winterize questions: 89 mastercraft prostar 190

[89mastercraft]

I hate to start a topic because there are already so many, but i don't fully understand this process..

I have a 89 prostar 190 and I have open the valves on both sides of the block... drained the water and I pulled the plugs from the manifolds and drained the water from both of them as well

I see people making custom buckets and hooking them up to what appears the water pump..

Why do you have to modify the bucket? Couldn't I just fill a bucket up with marine antifreeze and use a hose to suck it through?

Could someone PLEASE help me out and show me exactly which hose i need to undo to pump antifreeze through the whole engine?

Also i have already put my boat in the back yard.. far away from water for me to run a fake-a-lake to make the engine reach operating temperature, is this TOTALLY necessary?

I was going to buy about 4 gallons of antifreeze and just run it until it comes out the exhaust.

ANY pictures or help would be me much appreciated...

It's getting down to 30 here over the weekend and makes me nervous

[blackhawk]

You don't have to make a custom bucket. I just used a Rubbermaid tub filled with water. I bought a 1-1/4" ID clear hose from Lowe's. Hooked that to the raw water pump inlet and put the other end in the tub. The raw water pump sucked the water up with no problem. The only advantage to making the custom bucket is that you don't have to worry about the hose falling out of the tub and the custom bucket allows you to suck the bucket dry. To keep the hose in the tub, just clamp it to the side of the tub.

The inlet on most raw water pumps is at the bottom. You usually have to take the top hose off in order to get to the bottom hose. You need to take these hoses off anyway and bend them down into the bilge to get out any water. You should also take loose the large hose going to your thermostat housing and dump any water in there into the bilge.

[j.mccreight@hotmail.com]

Originally Posted by 89mastercraft

I hate to start a topic because there are already so many, but i don't fully understand this process..

I have a 89 prostar 190 and I have open the valves on both sides of the block... drained the water and I pulled the plugs from the manifolds and drained the water from both of them as well

I see people making custom buckets and hooking them up to what appears the water pump..

Why do you have to modify the bucket? Couldn't I just fill a bucket up with marine antifreeze and use a hose to suck it through?

Could someone PLEASE help me out and show me exactly which hose i need to undo to pump antifreeze through the whole engine?

Also i have already put my boat in the back yard.. far away from water for me to run a fake-a-lake to make the engine reach operating temperature, is this TOTALLY necessary?

I was going to buy about 4 gallons of antifreeze and just run it until it comes out the exhaust.

ANY pictures or help would be me much appreciated...

It's getting down to 30 here over the weekend and makes me nervous

Since you don't have access to the water hose at this point, I would just remove thermostat housing and pour anti-freeze in at that point until it runs out the exhaust, reinstall t-stat and tape closed exhaust flaps.

[d2jp]

Originally Posted by j.mccreight@hotmail.com

Since you don't have access to the water hose at this point, I would just remove thermostat housing and pour anti-freeze in at that point until it runs out the exhaust, reinstall t-stat and tape closed exhaust flaps.

This advice ^^is what I've done the last two seasons (on my '89 Prostar). No need to run the motor and suck up anti-freeze. Although before I pour through T-stat I remove the big J-hose from the bottom at the pump, drain and re-attach. I also remove the hoses from the impeller, drain and re-attach. And then I drain the transmission cooler by loosening the nut on the side of it (you can also remove and re-attach this hose if that's easier). Even if you didn't drain these hoses, you'll still have so much anti-freeze to water ratio by pouring intothe t-stat housing that you'd be plenty safe from freeze damage.

[89mastercraft]

Where is the thermostat located? Also the transmission cooler?

If i undo the thermostat and fill it up with antifreeze until it comes out the flaps.. will the antifreeze stay in the engine or is it eventually all going to leak out?

Sorry for the stupidity guys.. my first boat and i am not familiar with all these hoses/lines/bolts.. hence me needing pictures :P

Thanks for all the replies!

[bochnak]

Aren't the exhaust risers higher than t-stat opening? If so, RV will never make it out the back.

[blackhawk]

Originally Posted by bochnak

Aren't the exhaust risers higher than t-stat opening? If so, RV will never make it out the back.

I agree with bochnak. In the picture that j.mccreight posted, those two connections on the top of the thermostat housing most likely are what feed the exhaust manifolds with water. At least that is how my MCX is setup.

I don't take off my thermostat housing. I just take off the large hose from the engine water pump and pour AF in there. On my MCX, after about 2.75 gallons, the AF started coming out of the thermostat fitting where I pulled off the hose. I don't understand why you need to take off the thermostat housing.

[Cloaked]

Originally Posted by 89mastercraft

Where is the thermostat located? Also the transmission cooler?

If i undo the thermostat and fill it up with antifreeze until it comes out the flaps.. will the antifreeze stay in the engine or is it eventually all going to leak out?

Sorry for the stupidity guys.. my first boat and i am not familiar with all these hoses/lines/bolts.. hence me needing pictures :P

Thanks for all the replies!

Here's a direct and quick way.

If I recall correctly, the 89 is a Ford with Indmar marinization.... The tranny cooler is inline with the intake hose from the hull... It runs on a horizontal plane just under the exhaust manifold up to the raw water pump. If you remove the hose from the back-end connection on the cooler, the remaining hose to the raw water pump has enough slack to pull it out to the side and feed the engine with 50/50 solution or straight RV. Use that open end of the cooler (it is bi-directional with flow) to put the fluid into the engine. Crank it up (idle) and let the pump do the work as you feed the fluid.. Short and sweet. You'll need maybe 3-4 gallon before it comes out the exhaust ports. Reattach the hose to the end and leave the residual fluid in the cooler. The thermostat has flow-by vent holes that will allow fluid into the engine until it opens.

You may have to remove the tranny bracket but that is OK too. Lay it back in place until ==> I moved my cooler on a 93 to the vertical position and mounted it to the bell-housing/block bolt. All I do is pull the top hose to feed fluid.

All that or............. drain it dry, which is what I prefer for working on the engine throughout the winter without losing / replacing the fluid when I need to crank it.

Done deal.

I hope this is right...