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Winterizing Using Muffs

E

eriefeelin

Member
260 MerCruiser Alpha 1
If I w

260 MerCruiser Alpha 1
If I would warm the engine up to operating temp. using the muffs so that the thermostat was open. Then switch over to a tank with pure -100 marine antifreeze without draining the engine. Why wouldn't running the engine with the antifreeze force the water out of the engine and be displaced with the antifreeze?
 
"It would... theoretically. Th

"It would... theoretically. Though my experience is that you then go open the block drains, manifold drains, and pull some lower hoses and you find enough clear water to make you nervous about relying on that as your strategy. Alwasy god to open the block drains, manifold drains, and pull some lower hoses. I'm assuming you are raw water cooled."
 
""pure -100 marine antifre

""pure -100 marine antifreeze"

Preblended marine antifreeze will become diluted by your procedure.

As MistaHays stated "you find enough clear water to make you nervous about relying on that as your strategy."

Become a contortionist and open all the drain cocks, probe them to improve drainage of all the water and close them. Now run your procedure to fill the engine w/antifreeze."
 
"While we are on this subject,

"While we are on this subject, it always is a good idea to use some compressed air to push any water out of a system. This is true for just about every water dependant system there is. Al W."
 
"[b]"it always is a good i

""it always is a good idea to use some compressed air to push any water out of a system."

Ayuh,... I never have,... Gravity works Just Fine....

I have a SSteel deckscrew I keep to poke through the crap that gathers in the drains,....

No Antifreeze needed....

Air just Doesn't freeze...."
 
"All valid points, especially

"All valid points, especially the contortionist one. I figured by running the pure -100 antifreeze and knowing that it would mix with some of the water during running that it would be sufficient.
I have read a lot about winterizing on these message boards and was just curious what others thought.
I have winterized the engine this way for the last 8 years and have never had an issue as of yet.The boat is stored in Ohio. Maybe I've been lucky. Thanks for the replies."
 
"Bondo et al:

"No Antif

"Bondo et al:

"No Antifreeze needed...."

My block and manifolds have been bone dry for the last two weeks figuring I would try the "No Antifreeze needed...." method this winter. I drained everything HOT to assist internal drying. I just can't get myself to skip the antifreeze. CONVINCE ME! Who will buy me a longblock if it doesn't work?
snow.gif
"
 
"Guy, I too am a believer in &

"Guy, I too am a believer in "Wet" storing of Marine engines and Exhaust components. Scaling occurs more rapidly in "Dry" units. Just some common sense belief. Al W."
 
"Good point Al. My engine is

"Good point Al. My engine is a 12 yr. old reman. While draining the block and probing the holes, some peppercorn size pieces of rust came out with the usual rusty scale."
 
"Ok; my nickle's worth:

"Ok; my nickle's worth:

I have never done the pink AF flush technique, dry or wet.
I always just drain everything I can. Been doing it this way for 20 years or better. Never had a freeze problem yet.
And no Guy, I won't pay for a new longblock if yours does freeze up! Sorry about that.

You're best to continue doing it your way. Whatever gives you peace of mind.

Rod"
 
"One of these days I am going

"One of these days I am going to make a video on how to PROPERLY winterize a raw/fresh water cooled marine engine!!!

The time it takes to do it CORRECTLY outways the potential of doing it the easy way, about $7000.00 worth.

And just so anyone who cares I use 1 gallon of RV antifeeze split up between the manifolds and the block and the incomming water hose (power steering cooler) just as a satifaction and guarantee there is NO residual water left alone. I also have been doing it this way for almost 20 years and many of them in a professional enviroment. 0 issues............"
 
"I tried a different way this

"I tried a different way this year; i was taught to do the muffs method, but was never confident of it. This year i pulled all the drains(and had to dig one out as it broke during removal gerrrr)and blew out with compressed air--lots of water came out(almost filled bilge) I then poured -50 AF into the big hose that goes to the water pump until i saw AF come out the block drains. I then sealed them up and filled the block with AF, "pumping" the water pump hose back and forth to release air bubbles. It burped and gurgled taking over 1 gallon of AF to fill. I had the hose end up as high as i could to ensure the highest level of AF in the system. Repeat for the headers, but they never seemed to be filled, so i drew the line at around 3/4 gal each. One question i had, what is the square drive bolt in the top of the intake manifold for? It's on the right side forward of the carb and looks like it sits outside a runner. Should i take it out and pour some in there too? I couldn't find it in my manual.

--chris"
 
Hi all new to this forum and n

Hi all new to this forum and need help
I have a new (old 1999 5 LT. w alpha 1 mercruiser) trying to winterizing just bougth RV antifreeze muffs and kit now I read this forum and I am confused I was wanderind what the manufacture suggest I dont have an owner manual yet any advise will help thanks.
 
