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Wayne.B Wayne.B is offline
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First recorded activity by BoatBanter: Jul 2006
Posts: 10,492
Default ¿¿¿Winterizing a V-8 houseboat engine???

On Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:55:38 -0200, loonfellow@lakeside. wrote:

I have a Crusader, Charger Series 250 h.p. engine which is
from what I understand a 1967 Chevy 327 5.4 liter, in a
houseboat that has an inboard drive. I have drained water
from the petcocks on the engine water pump and also
from what appears to be an inline pump that has two lines
for cooling the differential gearbox. The one on the inline
pump finally stropped draining water, but the one on the
engine water pump kept on and on and on...to the point
that I don't see how the whole system could hold that
much water. Could it still be coming as I drain it out? If so,
what to do about that?

Also, somewhere I got the idea that it's good to open the
system where the thermostat would go and fill it with
anti-freeze, to take care of pockets where water could
still be trapped and maybe even to keep gaskets etc
from drying out. Is that something I should do? If so,
would a 50/50 mix be good enough?


The easiest way to do this is to fill a 5 gallon pail with non-toxic
anti-freeze, the pink stuff rated for 100 below zero. If the boat is
still in the water, warm up the engine first. With the engine shut
down, disconnect the water intake hose at the strainer. If the
hose is long enough, put it in the bucket, otherwise make up a short
extension and place that in the bucket. Remove the air filter from
the carburetor. Start up the engine and watch the anti-freeze level
in the bucket. When there is about a gallon left, spray fogging oil
into the carburetor until the engine stalls. If it doesn't stall,
just shut it down. Replace the air filter and re-install the water
intake hose. Close the intake seacock and pour some antifreeze into
the strainer.

The engine is now winterized.