Winterizing Question

With all the water drained out, 0 gallons of antifreeze would be fine. Some drain only and have no problems. I only use about a 1/2 gallon per boat simply as a extra "just in case" there's some water still in a block. 5 gallons is just wasting money.

Chris,
Go into the reference section and find the Chrysler manual. Download it as you should have it anyway. You'll find a section in it on layup and it will show you all the drain locations. However, the 318 has the typical plugs on each side of the block, one in each exhaust manifold and then one at the bottom of the RWP.

Catching antifreeze in buckets until the engine is hot sounds like an incredible amount of work for no reason. At the marina, we run the motor on water until it is all warmed up, change the oil, and then run it again. you can tell if the thermostat is open by feeling the housing until it is toasty. you can also generally assume that it is open after a while of running the motor. When you have determined the thermostat to be open, water to the engine is turned off, and 5 gal of antifreeze (-100F) is turned on and let run through the engine. while it is running through, we like to fog the motor. when the antifreeze is almost out, you fog the hell out of it and choke it out. finished. I do not understand why antifreeze is such a waste of money and unnecessary. I personally cannot afford to risk not draining the motor completely or something unforeseen happening and ruining the motor. a 100 gallons of antifreeze is a hell of a lot cheaper than a new engine.

It is open when the boat has warmed to normal operating tempature. to maintain the tempature, the thermostat must be open for cooling. I suppose you could remove the thermostat all together if you doubt it being open. -100 im sure can be found anywhere. we get it in 55 gallon barrels. good stuff

Michael,
I've been around alot longer than yourself. I'd like to tell you that draining only was the normal proceedure since the advent of the water cooled engine up until I'd say the early 70's. Some marinas and many individuals still drain only. Why do you discourage the practice? The use of antifreeze certainly became popular when problems came up with cracked blocks, manifolds, etc. It is added insurance so hopefully there won't be a problem.

Some will say using using all that antifreeze is so the block will completely fill and add corrosion protection. Does it really do much good? You will never get it completely full especially by pumping. Also keep in mind plain old water sits in it all summer.

Waste of money? Yes if more is used than is needed. Of course the marinas don't care - what's the going rate for winterizing at your marina?? Now, that's a real waste of money when a capable individual can do it himself.

I still feel the pour in method is just as easy if not easier as the pump through. You still need to remove a hose but you don't need to mess with buckets. The real plus is you don't need to worry about the thermostat being open. The antifreeze will backfill via the block lower porting. Think about this: What happens when the cold antifreeze hits the T stat? Tim is over coming the problem by recirculation hot antifreeze. Lots of work, yes!

Collecting the antifreeze in two buckets and pouring into a 5 gallon bucket and sitting that bucket in the boat and sticking a hose in it and cranking the boat and letting it pull that out of the bucket say about three times takes about 10 minutes max. Wow, you call that work. I also check the freezing point on that which comes out. The thermostat doesn't stay open very long, I like to make sure what's inside and it has mixed with the water already in the boat, which has ran on a fake a lake long enough that I have seen steam a least twice. If you hold your hand in the water coming out the back, you can tell when the thermostat has opened, and it's not very long. I've done it this way since 1989.

I winterize a friend's Wildcat as he has gotten too old to do it himself anymore. He has operated and maintained heavy equipment all his life. He bought the Wildcat new in 1966 and always winterized it by sucking anti freeze through the through hull. One year after doing it this way for over 20 years his thermostat didn't open up and now he has Ford rather than Chrysler power because he cracked his block.

I drain and pour anti freeze in through the thermostat housing. After I drain the water, I re install the plugs and pour a 1/2 gallon in and drain the anti freeze out. Then I re install the plugs and fill with antio freeze.

I'd like to add that testing the freeze protection is a critical step if not draining and using the pump through method. If using standard AF, you can use the standard hydrometer but with RV, you must use a refractometer.

one thing i am afraid to do is not drain and just pull antifreeze in, to risky, it is possible to get a pocket of water that wont mix with the AF.
i drain them and use 2 gallons of anti-freeze which keeps the cost down or I would use 4 times the amount of AF, thats me though.
at the minimum draining the block is sufficient to avoid a cracked block

Tim D wrote: You ran it through by the raw water pump? If the thermostat isn't open, it will just spit it out the exhaust.

As Pete mentioned, if the blocks drained of water then A/F will fill the block whether the T-stat is open or not.

FWIW I drain mine, then throw a hose on the trans cooler input leading into a 5 gal bucket of AF. Start the boat, shut it off when it's empty. Nothing comes out the exhausts- everything just fills up nicely. Then I fog the cylinders individually (GT40 EFI). I also blow out the heater and blow some AF into it specifically for good measure.

This year I was a moron and left one of my quick disconnects for the heater disconnected while the engine sucked up the A/F- quite the spill of A/F in my driveway. I use Sierra PG-based A/F.

WhiteLakeSkier wrote: generally people that have boats have enough money where a couple hundred dollars is not much to winterize there toy.

Some of us don't have the money! People coming to this site are asking for help so, as Mike put it, your advice is "idiotic"

WhiteLakeSkier wrote: forget fooling around with buckets or finding all the plugs and then pouring in AF.

You just don't seem to get the point! Even if you are using -100F RV, how do you really know if it has completely mixed? Do you use a refractometer to check any of the mix in the block?

WhiteLakeSkier wrote: if it never opens since it is really cold out, then just remove it. I think it is easier to hook up a hose and be done with it.

Well now you've added a extra step to the process!! Remove the T stat housing and then what? Go get a new gasket! R&R the T stat twice!!

WhiteLakeSkier wrote: no one has the time to do everything, it is easier to pay someone. we make money off of the using the antifreeze.

Time? Many will make the time especially when the marinas charge so much!!

Have you ever seen the procedures as printed in the engine manuals? Maybe you should get in touch with Indmar, PCM, Chrysler, Interceptor, Graymarine, Crusader, Chris Craft and Mercruiser and set them straight!!

BTW, most computers have what is called the "shift" key. It changes the first letter of sentences to capitals!!

TRBenj wrote: Riley wrote: I winterize a friend's Wildcat as he has gotten too old to do it himself anymore. He has operated and maintained heavy equipment all his life. He bought the Wildcat new in 1966 and always winterized it by sucking anti freeze through the through hull. One year after doing it this way for over 20 years his thermostat didn't open up and now he has Ford rather than Chrysler power because he cracked his block. Pete, I think Bruce's example says it all, wouldnt you agree?

Absolutely!

That was for Eric...I know how he likes the foam!!!!

WhiteLakeSkier wrote: i suppose since i have never been in an accident i might as well not where a seat belt.

I find this comment ^^^ (and your punctuation) analogous to YOUR method of winterization.

I feel anyone who reads this thread can take the bullet points, and figure out the proper way to protect their block. If they can't, they should take it to a dealer.
I think you guys are scaring AirCanada into never posing another question.
BTW, where did Chris (79) go?