No antifreeze coming out exhaust? (winterizing?

I winterized my boat today, drained all the water first, then sucked antifreeze through using a fake a lake. The thing that was strange was that no antifreeze ever came out the exhaust flaps, it all dumped out the dripless shaft seal. Is something wrong or is this normal?

How much did you use. What kind of motor.

I use 4 gallons.

I did 2 gallons at first but was worried so i stopped, checked everything, then did 3 gallons more. I checked all the drains on the block, muffler, etc and all had antifreeze, just never made it out the exhaust flaps. It's an Indmar 5.7

(Message edited by brainrinse on October 04, 2009)

i was surprised to see so much dump out around the prop shaft, is that normal for dripless seals?

I couldn't get Fake a Lake to work, It wouldn’t seal on my hull because there's an edge near the in take. So, I built my own home brew flush kit. The coolant on my boat doesn't go anywhere near the shaft seal, sorry can't help there.

it sounds like you may have had too many beers b4 you did this. if you're on a trailer/fake a lake, nothing should come out your shaft seal. if you have antifreeze in that area, its coming from somewhere else.

my fake a lake hooks to the vdrive intake so the seal is tight. no beer - there is a water line that goes to the shaft seal.

If you have antifreeze come out your dripless packing ,I would say you have a problem with your dripless.

I helped a buddy change the oil on his 08 Vride today. We decided to warm the engine to thin the oil so we used my home made hose adapter to hook his garden hose up to the raw water intake. Turned the water on & waited for it to come out the exhaust before we started the engine. The water cooled OJ prop packing spewed water for quite a while before we had water come out the exhaust. I don't think it's a problem, just the nature of the beast.

I think you have a manifold hose disconnected or a drain plug out and are just dumping antifreeze into the bilge

yup if you have that OJ dripless it will come out there.

Can't help you for sure on the other part except was the engine ran up to temp before you actually started the antifreeze? I saw that you started with 2 gallons then added 3 more later. In actuality I would think the engine only saw 2 or 3gallons at each time. Not nearly enough to flow all the way through with the shaft packing as well. By the time you actually started sucking antifreeze into the engine it ran out. Put all 5 or 6 in the bucket. My buddy uses 4 gallons and recirculates it into a bucket. He also uses a pumpt to pump it into his fake-a-lake to get it flowing a little better and not rely on the impellar suction alone.

(Message edited by xstarrider on October 04, 2009)

Thought he meant it came out the packing on the inside.

Bilge was dry, definitely coming out the shaft seal. The engine was warm from boarding an hour earlier, but not hot. Changed oil first, then did antifreeze.

It continued to dump antifreeze out the shaft seal after turning off the engine, so I think what you're saying makes sense, Swatguy. Had I just let it run through all 5 gallons at once, instead of in two separate runs maybe it would have made it through to the exhaust flaps.b

I have a real flush kit on my boat. The water runs out both the shaft and the exhaust.
I don't do the anti freeze deal to winterize - so I can't help you there.

When I flush my boat normally, the water comes out the shaft first, then it comes out the exhaust later. I have it hooked to a garden hose, so I can't tell how much water it takes.

BTW - why do you go through the trouble of draining all the water out of our engine, then go and put antifreeze in it.

I thought antifreeze was supposed to be easier than regular winterizing. It sounds like you are doing both. Why not just drain everything and call it good? Or, do the anti freeze thing and call it good. Why do both?

I live in Seattle - where it never gets super cold. So, maybe the standard here is more lax than other areas.

It is common for a the dripless shaft packing to have water run out when running on a fake a lake. Reason being is there is a waterline running from the raw water intake, it should be a clear line. In the past I have taken a rag or something soft and a pair of vise grips and pinched the line. This allows the antifreeze to bypass the waterline and go into the motor.

Thanks for all the help guys. Sounds like the prop seal flow is normal and that I never ran the antifreeze long enough continuously to make it through the exhaust.

The primary reason I drained and did antifreeze is because this is my first year with this boat and I really just wanted to learn about it. Originally I had planned to just drain it, but I liked the anticorrosive protection the antifreeze provides.

Pinch the line, like Chris said. Then make sure your engine is hot so that the thermostat opens up. Here's the process in a nutshell:

-Hook up water source
-Run engine up to temp +5-10 minutes.
-Turn off, drain oil (use a drill pump at the end of your drain hose for faster draining)
-Change oil filter, add new oil
-Turn water source back on and run the boat up to temp again.
-Shut off and immediately drain block and blow out heater, if you got one.
-Plug everything back up and hook up antifreeze tank with min of 4 gallons.
-Start the engine back up and let her get sucked through.
-When you start seeing antifreeze out the exhaust, fog the engine until it dies.
-Fogging the cylinders is not necessary.
-With antifreeze in the system, there is no need to pull the impeller.
-All done:-)

What is the reasoning behind a fall oil change rather than a spring oil change? Is it worse to let the old oil sit over the winter than to let new oil sit?

