I had my fresh water run Merc I/O for 13 years and never had a problem as
long as you follow the Merc manual. One thing to remember is when you remove
the water drain plugs "ALWAYS POKE A SMALL WIRE CUT FROM A COAT HANGER UP
INTO THE HOLE... AS SEDIMENT PLUGS THEM UP"! You may think all the water has
drained out or there is none in there(i.e. manifolds, block, etc) but don't
be fooled. Any cooling hoses you remove just leave them off until spring.
Fog the engine and treat the fuel. That's all I did...


"werlax" wrote in message
om...
It seems that everyone knows someone who has wrecked an engine by
improper winterizing. I was planning on just following the Mercruiser
engine manual and their recommended procedure. Having mentioned that
to a couple of friends, and their reaction, makes me wonder if there
is something that I should be aware of? Is this all just a mystique
perpetrated to get our money into the pockets of the marinas?
Should I do some additional reading at a URL or should the manual be
enough? For reference, the engine is a Mercruiser 4.3L I/O.
Thanks for any help!