5 gallon bucket

[timstu]

Would a 5 gallon bucket filled with antifreeze ran through the muffs be ok in winterizing my mercury inboard? would still change oil and drive lube but was wondering if the antifreeze would be enough in the block..Its a 5.0 mag mercury Thanks, tim

[orboater]

Would a 5 gallon bucket filled with antifreeze ran through the muffs be ok in winterizing my mercury inboard? would still change oil and drive lube but was wondering if the antifreeze would be enough in the block..Its a 5.0 mag mercury Thanks, tim

Only if the motor is warmed up enought to open the thermostat before antifreeze is run through. Or the thermostat has been removed.

[JM_Excel]

As in the photo below, its suggested to use gravity to feed the antifreeze into the muffs instead of relying on the out drive to suck the antifreeze out of a bucket:

End the antifeeeze process by fogging the engine to make it stop.

[JZelt]

I always drain the block and manifold first. That way I know what the concentration of the solution will be. If you don't, the water will dilute the antifreeze, so you will need to account for that. I also disconnect the hose to the bottom of the water pump so it drains.
As far as filling, I just disconnected the hoses at the thermostat and poured the solution down each hose and until it came out the outdrive. Takes about 15 mins and not waiting for the engine to warm up first.

[Cableguy Greg]

I used the 5 gallon bucket method when I used to winterize a jet ski that I used to have. To help get the antifreeze to the motor, I purchased a bilge pump from Wally World and connected it to the battery for power. It always worked for me.

[timstu]

thanks for the info on the 5 gallon bucket, but getting the boat winterized done by a dealer . maybe next year if the prices keep going up..lol

[WSW MARINA]

check out thread on winterizing for other good tips and ideas

[Quag]

So easy to do your self and quite honestly when I had someone do it the thermostat housing cracked (they only drained)

One other thing, I use big plastic storage box and catch the antifreeze. You buy 5 but only use about 2 1/2. The rest I use next year. Drain the block first though and take out the thermostat after you warm up. Much easier.

The PITA is the oil change. I need to get a good topside pump. The $7 job from walmart is crap....guess that's what I paid for.

[obxpelican]

I use a sump pump with an under bed storage bine to catch the anti-freeze. This way you won't lose any anti-freeze and you are always sure that the engine and impeller are getting lots of liquid.

On my jet skis I can do one in like 3 minutes, on my boat this year I flushed it out real good with water and let it get up to heat, then I shut down switched to antifreeze, started it up, while running we fogged it really good.

Change the oil, change the outdrive lube and you are pretty much done.

Chuck