"The Pink Stuff" vs Draining

[dogbert]

Now, here are my questions: 1. One of my plugs is a knock sensor, what is the best way to remove this? It seemed a little sensitive and felt like it could bend. It appears that a 7/8ths socket would fit on it.

There should be a plug attached to the knock sensor. There's no reason to remove the knock sensor itself. You should have a blue plug that just twists off.

[chpthril]

I drain, fill, drain, fill, drain. I typically leave the block empty. My theory is that if anything is in there at that point, it should be antifreeze. As for the trans, is this a maintenance issue or a freezing issue? I planned on doing the trans in the spring, but if I have to worry about water in there, I could try to do it now. I assume that the cooling system circulates water through the trans cooler whenever the boat is running and not only when it is in gear, right?

I agree 100%, it should not freeze. As for the trans, it's a maintenance item, once a season or 100hrs is a good interval. I dont see a thing wrong with doing the trans in Spring, I just like to do all that I can i Fall, and be ready to ride come Spring. The trans should have a cooler and it's probably in-line of the raw water hose. If you are running 2 cycles of antifreeze through the fake-a-lake, you should be fine.

[illiniboarder88]

Thanks for the responses. I don't know how to post pics posted by others, so I'm going to provide a link to a previous thread. In that pic, it shows a knock sensor on the starboard side of the engine. I'm assuming that is the block drain on that side of the engine, but maybe I am incorrect.

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/show...t=knock+sensor

My boat has 5 blue plugs. Port side: fuel cooler, manifold, and engine block.
Starboard side: manifold, and one on the hose leading towards the thermostate. There is no block drain, so I assumed it was the knock sensor.

[illiniboarder88]

oh, and I should ad, I'm just going straight through the raw water line. I remove the hose from the through hull, clamp in a fitting, and hook it to a 5 gallon bucket of antifreeze.

[dogbert]

Thanks for the responses. I don't know how to post pics posted by others, so I'm going to provide a link to a previous thread. In that pic, it shows a knock sensor on the starboard side of the engine. I'm assuming that is the block drain on that side of the engine, but maybe I am incorrect.

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/show...t=knock+sensor

My boat has 5 blue plugs. Port side: fuel cooler, manifold, and engine block.
Starboard side: manifold, and one on the hose leading towards the thermostate. There is no block drain, so I assumed it was the knock sensor.

I think I remember you saying you had a Merc. There should be a blue plug coming out of your knock sensor, which should be on the engine block. Sometimes the blue plugs break (I had one break on my while riding). You'll need to feel under the brass fitting for the sensor to see what's there. It's kind of a pain to get to on my boat.

[off2board]

The hose you want would be the one from the raw-water pump to the Thermostat housing on top of the block. Some guys even pull the thermo out and pour it in, may require a gasket but they are cheap and can even be made for near nothing if you are handy with an exacto-knife, you can buy sheets of gasket material from most any auto parts store.

If you pull this hose off and fill with antifreeze, Id suspect you would only be able to fill it with about a gallon. I would think that you would need to run more than that.

[illiniboarder88]

Dog, you are correct, it is a Merc, so I'd assume it is the same as your engine. Nonetheless, I did not find a plug under there yesterday. I'll have to go over and check it out. I'm assuming you haven't ever pulled the knock sensor, since there is no need to do so? I ran one round of antifreeze through it, so I should be good for a while. I'll run over to the barn and check it out one of these saturdays.

[chpthril]

If you pull this hose off and fill with antifreeze, Id suspect you would only be able to fill it with about a gallon. I would think that you would need to run more than that.

Sorry for the confusion, I'm not talking about filling the hose, but using the hose to fill the engine which would need probably 3+ gallons.

[illiniboarder88]

The engine holds well in excess of a gallon. I'd think chpthril's estimate of 3+ is pretty good. I think maybe even closer to 4.

[zad0030]

When you poor in that anti-freeze you would be surprised at how much water is left in there after draining.

[off2board]

Got it. So as you are filling the hose (going to the thermostat housing) are you running the engine at the same time. I would suspect you would need to cycle the antifreeze through. But on top of that...dont you have to wait for the engine to be warm enough to open the thermostat?
Going this route doesnt get any antifreeze to the vdrive unit..I take it you just pull the plugs on it and call it good?

[zad0030]

When I did this I did not go through the thermostat nor was the engine running. We just popped a funnel in the hose and poured antifreeze in. It filters its way through the engine and pushes water out at the drain plugs, which we reinstall as pink starts flowing. All you gotta do is keep dumping it in until you think you have gotten to the block, and 4 gallons should be PLENTY.

[chpthril]

Got it. So as you are filling the hose (going to the thermostat housing) are you running the engine at the same time. I would suspect you would need to cycle the antifreeze through. But on top of that...dont you have to wait for the engine to be warm enough to open the thermostat?
Going this route doesnt get any antifreeze to the vdrive unit..I take it you just pull the plugs on it and call it good?

Dont do with engine running. No need to pre-warm engine. Either drain them or pull the inlet hose of the raw water pump and pour some down it to fill up the V-drive and trans cooler. Hopefully someone that does it this way will chime in with some more insight.

*EDIT* Thanks Zad

[Timmy!]

I just pulled the knock sensors and exhaust manifold plugs on mine today. This weekend I will fill with pink stuff. I am planning on using a 5 gallon bucket with a hose attachment on the bottom that will connect to the fake-a-lake and let it pick up the liquid that way. I think this will let the pink stuff make it's way into everything except for the heater core which I will do separate.

[illiniboarder88]

Timmy, what did you do to remove the knock sensors?

Zad is right that a lot of water drains out. I was surprised at how long it took the block to drain. The manifolds went real fast.