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Fake-A-Lake and 4 to 5 Gallons of Anti-Freeze


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So I just winterized my 2014 MXZ and 2013 LSV,  I read online that using a Fake-A-Lake with Anti-freeze would be sufficient.  But also read that I should drain it all first.  I live in the Dallas area and was wondering if anyone else has just tried running Anti-Freeze without draining the water before?  I ran both boats until the Pink coming out of the exhaust for a 3 to 4 minutes, used about 5 Gallons in each boat.   Basically I am just wanting some reassurance that I am good?  

 

 

Thanks crew.... 

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ahopkins22LSV

Was your engine at operating temperature? If yes, you might be ok but you are probably still only deluded the antifreeze in the water that was already in your engine block and system. The best bet is to take the 10-20 minutes to drain everything then run antifreeze through it. That is your best protection. 

Do you have a heater or hot water shower? If yes, those are at high risk imo. They probably won’t have much antifreeze in it at all. Definitely drain those systems out then put antifreeze back in. You can do with without running the engine. 

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Dallas gets cold but not Michigan cold, if you were operating temp hot before AF and if you use your warm up lever button during AF introduction, you will drive AF to that heater and if you turn on shower and AF comes out you should be good , 

so don’t introduce AF until the heater is already blowing hot on higher rpms than idle if you don’t trust your temp gauge 

especislly 3 to 4 minutes after already hot

 

Edited by granddaddy55
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57 minutes ago, granddaddy55 said:

My point is diluted AF will protect to teens and single digits 

Depends on how diluted.  Every spring there are a dozen cracked block threads.  Most of them didn't drain the block and tried to suck in antifreeze. 

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12 hours ago, adgray said:

   Basically I am just wanting some reassurance that I am good?  

I'd say you're not good.  While sitting in the driveway, on a fake-a-lake, idling, the engine isn't producing much heat so the thermostat will be just barely open, even with a warmed up engine.  It's possible that >90% of what was sucked in was immediately diverted by the almost closed thermostat directly out the exhaust, with most of the water just recirculating though the block.

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1 hour ago, granddaddy55 said:

My point is diluted AF will protect to teens and single digits 

This may be true, but only if the dilution was calculated, not random, as it is when A/F is induced into an engine full of water. 

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ahopkins22LSV
9 hours ago, granddaddy55 said:

My point is diluted AF will protect to teens and single digits 

What if it didn’t dilute enough?

What if the thermostat didn’t open?

What if you get a crazy day long hard freeze down to zero?

What if, what if, what if... that’s the whole reason of this thread to try to answer the what if/am I good?

Not worth it man, just drain the block and the rest of the system then pump antifreeze through it. Then there are no questions and you know you are good. 

63370849-BF63-4F97-9381-69FA4EACEB0A.jpeg.9b25e9c8f80a59ba720a1d3f137a9025.jpeg

  • Like 2
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thanks guys for the input... I will take extra precautions and drain.  We ran the boat until it coming out of the exhaust for a few minutes just pink and nothing else.    I do see a water heater module but I don't have a shower.  this boat is just newer than my last one which was a 07 XStar so figuring out all the new stuff on these newer boats.   Probably a dumb question but what is the water heater for?   I would only think it is for a shower, but I don't see a damn shower outlet on the boat.  lol

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ahopkins22LSV

Water heater? Do you have a picture? I was talking about a heater that is like in your car. It uses the hot water from the engine to warm air then blow the air into the cabin through a series of vents and hot tubes. 

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5 hours ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Water heater? Do you have a picture? I was talking about a heater that is like in your car. It uses the hot water from the engine to warm air then blow the air into the cabin through a series of vents and hot tubes. 

I know I dont have a heater,  this is back by the cooler on behind the driver seat close to the engine.  I will get a picture next week when I get back over to it to drain and run pink again.  

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1 hour ago, adgray said:

I know I dont have a heater,  this is back by the cooler on behind the driver seat close to the engine.  I will get a picture next week when I get back over to it to drain and run pink again.  

Does it have a radiator cap on it?  If so, you have closed cooling....

 

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50 minutes ago, efjeld said:

I just drain everything and leave it for the winter.  Am I doing something wrong or starting another argument?  

Nope, air dont freeze and crack blocks. Nothing wrong with running in some A/F after the fact if it makes one feel worm and fizzy inside. 

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ahopkins22LSV
2 hours ago, efjeld said:

I just drain everything and leave it for the winter.  Am I doing something wrong or starting another argument?  

No you are good. For five years I just drained our TXi. This year I am debating running antifreeze through our vtx after I drain it for added insurance as it has a bit more plumbing but I also may just drain it. Haven’t decided yet. 

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At least with the AF and draining only block it’s two plugs and that’s it, all the other stuff people disconnect and have to reconnect sounds nuts snd way too much work  

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5 minutes ago, granddaddy55 said:

At least with the AF and draining only block it’s two plugs and that’s it, all the other stuff people disconnect and have to reconnect sounds nuts snd way too much work  

Takes less than  30 minutes to drain it all by disconnecting the manifold hoses from each other, pull the 2 block drains, remove j hose, remove trans cooler hose, vdrive drain plug and disconnect  upper heater hose.  Can all be done in the garage without starting the boat. 

Edited by oldjeep
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ahopkins22LSV
13 minutes ago, granddaddy55 said:

At least with the AF and draining only block it’s two plugs and that’s it, all the other stuff people disconnect and have to reconnect sounds nuts snd way too much work  

This thought process yields cracks manifolds or heaters. Manifolds are like 850-1200. Heaters are 200-500 ish. Not even a 5 dollar part is worth 15 extra minutes to just do it right. Because even if I have to replace a 5 dollar part that’s probably an hour total of diagnosing, buying the pet and replacing it in the spring instead of just starting the engine up, checking for leaks and moving on with my season. I don’t get your push back on this regardless of where you live. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey all, for what it is worth, I have been using the pink RV antifreeze for like 30 yrs to pour down drains in a Michigan lake cottage. Well, last winter, happened to go up there in midwinter and the toilet was froze solid, when temps had only been down to single digits. Looking deeper, the pink stuff I used, $3/gallon stuff, is to be used where water has been drained out of the system. It is not like the green prestone ethylene glycol AF where the max freeze point protection is achieved with a 50-50 mix. or so. Maybe some pink stuff is -50 full strength as was stated on the bottle, but what I got was not.

Good news though, drain traps and toilets are cheaper than engine blocks!

  • Like 1
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One of my riding buddies in Wisconsin follows that method.  He simply runs the pink stuff until the exhaust appears to be fully pink.  He then stores in an unheated detached garage.  Not my method, but I've seen it successful in Wisconsin.  

 

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The color doesn't matter.  The -50 type is just alcohol.  I don't think it dilutes well or perhaps it separates/evaporates, so I don't use it.  The -75 stuff is polypropylene glycol.  It is a better freeze protectant and is not toxic to people or plants.  I think it is not good for dogs though.

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7 hours ago, onwi said:

One of my riding buddies in Wisconsin follows that method.  He simply runs the pink stuff until the exhaust appears to be fully pink.  He then stores in an unheated detached garage.  Not my method, but I've seen it successful in Wisconsin.  

 

Wisconsin , hmmm, cold huh?

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