www.iFourWinns.com

Volvo guys heed this advice because the drive can get corroded on due to the fact that there is no gasket between the pivot housing and the upper gear housing.
It's a simple job that saves you a lot of grief.

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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

So 14 votes so far and not one for just draining the engine and calling it done (that vote was me). I am surprised by this.

Putting anti-freeze in the engine and outdrive seems like a good idea but seems like a messy PITA and fraught with ways to go wrong (improper mix of water and anti-freeze, thermostat closes, etc.) than just draining well (tilting bow up and down to get all the water out) and done. My FIL has owned a boat for the past 24 years in Ohio winters and admits to never doing anything more than draining the block (4.3 OMC) and outdrive and has had no problems.

I have a 4.3 VP I/O and have not found any mention of flushing the engine/outdrive with anti-freeze in the owner's manual or workshop manual. Should I be concerned with just draining the water out and leaving alone or is anti-freeze overkill just to be safe?

OK lets get this straight....
for FREEZE protection you DRAIN...all the drains, poke the holes, disconnect hoses, make sure they drain....
for CORROSION protection, you add Antifreeze....the best kind...-100 marine AF with corrosion inhibitors....

You have to drain, to prevent damage. If you want to add AF its up to you....in a fresh water area it may be a moot point, but in salt water where I am, its a great benefit as far as I am concerned.

Having said that, the ONLY safe way to add AF, to a raw water cooled engine, is to manually drain first, then back fill through hoses as I have described here many times. DO NOT use the suck the AF up the drive method on a raw water cooled engine. That's when if the stat does not open you can wind up with a cracked block. This method will work if you have a closed cooling engine.

I've had this engine in salt water (on a mooring all season, not flushed till the end) for 12 seasons, and every fall its been full of antifreeze. Rust= Fe O2...if you eliminate most of the O2, you cut down on corrosion. You wouldn't put a new set of manifolds and risers on and then not paint them right? Its really the same idea.

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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

Got it. The corrosion issue was lost on me, but it makes a lot of sense why AF would be used to inhibit corrosion, especially in a saltwater environment.

Still not sure whether I will bother with the AF for my 170 this year since it is 100% freshwater-operated, but something to think about. I will probably pull the exhaust elbows next spring to see how they look, and go from there - too much to do this fall already.

Thanks for straightening me out on the AF.

What i do is fog the engine , pull all the hoses and plugs, drain every thing out the engine and hoses and fill with anti freeze . I also pull the plugs and put a few squirts of 90 weight oil in the in each cylinder and turn it over to coat the walls and keep the rings lubricated . then I spray the entire engine with Teflon .as far as the oil, some times i will change it in the fall others times in spring.not sure which is better have heard different opinions on that issue.

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1989 245 vista
5.7 cobra

I guess it really depends on where you live. If you live in a area like mine (SE Michigan), you will absolutely not want to skimp on making sure nothing in your engine will freeze. I learned this lesson from my step dad that cracked the block on my uncle's boat.

I have a Volvo Penta 5.0 Gi. My first winterization procedure was:

1) Drain water hoses.

2) Remove drain plugs and remove debris from holes.

3) Remove thermostat so I don't have to wait for it to open and tighten housing back down. I guess the previous owner never reinstalled one because I don't have one. I will install one in spring along with a new impeller.

4) Reinstall drain plugs.

4) Reconnect all hoses with the exception of the water pump inlet hose.

5) Fill up the Camco 65501 Do It Yourself Boat Winterizer with 5 gallons of -50 Marine/RV antifreeze.

6) Use the Camco Front Mounted Engine Pump Adapter (not needed for Mercs) to connect the Camco Winterizer hose to the waterpump inlet (the top one).



7) Turn the Camco valve on.

8.) Have assistant turn on engine.

9) As engine sucks in the anti-freeze, be sure to tilt the container back so the engine does not suck dry air.

10) Have assistant stop engine before the container is emptied.

