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my buddy this year drained his engine (cold). Poured two gallons of antifreeze into the engine by taking off one of the tubes by the t-stat (sorry for not knowing the name of the tube). Put three gallons in a tiny kids pull under the outdrive so it would catch the old antifreeze when it was coming out of the back of the boat and ran the boat up to temp using the antifreeze in the pool by having a transfer pump pump it to the muffs.

I like the procedure and might try it next year. However. I might run my boat up to temp first then switch over antifreeze. Only thing I worry about is how hot the antifreeze is getting towards the end. Anyone have an opinion on this method? I will say that pouring the antifreeze into the engine seems smart so the impeller is never dry. Also a transfer pump is better than gravity feed. it always seems to take a second with the gravity feed.

I've never been a fan of feeding through the drive. Pull and drain all the plugs, and hoses per the service manual, then fill the engine from the T-stat housing until the block and manifolds are full, done. Takes me an hour, and that includes running the fogging mix for 15min.

I'll just add this one.
https://www.discoverboating.com/ownersh ... interizing

The last couple of seasons, I had a local marina winterize my boat. Notwithstanding that I have a modern closed cooling system that can be drained by removing the heat exchanger hoses, they winterized my boat old school by running antifreeze through the cooling system. They did fine, except they would spill antifreeze; and each spring, I got tired of bailing out a bunch of antifreeze from my bilge. It was about ankle deep last spring. I'm OCD about a clean boat, which includes keeping the bilge clean and dry, so I was not happy with the mess. As a result, I decided to winterize the boat myself this year. This is what I did:

1. Changed oil;
2. New oil filter;
3. New fuel filter;
4. Treated gas with Star Brite EZ Store EZ Start Gas Storage (recommended SeaRay of Cincinnati, as it also "fogs" the engine), and drove boat around lake for an hour to mix the treatment with gas (full tank);
5. Removed impeller (due for a new one in spring); and
6. Drained the cooling system per Volva Penta owner's manual.

I am putting 100% faith in the Volvo Penta engineers that all water properly drained out of the cooling system such that my engine won't freeze over the winter. The manual specifically stated that performing the draining procedure will drain all water from the cooling system and exhaust manifolds, and it said nothing about replacing with antifreeze as part of the winterization process.

One thing to note is when I unhooked the drain hoses water poured uncontrollably everywhere, and I couldn't capture it all in a bucket. I had to bail a couple of gallons of water from my bilge--better than antifreeze. This spring, before firing-up the engine, I plan to install inline drains which will allow me to better control the draining of the system next time.
I just need to measure the size of the drain hoses first.

Jma you know you have a plug in the back you can take out to drain everything, right? No need to bail... Unless you're on a lift of something where you cant get to it.

Ytmsn wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 6:57 am Jma you know you have a plug in the back you can take out to drain everything, right? No need to bail... Unless you're on a lift of something where you cant get to it.

I was thinking this too. All engines are designed to drain right into the bilge

Ytmsn wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 6:57 am Jma you know you have a plug in the back you can take out to drain everything, right? No need to bail... Unless you're on a lift of something where you cant get to it.

Yep. I know there's a plug for draining, but boat is on a lift and it's just easier to bail out rather than removing the plug--also knowing my luck, it would be a matter of time before I dropped it in the water.

jma2@fuse.net wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 7:02 pm

Ytmsn wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 6:57 am Jma you know you have a plug in the back you can take out to drain everything, right? No need to bail... Unless you're on a lift of something where you cant get to it.

Yep. I know there's a plug for draining, but boat is on a lift and it's just easier to bail out rather than removing the plug--also knowing my luck, it would be a matter of time before I dropped it in the water.

Yeah, but plugs are common and cheap! I always have a couple laying around, plus an extra in my toolbag in case I lose one.

But I also understand getting back there to the plug when it's on a lift is not the easiest thing to do!

Ytmsn wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 6:25 pm

jma2@fuse.net wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 7:02 pm

Ytmsn wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 6:57 am Jma you know you have a plug in the back you can take out to drain everything, right? No need to bail... Unless you're on a lift of something where you cant get to it.

Yep. I know there's a plug for draining, but boat is on a lift and it's just easier to bail out rather than removing the plug--also knowing my luck, it would be a matter of time before I dropped it in the water.

Yeah, but plugs are common and cheap! I always have a couple laying around, plus an extra in my toolbag in case I lose one.

But I also understand getting back there to the plug when it's on a lift is not the easiest thing to do!

Try carrying the battery right Yt

Big Block Power wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 9:47 pm

Ytmsn wrote: Tue Nov 05, 2019 6:25 pm

jma2@fuse.net wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2019 7:02 pm

Yep. I know there's a plug for draining, but boat is on a lift and it's just easier to bail out rather than removing the plug--also knowing my luck, it would be a matter of time before I dropped it in the water.

Yeah, but plugs are common and cheap! I always have a couple laying around, plus an extra in my toolbag in case I lose one.

But I also understand getting back there to the plug when it's on a lift is not the easiest thing to do!

Try carrying the battery right Yt

Ha! A story for another day!

It sounds like not everybody changes engine oil or lower unit oil every year. Am I missing something here? I’ve always had this done. Maybe that’s overkill but would like to hear what others do.

Dub

Alaskabound wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2019 11:06 pm It sounds like not everybody changes engine oil or lower unit oil every year. Am I missing something here? I’ve always had this done. Maybe that’s overkill but would like to hear what others do.

Dub

.
Hey Dub. We personally try to adhere to the Mercruiser Maintenance Manual schedule for our 2005 496.

This may vary depending on one's use of their boat (hours used, salt vs freshwater, etc.). That being said, we use our boat around 30-40 hours in freshwater --mostly for water sports. Annually is the trend for ours...Cheers.

Post EDIT: How many folks re-torque the steering shaft nut to the gimbal assembly annually/every 100 hours?

.

yeah, all fluids get changed annually, and plugs and impeller every 2 years.

Thanks guys. Since we no longer ski or even pull skiers, we don’t put as many hours on the engine (41 hrs in 3 seasons). I had it winterized yesterday, all fluids & first impeller changed.

Only mistake I made was looking at the new R5 on the showroom floor. Wow, gorgeous boat! Didn’t look at those boats when we bought. It had a 350 vp in it so I don’t have to worry about bb buying it first. Lol

Dub

Alaskabound wrote: Thu Nov 07, 2019 10:48 am Thanks guys. Since we no longer ski or even pull skiers, we don’t put as many hours on the engine (41 hrs in 3 seasons). I had it winterized yesterday, all fluids & first impeller changed.

Only mistake I made was looking at the new R5 on the showroom floor. Wow, gorgeous boat! Didn’t look at those boats when we bought. It had a 350 vp in it so I don’t have to worry about bb buying it first. Lol

Dub

You never knew Dub? But the 240 is my first choice then the 350 in that bad boy. Just do it Dub!!!!