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RV antifreeze/ WINTERIZE Neat idea!


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I took a 3 gallon pressure sprayer and cut the wand end off and attached a male hose end. This allows me to hook it up to the fake-a-lake flusher and pressure pump RV anti-freeze into the motor on dry land. I run 2-3 gallons into a running motor, until loads of RV antifreeze is pouring out the back. MY QUESTION IS...

Does this suffice as far as motor winterize? Where is the water at if not fed by the impeller?? Let me know your thoughts?confused.gif

NEAT IDEA HUH?

Later Rick

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I'm not sure if I exactly catch what you are doing but, I save the mess and simply pour directly into the intake hose. Done it now for a second year and takes only a couple of minutes.

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Edited by Malibudoc
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I think that RV antifreeze is already 50/50 AF & water. I would think that the only way this would provide appropriate protection is if you already drained the block & hoses of the lake water and are pumping it in dry, otherwise you are diluting the RV antifreeze to 75% water / 25% glycol. I don't have my freeze point data with me so I don't know to what temperature you are safe to.

I use one of those pumps that you put on a hand drill to pump 50/50 Antifreeze/water into my system thru the fake-a-lake.

Edited by skislut
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If the motor isn't atoperating temp. then the coolant you are pumping in and see coming out the exhaust is only going through the bypass system. Until the thermostat is open, the incoming water gets routed to the manifolds.

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Definately drain the block, manifolds and hoses before adding the antifreeze.

I took a 8' section of garden hose and made a funnel out of an old anti freeze jug and conected it to the fake a lake. I held the funnel up above the engine and poured the anti freeze in and it worked fine. You can tell when the thermostat opens because it really starts sucking in the anti freeze. I find pouring it into the motor directly easier though.

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I am still out on the antifreeze thing. My boat sits in an insuilated garage that very seldom drops below freezing. If it does, its only for a couple of hours. I just drain and disconnect all of the hoses.

With Indmar being over cautious with break in, why aren't they this way with winterizing?

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With Indmar being over cautious with break in, why aren't they this way with winterizing?

I would guess because an engine that fails from a frozen block (cracked) is easy to identify... an engine that wears out prematurely is difficult to diagnose why

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Many people winterize by filling instead of draining. It is a very common method and many have done it with no problems. The engine does have to be to temp to get the t-stat to open if you are going to fill with antifreeze.

Since the RLX is for sale I hope I dont have to winterize. However if I do, I think I am going to run on the hose for awhile, put a couple gallons of antifreeze in and then drain the block/hoses/manifold.

The heater and shower should be emptied, although I havent figured out how to get all the water out of the shower, yet. I may fill that. Some suggest filling the heater core to prevent corrosion. YMMV

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I still do not understand why you guys are draining the block (or anything) and then adding the antifreeze. The only thing I can surmise is the theory that it does not dilute the antifreeze as much. However, that seems to me to be a lot of work versus just getting the engine up to 160 degrees and then adding antifreeze until it starts running out the exhaust - and catching the effluent from the exhuast to recycle it back into the engine. Biggrin.gif

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I still do not understand why you guys are draining the block (or anything) and then adding the antifreeze.

Because up here in the north if you leave any water in the engine, you're screwed. It's not uncommon to hear of people cracking their blocks because they didn't drain them. The anti freeze is typically good for -50. Where my boat spends the winter it ususally gets -35 for a couple of nights every winter.

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Of course it depends on what antifreeze you use. If you use the green stuff (not really recommended, but some do) then you don't have to drain. If you use the pink stuff, you do because it comes ready to use. And even though it says -50, I'm not sure I really believe that. I put some in a freezer and It had a lot of ice crystyls in it. And my freezer is no where close to -50. I wouldn't want that stuff diluted at all.

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Of course it depends on what antifreeze you use.  If you use the green stuff (not really recommended, but some do) then you don't have to drain.  If you use the pink stuff, you do because it comes ready to use.  And even though it says -50, I'm not sure I really believe that.  I put some in a freezer and It had a lot of ice crystyls in it.  And my freezer is no where close to -50.  I wouldn't want that stuff diluted at all.

I think they say the stuff is burst proof to -50. It actually slushes up way before that.

