Any tips on draining a FWC 454 Crusader

Any tips on draining a FWC 454

Any tips on draining a FWC 454 Crusader while boat is in the water? Need advice on how to get all coolant out without it ending up in the water. The area I live in has very strict laws about ANY oil or coolant going in the water. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

i use a wet &dry vac to su

i use a wet &dry vac to suck out the water as it come out of the fitting works great

"Remove the lower drain fittin

"Remove the lower drain fitting (or hose) from the exhaust manifolds first. You can usually fit a container there to catch the coolant. After they are drained, pull the lower circulating pump hose, this will drain the block most of the way down. If you need "all" of the coolant out, you can then remove the lower block drains, if you can't catch this coolant, there is only a small smount left to spill into the bilge.

Good luck, Rick"

Folks I know an old post but hoping I can get an answer. Riser and elbow bolts/nuts easy to get to for replacement.

Outboard riser drain plugs not so much.

Will the coolant seek its own level so draining from one side will be ok?

Or do I really need to get to that outboard manifold plug? Is there another way to drain manifold coolant before the riser removal?

Thanks

After thinking about this and draining the inboard sides, I realize my question is moot.

Lowest point on each side is the manifold drain plug.

Any advice or tool selection to get to outboard plugs and catch the coolant would be appreciated.

If you are just servicing the risers & elbows, draining the exhaust manifolds is the appropriate approach....

If you have the old style log manifolds, you can drain them using the pipe plug or you can loosen the hose or you could pull the rear cap...choice will probably be driven by access....

If you want to minimize the spillage, I've found it better to do things slowly...drips are easy to control compared to a stream. buckets, cups, and foil pans have been of use depending upon the installation and access. The manifolds hold a lot of coolant so having a 5 gal bucket to hold it all will be handy.

Once you have things under control, removing the vent plug in the t-stat housing will usually vent to exhaust manifolds to relieve any vacuum.

I use a shop vac and suck the coolant as it flows out. What goes in the bilge is then sucked out. I have a 30 foot hose on my vac, so the canister stays on the dock and when full easy to dump. ( in a approved location of course)