11) Now time to do change the engine oil & filter, outdrive oil, gas filter, grease fittings, etc.

12) Have a drink, you earned it.

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NEW - 2000 Cobalt 246 w/454 Magnum 385HP | SOLD - 2000 FW Horizon 180 LS w/5.0Gi 250HP Volvo Penta

I roll on the dark side so I don't have to worry. I have yet to here anything on the Mercs about not fogging.

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2004 248 Vista "Amante"
MC 5.0MPI/B3

Didn't Merc say to remove the fuel filter and dump the old gas, then fill it with a few ounces of 2 stroke oil, stabil and fresh gas? I'd check on that. I still do it the old way having a carbed engine.

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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

This was my first year of winterizing and after reading thru the shop manuals and several posts here (thanks Lou C, your answers on the replies were helpfull) I did the full drain and refill manually with -100 AF. Local marina wanted $400 to just winterize and fog engine. I was tempted to suck it up as some due but my boat takes forever to warm up enough on the muffs to open the tstat. It was a pain to do, but I did get nearly 4 gallons of AF into the engine. Filled the block thru the big hose from the tstat to engine water pump, took 2 gallons, then filled both manifolds and the hose from the raw water pump thru the power steering cooler which took another gallon or so. I think I will go back and make sure that block is full to the tstat housing as I quit filling the big hose when it got to where it was just full enough to put on the tstat housing. Also changed the outdrive oil, engine oil, and fuel filter/water sep.

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2008 H200 Frenzy Edition 5.0 GXi

1993 Horizon 190 5.0 EFI (Sold)

I think eventually I will start doing it myself, I just paid $479 for winterization / fluid changes

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2011 SL242 5.7 VP GXi - 320 HP Dual Prop

Just for reference, it costs a bit to do it yourself, adding the best AF does ramp up the price. Otherwise, the Merc gear oil is about $13 a qt (x2=$26), the Merc motor oil is about $27 a gallon, oil filter about 8 bucks, fuel filter, 8 bucks, drive gasket, 6 bucks. So for the most basic job, its about 65 bucks for materials. If you add 5 gallons of -100 marine antifreeze, thats another $70, so you are up to about 135 or so materials cost. I'd guess that to do what I do, here it would cost at least $400 or so. The antifreeze part is really up to you, I do it but many people in fresh water regions do not. There are also a few other things you need that you might have on hand like Stabil, gasket sealer, fogging oil, and Boeshield T-9 or Corrosion X......

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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

If your engine takes a long time to warm up on the water hose (like more than 15-20 min) I bet its not closing all the way, probably because of a little piece of rust keeping it from closing. You can try this trick when you run the boat in the water next year:
Get a small hammer and take with you on the boat. Run the boat up on plane long enough so that the engine temp is at least 160-165. Slow down and bring it to idle, before it starts to cool off take the hammer and tap lightly around the thermostat housing. This can loosen rust flakes and allow the stat to close. I have had this problem over and over here in salt. Even replaced stats only to have it again. Tested them and found that the stat itself was OK but if a big enough chunk of rust gets in there it has a hard time being flushed out.

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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

This is a springtime chore for me. Hate taking that thing off!

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2006 Vista 278
First Boat:
2005 Sundowner 205
Columbus, OH

I take it off and leave it in the heated garage all winter. My friend, a marine mechanic, makes fun of me for babying it. Although he has the same boat sitting in a storage lot and had the cobra drive stolen off of it...so he no longer has the option to remove it for the winter...lol

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1988 215 Sundowner 5.7L OMC

I will more then likely just replace the Tstat next year along with a few hoses as I think alot of these items are original from 1993. The boat only had 87 hours put on it in the last 11 years after the first engnie was replaced due to a winterizing issue, and we put 50 on it this year. Needless to say that it has had some minor issues to work thru from not being ran all that much. According to my temp gage the temp will never go over 150.

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2008 H200 Frenzy Edition 5.0 GXi

1993 Horizon 190 5.0 EFI (Sold)