I/O Winterizing

[Larry]

I have a 1983 Starcraft with 140 Merc-Crusier. Wondering if just a average guy can winterize this without screwing it up? Please explain!!
Thanks!!

Go Vikes!!

[perchjerker]

I do it every year. If you want, I can email you what I do.

Do you have a manual for the motor?

[Shellback]

I'll give you my run down on winterizing my old 120 Mercruiser.
1. Put stabilizer in the gas and run the engine enough to get it in the carb
2. Fog the engine thru the carb and also pull plugs and fog cylinders too.
3. Change engine oil and oil and fuel filters
4. drain engine block and exhaust manifold of all water ( you may want to poke a piece of coathanger in the holes where you pull the plugs just to make shore they aren't clogged with rust.
5. I pull the top cooling hose and pour some RV antifreeze into the block for extra prevention ( you gotta put those plugs back in the block first)
6. Make sure outdrive in down to drain all water and then change oil in the outdrive.
7. remove batteries and store inside with regular charging to keep them up
I probably missed something, so look for some help from other posts too.

[perchjerker]

It's easier now that you have a closed cooling system. ;)

[Brad]

Shellback hit on everything you need to do. A few things I might add. Always change the oil when it's hot. Also, Perchjerker mentioned that you have closed cooling. That does make the job of freeze/corrosion protecting the block and exhaust manifolds/risers easier. However, make sure that your manifolds/risers are part of the closed cooling system. Some closed cooling systems (i.e. half systems) still use raw water to cool the manifolds and risers. If that's the case, you'll still need to drain them. A few more things. Wait til spring to change the spark plugs (after you fire the engine up and burn that fogging oil off the engine parts). There are two reasons for putting the outdrive in the down position on a Mercuiser I/O. One is to allow the water to drain (as Shellback mentioned), the other is to prevent "Bellows Set". The bellows are the accordian style rubber boots on your outdrive and if you leave the outdrive in the up position for an extended period of time without lowering it, the boots take on a "set" and the lifespan of those boots is shortened. By the way, inspect the bellows as it is very important that they are in good condition. And also, try to come up with something to cover the center of the prop (where the exhaust exits) while still allowing moisture to escape because small animals (mice, chipmuks) sometimes like to make nests in there. And be sure to lube the grease fittings and the coupler splines once a year.

[perchjerker]

Good tips Brad.

To set the record straight, I meant Shellback had the closed cooling system. Sorry for the confusion.

[Brad]

Larry,

If you do not have closed cooling, it is imperative that you get the water out of the block, manifolds, and hoses. In addition to opening the block and manifold drain plugs to let the water out, also, remove hoses that hang down below the blocks and manifolds to drain any standing water from them. Then tighten up the drain plugs and put the hoses back on. For best assurance against freezing, remove the thermostat housing and pour coolant into the block until full. Also, a genuine environmental safe engine antifreeze (specifically for marine engines) like Banfrost 2000 does a better job of corrosion protection that RV anti-freeze. Though it does cost a good bit more.

[punch1]

Don't forget to grease all of your fittings!

I have a question on the fuel. My manual says to shut the fuel supply off after running it for a bit (to get the treated gas in). Doing this would leave everything from the gas tank to the carbeurator empty. Wouldn't it be better to leave the treated gas in the carb and fuel lines or not?

Patrick Wunsch

"You should have been here last week!"

[Brad]

I never close the shut off valve on my tank. I've never experienced any problems with leaving it open. But then again, that doesn't necessarily mean I'm doing the right thing as far as the shutting off the fuel supply is concerned. I generally try to do what the manual says (maybe I missed that part).

[perchjerker]

I like to run it dry. It lessens the chance of anything gumming up and reduces fumes in the engine compartment.Im not worried about it gumming up, I am more concerned with the vapors. I use Stabil and have never had a problem in the spring (I fill my tank up for storage). I have an electric fuel pump and I will unplug it, have the fogging oil ready, when it starts to die I hit it with fogging oil and put it to bed for the winter. 20 years of doing it this way, every boat and car I have stored started right up in the spring.

[Erie Drifter]

I've been looking at this setup for a while now and was wondering if anyone has tried it.

