Winterizing (rookie) Question:

[FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack]

'67 Barrelback, 302 Ford, Volvo 270:

I disconnected the hose between the outdrive and the hull fitting and connected it to a hose that I dropped into a 5 gal bucket of antifreeze.
Ran the engine until most of the bucket was sucked up.
Now, do I need to worry that the engine wasn't up to temp. enough for the thermostat to open? Is there anywhere that the antifreeze needed to get to that it might have missed???

Sorry for the dumb questions, but the boat's put away now and I just read the other post on winterizing. Plus, I never did trace the path of the cooling system so I haven't quite got it straight in my head yet.

FR :p

[blackhawk]

I am no expert here but I always make sure the engine is good and warm so the thermostat is open so the antifreeze goes through the whole system.

[Boat_Mon]

Can't you just pull the thermostat to be sure it circulates throughout?

[blackhawk]

Yes, you can pull the thermostat too.

I always run mine to get the stabil through the fuel system and get it warm enough to change the oil, then when I restart it I run the antifreeze through it.

[MOP]

Running anti freeze through from drive or hull pickup should be done with the "thermostat removed" and the block and manifolds drained, the thermostat closes as soon as the cold anti freeze hits it leaving fresh water it the block to freeze!

The best way to winterize an engine is to do all of you winter prep first, put fuel stabilizer in gas tank, run engine to temp on hose, change oil and filter, fuel filters. Fog out engine use real fogging oil no matter what anyone says it is designed for the job, loosen belts and grease all fittings while draining block and manifolds and oil cooler. Close all drain points now pull the thermostat and pour the anti freeze into the engine till full. Put housing back on and just snug bolts, I usually wire tie stat to hose. Pull hoses to manifolds and pour anti freeze through till it comes out the drive or transom. For boats with drive pumps pull coil wire and turn engine over in very short taps to drop water out of pump housing whether you pull it or not. Now disconnect and remove battery for proper storage, tickle charge off and on, use CRC or similar and spray everything in sight especially the pulleys so they don't become belt eaters. One more anal thing I do is to the carb, the vent or dump tubes on most carbs allow draining the gas out by using model airplane fuel tubing the thin clear stuff to syphon out any remaining simply slide it into the vent or J tube keep wiggling till it hits bottom then syphon out fuel, a dry carb will have less problems in the spring. Last but not least cover the carb with plastic and stuff rags in exhaust outlets. I recommend pulling the drive draining Vacuum & Pressure check and refill, a new impeller is a goos idea and cheap insurance, inspect and grease u joints check alignment in spring.

In the spring the first thing is check drive alignment, then put drive back on, pull rags from exhaust and plastic off carb, clean battery connections and check and clean ground connections on the block, install a fully charged battery and spray all connections with Pro Clean or similar this is a product that will keep connections clean and corrosion free, re-tension belts, check thermostat (it should open well before water boils in a pot on the stove crude but effective) reinstall with new gasket, hook up water to engine or drive. With the coil wire grounded crank it over till oil pressure gauge shows some pressure everything is pretty dry by spring, this also allows the carb to refill for an easy start up. Now install new or cleaned and gapped plugs "points if you have them", Fire it off, check ignition timing and inspect for leaks go over all hose connections.

[smokediver]

you should have parked it at 'poodles house ... :D

[RickR]

I'm with MOP. Drain block, manifolds and oil cooler before filling with antifreeze. I also drain large hose at circulating pump.

I fill block through thermostat housing, manifolds till it runs out exhaust tips and seawater hose till antifreeze runs out the drive.

[FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack]

Boy, I thought this was going to be easy.
Problem is, the boat's away at the storage barn, the battery's out and the carb is removed.
So now what? Open any drain hole I can find, pour antifreeze in the thermostat housing and hope for the best?

FR frown

[MOP]

Chase it down drain the block and fill it with 50/50 about 2 gallons will do it, I think the manifolds have been well treated! One drain on each side of the block, two seperate water chambers, the plugs or drain cocks are low one forward and one aft.

[FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack]

Thanks. :)

[blue-z]

Poke at those drain holes to get the slight amount of solidified sand that is holding in all that water up in there. Don't screw up over a few bucks. Remember oil coolers too. Have someone walk you through it or read up on the details.

[Team Jefe]

OK, I'm a little confused......What is winterizing? :D

[Craig]

Duh, just saw something (above) I hadn't thought of before. Just take the thermostat out when filling with anti-freeze! That would avoid having to get warmed up and then pour anti-freeze and fog carb all at approx. the same time. Kind of tricky (of course I've done it that way for about 18 years now). I've taken the thermostat housing off before to make sure there's some in there. That's easy.

Anybody ever tried the pink anti-freeze? The bottles show boat pictures and say "marine" on the label, but, if it's pink stuff, the small print says not to use with gas or diesel engines. What is it, ethelene (green) vs propylene (pink) glycol?? Something like that. I'm embarrassed to say I made that mistake one year. Seemed to actually work okay, but apparently not meant for that. More for marine or RV drinking water systems.

Went back to using the green stuff that kills fish at the ramp when you start 'er up in the spring. Also have heard dogs and cats like it, but it will kill them if they ingest it. Need to be a little careful with it.

I liked the PVC pipe system I saw here last year to collect or circulate what you use. I tried something like that once. Worked pretty good. I think I eventually threw out the pipes I made during a move.

[mjpcowboy]

They could be wrong but several marina's and boaters who winterize their own boats use the pink anti-freeze without any issue. I dont think I have seen anyone use anything else.

I think the warning is for you not to use in a radiator and has nothing to do with the cooling system on a boat.

As far as the thermostat closing as soon as the cool radiator fluid hits it I simply dont understand how that could be as it remains open when cool lake water hits it as long as the engine is warm. I keep plugs in, run about 5 gal. through the system until pink comes out the exhaust, and take out the plugs.

Does anyone have additional information on this? If the pink is wrong, I and many friends have been doing it wrong with no problems for several years. :rolleyes:

[MOP]

All the marinas in our area are switching to the PINK stuff, we just got 13 55 gallon jugs! It does a decent job of anti freezing, but has NO -0- rust retardant in it. As to the thermostat ? we had one of our mechanics thought he was real slick and did not drain just sucked the antifreeze through cracked about 10 blocks. Even if you drain the T stat will close as soon as the cold 50/50 mix hits it, it is there to regulate temp its opening position varies with temp it does not stay fully open, you would never get proper operating temp. Very little antifreeze will get into the block, heck try it if you are skeptical seeing is believing, you will get about a pint out of each side, should be near a gallon each side. Honest I would not kid you I have been doing this stuff for near 40 years.

[FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack]

Thanks for all the good advice guys. I'm heading up to the barn this weekend to rectify the situation. This means an extra trip to the country, but better safe than sorry!
If only I could fix the raceboat as easily. :rolleyes:

FR :p

[Craig]

Now I'm confused. I chimed in about the pink stuff because I was comparing ingreeeeeediants the other day when I bought the greeeeeeeeen anti-freeeeeeeeze and had seeeeeeen the small print about not being for use with gas or dieeeeeeesel engines. I know! They probably meant don't put it in the gas tank!! Seriously, the pink stuff's labels (2 different brands) did actually state that they had rust inhibitors. These were, I think, like, hmmm??? -- "Super Tech" and, oh shoot, I can't remember the other. Man, this was two whole days ago - I can't remember that far back! Prestone? No. Xerox? No, that's copiers. Xerex??? Maybe?
Anyway, as I said, I did use pink stuff before and everything seemed fine next season. Sounds like the consensus is that I "ain't right" about this.

I am pretty sure that, even though it's pink, Pepto Bismol won't work. It's a gas additive.

[Craig]

Oh man, I just drank a Mountain Dew. All I could think about was green anti-freeze!

I checked the ingredients...

IT HAS RUST INHIBITORS!!!!!!

...off to get my stomach pumped again... check back later.

