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Random Quote: Fishing is more than fish;it is the vitalizing lure to outdoor life. Herbert Hoover
I've been winterizing my outboards for years and this year I want to help my friend winterize his Volvo 5.0 GXI MPI sterndrive. What are the steps for winterizing the block? Where and how do you drain the water and add antifreeze?
Thanks.
its raw water cooled. Thanks.
I know how to fog the motor and change the lower unit oil. I just have no idea how to make sure all the water is out of the cooling system in an I/O.
I just spoke to one of my clients and he is Mercruiser certified and has "Winterized" boats for many years. I have basically the same motor, Volvo Penta 5.0 Gi, as your friend does. My clients said that the outdrive easily bolts right off the boat. This on a mercruiser outdrive mind you. I'm thinking of trying this out on the Volvo. He would take his off and leave it hanging in his garage; and there was a top and bottom drain plug on it. He would just let it sit for a few weeks draining all the "Fluid" out of it.
Then for the engine you fuel stabilize it with a Full tank of gas. Then fill it with Antifreeze and the dribble a small amount of oil into each cyllinder through the spark plug hole, quickly cycling the engine on and off with the distriutor wires off. Lastly you fog the motor.
I've never done this before because I just bought my first boat this year. I'm going home tonight to look though the owners manual that came with the boat. I'll be damed if I'm going to spend $475.00 to pay the marina to winterize it for me.
P.S. You people in Florida Suck! "What's winterizing?" HA!
__________________ 2001 Four Winns 200 Horizon
1997 Chevy Tahoe - Tow Vehicle
1992 Jeep Wrangler - Toy 1
1998 CBR 900RR - Toy 2
1986 Nissan 300ZX - Toy 3
Alll you need to do is by the winterizing kit ( a plastic 6 gallon square jug with a hose that attaches to your engine muffs.) Run the -100 antifreeze thru the engine until you see the blue antifreeze run out. That way you know the antifreeze has circulated thruout the engine. Do not cut the antifreeze with water.
I believe the -100 antifreeze is 6.99 a gallon you will need at least five gallons. The wintrizing kit I believe is 40.00. The engine muffs you should already have if you flush the engine after each use. Email me with any other questions. It is very easy to do. I personally would not take the outdrive off. In the spring I might have the outdriv alignement checked and the spindle checked. - Cooker
If the motor is raw water cooled, be careful using the winterizing jug. If you winterize on a cool day, the thermostat may not open and what will happen is the a/f will go thru the manifolds and thermo housing, and the block will still have water, that will freeze in it. I tried that method once, checked the block drains and what came out didn't look like a/f. What I do now is:
Put stabil in gas tank, run motor on hose. Shut off motor, change motor oil and filter. Change lower unit oil. Make sure both engine and lower unit are full. Start engine on the hose, let it warm up. Stop engine, remove flame arrestor from carb. Start engine, run it a little over idle, fog it and try to get it to stall, if it doesn't stall just shut off. Let it cool off for a bit, replace flame arrestor. Disconnect big hose at thermo housing for circ pump, point down in bilge, it will drain. Remove both block drains, poke holes with stiff wire, make sure they drain. Do the same with each manifold. Disconnect hose from impeller housing to thermo housing, point down to drain. Also disconnect the transom to impeller housing hose at impeller and drain. Remove drain from PS cooler on rear of engine, let it all drain make sure engine is as level as you can get it. That cooler is tough to get at, don't drop the plug in the bilge!! Then replace drains. I like to fill the engine and manifolds with no tox af through the disconnected hoses (fill the engine thru the big one that is still connected to the circ pump, when af appears at the thermo housing, replace hose). Manifolds, fill thru the hoses till it runs out the exhaust. Fill the hose from the transom to to the impeller housing as well. That way any water that didn't drain doesn't cause a problem. But some people do not use Af and do not have a problem either. Reconnect hoses, and that's all I do. On my old Cobra there are some drains on the transom housing too. Don't know if the Volvo had them. Best to get a good manual just to be on the safe side, but those are the basics.
