www.iFourWinns.com

Just for grins, I took the muffs off and did a quick tank test after replacing the raw water impeller, thermostat, recirculation pump, and debris flush yesterday. It worked great and the price was right:

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gale
'96 200 Horizon
VP Cobra SX 5.7GL

You sure that the impeller could prime that way, I thought Volvos had to use either the muffs or be in the water so that the water would get forced up through the transom water hose to the impeller.
That might work on an OB or Alpha because on them the impeller is right above the water intakes.
Risky I think with a Volvo or Bravo. Impeller is at least 4 feet forward and about 1.5 feet above the level of the water intakes.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I had just finished running it with the muffs. Yes, perhaps a slight risk but it had enough water in the circuit to quickly self-prime. The raw water pump is about 12" above the water level as-tested. It immediately drew down the water level in the cooler about 1/2" so I had a hose ready to replenish it. I ran it just long enough to observe the thermostat had fully opened, as witnessed by the temp gauge hitting a steady 160F.

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gale
'96 200 Horizon
VP Cobra SX 5.7GL

If there is no pressurised water available, then a tank of sorts could work, but I'd agree with Lou's concerns about the head of water/ priming.

If there is pressurised water/ a hose available I'd be tempted to hook up something like they used on the later engines/ drives; a T piece in the inlet hose to the water pump, with a hose/ coupling a garden hose can be connected to. The genuine VP parts to do that might be expensive, but there must be a myriad of other parts that could be used equally effectively

I would never be so cruel to my beers.

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07 Azure AZ200,
Previous boat,
95 278 Vista,
And a lot of others.

Ontario, Canada

I have to be careful with the muffs, our tap water pressure is 92 psi. Several times I've seen water forced out of the re-circulation water pump back cover gasket and front pulley shaft seal when using muffs, hence why I replaced it.

I have a 10 gallon hopper with a spigot and short hose, that I set on the swim platform, to gravity feed antifreeze thru the muffs for winterizing, works great. The local U-Pull-it sells used filtered antifreeze for $2 per gallon, it takes 4-5 gallons to re-fill after draining all the water out of the hoses, headers, and block. I run it long enough to get a steady stream of antifreeze spewing out of the exhaust plate at the outdrive.

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gale
'96 200 Horizon
VP Cobra SX 5.7GL

95 psi/ 7 bar water pressure; pretty impressive, even if it's only static pressure, not pressure once water is freeely moving

The advantage of using the VP T piece system is that any excess water that the raw water pump can't pump into the engine/ risers etc is simply passed out of the outdrive anf flushes it . I actually leave the hose connected after the engine is stopped, to flush out any deposits from the outdrive ( and kill off salt water critters lurking in there , that can't tolerate fresh water.)


s

That way the beer gets a good washing as well!

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1990 Four Winns Horizon 200
2005 GMC Sierra

Being from South Florida, I am no expert, but aren't you supposed to use a "no tox" or biodegradable antifreeze? Auto antifreeze is toxic. Dog's have been known to lap up a puddle of it and die, because it smells/tastes sweet. I don't know how you would get it back out of your engine without it ending up in a lake. What types of antifreeze do most of you use?

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"Knot Easy" 2000 Horizon 240 Volvo 5.7GS /SX
tow: 2017 Honda PILOT EXL-AWD
prev. boats:
'87 Chaparral 198CXL 4.3 OMC Cobra
'69 Jetstar 16ft Ski Boat, 115hp Yamaha
'68 Aluminum Jon Boat, 3hp Sears
'64 Water Wings

Absolutely no tox, the thing is unless you put a bucket under your garboard drain, and manually drain the AF in the bilge and then let it go into the bucket (but this is like 4-5 gallons) it will go all over your driveway when you start it on the muffs and it gets in the ground water ultimately and poisons animals.
I pay the price and get the -100 AF no tox with corrosion inhibitors. I think that this has slowed the internal rusting because I do not get rusty brown water out the exhaust at all during the spring start up.
For winterizing and preventing freezing AF is really not needed. You drain to prevent freezing, AF is just to reduce corrosion, as per both OMC and Merc manuals. For iron to rust (FE O2) you need FE exposed to O2, filling the engine with AF+corrosion inhibitors eliminates the O2. And that's today's little chemistry lesson LOL.....