[penbroke]

I believe the pink stuff is meant for storage (winterizing boats and RVs) and not for cooling systems. It likely is a poor coolant at high temps. It's a lot cheaper and maybe somewhat less toxic than the green stuff.

Frank
Still holding out.

[MOP]

I was told the stuff we have does in fact have rust inhibitor, this has been a good topic. Thanks Blue-z for adding about the block silt sometimes pluging the drains.

[MOP]

Got a few E-mails on the palatable anti freeze so I went out and read the labels, the Camco stuff we have is fine for storage only and is biodegradable and can be used in both the engine and water system! YUCK YUCK YUCK I would rather rust inside than drink rust inhibitor antifreeze water. Flush your tanks good in the spring!

[Blewbyu]

Hey,FR- OK to do it your way and just let it run 'till green comes out the exhaust!If it went in the front green, and came out the back green, guess what?you got it all.Takes 3 gallons.No need to pull the thermo.I just pull the suction hose off the fitting above the bellhousing, and hook on a clear hose that is angle cut on the suction end, and drop it into the 5 gal clear bucket.

[penbroke]

If the thermostat is not open the antifreeze will NOT flow thru the engine block and intake manifold. It will only flow thru the pumps, hoses and the exhaust manifolds and show up out the exhaust. Granted, some may make it's way into the engine but it won't be a complete exchange of water for antifreeze.

FR: Enjoy your bonus trip to VT. The foliage has improved in the past week. Call me if I can help. I expect to be around working on my project this weekend.

Frank
Not willing to gamble at -30F.

[smoothie]

M.O.P.:
Running anti freeze through from drive or hull pickup should be done with the "thermostat removed" and the block and manifolds drained, the thermostat closes as soon as the cold anti freeze hits it leaving fresh water it the block to freeze!
Mop,Have to disagree,My thought process is that if I have 50-55 deg water running to my boat from my garden hose and the water temp gage slowly climbs to 160 deg. and stays there( thermostat open ) and then I switch to my handy bucket of anti-freeze also at the same temp(50-55 deg.)I dont think the thermostat will have a clue that I did the switch and stay open wink

[smoothie]

And one other thing for the folks that have a TRS drive,If you do the drain everything method "be sure" to drain the fluid cooler on the trans,it has tubes that go inside the housing with water running thru.,just pouring anti-freeze in the thermostat opening simply wont make it way back to the tranny.

[MOP]

We never run the antifreeze through, we do the whole winterizing process on the hose oil & filter etc, fog out then drain and pour it in the stat housing making sure everything is full. The problem with running it through is the stat is only open enough to maintain operating temp, the colder the water the less the stat is open. It takes a time to fill the block, it will only ingest what the not to open stat will allow to get in there the rest goes out the exhaust. Drain one side of the block when you do it your way and you will only get out about a pint or two the block will not be full. Cast iron should be kept full of water or antifreeze or it will rot out prematurely.

[FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack]

Well, after driving five hours to VT, I found the block petcocks, opened them up and guess what came out: GREEN!
I guess the previous owner had removed the thermostat. I wanted to remove the t-stat housing to make sure, but one of the bolts is behing the water pump! What were those Ford guys smoking when they designed this engine???
It was too cold and too dark in the barn to yank all the hoses to reach that bolt just to satisfy my curiosity, so I left it alone.
At least I have peace of mind knowing there's green stuff in the block.

FR :p

[Blewbyu]

FR-Smoothie HAS IT RIGHT!Don't pull the thermo.If it doesn't work, I will personally eat Britney Spears shorts!

[Craig]

Winterized today. Has this happened to anybody yet?

I put pink anitfreeze in, but got green out the exhaust???

I have one of those early Holman Moody engines from the year they installed glycol converters. Only a few known to exist. Very Rare.

Just kidding.

[FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack]

I think what M.O.P. is getting at is that the thermostat at operating temp is in a state of hysteresis. That is to say that it fluctuates between open and closed in order to maintain temp. Therefore, there's no guarantee that it'll open at the moment you switch from hose water to the antifreeze bucket.
Am I getting warm? :D

FR :p