__________________ 1988 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee
4.0/NV 242 Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
5.7 HEMI/Quadradrive II
I have been winterizing my sterndrive for years. I have one of those flush kits that I fill with 5 gal of antifreeze. First, turn on the water and leave it running, with the antifreeze valve clsoed so that only water is going through. Then I fire up the engine and run it for a bit until I see the temperature going up. As soon as the needle stabilizes around 175 (it will be less with rwc) I know that the tstat is open. Now I take off the flame arrestor, and open the valve for the antifreeze so that a blend is going through. Then, with fogging oil can in hand, close the water valve so the engine is getting only antifreeze, and spray as much fogging oil as I can (trying to stall it) before running out of antifreeze, and then shut off engine. Replace the flame arrestor, pull the plugs, give each cylinder a squirt of fogging oil, bump the starter, and give them each another quirt. I them open the drain valves on teh manifolds to enusre that antifreeze comes out, not water. I dump the lube monitor tank, drain the lower unit, and then refill. Then I pull the drive off and store it at home.
................... My clients said that the outdrive easily bolts right off the boat. This on a mercruiser outdrive mind you. I'm thinking of trying this out on the Volvo. He would take his off and leave it hanging in his garage; and there was a top and bottom drain plug on it. He would just let it sit for a few weeks draining all the "Fluid" out of it.
........
There's no need to remove the outdrive for winterizing. Leave it on the boat, in the "down" position. This is a good tome to change the fluid which will get rid of any trapped water (which would indicate a more serious problem anyway). If you don't change the fluid, put the drive down and let a few ounces out through the bottom drain plug. Any trapped water will be removed.
As above, there are three lower hoses to be removed and a drain plug on the back of each manifold. Also, if the boat has the Volvo flushing system, remove the hose from its hanger, remove the cap, and let it drain.
Guys, sorry for jumping on this old post, but I was loooking for some guidance.
This is my first time winterizing my 1988 FWC Volvo I/O. I have always had outboards.
I tried putting the muffs on the outdrive and then fired up the motor. The muffs didnt appear to be sealed very well against the drive and I was not getting much water out of the exhaust. I shut it down imediatly.
I have tried both round and rectangular shaped muffs with the same result.
Is this normal? Is there a better muff out there for Volvo outdrives? I am used to outboards with there tell tale streams and plenty of water coming out of the hub.
If your Volvo is like my OMC (the Volvo SX was designed off the OMC transom design) most of the exhaust water comes out under the transom mount, not out the prop. A little will come out the prop but most comes out the transom mount. Woops, just noticed the year, 1988, that's the old style Swedish drive, I'm not sure on those. But I know Merc I/Os do the same thing as my OMC.
I use the dual inlet muffs they do allow some water to squirt out the sides but once the engine starts mostly all of it gets sucked in. Check your running temp while on the muffs, most Volvos and OMCs run at between 160-170 or so.
BTW, you don't need to remove the outdrive to winterize the boat, but you do need to remove it to do the yearly service such as checking the bellows for water, gimble bearing for smooth operation, and u-joints for wear. You have to grease the driveshaft splines yearly and there is no other way to do that. Even if the boat has the permanently lubed gimble and u-joints, you still need to do that. Plus if you never remove it, and one day you have to, it may NOT come off, driveshaft rusted into the gimble...not good....
__________________ 1988 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee
4.0/NV 242 Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited
5.7 HEMI/Quadradrive II
Alll you need to do is by the winterizing kit ( a plastic 6 gallon square jug with a hose that attaches to your engine muffs.) Run the -100 antifreeze thru the engine until you see the blue antifreeze run out. That way you know the antifreeze has circulated thruout the engine. Do not cut the antifreeze with water.
