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Winterizing Fresh Water Cooled (Closed Cooling) Engines

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CaptJoe3

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What is the easiest way to winterize 454 XLi FWC engines? Has anyone installed a quick connect adapter? How much A/F should I plan on using and what type do you recommend? Thanks for your help.
 
Top off fuel tank and add Startron or you favorite gas stabilizer to the tank and run the engine long enough to get into the engine. Get engine nice and warm then do an oil /filter change. Remove the raw water intake hose from the seacock, place in 5 gallon bucket of your favorite winter antifreeze (should be non-toxic). Start engine and watch bucket level. Can add an extra gallon of non-tox as running for good measure. Shut engine off when bucket is empty. You should see a puddle of non-tox from the exhaust. Reconnect hose to seacock with double clamps. Check the freeze point of the FWC side and make sure it is acceptable for your winter temperatures. If long layup, can hit the cylinders with some fogging oil, but at that point I pull the key and move on to the next engine and dream of an early spring.
 
Pretty much what I do except I have have an adapter after the seacock that has a ball-cock in it so it is just close seacock, open ball cock adapter. Adapter, that has a hose (female coupling) on it and then the 5 gallon and away we go..very easy and no clamping required..
waiting for flowers to start to bloom and then gone again for 4 mohths :cool:😄
 
CaptJoe3 said:
What is the easiest way to winterize 454 XLi FWC engines? Has anyone installed a quick connect adapter? How much A/F should I plan on using and what type do you recommend? Thanks for your help.
Click to expand...

I just disconnect the feed for the raw water pump, and run the engine for a short while, dumping antifreeze from a funnel, into the hose. Generally run it just long enough to run 2.5 gallons through the block and risers, drain everything, and call it done. Takes around 4-5 minutes per engine, I generally do it at the marina, before I take it out of the water. Super easy.

For the strainer side, a cheap bottle of water generally fills it up pretty good, shove that in there, displace the water, and blow out the V-Drive (generally just use my mouth...). Pour a big splash of anti-freeze into the strainer, and it's done.
 
CaptJoe3.......................sorry my reply refers to my twin 350s and they are RAW WATER cooled.....

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year..
 
willow said:
Pretty much what I do except I have have an adapter after the seacock that has a ball-cock in it so it is just close seacock, open ball cock adapter. Adapter, that has a hose (female coupling) on it and then the 5 gallon and away we go..very easy and no clamping required..
waiting for flowers to start to bloom and then gone again for 4 mohths :cool:😄
Click to expand...
Same here EXCEPT... cut a V notch in the end of the hose that goes in the bucket so that the pump doesn't pull a suction on the bottom of the bucket and cuts off the flow.... Not a far fetched scenario... I HAD to do this on mine.
 
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