Winterizing

lank wrote:    My question are (1) What is the best recipe for winterizing antifreeze?

RV antifreeze and follow the procedure in the Chrysler manual. In brief, drain and pour.

Why did you add the garden hose connections? Certainly not with the intent of winterizing!!! If so, you are being misdirected.

Guys, pumping the AF with engine runnning, catching & recycle is the hard way to do it. Just drain all points & fill with AF. The Tstat has a bypass hole & doesn't need to be removed for fill.

SNobsessed wrote: Guys, pumping the AF with engine runnning, catching & recycle is the hard way to do it. Just drain all points & fill with AF. The Tstat has a bypass hole & doesn't need to be removed for fill.

Well said Chris!!    Plus, if the pour in method is used, (simpler!!) the block will fill from the the bottom porting off the circ pump so there's no need to worry about the T stat opening!!!       

"Not true. The thermostat controls the flow of water OUT of the intake, not in." I didn't say that water goes in the t stat, I was taking it that the block is already full of water and the circ pump can't send any more in, hence the extra water/antifreeze will be sent out the exhaust. So, block full of water, t stat closed, whatever is sucked up goes out the exhaust.

"If empty, the block,heads and intake will fill with fluid as soon as you introduce it via the circ pump, regardless of whether the engine is up to temp or not." If my engine was up to temp, I would hope it's already full of water and I wouldn't want it up to temp and introduce cold water instantly from either pump.

Tim D wrote: "Not true. The thermostat controls the flow of water OUT of the intake, not in." I didn't say that water goes in the t stat, I was taking it that the block is already full of water and the circ pump can't send any more in, hence the extra water/antifreeze will be sent out the exhaust. So, block full of water, t stat closed, whatever is sucked up goes out the exhaust.

Youre correct. I was giving you the benefit of the doubt that you drained the block first before sucking up the a/f. Like was pointed out, you dont want to dilute marine/rv antifreeze with water at all. If using conventional (green) a/f, then it needs to be mixed at a specific ratio (fairly close to 1:1) for it to give effective freeze protection. There is no way to verify that you have the proper ratio unless you fill and recycle for quite a while to ensure uniformity, and then you must test the mixture. Seems overly complicated and painful. Why not just drain first?

Tim D wrote: "If empty, the block,heads and intake will fill with fluid as soon as you introduce it via the circ pump, regardless of whether the engine is up to temp or not." If my engine was up to temp, I would hope it's already full of water and I wouldn't want it up to temp and introduce cold water instantly from either pump.

Again, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt that you drained the water first. Regardless, there is no harm in introducing cold water to a warm engine. It happens every time your thermostat opens.

Just drain the damn block and pour in the antifreeze!!!!! How much simpler can that be?? Actually just draining like many do is simpler!     It's been done for years and still is. I believe Eric still does it for certain customers who do not want to go to the added expense of the antifreeze treatment. Way back when I was at Watercraft in the late 60's - early 70's, draining only was common practice. It wasn't until cooling systems got more complicated that we started using extra protection with the antifreeze. Still, it was drain and pour!!!

Amazing.

You guys can argue about this subject for years!

waker319 wrote: i was thinking about just draining the block and exhaust and dont add anything.... is that a bad idea?

So long as you drain everything properly, you'll have all the freeze protection you need- at any temperature. You can probably skip the blankets.

I average 3 to 5 cracked engines a year, these are the guys that dont do anything at all to winterize, i dont get, do they forget?

darn it!

The manual is best & easiest way. 5 plugs to drain: 2 on block, 2 on manifold, 1 on elbow at front of engine.

Pull hoses off of Oil cooler & RWP, let them drain too. Pour AF into hose that leads to engine. Your done.

great, thanks!!

is it necessary to add anti-freeze tho?
if so, which type?

eric lavine wrote: ...when i see pink out the back im good to go.

Good philosophy for life

My Air Nautique owner's manual. "Fill engine with a solution of 50% antifreeze. This helps prevent drying out the seals and gaskets, preventing the formation of hard dry scale in the water jackets and prevents freezing damage due to isolated pockets of trapped water that remains in the block."

Ahh yes. The annual thread....

I kept looking for the -100* stuff this year. Still cannot find it. Back to the pink stuff (up front)

I still do not agree about pouring it in vs. sucking it in, in my case. You aren't pouring it in on a BBC in a Vdrive. And the stat on the 289 is vertical. It's is just easier to draw in it from a bucket on both these crafts.