winterization question

[abbott]

Hi, I have a 4.3 Mercruiser that was winterized in Nov. 2015. The outdrive was removed after winterization and was found to have various problems and replacement was recommended. Anyway, my question is, is there a way to test if the engine block made it through 2 Maine winters without an outdrive being reattached? Thanks for any advice, Larry

 

[JVM225]

Is it fresh water or raw water cooled?
Either way, if it was properly winterized it should be fine.
I would check the oil(also coolant level if FWC), maybe turn it by hand to make sure it's free, install the drive, and start it up. If you really want to get crazy with it you could pull the plugs and squirt a little oil down each cylinder before you turn it but if it was properl fogged when it was winterized you really don't need to do that. If it starts, keep an eye on the temperature and oil pressure. If both are fine then you're in pretty good shape. Let it get up to operating temperature, shut it down and change the oil that's been sitting in there all this time.
If you have a bottom drain for the oil you could even change it before you attempt to start the motor, but if you have to pump the oil out through the dipstick you're better off starting the motor first and getting the oil hot enough to pump out.

 

[Gregory S]

He wants to know if he can test the block without attaching the drive.

 

[BillK]

Yes, you can run it without the outdrive, you will just have to connect a water supply as the water pickup would be in the outdrive. A bravo with an engine mounted raw water pump, just put the input hose to the water pump in a bucket of water and let is draw from that - once it starts keep a hose running to keep the bucket full, used to run my inboard Correct Craft this way all the time. If it is an Alpha you will need to connect a hose and supply a water flow as the raw water pump is in the outdrive.

 

[JVM225]

You can run the alphas without the drive if you can figure out a way to secure a water hose to the inlet in the transom assembly. I did it several times on my old boat with a contraption that mounted to the assemble using the mounting studs for the drive. It belonged to a marine mechanic that I know, and he had made it up himself years before to use for his business.
Probably much easier to just hook up the drive if it's an alpha and put the muffs on it. As long as the water pump in the drive is good and you can put it in neutral it shouldn't matter if it has other damage.

 

[abbott]

Thanks for the advice. I am feeling better about getting the boat up and running after 2 years in storage.

 

[LouC]

If this boat had an Alpha drive what you could to (outdrive still off) would be to go up to the front of the engine, and disconnect the hose that feeds water from the transom mount into the thermo housing. Then run a garden hose up to the thermo housing and if needed fab up an adaptor to hook up the garden hose to the thermo housing. When you start the engine, have the water on about 1/2 way, you should be seeing water come out of the exhaust housing of the transom mount. If the engine comes up to normal temp and stays there, fine, if it starts to run hotter then turn the water on all the way. If the boat had a Bravo with the impeller on the engine you could do the same thing except you'd have to feed water to the impeller housing, same idea fab up an adaptor to hook the garden hose to the impeller housing.

If the boat was properly winterized there should be no issues, other than the gas is now a year and a half old. If stabilized, should be OK.