OMC winterization question

[Winner88]

I am winterizing my 1988 OMC 4.3L. I already drained the engine block, manifolds, and power steering cooler. The book says all you need to do to drain water from the outdrive is remove the water drain plug on the port side of the drive. When I removed it no water came out. I was curious, so I removed the water pump and sure enough there was still water in the left hole behind the pump. None in the right. When I poured water into the right hole, it came out the right side intake on the lower. Nothing is draining from the left side. What is going on here? Is something blocked or plugged?

 

[Lou C]

OK I had this mystery as well and here's what I learned...there is a plastic fitting in the pivot housing that the hose from the transom mount connects to. This is what's supposed to drain, but early models of plastic fitting do not have a drain hole in them, so removing the plug, does not drain anything. I got around this all the years I've winterized it by disconnecting the raw water intake hose up on the stat housing. Make sure the drive is down. Fill this hose with marine antifreeze till it runs out the water intakes on the outdrive. Then just bump the starter a tiny bit, this will get the AF into the impeller housing.
I bought a few of these plastic fittings as spares and found that they all had a drain hole, so I just drilled a small hole in the one that is still installed on my boat. It drains fine now but if you don't want to do that, then fill the hose with AF. Not sure why water only came out one side on your water intakes. Any marine growth on that plastic water screen?

 

[Winner88]

That's good info.
Thanks a bunch.
Is it normal to have water visible in the left hole behind the water pump?

 

[Lou C]

Yes because water doesn't always drain from the passages in the upper gear housing. If you use good AF like the -100, it is dense enough to push out the water and prevent freezing. I did not add the drain hole until a few years ago, many years we went down to zero and I never had a cracked impeller housing or anything else.

 

[Winner88]

Thanks!!!