"winterizing : The old/new que

"winterizing : The old/new question
flush and fog the motor till it stalls out
remove and probe ALL drain plugs to drain
1) hook up a drumof A/F and earmuffs, start motor,run drum dry
2) remove the large hose from the therm housing and pour in approx 2 gallons in the hose or untill it comes out the therm housing, reattach hose,remove manifold hoses and do the same 1/2 to 3/4 of a gallon or untill it comes out the transom exaust.
3) pull drive and blow out any remaining water in the inlet hose.
Without draining everything first you CANNOT GAURENTEE sufficiant protection against freeze damage.It may be true that air dosent freeze but dry leads to scaling and rust.Just look what comes out when you do open a drain plug!!"
 
"[b]"Just look what comes

""Just look what comes out when you do open a drain plug!!"

Ayuh,.... Exactly,... And you use antifreeze....

I drained mine the other day,... I got abunch of sand, mud,+ probably some rust when I poked my SSteel deckscrew into the holes in the block,+ manifolds....
So What...
They're Cast Iron,... It rusts,... wet or dry,.. It rusts...

Unless you live in Saltwater,...
Cast Iron parts will take on a rust patina as soon as it's wet the 1st time,..
But it rarely goes any deeper or any longer...

I've got a boat with 40 year old manifolds, that are danm near New looking....
They've been stored Dry every 1 of those 40 years...

It doesn't matter to me how you guys store your boats,...
I'm just telling you that you're throwing away your money on antifreeze,+ wasting your hassle of gettin it where you need it...

Guy,...
You seem like a Really Handy kinda guy,...
If you've Drained your driveline, like I know you've read me explain before,...
Sure,... I'll come on down in the spring,+ Help you install a new block that I'll bring with me...

Just because,...

Air Doesn't Freeze....."
 
Bondo:

I drained the water

Bondo:

I drained the water at the lake while HOT!!! I also drained the engine oil into my waste oil storage jug thru the bilge drain w/the remote drain hose. The 15W50 Mobile 1 oil was only warm after a 1.5 mile lake run.

The next day I fired it up again to fog it and drained it again HOT!!!. Left all the plugs out and pulled the boat/trailer to fill the fuel tank and drove it up/down some steep hills to help it drain and agitate the fuel and preservative.

I guess I'll give it a try.
 
"Ayuh,...

Did you poke some

"Ayuh,...

Did you poke something into the Holes to be sure they were clear,..??

As long as there's no water left in it,...
It'll be Just Fine..."
 
"I love a good controversy.

"I love a good controversy.

Looks like we have two distinct camps here.
One side says just drain ALL the water and you will be fine.

The other swears that to be safe you have to first drain the water, then flush it all with RV anti-freeze.

Any more opinions out there??
Anyone ever frozen a block after doing EITHER technique?

Rod"
 
"What works for other guys wor

"What works for other guys works for other guys. I know only my situation, and that's this: I only have one boat, can only afford one boat, and would rather use said boat than work on it(as i can't afford to pay pro rates). So, if it means it costs 15 bucks extra to lay it up to give me a 110% warm and fuzzy feeling, then so be it. I like the idea of using AF so i use it. If i lived a bit further south of where i do, i might just use a light bulb on a timer to keep the engine hatch warm at night. I can only say using the muff method i would get 2 gal of AF into it before i saw pink out the stern. The way i did this year i got ALOT more AF in there, so that can't be bad, right?

--chris"
 
"I worked in the industry for

"I worked in the industry for many years. This is the way we WINTERIZD in excess of 1000 + boats every winter. Yes that is alot, We had a line a mile long from the road and from the water. We were a full service water front marine including gas dock with SONOCO 94 ..........oh I miss that red stuff!!

Anyway we did not have time to screw around with muffs and all that,

1. put stable in gas tank based on amount of gas.
2. get in boat with a few hand tools and some RV ANTIFREEZE.
3. pull plug(s) on manifold(s)POKE THRU RUST!! Till a stream of water came out.
4. pull plug (s) on block POKE THRU RUST!! Untill a stream of water came out.
5. Remove all apropriate hoses from thermostat housing. (this was especially good for the v8's and v6's with the spring loaded poppet balls to make sure they were not worn and stuck!!)
6. When motor and manifold(s) were drained reinstall plugs.
7.split 1/2 gallon between manifolds and 1 quart down the incomming water hose to push the water out of the power steering cooler, Bend the FAT hose from the engine water pump to thermostat down and drain any water left in it. Pour the remaining RV antifreeze into the large hose which puts it directly into the block. Reconnect hoses and hose clamps.
8. raise outdrive
9. diconnect battery ( we left them in unless customer wanted it out
10 pull transom plug to let water in bildge drain.
11 pull lower unit gear oil plug and CHECK for water contamination. ( all service was peformed in the spring) If there was oil in the outdrive we would put boat aside and fix later.
Fogging was only done to the 2 cycle motors as that is really what is meant for to keep the internals that get lubed by the oil in the gas and are fully exposed air and somewhat magnetic to keep them lubricated. ( crank and rod bearings )

DONE DEAL.......very simple and only takes on average about 20-30 mins.

Of course there are variations due to boat configuration and of course when it is your own boat you may want to do a bit more."
 
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