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Antifreeze into engine using a fak a lake


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After draining the engine changing the oil and tran fluid I plan to run anti freeze through my stystem using a fake a lake, if I conect a short hose to the fake a lake and place the other end in a 5 gal bucket of RV antifreeze will it be sucked up through the entire engine and heating system? or do I need to pump it through the fake a lake from the bucket of af? Will the anti freeze get through the entire system? do I have to take the thermostate out first?

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I drain the water out of the engine and exhaust manifolds. Pull all the raw water lines. Clean the trans cooler. Replace all the hoses. Then pour the antifreeze through the heater hose fitting that is attach to the intake manifold. So I know the block is full.

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I just finished doing this today. Exactly as you describe, except that the pail is at the transom where two pipes are placed over the exhausts and directed downward into the pail to collect the rv antifreeze as it comes out the exhaust. The pipes were constructed of furnace ducting pipe... a 90 degree attached to about a 2' length of straight pipe. The joint between the two pipes is sealed using tape (in my case, it is the tape used for housewrap joints) so the joint doesn't lake. The seal between the 90 degree pipe and the exhaust is achieved by lining the inside of the pipe with some self sticking foam tape about 2" wide. The pipe tends to be pushed off by the force of the exhaust so I use bungee cords to attach them to the boat. My boat doesn't prime very well with the fake a lake so I jam a funnel in the end of the hose attached to the fake a lake and then pour rv antifreeze into the tube while holding the funnel at least as high as the top of the block. When the tube is full, I pull the funnel off, seal the end of the hose with my thumb and then put it into the bucket (which is partly filled with RV antifreeze.. to about 4" or so below the exhaust pipe tubes). Start the engine and hope the rv antifreeze gets sucked in.. if it doesn't, lift the hose, attach funnel pour in rv antifreeze while the engine is running. When it starts sucking (you will know!), put the end back in the bucket. You can tell the whole thing is working when the level drops in the bucket and antifreeze starts coming out the exhaust tubes... I leave it running for about 5 minutes, temp seems fine on the guage. My 99 response lx has a heater so I just detach the hoses before all this and blow on one of them to clear the water out of the heater core. Been doing this for the past 4 yrs.. no problems, no thermostat removal either since the engine is running at operating temp.

Sorry for the long post but this system works like a damn.

After draining the engine changing the oil and tran fluid I plan to run anti freeze through my stystem using a fake a lake, if I conect a short hose to the fake a lake and place the other end in a 5 gal bucket of RV antifreeze will it be sucked up through the entire engine and heating system? or do I need to pump it through the fake a lake from the bucket of af? Will the anti freeze get through the entire system? do I have to take the thermostate out first?

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I just finished doing this today. Exactly as you describe, except that the pail is at the transom where two pipes are placed over the exhausts and directed downward into the pail to collect the rv antifreeze as it comes out the exhaust. The pipes were constructed of furnace ducting pipe... a 90 degree attached to about a 2' length of straight pipe. The joint between the two pipes is sealed using tape (in my case, it is the tape used for housewrap joints) so the joint doesn't lake. The seal between the 90 degree pipe and the exhaust is achieved by lining the inside of the pipe with some self sticking foam tape about 2" wide. The pipe tends to be pushed off by the force of the exhaust so I use bungee cords to attach them to the boat. My boat doesn't prime very well with the fake a lake so I jam a funnel in the end of the hose attached to the fake a lake and then pour rv antifreeze into the tube while holding the funnel at least as high as the top of the block. When the tube is full, I pull the funnel off, seal the end of the hose with my thumb and then put it into the bucket (which is partly filled with RV antifreeze.. to about 4" or so below the exhaust pipe tubes). Start the engine and hope the rv antifreeze gets sucked in.. if it doesn't, lift the hose, attach funnel pour in rv antifreeze while the engine is running. When it starts sucking (you will know!), put the end back in the bucket. You can tell the whole thing is working when the level drops in the bucket and antifreeze starts coming out the exhaust tubes... I leave it running for about 5 minutes, temp seems fine on the guage. My 99 response lx has a heater so I just detach the hoses before all this and blow on one of them to clear the water out of the heater core. Been doing this for the past 4 yrs.. no problems, no thermostat removal either since the engine is running at operating temp.

Sorry for the long post but this system works like a damn.

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Thanks for your response. thats what I was looking for someone whos does it. How many of gallons of AF do you use> so the boat gets up to operating temp quick enough? I figured by the time I change the fluids and drain everything the engine would cool down such that it wouldn't get to operating temp. before the anti freeze is all sucked up.