Seems like it would be great for the I/O owner that wants to fish late into the season (ME), take the boat out of the water and hook this up, fire up the engine and fill your system with antifreeze, no plugs to pull or hoses to drain.

Anyone see any downfalls with this system?

http://www.boatus-store.com/browse/item.asp?IID=31419

Bill W. (War-N-Peace-ch 68)

[perchjerker]

I considered that, too Bill. The only thing I wonder about is the thermostat not being open. You probably would have to remove it to get it to circulate through the motor properly, dont you think?

Im working on another solution...

[Nemio]

I was just thinking of that. Put a container with 5-6 gals mix water & anti-freeze let run the motor till is hot to be sure that the thermostat was opend and that way able to fish later in the season and at the end just do that process for the last time and no danger for the motor. Am I right to think of that?

[Brad]

I've been using that system for the past four years. Here's what I can tell you about. First, when you use this system per the instructions, the thermostat will be open when you begin to deploy the antifreeze into the motor. What you can't see from the picture is that there is actually a "T" fitting with a valve that directs where the flow of fluid to the engine is coming from (either from a garden hose running from your home water supply to the T valve, or from the canister full of antifreeze). There are actually two valves on this system, but I'll mention the other one a few sentences later. You run a garden hose from a water supply to the T fitting. The other hose (what comes with the system and what you see in the picture) goes to the muffs on your engine. With the valve on the T fitting closed to keep the water from the water supply flowing to the hose with the muffs, turn on your home water supply and you run the engine until it reaches normal operating temperature. Once the engine reaches full operating temperature, you shut off the small valve that's located just prior to the valve on the "T" fitting (this the other valve I mentioned and it stops the water supply), and open the valve on the "T" fitting. Now, instead of water going into your outdrive, the antifreeze is going into your outdrive. Running out of room so I'll continue on a second post.

[Brad]

Continued from my previous Post.

Now that the antifreeze is going to the outdrive, things get interesting. Before you turned the valves, you had cold water going to the outdrive under the pressure of your home water supply. Now you have room temperature antifreeze going to your outdrive via gravity (no pressure) and that hose between the tank and the outdrive isn't to large a diameter. So as the antifreeze is now going into your engine, the temperature gauge is a risin' (even with a new impeller). Furthermore, that tank only holds five gallons of antifreeze, and you gotta fog the motor before the motor is turned off and just as there's no more than a quart of antifreeze left in the canister so you've got enough antifreeze into the engine. Timing is critical. Remember, you can never let your engine run with a dry impeller. I did a work around fix to this system by cutting a 2 inch hole in the top of the canister, and having a couple extra gallons of antifreeze to dump into the canister before the canister empties. I tried chilling the antifreeze ahead of time to counteract the rising engine temperature, but that increases the viscousity of the antifreeze, and in turn, doesn't help matters. Also, I keep my boat indoors over winter so I do this to prevent corrosion, not for freeze protection. If I kept it outside, I would not use this system, and would follow the procedure recommended in the Mercruiser manual to the letter.

[perchjerker]

I see. Thanks for the explanation. That really clears up the procedure.

I am taking a different approach. What I am doing (actually as we speak) is fabricating a set of remote drains. I ran stainless braided line (overkill, love it!) from each drain on the motor to a valve mounted in a easy to reach area. I have 3 hoses you have to disconnect, for them I spliced in a piece of brass tubing with a drain fitting attached. When I am done, all I will have to do is open the valves, and drain her out. Last year I replaced the brass plugs with petcocks, that helped a lot, but I still had to deal with standing on my head to get to them, and to disconnect the hoses.

[Nemio]

Can I just take a big canister lets say with 10 gals. of anti-freeze, submerge the lower unit where is the water pick-up and just let run the motor till is hot. If I'm right the water outlet is at the prop? so the anti-freeze will go back in the canister (a plastic barrel that has been cut)or maybe I'm completly wrong? If it's the case where can I buy peacoks? By the way excuse my english I'm a french Canadian doing my best. I really like WC because of all the smart infos that I can found. Very hight quality.
Thank you

[perchjerker]

Niemo-
You idea probably would be ok. You would probably have to run it quite a while to insure the antifreeze is at the proper strength in the block.If you do try it, make sure the thermostat is opening or raw water will be trapped in the block. Im my situation, I will be using my boat into the freezing weather, so that would mean I would have to do what you are talking about everytime I was done fishing, to me that would be too much trouble. The remote drain setup will be much easier in the long run.

