More antifreeze talk

[illiniboarder88]

Ok guys, it's getting cold up here in the midwest, and now I'm getting a little nervous. I winterized my boat about a month ago, I think. I initially pulled it out of the water, drained it, and ran a bucket of antifreeze in it. . I then took out the plugs and let it drain again. I couldn't find a plug o the driver side block at that time. Very little came out of the passenger side block drain. It came pouring out of the manifolds and was very hot. About two weeks later, I went over to where I have it stored, and I found the plug on the driver side block. I pulled the plug and it was basically dry. So, I put the plugs back in, hooked up a bucket of antifreeze and ran about 10 gallons of antifreeze through it. I drained, and very little came out the passenger side block, and a few drips came out the driver's side. I repeated this process and again, very little came out of the block. Basically none on the driver's side, and only a little stream on the passenger side. I caught the bit from the passenger side in a cup, and it was pink. That made me feel good at the time, but now that it's getting cold, I'm getting a little nervous. Is there a good reason there shouldn't have been more fluid in the block? Also, i hear people saying to take off the upper hose and dump antifreeze down it. are you disconnecting at the top of the block right by the thermostat, or are you disconnecting it down off of the housing that the intake hose from the thruhull is on?
Thanks

[chpthril]

Two things you need to look at:

1st, you may have sediment blocking the block drains - the water/antifreeze is there, just not able to flow out.

2nd, if you are not warming up the engine on water first, then the thermostat is closed and most, if not all of your 10gal of antifreeze by-passed the engine and went right to the manifolds and out the exhaust.

The main thing is to make sure that all the water is out of the engine, manifolds, trans cooler, and V-drive if your are unsure that you got a good saturation of antifreeze.

[illiniboarder88]

i agree chp. I ran some wire up in there to check for sediment, and I got a little, but still no pouring out of the block. I'm confident about everything but the block, which is the most important piece. I could dump antifreeze down into the block, but if in theory it is full, would any get down there. I'm confident that there is antifreeze in the passenger side as i could see it trickling out. The driver's side seemed to be pretty much bone dry. That being said, if there is antifreeze on the other side, some should have made it into the driver's side. Any suggestions? Also, how long do you think it would have to be cold for before there is a problem. It's in a barn with the canvas on, but temps bottomed out around 22 the other night.

[zad0030]

Did you let the engine run up to operating temp?

[illiniboarder88]

the first time, yes. The second time, I ran it up to 120. The first time, i ran it over to the launch wide open. When I pulled the plug, very little water came out.

[noworries]

How about putting a 75-100 watt incandescent light in the bilge and control it with one of these:


They go on at 35 degrees and off at 45. Thermostatic outlet

[Domsz06]

How about putting a 75-100 watt incandescent light in the bilge and control it with one of these:


They go on at 35 degrees and off at 45. Thermostatic outlet

that's what I do and it keeps my block a toasty 50 degrees even when it's 20 outside. I know we don't get the continued cold that you get, but the lightbulb trick is amazing and it's cheap.

Just an idea.

[lee]

You need to take the drain plugs out and unblock the stoppage not just for winter but for the flow of water.

[illiniboarder88]

How do you recommend doing that? I ran a wire up in there, but i'm out of other ideas. Any suggestions?

[lee]

You need something with some stiffness, maybe like a coat hanger or small bristle brush.

Once the hanger is inserted you will need to rotate 360* to make sure nothing is blocking the passage.

[illiniboarder88]

How far up into the block will I need to shove the hanger? i was also considering an air compressor with an airgun fitting. Would that possibly help?

[illiniboarder88]

Well, I went out to where I have my boat stored yesterday and messed with the block drains some more. I put a screwdriver up there and then used a piece of hanger. Then I pulled the thermostat and dumped in some antifreeze. It flowed nicely out of one of the drains (passenger side), but I'm still not getting it to flow out of the drain on the driver's side. This leaves me with a couple of questions. 1. The blue plug on that side of the engine is kind of behind the knock sensor. I was having difficulty getting a hanger very far in there. If I pulled the knock sensor, would I have a straight shot into the block like on the other side? 2. How does the cooling system for the block work? I know water is circulated in there, but how does it circulate? I saw that there appears to be an opening on both sides under the thermostat. Is that the place of entry and exit of cooling water for each side of the block, or are both sides of the block connected down low?

[lee]

You could take the knock sensor wire off and the unscrew the complete "t" fitting and see if there is some blockage in the fitting or in the block of the engine.

[noworries]

The sea water pump provides lake water to the engine, and also continuously through the exhaust manifolds to keep them cool. The engine has a water pump on the front, below the thermostat, that circulates the water through the block and heads. The thermostat keeps that water in the engine until the water reaches operating temperature. The thermostat then opens and bleeds off hot water through the exhaust manifolds which is in turn replaced with new cool lake water.

Each half of the engine is separately cooled; the water comes together at the thermostat via the intake manifold and water pump.

Its possible you have some sediment build-up in the one side of the block. The drains are at the low point of the blocks' water passages.

[dogbert]

You could take the knock sensor wire off and the unscrew the complete "t" fitting and see if there is some blockage in the fitting or in the block of the engine.

What about using some sort of compressed air back through the fitting? That should stir up any contents that might have settled enough to get the flow going.