Jump to content

Welcome to TheMalibuCrew!

As a guest, you are welcome to poke around and view the majority of the content that we have to offer, but in order to post, search, contact members, and get full use out of the website you will need to Register for an Account. It's free and it's easy, so don't hesitate to join the TheMalibuCrew Family today!

Winterization Modification


SunriseH2OSkier

Recommended Posts

Make winterization a quick, easy thing with this modification.

The idea of the mod is to use the shower with the heater in order to winterize both very quickly. Credit for this idea actually goes to tvano, I just added the quick connects to finish it off. I find this to be very useful during early Spring & late Autumn nights when the temp can drop below freezing.

Tools and Supplies Needed:

  • Razor knife
  • Flat screwdriver
  • Nelson Garden Hose Quick Connect - You need three sets of these - one for the heater supply hose, one for the heater return hose, one for the shower head.
  • Nelson Garden Hose Shutoff Valve - Optional - keeps AF from dripping out of shower hose after you disconnect from heater supply line. Worth every penny IMHO.
  • 5/8" barbed garden hose Fittings - You need two male, two female, for the heater supply and return hoses.
  • The hot & cold water shower line quick connects were item #6739K62 at McMaster.com. (I did this back in the spring, but I think that item number is for a male/female set, BICBW. This item number should at least get you on the right track.) You need two of these, plus an extra male adapter for the AF pick-up hose.

Estimated Time to Complete: 1 hour
Difficulty Rating: Low

The mod goes as follows:

Add a garden hose quick connect and extra shutoff valve to shower hose.

1.jpg

Add a matching garden hose quick connect inline with heater core supply hose.

2.jpg

This allows me to connect the shower hose to the supply side of the heater core.

3.jpg

Also added inline quick connects to hot and cold water supply lines.

4.jpg

You may not be able to see it well here, but I created an AF pick up hose (3/8" ID tubing) with a mating quick connect.

5.jpg

I don't have a picture of it, but I also added an inline quick connect at the heater return hose to the 'Low RPM Fitting'. I disconnect that and just let it empty into the bilge.

Connect the AF pickup tube to the hot water supply for the shower, put the pickup tube in a gallon jug of AF. Turn the mixing valve to full hot/no cold, turn on shower pump. Let it run until the pink stuff starts flowing into the bilge (from the heater core return hose). Turn off the shower pump.

At this point the heater core and hot water feed for shower is protected. Disconnect the shower hose from the heater core supply hose, reconnect the heater core supply hose back to the engine and the heater core return hose back to the raw water intake. Leave the shower hose pointing into the bilge, or into a bucket.

Now switch the AF pickup tube to the cold water supply for the shower, turn the mixing valve to full cold/no hot, turn on shower pump. Let it run until you are confident the water that was in the cold water supply lines has been flushed through the pump and out the shower hose. Turn off the shower pump.

Just for bonus points, I also have this setup that lets me pour AF into the block, bypassing the thermostat. It utilizes the other half of the inline quick connect in the heater supply hose.

6.jpg

A nice side benefit of the quick connect on the hot water supply line for the shower is that it is a really quick way to drain the port side of the block!

Link to comment

Not long at all, maybe an hour, tops. Cost was probably on the order of $25.

One other thing, even if you don't have a shower, the quick connects in the heater lines make it really easy to blow the water out of the heater. And with a modified version of my funnel setup, you can pour AF into the heater.

Link to comment

I don't have a shower but I did add the garden hose connectors to my heater lines - much, much, much easier than pulling the hoses off. Great idea.

Link to comment
BTW, a nice side benefit of the quick connect on the hot water supply line for the shower is that it is a really quick way to drain the port side of the block!

That would be the starboard side for us with Vdrives. :)

Nice post, definitely worthy of being up in a maintenance faq.

And if you install the quick connects in the right direction, you can use them as a heater bypass if your core ever springs a leak. Thumbup.gif  Great mod!

That's a good point. If I have the time while I'm home, maybe I'll do that.

Link to comment
And if you install the quick connects in the right direction, you can use them as a heater bypass if your core ever springs a leak. Thumbup.gif  Great mod!

That's a good point. If I have the time while I'm home, maybe I'll do that.

If you do, just make sure you install the connectors far enough down the heater hoses so that if you do ever have to couple them you aren't kinking the hoses or putting excessive strain on them.

Link to comment
That would be the starboard side for us with Vdrives. :)

Sorry, forgot that you VDers were all backwards! Tease.gif

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Just want to make sure tvano gets credit for the idea. He's the one who turned me onto it. Thumbup.gif

Link to comment
  • 4 months later...

Slghlty off topic, I wonder if I can install a quick disconnect to help me winterize?? I do not need a hot water shower or heater here in balmy Houston, but we do get some freezing weather. I have been thinking I can just suck some antifreeze up in my engine using a fake-a-lake, but maybe I should consider a disconnect before the raw water pump and use the funnel technique. Has anyone else tried this to winterize??

Link to comment
...maybe I should consider a disconnect before the raw water pump and use the funnel technique. Has anyone else tried this to winterize??

I'm not sure you could find a quick disconnect big enough to fit the raw water intake hose (1.25" I.D. IIRC). You'd be better off with the fake-a-lake.