You can get petcocks at any well stocked hardware, auto parts or even Home Depot. (Probably Canadian Tire in your neck of the woods).

[Brad]

Nemio,

Using your method, I would consider first running the engine using a garden hose and muffs to get the motor up to normal operating temperature (so the thermostat will be open). Once normal operating temperature has been achieved, pull off the muffs, and put the lower unit in the barrell of anti-freeze. When mixing your anti-freeze, add a little less water to allow for the water that was in the engine. Seems to me that should work.


If you go that route, let us know how it works out.

[perchjerker]

Not to be a pain, but it seems to me the cold anti freeze would make the thermostat close as soon as it hits it. Then you would have to wait for it to open again. I dunno, I guess it would work, I would just be afraid the concentration of antifreeze in the block may be too low. If you were to do it this way, I suppose you could drain some of the block into a container and check the concentration, again this seems to be too much trouble.Expecially if you plan on using the boat again before winter layup. With my idea, all I will have to do is after fishing, is open the drains while my buddy readies the boat for the trip home, and be done with it.

[PJM]

Larry

Just to add to Shellbacks list of thing to do and he did mention it is to add grease to the fitting. It is important that you grease the gimble bearing because if that goes bad it can cause all kinds of problems. I winterize I/O in the fall, and I make a point to take the lower unit off which sound like a big hassal but it really isn't and you would not believe the problems I have found by doing this. Like bad U-joint that lack grease, water that ruins the gimble bearing, bad bellows, blown upper seal and I could go on and on. Also make sure to find all the water drains because there could also be one on the exhaust elbow that might be hard to see.

[Brad]

Perhaps the thermostat would close briefly, but with the same coolant re-circulating through the engine, I would think the coolant would warm up pretty fast and the thermostat would open right back up. Then again, I never tried it so I don't know for sure.

[perchjerker]

Brad-
I am trying to visualize this, please bear with me. I follow you, the thermostat would close when the cold antifreeze in the barrel hits it. Then it would remain closed for a short while, then the stat would open back up when the coolant/water mix in the engine heats up and allows cold antifreeze in again. I think what would eventually would happen is the stat would stay partially open, allowing some flow of antifreeze to mix with the water in the engine. After a period of time, the concentration of antifreeze in the motor and the barrel would equalize. I guess the real question is how long would this take, and how would you know if and when it occours other than taking a sample from the block and testing it.

[bill brown(Ind)]

Hi, I have been requesting on this board info about just what you have been describing. I am going to Pine Fall next year & as I have an I/O also have been worrying about keeping the block from freezing up. I have a 4.3 LX. Could you possibly send me your e-mail so I can get more info from you. Thanks

[perchjerker]

Sure bill.

budley77@netscape.net

I dont like posting my main email address, this is my backup addy.
Please post if you email me, I rarely check that email account.

[Perchjerker]

You have mail

[Nemio]

Very interesting discussions, for this winter I won't try my idea but very early in spring I will try my way. Once I took out the boat from the water it is only a 2 minutes drives so the motor will be still hot and I will see how long it is going to take to re-circulate everything at 1500 RPM and I will take with me a tester for the anti-freeze and let you know how long for all the process. I think 15 minutes will be fair enough, but will see. I bought my I/O this year and I did not know about puting away a lot sooner then an outboard because I use to fish till mid-December and I live in Quebec. So I bought a 16ft.fiberglass with a 55hp. just in case. You will heard from next March regarding that matter.

[Larry]

Hey guys

Thanks for all the great information. I've been really busy getting ready for a trip. I will sort this all out when I return. Going to Flordia for a long weekend. Plan on fishing off the pier for some Snook. Not really sure if they are biting now are not, but I'll try!

Once again thanks!!!

