Is there anything wrong with starting your boat on the driveway and letting the water just shoot out instead of draining the block? Will that also blow all water out of the heater? <BR>I am talking about just starting it for a few seconds. I am also not talking about a complete winterization, but just to drain the block for a few days if it is going to be cold. <BR>Will it affect the impeller? Anything else? <BR> <BR>Thanks for your advise in advance... just looking for an easier way and can't figure out the negatives....

This will run your impeller dry, it doesn't take long for the impeller to be damaged when run dry.

still wont get all the water out of the places it needs to be out of. Need to just drain the block....as well as the heater hoses f you want them dry. Its a very simple process no more than 10min. after you get the dividers down. <BR>It does wear your impellar for sure if left running with no water or anti-freeze <BR> <BR>(Message edited by xstarrider on November 06, 2007)

when draining the heater you just pull off both hoses that are going into the heater? Pull one and blow into it? <BR>Anyone have any easy diagrams that show the drain plugs on the motor? Indamar Chevy 350 <BR>Thanks

just pull your intake hose off and stick in a bucket of anti-freeze. start engine and let it suck all the anti freeze mix into the engine. <BR> <BR>**DICLAIMER: no idea if antifreeze with make it to your heater core. so drain it or protect it somehow. same with ballast tanks and pumps.

In addition to shortening the life of the impeller, it would just be pumping air. It probably pushes some water out at first, but then just bubble up through the remaining water in the block/manifold cavities. I bet you'd end up having about 50% of the water still left in there.

RV antifreeze. Don't want Diggs to be killin' his cat!!

The heater core everyone keeps mentioning is that for the shower?

It's for the heater.....

ok i was able to do everything and yes it was pretty easy... the only thing i did not get completely done is the heater.... <BR>I was able to get the hose off the heater closest to the bow of the boat. the other one is in such a precarious position I could not get it off... <BR>quite a bit of water came out of the hose and the core. is that enough or do i have to get the other hose disconnected? suggestions? <BR>thanks

Diggs the drain plugs are easy to spot...Should be one on each side. <BR> <BR>Go to the bottom of the engine just in front of the oil pan.( well by in front I mean more towards the rear of the boat from the oil pan assuming you have V-Drive) You will see one that looks like a screw plug and on the opposite side you should have what they call a knock sensor in the plug hole, It has a wire attached to it in the exact same spot just on the other side. those are the 2 you need to remove. Just be careful if you pull them after you just ran the boat for a bit as the water that is going to come out is 160 plus degrees.

Doh beat me to the post.. <BR> <BR>As for the heater to be safe you really should get to the second one. Kind of confused though.....You have 2 heaters? of was it just another connection spot?. Heater cores are known to go very quick by us in the winters if not done correctly. If it is just another connection then don't sweat it...just blow some aire through the line to get the rest of the water out. If it is another heater than I would highly suggest getting that disconnected for sure

Diggs, normally if you have two heaters in a boat they are hooked up in series with hot water running from before the thermostat to the first heater, then out and to the second heater, then back to the water circulation pump. <BR>If that's the case then when you blow or suck one dry the other is done too. <BR>If you have a second heater on separate plumbing you have to drain that also. <BR>It's easiest to take the lines off at the engine, usually. <BR> <BR>(Message edited by rallyart on November 06, 2007)

It only has one heater. Just two lines running to it. I assume one is an intake and one is an outflow, but not sure which is which.... I can't get the hose off the second one just cause of the position it is in and can't get my head in there far enough to blow through it. I will try to rig a contraption to blow air through it. <BR>Thanks for all your help.....!!

Diggs, I got a small compressor that will work. Let me know if you need it and I can bring it over!!

dude... might be an excuse to see you since we only see you once a year.... i have one too... i will be able to get it squared away, but if it is an excuse to get away and tell the wife you need to help out, lets do it...

Twice a year! Boat show is coming up. Where are we going to stash the beers this year?

if i am thinking correctly there are also heater hoses on the motor those need to be drained also

I just pulled both hoses off the heater and forced air through the pipes on the heater and then through the hoses. The plugs (pet cock screws) on the black scorpion (8) are all blue and are easy to find not to mention that they are displayed in the owners manual. The Walter V drive was labeled and pretty easy to do as well.

do i have to drain the v drive too? if so where is that plug?

