Antifreeze Winterizing 2007 Outback by Deerfield

[deerfield]

Finished the collector today. Used PVC pieces to create a means of capturing (without a mess) and recirculating antifreeze through the engine. Tomorrow I will adapt a feeder line from a capture tank (probably a twenty gallon bucket positioned under the collector end) to the raw water impeller. By letting the engine idle and come up to operating temperature I hope to also get antifreeze through the lines and core of the heater. Also will change oil and filter. Have not made up my mind whether to pull the engine block drain plugs and empty lines, or leave everything intact for the winter. Will post more pics tomorrow.

[deerfield]

UPDATE: Ran the engine till it reached operating temperature. Took no more or less time than sitting in lake water. As mmandley noted, there is a reduction in the PVC size. It starts at 4" and goes to 2", so back pressure was not an issue. After reaching operating temperature, I shut off the engine, emptied the catch basin, and filled it with 3 gallons of non-toxic antifreeze. Started the engine and let it run for about 5 minutes. Ran the heater for confirmation that the engine thermostat was open allowing antifreeze to circulate through the heater core as well as the engine.

How do I remove the flame arrestor? Need to do that in order to fog the engine. For the life of me I could not get it off the intake manifold neck.

[deerfield]

yearround - The Home Depot receipts are vague. They list by such item terms as cleaner, fitting, and pipe, but provide no sizes. Total cost for PVC pieces w/ tax came to $59.11. I also bought the flap wheel sander at Home Depot. Cost $7.97. Used it to open up the inside diameter of the main collector tubes of the manifold assembly. Off the shelf they were just a hair too tight of a fit over the exhaust pipes. As mentioned in my PM earlier today, I had to sand them (used the 60 grit course) for a proper fit. When installed, manifold does not conflict with exhaust flaps. Here's a few more pics to help explain the approach I took. - Deerfield

[yearround]

do you put this over the exhaust flap? or inside the flap? the top of the exhaust is not round. i guess i could pull the flap off.

[deerfield]

yearround - Outback exhaust has a different design where it comes through the hull. Instead of outside as on your LSV, the flap swings from inside the exhaust tip as you can see from the picture I took this evening and posted below. Can you fit the PVC collector tube over the tip if you remove the flap? If not or the flap is not removable, can you fit the PVC inside the exhaust tip? - Deerfield

[deerfield]

snowboardcory - The antifreeze I bought at West Marine is intended to be mixed with water and safe up to 40 below zero. In fact, instructions state that it should not be used full strength to prevent engine damage. I will stop by West Marine tomorrow and look again at the water/antifreeze ratio on the packaging. Good point though, as many antifreeze products are meant to be used full strength. - Deerfield

[DOCDRS]

It looks like maybe you should drain your block and acc after wards unless you use the -100 antifreeze, depending on where you are located. Here are some interesting facts to add fuel to the debate

Now, a thing or two about freeze protection:

Most people assume that the freeze rating on the jug of anti-freeze meant that you were protected to that temperature (e.g., the anti-freeze did not freeze until that temperature was reached), The fact is, winterizing products are rated by burst protection and not freeze protection. So when we say that an anti-freeze solution will protect our copper plumbing pipes to -50 deg F, it means that a copper pipe filled with this product will burst at -50 deg F. The actual solution will start to form ice crystals at approximately +12 deg F. As the temperature drops, the solution continues to form more dense ice crystals and expands. As the solution expands, it puts more pressure on the pipe and at -50 deg F, the pipe will burst. A PVC pipe will burst at -15 deg F since it's not a strong as copper pipe.
Since a stored engine is not being used, it is not necessary to keep the system ice crystal free, only to keep it from bursting at a rated temperature. While you can buy more expensive, lower rated antifreezes, you really only need to protect yourself from burst pressure. By the same token, why not spend a couple of extra bucks buy the lowest rating available (especially given the result of a miscalculation). It's cheap piece of mind considering the cost of miscalculating your needs.

[viking]

Deerfield,
Just to clarify,
You flush your engine with antifreeze and DO NOT drain anything right? Biodegradable I'm assuming so you can just launch and go in the spring?
What do you do with your ballast and sea strainers for winter? Remove them or drain?
Do you flush your bag with antifreeze too or drain that?

Just Curious as I have the same boat (almost exact) as you!

[deerfield]

viking - Correct on NOT draining. I got the engine up to operating temperature, shut it off, dumped the water from the catch basin, filled it w/ three gallons of eco-friendly antifreeze (engineered to NOT BE USED full strength), and ran the engine for a final five minutes to thoroughly circulate. I did NOT touch any of the drain plugs in the engine block or exhaust manifolds. They remain exactly as they were when installed in May by the dealer as part of the summarization. Also, I did NOT disconnect lines running between the engine and heater core. Those items are protected by the antifreeze circulating when engine was at operating temperature and thermostat was open. With respect to the ballast system, I disconnected all the lines and blew them out, and am storing the ballast bag inside for the winter. I think that covers it. My boat is stored in our unheated garage where it will remain until spring time. I have a small fan that runs all winter under the cover to keep away any chance of mildew and a shop light in the engine compartment, because this is my first time winterizing on my own and am probably neurotic. Since our boats are pretty much the same, can you think of anything I forgot? Thanks. - Deerfield

[aintskeered]

Deerfield, I built on very simular to yours for my LSV, I also modified my ballest fill pump so I can pump the antifreeze through all of the ballest lines and out the empty pumps for the ballest bags, I built a double ended connector for the ballest bags. Instead of going through the bag, the lines just hook together and dump out the over fill. I have a shower on mine also so had to run it. The one problem I had was the v-drive shaft dumps quite alot of antifreeze onto the ground. Did you find something or some way to collect that water. I used a shallow funnel and clear tube (Lots of duct tape) to return it to the bucket where the exhaust was dumping. Also I used RV antifreeze for there fresh water systems instead of regular antifreeze. Makes me real nervous every year but so far so good. Its been ugly cold here this winter guess I will see.