Yes, thats the line from the outboard pump. You can lower it as much as
possible to get water out of it. Because the water pump is a rubber
impeller is does not easily leak down. But it will eventually and if you
fill with antifreeze it will get into it.

You did not mention but I'm guessing you are leaving it in salt water? Any
salt water in the lower unit will not freeze unless you are in the extreme
north.

I suppose you have a reason not to pull it out and trailer it over the
winter. I/O's are not well suited to leaving in the water. They corode too
easily.

"kevin c smith" wrote in message
oups.com...
This has been keeping me up at night, so I'm hoping somebody here can
shed some light:

I removed the drain plugs from both exhaust manifolds & from each side
of the block. Then, I removed all six hoses from the thermostat housing
& flushed each with freshwater. When I tried to flush the large hose on
the port side (looks like it goes into the water pump), it filled up &
nothing came out of any of the drain plugs in the engine. So, I'm
assuming that one leads to the water intake in the outdrive, but
because the boat is in the water, I couldn't see anything coming out.

I replaced all the drain plugs & filled everything with antifreeze
(removed the thermostat housing too, and added some directly to the
block, just for good measure), but I'm a little concerned about that
port-side hose. I pumped all the water out of there I could, and
refilled with antifreeze, but I'm worried there's water trapped
downstream of that hose that might cause problems.

Any input or advice?

--
kevin c smith
http://centricle.com