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I thought about that but the cooler is buried under the motor, access is nearly impossible.If it's full of antifreeze you should be OK. If in doubt, undo the hose clamps and drain it
You remove the drive at the end of each season? I'm not aware of annual maintenance that requires this?maybe. if the drive is removed for service like it should then just shop-vac air in the hose at the T stat and out the transom inlet hole goes any water.
Some coo;ers have a 1/8 th pipe plug in the bottom also
No, removal is not necessary.
To winterize power steering cooler,
Remove incoming water hose at thermostat housing.
Outdrive down in the vertical postion.
Grab a gallon of RV antifreeze and pour into hose slowly, it will fill but it will force water back through power steering cooler and out of drive.
Do this two to four times til you see the pink stuff coming out of drive intake ports.
Reinstall hose and tighten clamp.
DONE!
Absolutely these are all important items, but in all my 40 years of boating, this is not an annual maintenance routine. These items are tied to usage and time, so how many hours and or how old are the components since they were last inspected/changed? Also, there are signs before some of these items fail, no need to tear the outdrive down each season.Did the bellows leak water?
is the gimbel bearing ready to fail?
is the engine alignment correct?
U joints greasable?
do you have a lot of money for repairs?
Or would you rather spent $10.00 for a gasket to check???????????????????????
No oil changes? Pull the dip and smell the oil at the end of the season and you'll easily notice the presence of contaminants..not a wives tale. Sure doesn't matter if you only have the boat for a few years but if you plan on keeping it long term, better to change it at the end of the season. Not to mention if it's contaminated with water you'll dodge the bullet of a cracked block.