Avoiding a bursted block...
Quote:
Originally Posted by
scottschmitt
Attachment 17839
I detach the hose from water pump and pour antifreeze into the thermostat. I'm pulling the water pump anyway.
After 2 gallons or so I usually open the block drain a little to make sure there is pink coming out and I have a kid check the exhaust for pink coming out there too.
If you pull antifreeze from a bucket and don't drain the block before hand, remember that you need to run enough into the block that the water in there is good and diluted.
I am not really getting it.
Are you running your engine without your water pump attached, and instead manually pouring water down the thermostat intake?
If the engine is not running, unless it was really hot to begin with like 200 f, the thermostat would be closed.
That means you would be pouring antifreeze-solution into the thermostat housing, through the by-pass hoses into the manifolds. Since the block would be full of water it would not go into the block.
Therefore it will go out through the risers and out the exhaust.
And little or no antifreeze would get into the block.
Opening the block drain will allow the antifreeze to get down into the block but you cannot be sure that it would go everywhere in the engine and you will end up with a much more diluted solution of anti-freeze than you begun with.
Since most use something like a 50/50, 40/60 or at least 30/70 mix of antifreeze/water and most seldom see temperatures of -20 F which would be the "bursting point" of a 30/70 mix I guess you are probably fine using this method. I would assume antifreeze would dilate slowly by itself without mixing and therefore even if you have 1 gallon of 50/50 anti-freeze in your manifolds that would travel down to the block by always trying to reach the most even solution? Like osmosis?
This way you would have like a 20/80 mix in the end and even that gives you protection down to +10 F.
However, this is really a risky way of doing it.
You should always drain your block and your manifolds.
Then you should add anti-freeze mix of whatever you deem adequate. We usually get like +10 F and sometimes, in extreme cases get down to -10 F. Like once a decade.
I use something like 40/60...
You can add this antifreeze by letting the engine suck it up or by pouring down the thermostat. As long as the block and manifolds are empty any way is okay.
I like to do it like this:
Disconnect my v-drive hose from the intake at the bottom of the boat.
Put this hose so that it is bent upwards (towards the sky).
Put a garden hose in the hose.
Start engine, let it warm up.
Once engine is nice and warm, shut it off.
Drain the block by loosening the two plugs. Drain the manifolds by loosening the quick-connect on the hose between the manifolds.
Drain the v-drive and transmission simply by taking the v-drive intake hose and pointing it down towards the bilge.
Reinstall plugs, quick-connect hose and put the v-drive intake hose in upward position again.
Pour anti-freeze mix into the hose using a funnel and start the engine. Continue pouring anti-freeze down the hose until you see antifreeze from your exhaust and shut off engine. Usually takes 4-5 gallons.
While pouring the anti-freeze I usually have someone spraying fogging oil down the throat of my throttle body.
This way you can be a lot more certain that the engine is full of a good mix of anti-freeze and you will protect the engine from corrosion.
You should not leave it empty.
Best of luck,
Mike