Busting hoses while winterizing!

[talltigeguy]

Since this morning was the second morning at a low temp of 15 degrees or so at my house, I decided it would be wise to drain the engine and heater.

The MP 340 5.7L engine is a piece of cake to drain and I am very thankful for that. The part I keep struggling with is the heater hoses. One of them (on top) is pretty easy to get to and get off. The one near the transom is hard to reach and hard to get a handle on. Last year I ripped the hose trying to get it off, and this year did the same. I would love any idea about how to lube it up so that it will come off easier in the future, but not put it at risk of coming off prematurely and filling the boat with water. Luckily the hose has a few inches of slack in it, but at this rate, it will not last very long, especially if I make a few winter runs and have to do this again. Any ideas?

[talltigeguy]

This sticker is on the side of my engine...Do I have a catalytic converter?

[talltigeguy]

When I look at the thread, why does the Emissions sticker picture show and the busted hoses pictures don't? Maybe I need to go back to just one pic at a time...

[dogbert]

Since this morning was the second morning at a low temp of 15 degrees or so at my house, I decided it would be wise to drain the engine and heater.

The MP 340 5.7L engine is a piece of cake to drain and I am very thankful for that. The part I keep struggling with is the heater hoses. One of them (on top) is pretty easy to get to and get off. The one near the transom is hard to reach and hard to get a handle on. Last year I ripped the hose trying to get it off, and this year did the same. I would love any idea about how to lube it up so that it will come off easier in the future, but not put it at risk of coming off prematurely and filling the boat with water. Luckily the hose has a few inches of slack in it, but at this rate, it will not last very long, especially if I make a few winter runs and have to do this again. Any ideas?

What I used to do on my old I/O was warm the engine up a bit using a fake-a-lake type product and that made things easier. Alternatively, try using a hair dryer to warm up just that section of hose. Other than that, I have no good suggestions. You may want to consider cutting the hose to put a drain valve in to make it easier in the future.

[raythompson]

What I used to do on my old I/O was warm the engine up a bit using a fake-a-lake type product and that made things easier. Alternatively, try using a hair dryer to warm up just that section of hose. Other than that, I have no good suggestions. You may want to consider cutting the hose to put a drain valve in to make it easier in the future.

Go to Autozone or any other auto parts place. They sell a hose lubricant specifically for radiator hoses. Use that on the end and it should be OK. The clamp is what keeps the hose on the nipple, the lubricant keeps the hose from sticking to the nipple.

[chpthril]

Here is what I use to loosen the grip on hoses. It's intended purpose is a cotter pin puller.

Carefully slide the end under the hose, between the hose and nipple, and work it all the way around the nipple. This will break the hose loose.

No Cat yet, maybe by 2010? It's a combination of camshaft grind(valve timing,valve overlap, lobe lift), ignition timing and fuel delivery that make them burn clean enough to qualify.

[Matt Garcia]

tall, are you taking the hoses of in the engine compartment for your heater? What is your normal process of doing it? I was shown that I could take off the two hoses from the heater coil and blow compressed air down the two tubes as well as the hoses. This is after I pulled the knock sensors and drain plugs on my engine. Just curious what your method is.

I wish winterizing my MP 360 was easy, its pretty painfull especially with the battery box and pump box in my storage areas, it really makes for limited space. I also have a reallly hard time unscrewing a tiny little nut that is near impossible to get any type of tool in. Of course I forgot what it was going to, it was the starboard side of the engine, I was just told to unscrew it.

Oh and the image attachements will be updated this weekend.

[talltigeguy]

Thanks for the ideas. If I keep up the winter habit, I think a valve would be the easiest way to get it drained quickly.

What valve would I need that would be heat resistant enough? A brass valve? One that I can get an air hose into to blow it out.

I know that Indmar has add cats to their 5.7L engine now. There is a reference to their press release on www.skiboatdeaths.com.

[dogbert]

What valve would I need that would be heat resistant enough? A brass valve? One that I can get an air hose into to blow it out.

I would go with brass...I can't imagine the heat being too extreme.

[Razzman]

I would buy a cooling system flush kit for a car(which are cheap) that mounts in your hose or a brass dump valve as some have said.

Use liquid dish soap to lube the hoses, it drys up after about ten minutes with no ill affects.

[yllw20]

ray said nipple in his post .... hee hee hee

[bfrank]

Wow that www.skiboatdeaths.com has some pretty sad stories. I sit on the platform all the time when the kids are skiing just incase I need to jump in right away.

[talltigeguy]

I suppose I could disconnect the hoses at the heater core itself, but I would expect to get water all over the carpet in the compartment in front of the driver's feet and it would take forever to dry out in the winter. Seems like it would be a bear to reach them where mine is mounted.

I think I have raised some questions that will help to reveal some ignorance here. This is my process for draining the engine:

I remove the bolt on the bottom of the engine on the port side (water comes out), then unscrew the blue plastic piece (water comes out) on the port side. Then on the starboard side, I remove the knock sensor and remove that bolt and then the other blue plastic piece on that side. I then remove the hoses that go to the heater and blow air through them until only air comes out the other end. Then I am done, (I think). I have never removed the water from any other areas of the engine. I don't usually worry about rust too much because it won't sit for too long without getting ran again. The longest it sat last year was about 2 months. Maybe that was too long and I will consider getting a fakealake and putting antifreeze in.

You guys remove water from the tranny cooler? Where is that? Should I be doing that?

Skiboatdeaths.com did forget to mention that pretty much everyone who died was not wearing a life jacket, but that is another thread all by itself. They may have inhaled some lethal carbon monoxide, but the 30 minute rest on the bottom of the lake did not help them very much.

[raythompson]

ray said nipple in his post .... hee hee hee

Yeh, I should have been more accurate and said "thinga-ma-jiggy".

[spharis]

My boat has an "Ultra Low Emissions" engine. Is there still a risk of CO poisoning?
The Ultra Low Emissions standards do NOT cover Carbon Monoxide. So far, we have only conducted a brief test of CO concentrations behind an Ultra Low Emissions rated boat and the CO concentrations appeared to be as high as any other inboard boat that we've tested. If you have an Ultra Low Emissions boat, do not be lulled into a false sense of security; your engine still produces lethal levels of CO.