Mercruiser winterization process

**tgsearay** · 09-12-2017, 12:10 PM

I own a 1997 Searay 210 with the 5.7 (carb) engine. After being dissatisfied with the Mercury dealer and his winterization process last year, I am planning to do the process this year. I have a simple or dumb question about the process. After running fresh water thru the muffs and then introducing theMercury antifreeze to the system I plan to fog the engine. After the engine shuts down, do I leave the anti freeze in place or do I remove the blue drain plugs and let the anti freeze dran out? Any help is appreciated.

**RSWORDS** · 09-12-2017, 01:41 PM

This is how we do it at the shop...

Get a 5 gallon bucket, put a hole in the side right at the bottom with a ball valve. Run a hose from that to some muffs. Make sure you have a good fuel stabilizer in (also a great time to change oil and filters) Bring the engine to temp dunno g long enough to make sure the treated fuel is in the carb, drain the block down, fill the bucket with AF, put muffs on motor, open valve and start motor, when you get to about a gallon and a half to two gallons left fog motor until empty and cut off motor. Leave the AF In.

**RSWORDS** · 09-12-2017, 01:45 PM

Here is the bucket we made. The bucket will need to be elevated to feed the drive. (Also note this works very well with alpha and OK with bravos)

**tgsearay** · 09-12-2017, 02:23 PM

Thanks for the advice. I already put non-ethanol fuel in it and ran the fuel additives also. Changed the engine oil and fuel filter. Plan to do the lower unit oil next and then the anti freeze. So many conflicting ideas on how this is done. Dealership that "winterized" it last year just drained the water from the block and unscrewed the clamps and removed the hoses from the thermostat. Left the clamps in a bag on the engine! NO smoke upon initial startup this summer. Merc dealership tells me "We never use anti freeze". The dealership I used many years ago ( they since went out of business) always used anti freeze. How can two certified Mercury Mercruiser dealerships do the same procedure in two opposite ways? And this is on Lake George in upstate NY!!!

**RSWORDS** · 09-12-2017, 03:44 PM

Yeah that's odd....

Also that bucket is good for doing fresh water systems without puttimg anti freeze in Your tank, a.c. systems and other things. Just screw on appropriate fitting and go

**Capt.Insane-o** · 09-13-2017, 08:58 AM

Always drain the block before running the antifreeze through. Make sure water drains from all the petcocks, take a small pick in the boat with you to clean the rust scale and debris out if you have to.

**RSWORDS** · 09-13-2017, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by Capt.Insane-o

Always drain the block before running the antifreeze through. Make sure water drains from all the petcocks, take a small pick in the boat with you to clean the rust scale and debris out if you have to.

Yes