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Minus 35 degrees???? Holy cow. Our thermometers do not even go down that far. It will get to freezing (thats 32 ABOVE) or maybe a lttle below that down here. A cold day here is 30. I guess winterizing takes on a new meaning in your part of the country Biggrin.gif

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Minus 35 degrees???? Holy cow. Our thermometers do not even go down that far. It will get to freezing (thats 32 ABOVE) or maybe a lttle below that down here. A cold day here is 30. I guess winterizing takes on a new meaning in your part of the country Biggrin.gif 

 

It has been known to get colder in Michigan that the Arctic Circle. Gota love wind chill factor. My boat will probably see -30 this winter.

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I think they say the stuff is burst proof to -50. It actually slushes up way before that.

Stick some of the pink stuff in a hydrometer sometime. It will read a freeze point of around -12C. Now that's just a freezer point, not a burst point. The pink stuff's big claim to fame is that the fluid will not expand, even after it begins to form ice crystals (at -12C). Still, who would want ice crystals throughout their cooling system (pump bearings, gaskets, etc.). Needless to say, I use green.

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And even though it says -50, I'm not sure I really believe that.  I put some in a freezer and It had a lot of ice crystyls in it.  And my freezer is no where close to -50. 

Vette, read the link I posted above. It answers your question and explains burst point.

TJP, what damage will come from "ice crystals?" Not that I really desire them. But I'd be willing to bet my engines have had a few in them, with no noticeable adverse affects. Good on you for protecting your engine, but what do you do with the used green stuff? Just curious.

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I still do not understand why you guys are draining the block (or anything) and then adding the antifreeze.

You got it backward. Some people will put enough antifreeze in the sytem to make it a reasonable mix and then drain. It is overkill, but that should allow any water left in the engine/hoses to have some antifreeze in it and not freeze solid.

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I then drained the rear quick disconnect hose in order to drain the remaining water from the engine. I wanted all the water out prior to putting in the RV antifreeze - Quote from Malibu Doc on the "how to winterize" site.

Memory isn't gone (quite) yet. Biggrin.gif

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And even though it says -50, I'm not sure I really believe that.  I put some in a freezer and It had a lot of ice crystyls in it.  And my freezer is no where close to -50. 

Vette, read the link I posted above. It answers your question and explains burst point.

TJP, what damage will come from "ice crystals?" Not that I really desire them. But I'd be willing to bet my engines have had a few in them, with no noticeable adverse affects. Good on you for protecting your engine, but what do you do with the used green stuff? Just curious.

Brings me to the question I've been pondering for a few years. Maybe it's better to drain the anti freeze out. Then, there's nothing in the engine, but a little antifreeze.

We used to run the green stuff into the lake until someone told us that 1 gal green anti freeze pollutes 750,000 gal of lake water.

The pink stuff is supposed to be nontoxic, but it kills my grass when I start the boat up in the Spring and let it run out.

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I used to do my own winterization, until I found a hairline crack in the block of my Prostar's LT1 one spring a few years back. My local marina does a complete winterization for $198 (oil change, antifreeze, fog, battery, stabil).

Drop it off and forget it-no worries.

Thumbup.gif

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TJP, what damage will come from "ice crystals?" Not that I really desire them. But I'd be willing to bet my engines have had a few in them, with no noticeable adverse affects. Good on you for protecting your engine, but what do you do with the used green stuff? Just curious.

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what damage may occur from ice crystals, perhaps none at all. I've just never been comfortable with the thought of ice crystals around gaskets or seals. These components just aren't engineered to be in contact with ice for extended periods. I highly doubt there could be any immediate damage, IMO it's more of a long term engine life thing. For the extra few bucks, I like knowing that nothing will even come close to freezing.

As for what to do with the used green AF, I ofcourse try to minimize any polluting that may occur. I keep my bildge fairly clean. So in the spring, just prior to start up, I will throw a bucket beneath the boat, crack all of the drains and hoses, and collect the used AF. Then I fire the boat up in the driveway and flush out the rest of the system. I usually end up with a good gallon or two in the bucket that I can then re-use next fall (which saves each year on the overall cost).

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You can always drain that green stuff in the lake - does a great job getting rid of those pesky fish :) - and you also get rid of that odor that gets on your hands Innocent.gifCrazy.gif

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