I believe the -100 antifreeze is 6.99 a gallon you will need at least five gallons. The wintrizing kit I believe is 40.00. The engine muffs you should already have if you flush the engine after each use. Email me with any other questions. It is very easy to do. I personally would not take the outdrive off. In the spring I might have the outdriv alignement checked and the spindle checked. - Cooker
This will not work because the thermostat will not be open to allow antifreeze into engine. There are2 or 3? drain plugs on the engine.Look in the owners manual for the location. Drain the block and exhaust. remove the thermostat and poor in antifreeze.Don't waste your money on that jug.Straight antifreeze will freeze. It must be diluted.What happens if you do the above and the engine isn't warm is the bypass (thermostat) routes the antifreeze through the exhaust and out the drive.Engine cooling system will have no antifreeze in it.
2007 Volvo Penta 5.0 GXI DP
__________________ Assault Squadron NINE
River Assault Division NINETY-ONE-1966
This will not work because the thermostat will not be open to allow antifreeze into engine. There are2 or 3? drain plugs on the engine.Look in the owners manual for the location. Drain the block and exhaust. remove the thermostat and poor in antifreeze.Don't waste your money on that jug.Straight antifreeze will freeze. It must be diluted.What happens if you do the above and the engine isn't warm is the bypass (thermostat) routes the antifreeze through the exhaust and out the drive.Engine cooling system will have no antifreeze in it.
2007 Volvo Penta 5.0 GXI DP
So take out the T-stat first.
I agree not to waste $40 bucks on the jug when a 3' hose connected to your muffs and a funnel in the other end will do the job and you know antifreeze has run thru the entire engine.
So take out the T-stat first.
I agree not to waste $40 bucks on the jug when a 3' hose connected to your muffs and a funnel in the other end will do the job and you know antifreeze has run thru the entire engine.
Yes. No need to run engine. Pour coolant into the t stat housing until the enging is full and and then open drain plug to see if anti freeze is coming out of drain plugs.If no fresh water drains out of drains you should take a small wire and clean out the plug. it may be plugedup from some corrosion.
iboats.com has a VolvoPenta forum only section on there web site with some good Volvo people and volvo mechanics.
__________________ Assault Squadron NINE
River Assault Division NINETY-ONE-1966
Thanks all
I have a FWC volvo, so the block already has anti-freeze in it, so I shouldnt have to worry whether the T-stat opens or not. I will certainly test it to make sure its good the antifreeze is good though.
The raw water side of the exchanger, hoses, pump, manifolds etc obviously still need to be winterized. I will put the muffs back on and watch my temp gauge.
Thanks all
I have a FWC volvo, so the block already has anti-freeze in it, so I shouldnt have to worry whether the T-stat opens or not. I will certainly test it to make sure its good the antifreeze is good though.
The raw water side of the exchanger, hoses, pump, manifolds etc obviously still need to be winterized. I will put the muffs back on and watch my temp gauge.
If you fire that motor up on the muffs,bye bye antifreeze.If you opened the drain plugs prior to adding coolant the exchanger should have antifreeze in it. I would crack the drain plugs and see what comes out. water or anti freeze.I would remove the t-stat and pour it in there untill it comes out.It will exit the drive when full.
__________________ Assault Squadron NINE
River Assault Division NINETY-ONE-1966
If you fire that motor up on the muffs,bye bye antifreeze.If you opened the drain plugs prior to adding coolant the exchanger should have antifreeze in it. I would crack the drain plugs and see what comes out. water or anti freeze.I would remove the t-stat and pour it in there untill it comes out.It will exit the drive when full.
Why would you say bye-bye to the anti-freeze? It's a FWC engine, meaning the engine has a closed cooling system with anti-freeze in it.
All the poster needs to do is winterize the raw water side which is very easy to do whether you have an IO or IB.
Why would you say bye-bye to the anti-freeze? It's a FWC engine, meaning the engine has a closed cooling system with anti-freeze in it.
All the poster needs to do is winterize the raw water side which is very easy to do whether you have an IO or IB.
My mistake i was thinking of raw water.
__________________ Assault Squadron NINE
River Assault Division NINETY-ONE-1966
Winterizing Volvo sterndrive 