As for the quick connects on the tranny oil lines, I'm with Jack. I'm not sure it would offer any benefit. Besides, you'd have to use something other than the garden-variety water hose quick connect ($$$). Bottom line is that you won't need to change your tranny oil nearly as frequently as you will need to winterize your shower/heater (assuming you are using your ride late into the season), so it doesn't seem worth the effort.

Link to comment
  • 1 year later...

I don't put the AF into the engine by running it - more trouble than it's worth to me. Plus it takes on the order of 5 gallons of AF to be sure you got it into the important places. But if you are going to do it that way, I'd recommend doing the engine first, then doing the shower & heater. Otherwise, some of the water that is in your engine initially can be pushed out to the heater and possibly the shower. Then you are at risk for freezing again.

I drain the engine (exhaust manifold hoses, knock sensor, hot water connection, output side of raw water pump, and the C shaped hose at the main circulation pump), then pour AF in (hoses to exhaust manifolds, and into the block via the heater supply hose). I go through 2 gallons, and that covers my shower, heater, and engine.

I drain the engine first, and while that is happening I do the shower and heater. Once they are done, I go back and reinstall all the hoses/knock sensor/etc. on the engine, then pour the AF in.

If I am still skiing, I use the pink stuff. When I put her away for the winter, I go for the full strength Sierra AF (Propylene Glycol - not Ethylene Glycol). Probably overkill, but pretty cheap insurance, and the guys at Heatercraft (makers of the heater and shower in probably most every OEM) recommend it for the best protection.

Link to comment

Minor hi-jack.

What all do you guys use the shower for? I can see warming the hands and feet after a run, maybe warming the boots pre-run, but for me that's about it. I use a drysuit, so soaking a wetsuit wouldn't benefit me. Other (on-topic) uses I'm not thinking about?

Link to comment
What all do you guys use the shower for? I can see warming the hands and feet after a run, maybe warming the boots pre-run, but for me that's about it.

This is pretty much the main reasons I use it. Also works well though to allow using a wetsuit earlier and later in the year instead of a drysuit. I fill up the suit with the warm water for jumping in - keeps the cold water for coming is as fast. Then after climbing out, the shower does a really good job of warming you up fast.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

even on a chilly day when you're still trunking it... squirting the wet vest with the warm shower takes the edge off.

very important when trying to convince the CFO to get in the water for a run

Link to comment
  • 3 months later...

I just placed an order through McMaster for the two quick-disconnects for the heater lines. Here's the part number list:

Quantity Part Number Description

2 6739K62 Straight Through Coolant Hose Coupling Sleeve-Lck Sckt X Barb for 3/8" Hose ID, 3/8" Cplg Sz

2 6739K58 Straight Through Coolant Hose Coupling Plug, 3/8" Nptf Female, 3/8" Coupling Size

1 5346K19 Brass Hose Fitting Barb X Male Pipe for 3/8" Hose ID, 3/8" Pipe, Packs of 10

Merchandise Total $26.31

Mike

Edited by mlange
Link to comment
What all do you guys use the shower for?

shower is kind of nice after a few sets when skiing michigan ponds.

ran sets on 30 Dec, 2006 and started again on 26 Mar, 2007 (ice left the pond on the 25th).

as for the heater mods, if you add brass garden hose connectors you can add garden hose type screens to keep sea weed out of the core.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

Jerry (or anybody else), I'm finally getting around to plumbing in my shower, and plan to do the quick-connect mods in your article. Although I was thinking about something and wondered if you had given it any thought. Maybe I'm overlooking something, but was thinking of a way to save even a few more steps. Of course the first step is to drain water out of everything. It looks like you put antifreeze into your block the same way I do.....through the heater supply line on top of the intake manifold. What if when you use the shower to pump a/f through the heater (with cold supply in a/f and shower on full cold), you connected the shower outlet hose to the heater return line, and then just left the supply line connected to the motor. Wouldn't that basically fill both the heater and engine block with a/f in one shot? And then without disconnecting anything, switch the shower from full cold to full hot and that will fill the hot side of the shower with a/f by pulling what you just filled into the block. When you see a/f coming out of the shower hose, you know you are done? The only thing left that won't have a/f in it is the exhaust manifolds, which you'd have to dump in like you normally do. Thoughts?

Link to comment
Jerry (or anybody else), I'm finally getting around to plumbing in my shower, and plan to do the quick-connect mods in your article. Although I was thinking about something and wondered if you had given it any thought. Maybe I'm overlooking something, but was thinking of a way to save even a few more steps. Of course the first step is to drain water out of everything. It looks like you put antifreeze into your block the same way I do.....through the heater supply line on top of the intake manifold. What if when you use the shower to pump a/f through the heater (with cold supply in a/f and shower on full cold), you connected the shower outlet hose to the heater return line, and then just left the supply line connected to the motor. Wouldn't that basically fill both the heater and engine block with a/f in one shot? And then without disconnecting anything, switch the shower from full cold to full hot and that will fill the hot side of the shower with a/f by pulling what you just filled into the block. When you see a/f coming out of the shower hose, you know you are done? The only thing left that won't have a/f in it is the exhaust manifolds, which you'd have to dump in like you normally do. Thoughts?

I think you would have to consider the water in your hot water line (between the block and your valve body). When it starts to draw the AF out of the block, you will be circulating that remnant water, through the pump, through the heater core, and back into the engine. It isn't much, but if it's gonna get really cold, I want to know all of that water is out of the system - I don't want it diluting the pink stuff.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...