Draining the block

[dogbert]

He forgot to put on his board shorts...seriously, doesn't he look like he's wearing street clothes?

[thtrog]

He is wearing a Jet Pilot shorty wet-suit with his board shorts over. Those are shorts he bought in CA with a zipper and pockets - needless to say he started wearing them and others to school. We have to be part owners of JP by now.

We went out this afternoon and took our boat - air temp 73, water 59.
Note to self - check each blue plug when you pull them. I went to install them back today and one was missing the o-ring.... finally found it in the bilge.

[dogbert]

We went out this afternoon and took our boat - air temp 73, water 59.
Note to self - check each blue plug when you pull them. I went to install them back today and one was missing the o-ring.... finally found it in the bilge.

We were out as well.

As for the blue plugs, go to your dealer and get a 6-pack of them. They can also break off. I always carry extra just in case. It's a bad day when one breaks and you don't have one. (I stole one from my friend's Tige...he doesn't use it much).

[zad0030]

Ill tell you what, Mercruiser did a great job with that blue plug draining system.

[illiniboarder88]

Not with mine, my block drains so slow

[TRD]

We went out yesterday too. Water seemed a lot warmer them 59°, but we have a power plant also. We got a couple of hours in surfing. I must say that it was nice to pull the boat out, pull all the plugs and drain the system right there. I still have to winterize my boat by changing oil and some other things but now I know that we can go out and play pull the boat and drain the block right then.

I have an off topic question for you guys. We only surfed yesterday, this is the 2nd time out w/ the new FAE on the boat. It seemed very sluggish when we first got out. We surfed for about 1 1/2 to 2 hrs straight. I noticed some black smoke when I would back off of the throttle when we fell. On our way back to the dock the boat died. Would not start again. NOTE: I have about 800-900lbs of weight on the passenger side, and I noticed my gas gauge is on "E". I drain the water (get boat level again) and now gas gauge is at 1/2 tank. We noticed that the flap on the throttle wasn't opening very well. We held it open and it fired. I have and EFI system, and noticed some carbon on top of the flap. I plan on cleaning it. Can I spray carb. cleaner down there? Could this be a throttle cable problem? I also remember reading (couldn't find it) about it you surf for a long time at low speed it may not be good for the engine. Once we got it up to 25-30mph she seemed to run ok. Any suggestions?

Thanks

[thtrog]

We went to Belews a couple Sundays ago and the water was in the upper
70's - very nice. We thought about going yesterday, but the time change would have pushed us to get there and back.

I cleaned my flame arrester and the throttle body with carb cleaner earlier this year as preventive maintenance. It did a good job removing all the carbon build-up. I not sure of the brand, but picked it up at Pro Marine in Burlington - I'm sure Dave would tell you if you give him a call. Have you changed your fuel filter / water separator this year?

[dogbert]

I ran some Sea Foam through my gas. I added 2 pints to a full tank of gas and man, what a difference. There was a noticeable power increase after just a couple of hours of running. That Sea Foam stuff is incredible. It removes varnish, carbon, etc. I definitely recommend it. I added it to my truck to, helped there as well. Really noticed a difference pulling my big fat Tige up the hills in Austin.

[TRD]

We went to Belews a couple Sundays ago and the water was in the upper
70's - very nice. We thought about going yesterday, but the time change would have pushed us to get there and back.

I cleaned my flame arrester and the throttle body with carb cleaner earlier this year as preventive maintenance. It did a good job removing all the carbon build-up. I not sure of the brand, but picked it up at Pro Marine in Burlington - I'm sure Dave would tell you if you give him a call. Have you changed your fuel filter / water separator this year?

Yes, I do this after I run my 1st tank out in the beginning of the year. I plan on cleaning my flame arrester and oiling up my cables.

Thanks dog, I will look that stuff up.

[TRD]

I ran some Sea Foam through my gas. I added 2 pints to a full tank of gas and man, what a difference. There was a noticeable power increase after just a couple of hours of running. That Sea Foam stuff is incredible. It removes varnish, carbon, etc. I definitely recommend it. I added it to my truck to, helped there as well. Really noticed a difference pulling my big fat Tige up the hills in Austin.

So you are just putting this in the gas? I seen some video's about putting some of it through the engine, do you do this also or not?

I also have a EFI engine w/ multi port injection? would this matter?

Thanks

[MoneyPity]

Winterizw with Pink Antifreeze.

Drain the block of all water, remove one heater hose from block and blow air into the hose. Install hose and all of your blue plugs. Remove largest hose from the thermostat housing and pour 2.5 gallons of pink antifreeze into hose, install hose then go inside and eat a bite of dinner.

Thanks Lee. A much better suggestion than my dealer walked me thru.

[lee]

Thanks Lee. A much better suggestion than my dealer walked me thru.

No problem, just trying to help a brotha out.

[bordo380]

Hey guys. It's my first winterize on my boat. It's sat in a garage with a light in the bilge its entire life until now.
It's 1998 pre2200i WT.
I searched these threads for a month or so and have yet to find how many blue drain plugs these engines have. I pulled 5 yesterday and wanted to make sure I got them all. (No shower) I'm trying to find an online schematic but can't seem to find correct year. Thanks as always this forum has been a great help.

[lee]

Hey guys. It's my first winterize on my boat. It's sat in a garage with a light in the bilge its entire life until now.
It's 1998 pre2200i WT.
I searched these threads for a month or so and have yet to find how many blue drain plugs these engines have. I pulled 5 yesterday and wanted to make sure I got them all. (No shower) I'm trying to find an online schematic but can't seem to find correct year. Thanks as always this forum has been a great help.

If your engine is EFI i believe it should be six, carb engine will be five.

[bordo380]

Thanks Lee. I need to go look for number 6 I guess. A lot of my friends here in Texas do the pink anti freeze only. I'm going to dump some in the large hose like you mentioned. I assume that's the return...
Thanks so much.