Missing drain plugs???

[scotty83]

Leaving for Afghanistan in a few days so I have to put the boat to sleep early. I went through the how to stuff and found a lot of winterization threads but I seem to be missing some drain plugs on both sides of the motor and are replaced with a 3 way valve looking thing that goes to the raw water pump. any idea why it is different? Just want to make sure I winterize it right. Thanks in advance.

[whitlock87]

I do not drain my engine; I run some antifreeze through it instead.
This helps to keep the corrosion to a min,

[shawndoggy]

I do not drain my engine; I run some antifreeze through it instead.
This helps to keep the corrosion to a min,

lol guys who live in west covina can afford to be lazy and not worry about freeze damage. People who don't drain and do antifreeze only tend to be the ones coming back in the spring because their oil looks like a chocolate shake.

To the OP... hard to know without seeing where those hoses go, but could they go to a heater?

Pull those hoses and let 'er drain fo sho.

[scotty83]

I have got about 2 or 3 quarts of water out so far from the plugs I do have. I will get back in the boat and take the hoses off and see if I can get more out. Just wasnt something I expected to see when I was working on it. thanks for the replies.

[shawndoggy]

you should see gallons

[scotty83]

Alright, I figured out the missing plug mystery. I have a 3 point manual drain system. It allows me to drain the water out of the motor by pulling 3 plugs when out of the water or four if still in the water. Just thought I would update this with my findings. Here is a diagram of where my plugs are and a link to a manual for draining the 3 point system.


http://www.mercurymarine.com/_media/...71-Storage.pdf