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Winterization Warning

fastjeff

fastjeff

Gold Medal Contributor
Had to change a valve cover gasket on my Mopar 360 this weekend. To get to it the exhaust manifold had to come off and, though I drained everything first, you would not believe how much water remained trapped inside the manifold/ riser/ elbow.

My point? Those who think it's fine to merely drain the system at winter time need to think about the water that remains behind. I run Pink Stuff through my motors until it comes out the back (about 4 gallons) to ensure that all the trapped water pockets are flushed out.

It's your call.

Jeff
 
I always use more antifreeze that is needed just for that reason. I rather waste a few dollars on antifreeze than have major problems for being cheap with the pink stuff.
 
I do the same on my FWC Crusaders. Flush with water, then run pink through the strainers until it's bright pink out the exhaust.

Chris, are you saying to drain the block and manifolds first on a FWC setup? I've done it this way for three winters now (hard to count last year as a winter) but the year before was record cold.

Bob
 
bobct said:
I do the same on my FWC Crusaders. Flush with water, then run pink through the strainers until it's bright pink out the exhaust.

Chris, are you saying to drain the block and manifolds first on a FWC setup? I've done it this way for three winters now (hard to count last year as a winter) but the year before was record cold.

Bob
Click to expand...

Not necessary on a FWC engine. But necessary on a raw water cooled engine.
 
Docksidemarineservices said:
I hope you are draining the water out of the block and manifolds before you add the anti freeze.
Click to expand...
For an open system (raw water cooled) this is very important if you plan to leave the antifreeze in the block/heads.
This has to do with any residual water that has the potential of diluting the antifreeze.
For those who do this, I'd strongly encourage you to drain this again afterwards.

Docksidemarineservices said:
bobct said:
I do the same on my FWC Crusaders. Flush with water, then run pink through the strainers until it's bright pink out the exhaust.

Chris, are you saying to drain the block and manifolds first on a FWC setup? I've done it this way for three winters now (hard to count last year as a winter) but the year before was record cold.

Bob
Click to expand...
Not necessary on a FWC engine. But necessary on a raw water cooled engine.
Click to expand...
Yes.... agreed!

Perhaps Bob is using the term FWC to describe river/lake water, as apposed to ocean/salt water.
In industry terms, FWC means a Closed Cooling System.
IMO, FWC is a misnomer. There's nothing fresh about Ethylene Glycol and distilled water.
Can't drink it, can't make coffee with it, can't brush your teeth with it. :D

On our Marine Engines, we'll have "Open" systems (raw water cooling), and we'll have "Closed Cooling Systems" (E/G and Heat Exchangers).


As for adding antifreeze........, IMO, the added rust and corrosion inhibiting properties of antifreeze (in our blocks/heads) is greatly over-rated when contrasted to the rust/corrosion that occurs during the normal season's usage.

Remember, just plain ole air won't freeze, expand and crack our expensive cast iron components!
Never has, and never will! ;)


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Perhaps see this thread in the Chrysler section.... post #2, 2nd and 3rd paragraphs regarding the RWC T-Stat housing by-pass porting.


Suggestion regarding fogging:
Instead of allowing the fogging solution kill the engine, have a helper with you so that the ignition can be cut while you continue fogging until the rotating assembly comes to rest.
Do this at approximately 1,200 RPM.
This way the fogging solution is not undergoing combustion.

The difference in protection may be subtle, but there is a difference.


Also, with any V-8 Dual Plane intake manifold, an equal amount of fogging solution must be applied to each primary throttle bore.
If we miss one plane, or get an unequal amount into one plane, we'll miss 4 cylinders or end up with unequal protection at those 4 cylinders.


Remember....., ALL winterizing is perfect in the Fall.:D
It's not until Spring time that we learn just how perfect it was!:mad:

.
 
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The best way to protect your engine is not to use fogging oil at all. Mix up a remote can with gasoline, some EZ store-EZ-start, some good 2 cycle oil and some power tune from Mercury. Hook the can to the engine and run it off the remote tank. Works for all engines and especially Fuel injected ones.
 
Chris, we can achieve similar results, if not the same, by adding this oil rich mixture to our main fuel filter cartridge.

I'll have to say that I still prefer the fogging (carbureted engines) when we cut the ignition and continue fogging.
Do both, and you'll get the benefits of each.

I'll add that when we pull our sea water pump impellers, we can kill two birds witin 8-10 seconds.......... fogging and blowing the exhaust system dry.
Actually, three birds. The third bird would be storing our impellers outside of the pump body for the lay up duration.

I've been doing this for more years than I can remember.

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Let me run this by us just for the heck of it.

Many people do their own winterizing using the "suck antifreeze into the engine... and look for it to exit the exhaust" scenario, and it works for them.
Of those people, some just barely squeak by, and they are none-the-wiser because they were unaware of just how close they came to suffering from freeze damage.
Next year, they use the same procedure.
Same thing.... they squeaked by being none-the-wiser.
This may occur for several years in a row.

Then that YEAR comes!:mad:
The temps dropped just a bit lower that year, and perhaps for a longer duration.
In the Spring they discover a cracked engine block and they wonder; "what-the-hell-happened?"....... "I've been doing this for years!" :confused:


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