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Winter prep

jstack

New member
"This being my first year with

"This being my first year with a 89 omc cobra with a 305, and a very lame procedure in my seloc manual for draining the block and manifolds... I need to know exactly what to do to protect my engine and drive from freeze dammage, I have changed my oil, fuel filter , gear lube, and have foging oil ready to go... as far as draining the block and manifolds, I removed the petcock on each side of the block and the lower engine water pump hose , and the ruber plug on each manifold ... How do I get the water out of the sterndrive water pump and hose ? Do I need to remove the thermostat housing to dump in anifreze? is there anything else I need to do? thanks for any and all help"
 
Sounds like you have a good st

Sounds like you have a good start on it.
If you leave the drive down it should drain out on it's own.
This is my opinion but I always add antifreeze in all the hoses & manifolds until a little of the pink stuff starts to run out. Then cap them & add more antifreeze. Did you push a wire into all the drain holes to clear any dirt that could hold back water? This is a must do thing.

Then pour some antifreeze back down the water feel line from the pump to the engine. This way you know the pump is protected & after the pink runs out of the drive you can trim it up if needed for storage.
Add at least one gallon to the block pouring it into the lower water pump hose so it enters the pump & block.(replace drain plug first)
If the boat has power steering check for an oil cooler. It will need to be drained.

Grease any fittings you can find & spray the cable ends with a little of the storage fog. Lube any linkage. Tape off any port in the drive that mice or whatever can get into. If it is outside do not leave any food old cans etc in the boat. If you have spilled any food in the boat make sure it is cleaned up.
I've seen more than a few boat seats eaten by things like coons because the sent of food was in the boat.

Take the battery inside for the winter & charge it every now & then.
 
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