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

What am I missing here? How is sitting in a tank at idle any different than if the boat was in the water at idle? Are you suggesting that the static water pressure in the tank is too low? Significantly lower than in 2 feet of water give or take? Just curious.

I personally like the muffs because I can see water exiting from the prop exhaust so I know there is flow through the system.

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2008 Horizon 260 VP 8.1 Gi

No difference if the tank is large enough to catch the water from the exhaust bellows, therefore keeping the level high enough for the intakes to not "suck air". My biggest concern with an igloo setup, is the initial intake of water would drain the cooler before any water could return via the exhaust, thereby sucking air and damaging the impeller. I dont think sticking a garden hose in the cooler could replenish fast enough either. Cool picture tho, but I'll stick to using the muffs.

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1996 205 Sundowner DLX
5.0FL Volvo SX Cobra
Tow Veh: 2012 Nissan Frontier Pro-4X

The water level in the tank (Coleman cooler) is lower than the water level when the boat is in the lake. This may be an issue when the raw water pump is worn a little. The pump may not be able to evacuate the air out of the hose between the outdrive and the pump as easily with a lower water level. Once the air is gone and the pump is primed it should be fine. With the cooler arrangement you will still have water coming out of the exhaust port on the bottom of the transom bracket and possibly out of the drain holes in the exhaust bellows.

I have used a plastic tub with a temporary bilge pump and hose connected to muffs on the outdrive to put antifreeze in the engine for winter for several years. The tub is long enough, and I added a temporary guide under the transom to catch water/antifreeze from any opening under the outdrive. A switch in this bilge pump's electrical wires going to the boat's battery helps also. I also block up and tip the tub a little so the antifreeze runs toward the bilge pump to reduce the total antifreeze needed. A minimum total of 5 or 6 gallons should be enough, and you will have some left over when done. I drain most of the water from the cooling system, then pour 1-2 gallons of antifreeze into the large hose that I disconnect from the thermostat housing, and then reconnect it. This helps in case the raw water pump takes a little time to prime itself. The engine will have some coolant and not be as likely to overheat.

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Surface Interval: A scuba diving term for that time between dives to relax and prepare for life's next great adventure.

Current boat: '02 FW 268 Vista
Previous boat: '95 FW 190 Horizon

When your boat is in the water, the water pressure will force water up the water tube that connects the drive intakes to the upper unit and then into the hose that goes through the transom to the impeller. The water line on the boat, is above the level of that hose as it passes through the transom. So water gets to the impeller by water pressure based on the depth of the water.
If you just dip the drive into a few inches of water, you are asking the impeller to suck water all that way, which it was not designed to do. In fact if the boat was not just run on the muffs I bet it would not have primed and would have burned out the impeller. For a Volvo to prime you need tight fitting muffs (not all do) and good water pressure. Its easier with an Alpha or Cobra because the impeller is in the drive, but even so on the Cobra, because its in the upper instead of the lower, (Alpha) those muffs have to fit tight.
Personally I would NOT do that if I had a Volvo or Bravo with an engine mounted impeller.

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88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

I get that. Consider this though: when up on a plane, say 30 knots, the water level is approx. even with the outdrive fins, which are only 3-4 inches above the intake grate, so the raw water pump well above water level and is still operating on suction, unless there is significant dynamic pressure from the outdrive slicing thru the water. Granted, it will have already purged all the air prior to that. Does anyone have an approximation of what the pressure might be at speed? It's been 40 years since I took fluid dynamics. It would be an interesting test to tee into the hose prior to the pump, and mount a gauge. I'm curious if it would read positive or negative pressure on a plane. Hmm . . . something for me to test and report back on next time we go to the lake. A table of pressures at various speeds with a new impeller would be a good data set to have on hand to determine the condition of the impeller without removing it.

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gale
'96 200 Horizon
VP Cobra SX 5.7GL