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Mercruiser Winter Use

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wellcraftnova230

Contributing Member
"Hello,
I have a 1982 Well

"Hello,
I have a 1982 Wellcraft Nova 230 with a GM 5.7L one piece rear main seal block and the rest of the motor is 1982 vintage not including the alumnium intake manifold. I am going to put closed cooling onto this motor and I was wonderning what would I have to do if I wanted to use this boat during the winter and trailer it after each use. Do I have to run antifreeze through it each time? Heaters seem really expensive at $300 a pop. I just want to make it as easy as possible to use the boat and get all the raw water out of the system so once the air gets below freezing at night it wont crack my heat exchanger or risers. This is a full closed cooling system with a crank mounted sea water pump and an pre alpha drive. Thanks Jon"
 
YOU SOULD BE ABLE TO GET A KIT

YOU SOULD BE ABLE TO GET A KIT FROM SAN JUAN COOLING OR ORCA HEAT EXCHANGERS YOU RUN A 50/50 MIX ALL YEAR LONG CHANGE COOLANT EVERY COUPLE OF YEARS (LIKE A AUTO)THE ONLY DIFFERANCE IS THAT IT USES COLD WATER INSTEAD OF A FAN TO COOL COOLANT./ YOY MAY HAVE TO DRAIN RAW WATER OUT OF EXCHANGER WITH a through hull p/u gravity might get most of it out
 
"If you're intsalling one

"If you're intsalling one of the kits above, you should be able to just haul the boat out and the raw water side will drain out. The heat exchanger will mount below the risers, so the risers will drain back through the heat exchanger. To be sure all the water is out, you can pull the zinc plug on the bottom of the heat exchanger and make sure it's empty. If your running in salt water, I would still run it on the rabbit ears to flush the salt water off of the risers, then pull the zinc plug."
 
"Would water in the small tube

"Would water in the small tubes in the heat exchanger due to the capalary effect cause damage if it is frozen? Also, how would I go about draining my raw water pump on the engine? Thanks Jon"
 
"The tubes aren't that sma

"The tubes aren't that small and Hx's are typically constructed such that there is a slight bow in the tubes to facilitate draining. Even if you don't have the boat on the trailer absolutely level, as long as you pull zinc plug and let it drain, any water left behind, we're talking droplets here, won't be enough to pop a tube, should it freeze."
 
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