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I drain the water out of the engine and exhaust manifolds. Pull all the raw water lines. Clean the trans cooler. Replace all the hoses. Then pour the antifreeze through the heater hose fitting that is attach to the intake manifold. So I know the block is full.

So how many gallons do you pour in? and you dont suck up any through the fake a lake? i

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About 2 gals and I don't use a fake lake. After the antifreeze is in I don't run the engine until spring.

With draining the water and then adding the antifreeze the block shouldn't crack, with the remaining water in the engine. The problem with sucking water through a fake lake is the antifreeze doesn't fill the block unless the t-state is open. That's why I drain and fill the block, then fill with the heater hose.

Edited by CumminsBu
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I drain the water from the block, exhaust manifold and blow out the heater. Then I connect the fake a lake to a 5 gallon bucket that i put on my swim platform. The bucket has a garden hose fitting and valve done with parts from home depot. Fill the bucket with rv antifreeze about 4 gallons. Set up the fake a lake then open the valve. That way when i start the engine the water pump doesn't have to pull a prime (dry running). Takes about 30 seconds to draw the bucket down in which time I also run my shower to pack it with antifreeze. I have in the past then drained the rv antifreeze out of the block, exhaust and heater which was overkill. The block will fill with antifreeze off the fake a lake on my boat. Not sure about the post about running 5 minutes.....running the motor up for a long period with rv antifreeze doesn't gain anything IMHO. if As long as the water is drained and it displaced with antifreeze you are good. I would be interested to understand the benefit of the the 5 minute run up vs the complexity.

The method of pouring it into the heater hose works just as well depending on your configuration. Used to do it on my I/O but on the malibu I can't pack the shower and dripless packing with antifreeze without running the boat.

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I live in Canada so the quantities are in litres... I bought three 9.8L containers this year since I couldn't remember how much I used last year. I ended up using about one and half of these jugs.. I figure about 15L of the antifreeze. Whatever comes out of the exhaust can be re-used so I just pour the extra back into the jug for next year. The boat was up to 160 degrees in a few minutes since the antifreeze is being heated and then reused or recirculated through the engine continuously.. exhaust to bucket to fake-a-lake to engine... and so on.

I share the equipment with two other guys for winterizing our response lx boats. We get -30F temps here occasionally and the antifreeze claims it is good for -50F.

Thanks for your response. thats what I was looking for someone whos does it. How many of gallons of AF do you use> so the boat gets up to operating temp quick enough? I figured by the time I change the fluids and drain everything the engine would cool down such that it wouldn't get to operating temp. before the anti freeze is all sucked up.

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I live in Canada so the quantities are in litres... I bought three 9.8L containers this year since I couldn't remember how much I used last year. I ended up using about one and half of these jugs.. I figure about 15L of the antifreeze. Whatever comes out of the exhaust can be re-used so I just pour the extra back into the jug for next year. The boat was up to 160 degrees in a few minutes since the antifreeze is being heated and then reused or recirculated through the engine continuously.. exhaust to bucket to fake-a-lake to engine... and so on.

I share the equipment with two other guys for winterizing our response lx boats. We get -30F temps here occasionally and the antifreeze claims it is good for -50F.

help me understand why there is a need to get the engine to operating temp on RV antifreeze

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help me understand why there is a need to get the engine to operating temp on RV antifreeze

RV type or not, to get antifreeze to all parts of an engine, the thermostat must be open. Otherwise, sections of the cooling system are closed off, still containing water only.

Steve B.

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Which areas? Our Dealer taught me their method and they uses a drain and fill procedure through a fake a lake, without a warm-up cycle up. The drain locations-> The block drains are pulled, the exhaust crossover is opened, the water discharge side of the v-drive is pulled, inlet to the oil cooler is pulled, the 3" circulating water pump hose is pulled, the heater inlet and discharge are pulled and heater is blown out. What areas would have trapped water?

Just to be fair I am not challenging to be a jerk, I'm am looking to learn as I would do a warm up cycle and the effort associated if I understood the benefit. Looking to learn.

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G-Mack your method is good. Filling the block with antifreeze is the important part without trying to displace the raw water already in the block.

Drain and fill works.

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Why are you guys even adding anti freeze? The indmar and Malibu manuals don't call for it. If you remove all the proper water lines then the water should all drain. I can see the use for a heater but for the engine itself?

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Why are you guys even adding anti freeze? The indmar and Malibu manuals don't call for it. If you remove all the proper water lines then the water should all drain. I can see the use for a heater but for the engine itself?

Key word here I believe is should.

