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  1. Lou C

    Single point drain winterization

    STANDARD COOLING SYSTEM(DESIGN I) - 1990 Mercruiser 5.0L [ALPHA] 450B100CS | Crowley Marine Here's a pic of what their cooling system used to look like before they "improved" it. About the same number of hoses as an OMC Cobra or Volvo Penta SX and conventional drains.
  2. Lou C

    Single point drain winterization

    I think it can work in freshwater, but in salt? More often than not I've had to poke the old fashioned drains with a pick or small screwdriver on mine to get them to drain. Just for reference you should be getting almost 5 gallons of liquid, maybe a bit more from a full drain. That's how much...
  3. Lou C

    Single point drain winterization

    I’m not sure what year they started with this but look at any on line Merc catalog start about 2000 or so if that has it then go back a few years.
  4. Lou C

    Single point drain winterization

    It’s amazing the lengths Mercruiser went through to avoid making closed cooling standard and in that process overcomplicated a previously simple raw water cooling system to a point that is almost unbelievable. Take a look at a recent Merc parts diagram and see how many hoses, plastic couplings...
  5. Lou C

    Cracked exhaust manifolds

    You know you can simply disconnect the feed hoses at the front of the manifolds to drain them? Also there is a drain plug that is on the forward edge of the intake manifold on the Vortec models that needs to be removed so the water passage under the thermostat housing can fully drain. This was...
  6. Lou C

    Cracked exhaust manifolds

    No do not do that, it can put water right in a cylinder. Get new manifolds & elbows and save the engine. Why did you not drain the manifolds?
  7. Lou C

    bad 4.3 omc engine gonna replace but want more horses

    Agreed the late model 4.3 Vortec will give you what you’re looking for with a few modifications. You’ll have to add an electric fuel pump with oil pressure activated safety switch; and toss the old one piece exhaust manifolds and upgrade to the later OMC/Volvo 2 piece exhaust system. I did this...
  8. Lou C

    Are surge brakes always a PIA?

    If you always have to bleed each season you have a leak or a bad master cylinder in the actuator. I have the same Tie Down actuator in mine since 2004 and have replaced the wheel cylinders on the drum brakes a few times over the years. I figured out a way to make them more water resistant and...
  9. Lou C

    Riser Extension Blocks - Full Closed Cooling ???

    Good thing you caught that. My old aluminum coupler parts from my original exhaust are hardly corroded at all (replaced them with the new center riser system 5 years ago) and the Y pipe still looks good, hopefully yours is too. That's not a fun job to change....salt water never sleeps....
  10. Lou C

    Is there any hope???

    Jerry if the Cobra was outdated what is the Alpha, still a dog clutch with the impeller in the lower unit a pain to change compared to the Cobra which is the easiest one ever!
  11. Lou C

    Bravo 2 in salt brAckish

    Yes just keep up with maintenance such as pulling the drive at the end of each season to check the driveshaft bellows for water and grease the gimble bearing and u joints if they are grease-able. Keep in mind in salt water exhaust systems do not last as long as they do in fresh, we usually check...
  12. Lou C

    Need help finding a HEI conversion distributor cap for prestolite

    The Ford 460 was only used by OMC from 1987-1990 IIRC and I don’t know if they were ever converted to electronic as the Ford 351s were. Even so then OMC & Volvo were then using the Prestolite BID electronic system and modules for those are NLA. I’d just stick with points and standard caps. I...
  13. Lou C

    Is there any hope???

    What you want is the standard GM small block V8 , one piece rear seal, either pre Vortec or Vortec All the accessories must be marine rated for safety including: Starter Alternator Carburetor Distributor Fuel pump
  14. Lou C

    Is there any hope???

    If you already own it, then consider pulling the engine and evaluating the condition of it overall. If its an original engine and if used in salt water all that time, it may not even be worth rebuilding. I would pull the heads, see what you have then if it looks like the cooling passages are not...
  15. Lou C

    1996 Horizon 220 5.0Fi raw water pump issues.

    If you have the dual inlet muffs with the hard rubber rectangular muffs they might not allow the pump to prime. I had trouble with those and switched to the Merc/Quicksilver round ones made out of much softer rubber. They fit better and the impeller primes easily. With the Volvo impeller way up...
  16. Lou C

    How to tell what carb I need?!?

    In addition to all the other good suggestions the anti siphon valve if corroded or partly obstructed it will cause fuel starvation and low WOT rpms
  17. Lou C

    How to tell what carb I need?!?

    not its not that is a 4bbl Quadrajet! look at the first pic I posted....
  18. Lou C

    Replacement for perfect seal on drain plugs

    The idea of the sealer is to keep the threads in the block from rusting, mine has the brass fittings screwed into the block and the brass drain plugs screwed into that but I still use sealer. If your plugs go right into the threads in the cast iron block then for sure use gasket sealer, grease...
  19. Lou C

    How to tell what carb I need?!?

    1) the Quadrajet is an excellent but complex carb, for marine use the small primaries and huge secondaries work very well. 2) these were last made in 1989 or so so they are all very old and you don’t even know if it was a marine or automotive unit (look for the yellow overflow tube between the...
  20. Lou C

    Replacement for perfect seal on drain plugs

    You can find Evinrude gasket sealer on Amazon I think it’s the same product as the Merc perfect seal. I have also used Permatex Aviation and not had trouble getting them out. Are you using metal plugs or the plastic Merc ones? Another option if using metal plugs is just trailer wheel bearing grease
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