Oh, wow, that's so easy! All I have to do is first remove the engine from my boat to make the filters readily accessible! I've been doing it the hard (contorting myself into a cramped space & twisting my arms to reach them in low light) way all these years. Oh yeah, engine removal is the way to go for sure.
Haha, true. My 5.0 TKOs had the filters at the back next to the transom. Plenty of swearing involved! Such is boating maintenance. Makes me feel for the techs!
@@PowerBoatTV Thank you for the quick & good-natured 'I-can-take-a-joke' response. Seriously, though, I did order a service manual (SM#14, Alpha Sterndrives, A1,GenII) for my 2005 Merc 4.3L & tbh, except for a handful of things, it's pretty useless (+ expensive). About 1/2 of it covers driveshaft housing & counterrotation gear housing, both of which I'll likely never attempt to work on. Also, the sections on shift cable adjustmt are a bit confusing. I can do basic things, like changing filters/fluids/gear lube/prop, winterizing, etc. so which 1 would be a good all-round, basic SM for that motor? Do you need a specific serial #? I'd appreciate any advice about which SM would be best for an average DIYer like me, thanks.
If you don't remove the frost plugs to drain the water just running antifreeze through the system still works because it'll replace the water in those lines.
So that hose in the anti freeze bottle will take fluid fast enough to not have intervals where it’s not getting coolant? I’ve always wondered about this like the times I just run with the garden hose on the muffs. I never know just how much water input the engine needs in regards to how far to open the house spigot
Right! That's why I drilled a hole in bottom/side of plastic bucket & put a garden hose spigot in, then I attach a short garden hose (I made a short one with a new hose end & clamp from hardware store) & attach the water muffs, PLACE bucket on back of boat HIGHER than the engine so the coolant flows out for sure! I've had problems with a motor not sucking out of the jug on the ground before
It’s not easy to know, especially as these motors often won’t get warm enough running on a hosepipe to open the thermostat if the hosepipe water is particularly cold. I run mine for about 15-20minutes and then use an infrared thermometer to check the hose temperature on both sides of the thermostat to make sure it’s open. Tbh pulling the manifold and block drains out and letting the water drain out, and pouring some antifreeze down the main hose inlet so it flows back out of the out drive is probably good enough in 99.9% of situations. The rest is just belt and braces. I have friends who just pull the block drains out and leave it at that. They’ve been fine since I’ve known them (years) and we get down to about -10 deg c where we are. I like to fill it full of antifreeze though so I can sleep better.
