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Engine won't take antifreeze?


wakeboarder3780

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Last night I was in the process of winterizing our 06 23 LSV 340 Monsoon (if it matters). I took the raw water connect off the through hull and pointed it up in the air, we started up the boat and ran antifreeze from a 5 gallon bucket into the raw water.

I had a friend who was holding the 5 gallons bucket's hose into the raw water hose, my wife was starting the engine, and I was in the back watching the exhaust. After 5 seconds of running they cut the engine and told me that the raw water hose wasn't "taking" any of the fluid and that it was shooting out EVERYWHERE because it was coming back out of the raw water end we were trying to push antifreeze into.

I'm a little nervous that I'm doing something wrong, but there are a couple things I can think of. First I'd like to explain the setup we had.

Setup:

5 gallon bucket hanging at top of tower (lots of gravity to make flow faster). The hose coming out of the bottom of the bucket was 3/4 so it was pretty big and allows a pretty decent flow of fluid (perhaps too much?).

Also we did remove the raw water connect to the starboard side of the transmission. The first place the raw water goes is through the transmission housing, straight to the other side, then has to go back towards the transom to where the raw water impeller is. I had drained all the water before this.

My only guess is that we were ramming too much fluid into the raw water and that we need to step it down a notch. I'm guessing the fluid didn't make it to the impeller yet and I have to be a little patient and let fluid overflow for a bit? I was considering taking the bucket down so it's not so high to reduce the throughput of antifreeze as well. Does anyone have any ideas? Are we doing anything wrong? Or are we just trying to push too much antifreeze?

Edited by wakeboarder3780
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It does sound like you had too much flow... You can pull the knock sensor off of one side to see if there is any antifreeze inside the block, I always drain the water from the block before putting the antifreeze in... I assume you reinstalled the Tansmission line before running the anitfreeze? I don't really see why the antifreeze wouldn't be getting to the pump and i know when I have too much pressure when I run it on th hose it comes back out the raw water line as the impeller will only take a certain amount. I think the hanging bucket is a little overkill... You could always just use a funnel and pour from the jug into the Raw Water Line... Also make sure the line is full before starting so the impeller has no problems priming...

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You're letting air in the system, you'll need to get a good seal for it to prime.

Aw man now I'm feeling dumb. :oops:

I'll just take the hose off at the raw water pump and back fill with antifreeze and I'm sure that will be enough to get us going :)

:werule:

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Aw man now I'm feeling dumb. :oops:

I'll just take the hose off at the raw water pump and back fill with antifreeze and I'm sure that will be enough to get us going :)

:werule:

Also, make sure your engine temp is warm enough for the thermostat to open otherwise it won't draw in fresh liquid.

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Are you using a Flush Pro? If not you should get on of these: Flush-Pro If you are using one, there is a insert that fits into the top of the Flush Pro that causes it to stay open so you can low pressure, i.e. gravity to get the anti freeze in.

And yes, you do need to run it on a hose for a while (seems like forever) to get the engine up to temp. If you are near water it may be easier just to get it out on the water and run it for a bit.

Make sure you use an RV style antifreeze. Don't use automotive anti freeze, bad for your lake :)

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No worries guys, the t-stat is already removed as of last night. Had a fun time getting the housing apart. If you're interested here's the link:

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Don't worry about air in the hose as raw water impellers are "positive displacement pumps" and will pump both air and water if they're operating properly. Does it run / pump properly with the fake-a-lake attached? If so, it may be do to the impeller being on its way out... The pressure from a garden hose will overcome a marginal impeller, whereas the gravity flow from your bucket may not be sufficient.

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Got her tonight, the answer was just a bit less fluid flow and backfilling the hose between the v-drive cooler and the raw water impeller with antifreeze before starting it up.

It ended up taking 5 gallons before I saw any action coming out the exhaust and I filled the bucket up with 3-4 more gallons so I could be sure what was coming out was not diluted. Thanks everyone for the advice, this boat is WINTERIZED.

:yahoo::yahoo:

Now hopefully those ballast pumps make it just fine throughout the winter :)

Edited by wakeboarder3780
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Don't worry about air in the hose as raw water impellers are "positive displacement pumps" and will pump both air and water if they're operating properly.

I agree with you but the problem in my boat is that the raw water impeller is at a higher altitude than the point we're filling at, so since air is easier to draw in than fluid if I didn't have a good prime (seal) to start with and I didn't keep the hose completely full as we were running it, it would begin to draw air and just keep sucking air as it's easier to draw upward (easier because it's lighter).

With this setup I do believe it's necessary to have an airtight seal. Hope that makes sense for anyone else trying to winterize their v-drive for the first time!

It seems like there are a lot of questions about winterizing. I think next season I'd like to make a walkthrough and make a good write up of it and post it out on a public blog or something and hopefully I can get it in the resources section. I'd also like to take some video of the process as some people would like to "shadow" a winterize, and what better way to do it than watch some video! Just like you're there!

Edited by wakeboarder3780
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