I don't mean to single you out or anything Diggs because I hear this all the time but why do so many people have a problem with just unscrewing the petcocks and pulling a hose or two? It's EASY. At most you need a wrench and a flat head. The only problem is finding out where they are on your particular engine, but once you figure that out it's at most a 15 minute job. Why even bother trying to run the engine while dry, run antifreeze through muffs or a fake-a-lake, or anything else that won't even guarantee the water gets out of the engine properly. It's just not worth risking your block over.

dante, not all of us are mechanics... hence the reason for the questions and this forum. To learn.... I learned a ton from this post alone and have drained my block and done all that. I can say yes it was easy and I will pass that along to others and not criticize them for not knowing how to do it.

Diggs, I did drain my V-drive but almost no water came out and since I was near 100 hours I changed the oil in it. The manual recommends that we do it at 100 and 500 hours or once a year. OT post your boat on BC's Craigslist with the exchange their saving 10% off. <BR> <BR>Dante, I think people just dont want to F up their 50-60k investment.

<i>"I don't mean to single you out or anything..." </i> but I'm going to anyway. <BR> <BR>Classy Dante. Go drain your i/o, I mean, how hard could that be? HnP has it right, people don't want to miss a hose, plug, or petcock and ruin a block, manifold, heater core, v-drive, shower, etc. It is not as easy as you imagine it to be.

10 sec on dry start good bye impeller. I felt so dumb

Diggs, I'm not a mechanic either. Hate N Pain and Doug are right to be worried about messing up a big investment. That's why doing things by the book is so important, even if it's not the easiest way and especially if you're not entirely sure of what you're doing. If there's anything I'm criticizing you for, it's taking shortcuts. Knowhow has nothing to do with it. <BR> <BR>I did miss your post actually asking for drain plug locations and for that I apologize. I could've helped you out there. You've already found them now I take it but the 350 is covered by the Merc manual set, which you can get online at: <a href="http://www-alt.mercurymarine.com/mnetdata/sisdata/srvcovr.pdf" target="_blank">http://www-alt.mercurymarine.com/mnetdata/sisdata/srvcovr.pdf</a> The drain plug locations are specific to the block so they should be the same across all 350s of a given vintage. You might want to doublecheck that you got them all. <BR> <BR>A lot of people swear by nacho's winterization method but it's a terrible gamble (and it takes longer since you have to get the engine to running temp to open the thermostat). Places like West Marine even sell "winterization" kits to work with the anitfreeze-in-a-bucket method. It's just a bad idea with too many possible points of failure. <BR> <BR>Doug, are you really pointing out my lack of class and making fun of my boat in the same breath?

What do you think Dante? <BR> <BR>I was simply making a blanket statement and trying to be as condescending as possible. Similar to your post... <BR> <BR>A dude was simply asking for some help, and you proceeded to get into his chili. Thanks for contributing to the thread. <BR> <BR>Diggs- <BR>Check out Discount Inboard Marine at <a href="http://www.skidim.com" target="_blank">www.skidim.com</a> for a drain plug kit. No tools required to drain the block. I've also put in a flush-pro which makes putting antifreeze in much easier. I think the current promo code is "thanks" for 12% off. <BR> <BR>drain plugs <a href="http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MCM000" target="_blank">http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=MCM000</a> <BR> <BR>flush pro <a href="http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=DP7" target="_blank">http://www.skidim.com/prodinfo.asp?number=DP7</a>

I have also heard the argument that due to the fact that marine engines are always sucking up water you don't need to let the therm get up to temp to open up to get all the anti-freeze in. <BR> <BR><b>I state I don't use the anti-freeze method as indmar doesn't recommend it for my LTR 330hp engine in my MC.</b> I have known 1 person that filled his engine w anti-freeze with no warmup as he was going to drain the block even with the anti freeze method.} I hinted that was overkill, but hey he said it was double security. When he did end up draining the block after throwing 2 gal of anti-freeze in there the anti-freeze did drain from everyspot on the engine that water would so kind of got me thinking about that argument.

thanks doug... in our area it does not get below freezing too much, but on occasion it does so i like to be safe. we intend to still use the boat this winter on occassion so i don't want a full winterization... <BR>thanks all