[motorman]

Would like to add just one thing, for you guys that don't turn off the fuel shutoff valve,(lots of boats don't even have them) pour a little bit of fuel stabalizer,NOT SEAFOAM, into the air horn of the carburator keeps the fuel in the carb bowl from going bad and greening up over long periods of storage, just to make sure stabalizer has gotten into the whole fuel system.

[Brad]

motorman,

The best way to stabilze the entire fuel system (tank, lines, carb) is to add stabilizer to the tank, then run the engine until the stabilized fuel has made it to the fuel bowl of the carb. Shut off valve or not, that takes care of the everything including the carb. Besides, the only way gas gets into the fuel bowl of a carb is through the fuel line when the needle/seat valve opens (which is governed by float position). Gas poured into the air horn of a carb will not make it's way into the fuel bowl. When you pour gas into the air horn of the carb, it'll go into the intake manifold. And if you've already fogged your engine, you'll rinse away fogging oil from any cylinder that has it's intake valves open.

[perchjerker]

To make sure I get stablizer through the entire system, I dont wait until I store it, I add it during the last few trips of the season.

[Brad]

Same Here.

[Kaz]

Hey Guys: I have been using antifreeze for many years and have never had a problem. I use the motor muffs and hook up a small pump to feed the antifreeze to the motor. I use a 55 gallon plastic drum to catch the liguid as it comes out of the exaust. On the Merc IO's you need to put a couple of rubber plugs in the two holes just below the bend in the lower unit to keep the spray from flying all over though. I keep circulating the antifreeze until the motor tempature reaches 120 degrees on the temp gauge. I have a special drum that I have cut to fit under the lower unit with a tap on the bottom to feed the pump. Now they have a antifreeze that is enviromently friendly, so you don't have to worry about polluting the lake in the spring. You CAN "DO IT YOURSELF"....Kaz

[perchjerker]

KAZ- I like your idea. The thing I like about it is that the anti-freeze will be in the block all winter, providing a degree of corrosion protection. I might try it when I lay her up for the winter. Im the meantime, I think my drain setup will work really well for using the boat up until the water gets hard.

[Jeff]

I also remove the lower unit (6 nuts + the trim cylinders, no problem) and grease the U-joints. I was told by my marina this should be done every year, but not a lot of people do it. The only thing you need for this is a new gasket, you don't have to drain the lower unit fluid. It's not a bad idea to have someone help you when you re-install the lower unit to help guide in the driveshaft. It's a little cumbersome due to the weight.

The manual I have also mentions having the engine and drive checked for alignment once a year, but I have never done this. Someone may be able to weigh in on this?

Doing this and all that was mentioned above, no problems after 12 years of winterizing myself.

[perchjerker]

Depending on what outdrive you have, this can be critical.To properly install the lower unit, you need an alignment tool. The alignment tool is basically a dummy input shaft.Very similar to a clutch alignment tool. If the lower unit is not properly aligned, you may damage the gimbal bearings or u joints. I have always owned Volvo Penta outdrives, the ones I have a different design and dont need to be aligned. I know Mercruisers do, though.

[PJM]

Jeff


You are smart to take the lower unit off every year because if there is a problem you will find it before it causes more problems. I have taken these off for years and if the lower unit falls off the alignment is pretty good and they don't seem to go out of wack to often. If you take the engine out or put in a new gimble bearing you you need to align it.

[perchjerker]

Thats good to know. Like I said, I have always had Volvos and they have a different setup. I am just going by what my friends have told me.

I agree its just good maintanence to remove it, good theft deterrent, too.:)

[Brad]

The main purpose of setting the alignment is to prevent coupler failure. If the coupler is misaligned, the aluminum splines on the coupler will eventually fail. Also, beginning in '94, Mercruiser switched to "Permalube" U-Joints. They also began installing a grease fitting on the coupler around that time. The goal of these two maintenance enhancements is to eliminate the need to remove the outdrive annually.

[Kaz]

Perch: I watched a serviceman do it to my boat several years ago, at $175. so now I do it myself and it gets the antifreeze into every nook and crany, for a safe winterizing. This is the second year I've done it myself to the SportCRAFT Merc V8, the other one's were Merc 4 bangers. A Waines Pump works great, as it forces the antifreeze into the block too...Kaz