v-drive plugs

[pmoomba]

I'm having a hell of a time getting the v-drive plugs out during winterization. I know the front plug is a vent and most likely has no water. The rear I can't seem to get off either. They are stuck and starting to round so I can't really force them out. I undid the hose in the back of the v-drive (in addition to intake) and no water came out of the drive, but I did get some more water from the hose. So, a couple questions.

- How much water is in there if nothing came out of the hose? Don't get me wrong I want to fix it up before putting it away, but in case it gets stuck I'm wondering if it's a problem.

- Best ideas to get it them out? I did some research and ordered some PB blaster which is supposed to be good. I haven't tried vice grips yet but I can give that a shot. I have a dremel and suppose I could try to grind two flat sides and then use the vice grips. I've also heard trying to hammer on a socket that's a little smaller than the original can work as well.

[mmandley]

I guess im not sure what plugs your talking about. Do me water drain on the V drive unit?

[sandm]

seems to me that I remember using a crescent wrench to get them off, but it's been a while. you can use the socket trick, but then you need to get new ones. sears sells a socket that will fit the tops of any bolt that supposedly works real well. an excuse to pick up a new tool

[pmoomba]

The plugs are the ones listed here on page 73 (or 7-5 of the manual pages). Figure 7-5 for the walters.

http://www.indmar.com/About/ContactI...Presentweb.pdf

Thanks for the tools suggestion, after some more searching it looks like there a couple types of options. Maybe I will pick up one of these and give it a shot after spraying it with the pb blaster.

http://www.amazon.com/Irwin-Industri...ref=pd_cp_hi_2

[Moomba Dad]

I did mine yesterday and I'm positive it was first time they were removed on my 7 year old boat. (The original paint peeled of while doing it.)

I used a closed end wrench, it might have been a 7/16" I think. I definitely worked better than an open end wrench or a cresent wrench

Moomba Dad

[pmoomba]

Thanks, yeah the paint was rubbing off mine too. How much water came out? The first time I had the boat winterized I had a good shop do it and haven't had any significant issues in that regard. Just a bit of random googling showed at least a few people who never take theirs off. I'm still going to try to fix it but seems like I might be ok in the near term.

[Moomba Dad]

Nothing out of the front plug since it's for venting. I doubt I had a teapsoon of water come out of the rear plug. Based on that, and the fact that it's never been done before, I'm not so sure I'll be doing it in future winterizations.

Moomba Dad

[squeeg333]

The first time I winterized, they hadn't ever been removed either, and were a bear to get out. Peeled the paint, and got a few drip of water out of the rear plug. When you pull the inlet hose that impellar, the majority of the water from this small cavity will be drawn out, so I honestly see no need to pull these two plugs. The small amount of water that would be left won't expand enough to hurt anything. You can also pull the top cover plate off instead of pulling the plugs. Just 6 screws and a gasket and it's off. I've read a recommendation to pull this and clean out the cavity, but I've never done it, and probably won't.

At least there's one more option for you!

[cab13367]

A 7/16" closed end wrench fits the square plug perfectly. But if it's already rounded off, well, not sure if it will work.

[DOCDRS]

I'm having a hell of a time getting the v-drive plugs out during winterization. I know the front plug is a vent and most likely has no water. The rear I can't seem to get off either. They are stuck and starting to round so I can't really force them out. I undid the hose in the back of the v-drive (in addition to intake) and no water came out of the drive, but I did get some more water from the hose. So, a couple questions.

- How much water is in there if nothing came out of the hose? Don't get me wrong I want to fix it up before putting it away, but in case it gets stuck I'm wondering if it's a problem.

- Best ideas to get it them out? I did some research and ordered some PB blaster which is supposed to be good. I haven't tried vice grips yet but I can give that a shot. I have a dremel and suppose I could try to grind two flat sides and then use the vice grips. I've also heard trying to hammer on a socket that's a little smaller than the original can work as well.

Don't worry about these plugs , use a shop vac to suck out the outlet hose, reverse the vac and blow in the inlet to push the water out. if your still worried then you could add a little plumbing antifreeze.