Edited by catcando
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Which areas? Our Dealer taught me their method and they uses a drain and fill procedure through a fake a lake, without a warm-up cycle up. The drain locations-> The block drains are pulled, the exhaust crossover is opened, the water discharge side of the v-drive is pulled, inlet to the oil cooler is pulled, the 3" circulating water pump hose is pulled, the heater inlet and discharge are pulled and heater is blown out. What areas would have trapped water?

Just to be fair I am not challenging to be a jerk, I'm am looking to learn as I would do a warm up cycle and the effort associated if I understood the benefit. Looking to learn.

It may be a waste of time, but it sortof works. If you drain the motor first, there is no water in there. When you then run with anti-freeze from a bucket, that antifreeze will end up in some, but not all, parts of the cold-started engine. If engine never gets warm enough to open the tstat, then anything behind the closed tstat never sees antifreeze. That shouldn't be a big deal because you already drained the block. It may be a waste of time to run the antifreeze, but it's not hurting anything.

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It may be a waste of time, but it sortof works. If you drain the motor first, there is no water in there. When you then run with anti-freeze from a bucket, that antifreeze will end up in some, but not all, parts of the cold-started engine. If engine never gets warm enough to open the tstat, then anything behind the closed tstat never sees antifreeze. That shouldn't be a big deal because you already drained the block. It may be a waste of time to run the antifreeze, but it's not hurting anything.

...in reality all of us fresh water cooled boats have some good corrosion going on on the water side already (untreated water vs raw cast iron)...along with other debris such as silt and other good things. Once the initial corrosion layer is set up from there on we should be OK but under deposit corrosion is always is risk when you have a bit of silt and dead flow zones on the cooling system.

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...in reality all of us fresh water cooled boats have some good corrosion going on on the water side already (untreated water vs raw cast iron)...along with other debris such as silt and other good things. Once the initial corrosion layer is set up from there on we should be OK but under deposit corrosion is always is risk when you have a bit of silt and dead flow zones on the cooling system.

that may all be true. What I was trying to point out is that your antifreeze isn't getting to all of those corroded nooks and crannies unless your thermostat is open, which it most certainly isn't if your engine is cold.

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Key word here I believe is should.

Key word should be does or at least has for me for the last 16 years. What a waste of time and effort to put antifreeze in the engine for the winter and it can cause problems if you do not do it correctly. Best bet is to open everything up and let it drain and leave it open and you are good to go. Again, this has worked great for me for 16 years. The only exception is the heater core and you need to either blow that out or put in RV to push the water through. Why go through all the make work and expense for something that is not necessary?

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Key word should be does or at least has for me for the last 16 years. What a waste of time and effort to put antifreeze in the engine for the winter and it can cause problems if you do not do it correctly. Best bet is to open everything up and let it drain and leave it open and you are good to go. Again, this has worked great for me for 16 years. The only exception is the heater core and you need to either blow that out or put in RV to push the water through. Why go through all the make work and expense for something that is not necessary?

Good question. I think i will just continue to drain my block. Not worth the hassle for me either

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I have been using the drain and fill through the heater hose approach. The antifreeze may be overkill but for me its a matter of peace of mind, I even went out of my way to use -100F antifreeze. I have seen night where it gets down to -50C (-58F) where the boat is stored, this helps me sleep onm those cold nights.

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I enjoy the peace of mind I get with antifreeze in the block.

I run the engine on water via the fake a lake until the engine has reached operating temp, then switch the hose over to a RV antifreeze bucket. 5 gallons sucked thru, and I'm done. I think its easier than draining the block, it doesn't risk stripping out the drain plugs or misplacing them, and it works for me. Other than keeping it inside a heated enclosure, how could it be easier?

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I enjoy the peace of mind I get with antifreeze in the block.

I run the engine on water via the fake a lake until the engine has reached operating temp, then switch the hose over to a RV antifreeze bucket. 5 gallons sucked thru, and I'm done. I think its easier than draining the block, it doesn't risk stripping out the drain plugs or misplacing them, and it works for me. Other than keeping it inside a heated enclosure, how could it be easier?

Try something for me. AFTER doing what you've just explained drain your block and manifolds and capture some of each in a cup. Put it in your freezer and then let us know what happens to the solution.

I did this last year and both cups froze. We make the assumption that the antifreeze pushes the water out, but it doesn't . It dilutes and isn't as effective. I was amazed at how diluted the manifold was especially.

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  • 3 years later...

Reviving this post as I am about to winterize for the first time.

I've seen videos where people push anti-freeze into the fake-lake by using a reservoir connected a DC connected water pump. Is this necessary? Will a fake lake connected hose in a large bucket of antifreeze produce enough pressure to keep pumping through the engine? I would be raising the bucket of AF above the intake to create gravitational force. Thoughts?

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