this my get booted to the tavern….
anyway i have a i/o mercrusier,went to get anti freeze for it to winterize,holy toledo ! 12.00 a gallon for anti freeze,i usally use 2.5 gallons.
so i got to looking at windsield washer anti freeze good to -20 ,1.99 a gallon. will this stuff work? i can pour in extra if i need to.
anyone using this stuff? larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there’s not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Replies
i use RV antifreeze usually about $3 gal... i use the boot on the foot (outdrive) with a hose & a funnel then just let it pump thru the motor and pour TF down the carb til it chokes out... i then remove the cooling hoses and pour as much antifreeze in the hose as i can... i check to make sure there is no water in the outdrive oil... store with the outdrive all the way down...
p
Are you using regular ethylene glycol, like in a car? That's illegal and if the DNR sees you dump it into any waterway, they'll own you.
Windshield washer fluid won't work. It says it's rated to -20 but it's hardly as critical as cracking a block.
well first i gotta ask,whos dnr? i'm not sure i have ever heard that abbreveation.
so if the ws washer fluid won't work,what would you suggest?iother than the rv fluid that ponytal spoke of i don't know of anything else. larryif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Department of Natural Resources. Keep shopping for RV anti-freeze. Where are you that it's $12/gallon? Look at Wally World. If you went to West Marine, they're prices are usually too high.You don't absolutely HAVE to use any anti-freeze. If it's a relatively recent Mercruiser (at least the last 10 years), it came with blue plastic plugs for the block, exhaust manifold(s) and oil cooler. Add your fuel stabilizer, warm it up, change the oil and filter, run it for a little while to get to normal operating temp, fog it and kill it, pull the drain plugs and water hoses to drain the circulating system, pull the lanyard (or flip the safety switch to OFF and crank it over for about 10 seconds to clear the circulating pump and disconnect the battery. Spray some anti-corrosion on everything, change the gear oil and O rings on the drive's drain/fill plugs and seal the open end of the prop. Pull the hull plug(s) and bag all of your drain plugs, tie them onto the throttle or steering wheel and pat it on the b-utt for the winter. The impeller should be replaced if it's more than a couple of years old and it doesn't matter if it hasn't overheated, it won't cool as efficiently as it should with an old one. Yeah, I did this for a living.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
Edited 9/17/2008 9:15 pm by highfigh
well i was looking at auto freeze,whats funny about auto anti freeze is most of it now comes pre diluted,with WATER! who thought of that marketing genius should be put in charge of aig ins. the diluted was 899 ,full strengh was 12.00 .
i never really gave it much thought about using auto stuff,maybe i should rethink before the epa comes knocking??? larry [if your from epa,thats not my real name]if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Look on the container- if it shows 'ethylene glycol', don't use it. http://www.antizol.com/egpoisono.htm
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
I don't know why you need that much.
I am assuming that you have a standard fresh water system where the water is picked up on the outdrive and directly circulated through the manafold and engine and out the back. That is verses a saltwater system that has a closed system to circulate water through the engine and a heat exchanger. And the sea water is circulated through the heat exchanger.
This is what I do for the GM 4 cylinders. The V6 and 8 are a little different, but I don't know the details.
Remove the 2 drain plugs. One on the bottom of the manifold and one on the block. You might want to probe them with a wire to make sure that they are free flowing.
Open the short U shape hose on the thermostat to the pump. That is the hardest thing because the rubber welds itself to the cast iron.
And if you have a cooler on the power steering remove one of the water hoses. That can form a low spot and trap water. I take the top one off (from the engine. So I lift up the cooler so that water will run out the back.
And lower the hose from the engine to drain any water out of that side.
Then put the cooler hose back on.
That should be enough, but to be sure I pour a little RV antifreeze down the U hose until it starts coming out the drain plugs. Then replace the drain plugs and put in about another cup of anitifreeze.
One gallon will last for years.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
i always do just what you said as far as draining[except the first year with power steering,it leaked in the spring] but i always pour anti freeze into each exhaust [this is a 350 v8],then pour the block full.also pour some in the power str hose/cooler.proabaly overkill but i always slept better at night.i'll go grab some rv antifreeze in the am. larryif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Dont know squat about the boat but I cant believe that you never heard of the DNR! Hell they have more power then the EPA.
They are the guys that take care of the lakes and other natural resorces. Hell they can search your house without a warrent, nab you for speeding, about anything else they want to do. As hard as I try not to, I still seam to pizz one off every once in a while!
Doug
i'll swear,i don't think there here in the midwest,maybe they are busy in the east. i wouldn't worry about them anymore,the goverment is moving into the banking bussiness and getting rid of all this kind of stuff,they figure the enviromentwill take care of itself.if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
DNR is state agency.And different states have agencies and different things.For example in MO boating regulations are under the State Water Patrol and that is part of the Department of Public Safety which include the highway patrol and acholo and tobacco.In MO the DNR handles all eviromental issues and also operate the state parks.But there is also the Conservation Department which is fishing and hunting and also operates "conservation areas".I am not sure how KS divides these and what the name of their departmants are.But they apparently don't have a "DNR".But they have a Dept of Wildlife and Parks which I think handles fishing and hunting and state parks. Which also handles boating registration. Not sure if they handle water patrol or not.In MO boat registration is with the Deptment of Revenue as is auto license.And Kansas has a Department of Department of Health and Environment which seems to handle all of the environmental issues..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
Thanks Bill, I figured everybody had the good ole DNR.
Here they have quit a bit of power. They work along side the conservation dept, or are over it, not sure.
Here the DNR can force a small town into a sewage treatment facility, lagoons and so forth, can stop you for speeding, tag you for fishing w/o a licence..............
They are for the most part a very good agency but as always, its the Barny Fifes that give it a bad name.
Doug
Bill, that U hose is called the by-pass hose.
It keeps water circulating through the block while the thermostat is closed.
Joe H
Like highgfigh said, you can just drain it. The only advantage to antifreeze is it acts as a bit of a corrosion inhibitor, but thats really no issue. I've winterized hundreds of boats this way. How old is your M/C? On V8s usually 2 block drains, one per side, 2 manifold drains, maybe exhaust elbow drains. Disconnect circulation pump and power steering hose and dump into bilge. We'll coach ya!
The only warning I'd give is this; If you pull a block or mani. plug and get no water, don't assume it's empty, they sometimes get plugged with silt or sand. A pick or stiff wire will usually unclog.
The stories I could tell about winterizing (and not) boats...
Did it for a living, too.
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
this is a oldie by boat standards,1983,350 chevy,merc. i have had it for 11yrs and always winterized it,using auto anti freeze,but was shocked at what it cost now,so was just trying to find a cheapr way to do it. think i'll get some rv antifreeze.larryif a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
Who would have thought the case of antifreeze I bought at Sams a couple years ago was going to perform better than my stock portfolio. I should have bought the whole pallet