Winterize 23l Ford OMC Stern Drive

"Hi. I want to make sure that

"Hi. I want to make sure that all the water is out of the stern drive before the winter. I noticed on one side there was a screw, and on the other side two screws. I removed all 3 but only a tiny amount of water drained and I did this with the drive up and down. Is there something else I need to do at all? Appreciate any feedback. Thanks,"

"Assuming this is a Cobra driv

"Assuming this is a Cobra drive since you mention the 3 screws? That's about all you get out of those screw holes but what I also do as an added step although not really required. I put a bucket or basin under the drive and go inside the boat and undo the water input hose right behind the engine where it comes through the transom and pour a little bit of antifreeze down the hose, this will come out the water passage (usually the single hole on the left) plus down out the prop."

"I too, have the Cobra 2.3 and

"I too, have the Cobra 2.3 and on each side of the drive there is a large (apprx 1") round 'OMC'
medallion. One of these was missing from mine and I noticed a screw there which I removed and some water came out. When I went to put the screw back in, there was nothing there to engage the threads.
I then noticed that the entire round area looked like it was pressed in like a 'frost plug'. I pulled this out but still found nothing that looks like it would hold that screw. 1.Was there some type of backing plate that fell off inside the passage? 2. Will it hurt for whatever was there to remain in there as I can't see anything? 3. I have an expansion rubber plug that will fit the hole that I can tighten down to seal, will this work?
thanks.
Chip"

PS- this Ford 2.3 is new to me

PS- this Ford 2.3 is new to me this year so it is my first time winterizing it....
Questions-
1.I pumped out the old engine oil and replaced the oil filter and it only took 3 qts of oil to put the oil level at the top mark of 'safe' range on the dip stick even after I ran it a minute to check for leaks and fill the new filter. Does this sound right?
2. I found 2 water drains on the engine- one on the block and 1 right close by it on the bottom of the exhaust manifold. Is this all of the drains?
thanks.
Chip

"Chip....read through this thr

"Chip....read through this thread about the screw, but basically you need to remove the drive and fish out the backing plate for that screw (and never remove either one again!)

http://www.marineengine.com/discus/messages/12488/215305.shtml

As for the oil, my book says the 2.3 should take 4.7 ltr with filter, maybe you didn't get all the old oil out?

You should also drop the big hose from the t-stat down to the water pump to make sure you get all the water out of that as well."

"thanks Bob- I was afraid it w

"thanks Bob- I was afraid it was going to involve removing the drive...oh well- like someone in that thread said- it is a good chance to grease the u-joints and check things out.
as for the oil capacity on the 2.3, I used a 12 volt electric pump to pull the oil out of the dipstick tube and got out all it would pump..I sure hate the idea of leaving 2 qts of old oil in there."

"Chip...did you check the oil

"Chip...did you check the oil level before you started? and did you warm up the engine first, hot oil pumps out much better and are you sure the tube made it all the way to the bottom of the dipstick?"

"regarding my little adventure

"regarding my little adventure with OMC's undisclosed off limits casting test hole:

I took the drive off, got the backing plate and little gasket out, and was able to hold them against the hole from the inside on the end of a heavily greased long screw driver while I got the screw and plug put back in. The local dealer had an OMC medallion like on the other side of my drive off a junker drive that I am going to cement over this thing so it should no longer be a tempatation- out of sight, out of mind.

regarding the other matter-
The oil showed full on the stick cold. I warmed up the engine, ran the suction tube from the pump down the dip stick hole until it bottomed out and since it is sliced at a slight angle, left it there assuming it was sucking off the bottom of the pan...I periodically felt the suction tube trying to make sure it remained on the bottom and let it run until it quit discharging old oil.
That's all I ever did with my old Merc 140.

Thanks Bob, you sure have been a real help and I appreciate it."

"Well...sounds like you fixed

"Well...sounds like you fixed up the little oops with the screw ok, don't know what else to tell you about the oil though, that's all I do too except that my dipstick tubes have a garden hose fitting at the top so I screw on a hose from my pump and it seems to pretty much get most of it. Just keep an eye on your oil next spring when you launch....good luck!"