Changing Anti Freeze / Coolant - Cruader 270's

About to drain and renew the Coolant in my 270's.
Looking for advice and tips on the best way to drain the entire system without damaging hoses and or making a complete mess.
Who has some really good ideas?????

Hate to say it but you're gonna make some mess....

A bit of planning should keep it small & contained so it shouldn't be too bad.

The Heat exchanger will usually drain into a bucket, via the drain plug. A funnel and some soft tubing may help. the specifics of the hull will dictate the details.

Draining the block is where the 'mess' is likely to happen. If you can find a drain pan that will fit between the stringers, it may help contain the old coolant. Once the block is drained you might want to consider a drain valve (petcock) for the next service.

I know a few that use 'bottomless' 2liter bottles to catch old coolant - never tried it though I cant imagine it to be easy...

I'd do a small container under the drain ports, while using your Tempo Oil Boy Extractor to suck the coolant from the small container.

The drain pork on the heat exchanger is likely for the seawater side. These typically double as the "pencil anode" port.

In order to drain the circulating pump, you will need to loosen the suction hose clamp, and then pull the hose from the circ pump suction port.
It will be messy, but the Oil Boy can be used to suck up any spills.
You can add some water to the bilge to dilute the AF….... and then give it some more Oil Boy suction.


Have you tested the existing the AF for PH balance? (test results may be good to know)


tempo oil boy



.