Good stuff, guys. This was the first time I've ever played with the OJ packing. So I'll remember to pinch it off the next time to get better flow thru the exhaust.

Dave, the reason you drain the water out is because the RV antifreeze comes pre-diluted. So if you dilute it further, then it won't be effective to as low a temp as if it were no diluted. Here in Spokane my boat saw -8 last winter.... inside the storage building. So I need to make sure any water is out & any anti-freeze is in it's most effective state.

Quick hijack, will the boat suck antifreeze through the fake-a-lake from a bucket, or do you gravity feed it? I made a fake-a-lake this weekend, but I haven't tried it yet. I wasn't sure what kind of suction the water pump produced.

Also, in regards to the why drain and do antifreeze, the antifreezed ads some significant peace of mind. If you read the jug, the stuff isn't burst proof below certain temps, and if you have it dilluted with water, that burst temp goes up.

Jeff, don't give the gunk a chance to settle. Change it in the fall.

SS, it'll suck it through.

Iv'e always opened my thermostat housing and just poured the pink stuff in there and cranked it a few times. Is there some advantage to the fake a lake suck method?

I don't fog EFI engines either, but will run a very light 2 stroke mix in gas before storing. Just like the idea of having a thin oil layer on valves and cylinders.

The thermostat method works fine, but I prefer the through-hull location because I know antifreeze has gotten everywhere that water gets during the season (trans cooler, pump, etc.).

I wouldn't think pouring through the thermostat housing would ever reach the vdrive, which is first in series after the water intake (on my boat anyway)

AtTheLake, you'd be way better off introducing the oil via the air and not the fuel. You run the risk of gumming up stuff over time. And you'll never be able to get enough oil in to have any effect. The small amount will just burn off. Best to use only Stabil in the gas.

Having said that, for a short winter storage with todays engines, you can get away with nothing, unless you'll be storing your boat for like 5 years or you live in a rediculously humid environment.

JEFF<
Reason for the oil change is that there are some chemicals/acids ( forgive me I can't recall exactly what is the byproduct) in the used oil. I can eat away stuff when left to sit for a period of time. ALways best to leave it with fresh oil when it sits for the winter

SS,
It should be able to suck the antifreeze through the line as long as the fake-a-lake has a good seal.



I also second Tunemans post with regards to the oil in the fuel. I think it has a long term effect though over time the oil in there can cog things up

i wouldnt fog any injected motor thru the monovalve, it will mess up your injectors. maybe not this season but in time it will.

It would seem fog oil through the throttle body would have greater clogging potential of injectors....but I am not a mechanic. Guess the safest thing would be to hit in each cylinder through spark plug cite.

BTW - I drain the block and hoses before pouring in the pink stuff so the antifreeze is more for corrosion protection and a less for insurance against freezing in case there was any residual water.

This is what Mercruiser says about fogging.


http://www.boatfix.com/merc/Bullet/01/01_15.pdf

I use the same ratio as the Mercruiser bulletin but in a very small batch. Instead of hooking up an external tank I just dump out the contents of the fuel filter (water separator)and refill with the mixture and run the engine for 30 seconds or so. In the spring, the fuel filter gets replaced with a new one.

SS,
When it comes to the anti freeze, I just disconnect the hose that goes from the fresh water intake on the hull to the v-drive and connect a separate hose to the vdrive, which goes right into a bucket of antifreeze I have in the boat. That way I can continue to pour antifreeze into the bucket without making a mess and don't have to worry about getting a strong seal from the fake a lake.

I also drain all the water before adding the antifreeze.

Hope that helps make it easier for you

we winterize by sucking antifreeze through the water intake hose ,as ryan above.......we use a full 8 gallons from two 5 gallon pails. You were def using to little. Our boat is also at running temp of 170-180

My usual winterizing procedure is as follows: 1. drain the block
2. Put the plugs back.
3. Pull the hose off of the through-hull fitting and wedge an adapter in there to hook to my antifreeze bucket.
4. Run about 8 gallons of antifreeze through it.
5. Drain the block and repeat.
I know it's overkill, but we haven't had any problems with it, and it doesn't take that long. My reason for draining it after a good dose of antifreeze is to make sure that plenty of fluid is coming out of each drain. I want to be sure there are no clogs anywhere.