><br />Thanks a ton for the help.

 

[merc 140 pontoon]

Re: Winterizing an I/O

On my 140 (older version of 3.0), there are two drains and one petcock. All are on port (left) side of engine (looking forward). You remove brass plugs from the drains. One is on the bottom of the manifold, below and behind the carb. One is on the port side of the riser. The petcock is down below the manifold on the block. You open these after you run the A/F through (you could do it now). You have to poke a wire or tiny screwdriver into each one to make sure it's not clogging, which they do a lot. You want to see A/F, not clear water, coming out of them. Then let them drain. Some people leave them open all winter. Some close them. Other people never even open them, under the theory that they want to keep the A/F in there for the anti-corrosion agents. I personally drain them--I want any clear water pockets out--and then close them. There are even some people who don't use A/F--they just drain their drains, petcocks and hoses. I don't trust that, myself. You really need a manual for your engine to confirm the number and location of drains. It would also show you a lot more. I like the Clymer manual I bought. Lots of pictures. Remember to store the sterndrive in the down position to be nice to your bellows.<br /><br />Steve

 

[Rhadley]

Re: Winterizing an I/O

Is the purpose of running anti-freeze thru the engine to coat it with an anti-corrosion film? I mean, if people drain the AF after circulating it, what is the point? <br /><br />My manual only says to drain all the water. (This is a raw water cooled in-line 4, 120HP) Can't I just drain the water and leave it dry? Or is the fear that there might be some water left in the system to freeze?<br /><br />Thanks

 

[wmorris]

Re: Winterizing an I/O

Up here in Canada where it's COLD in the winter we fill the block with antifreeze and leave it in. In 5 years of winterizing lots of boats i've never had a cracked manifold, head, block or anything. The thing with the gravity from a bucket method is that the motor has to warmed up well to be sure the coolant will go through the thermostat and not just out the exhaust. For the sake of how easy it is to drain the motor first and fill the block with antifreeze through the big hose on the thermostat housing and the manifolds through the manifold hoses, why use the bucket method at all and take the chance of a sticky thermostat screwing things up. We only use the bucket on boats with closed cooling because it quick.

 

[KM2]

Re: Winterizing an I/O

What kind of antifreeze are you putting in your boats? The "pink" stuff is for water systems on boats and RV's. That means sinks, toilets etc.. right? If you use regular antifreeze how do you get it out in the spring? Isn't that stuff bad for the environment. The winters are really cold here and I would like the extra confidence that if some water was still in the engine I would be protected.

 

[Boatin Bob]

Re: Winterizing an I/O

I use regular (green) antifreeze and I drain it out of the block and manifolds the same way I drain the water in the fall. It all goes into my bilge and I capture it there and put it back into the jugs for use next year.

 

[wmorris]

Re: Winterizing an I/O

Bob, you must have the cleanest bilge around. The boats I winterize can get it out whatever way they want. Considering what else goes into the water here, a few gallons of anti-freeze isn't goin to hurt much.