Will these valves drain it enough for winter?

[Waffle]

http://www.imgfreehost.com/show.php?14107_DSCF0008.JPG

http://www.imgfreehost.com/show.php?14108_DSCF0009.JPG

Ouch, looks like I might need a new exhaust manifold soon.


<edit>
1970 165 mercruiser Inline 6

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Will these valves drain it enough for winter?

Should, provided they aren't all clogged up with scale. looks like you may be replacing all that plumbing though.

 

[Laddies]

Re: Will these valves drain it enough for winter?

As long as there is no blockage they will be alright. I hate to see a 90 elbow in any drain down it's asking for a blockage if I drained it I would open the petcock one at atime and make sure they are well flushed before a final draining

 

[Don S]

Re: Will these valves drain it enough for winter?

I wouldn't trust them at all. If you can't verify the hole is not plugged, then you can expect it to be plugged and ALL the water may not drain out, just enough to make you think it's drained.
Then, when you replace that rusty manifold, you can put it on a new engine, cause the old one is cracked.

Sounds like you didn't trust them yourself anyway. Just needed some help to justify getting rid of them.

 

[Waffle]

Re: Will these valves drain it enough for winter?

I wouldn't trust them at all. If you can't verify the hole is not plugged, then you can expect it to be plugged and ALL the water may not drain out, just enough to make you think it's drained.
Then, when you replace that rusty manifold, you can put it on a new engine, cause the old one is cracked.

Sounds like you didn't trust them yourself anyway. Just needed some help to justify getting rid of them.

<Background>

I am 38 and Dad gave me this boat in June this year. I am a decent wrench with things that I am familiar with, mainly lawn equipment. With raw water cooling systems in an environment that can get down to 10 below easily during the Winter, I am pretty much a big doofus. Dad lives in Coastal North Carolina, so this may have been a salt water boat for 37 years. He picked it up for a few hundred dollars, replaced the deck, and paid to get the engine and outdrive working properly. He is great with wood, I am decent with metal. It rarely gets below freezing where my parents live, and because the days are usually in the 50's I think that is why the block isn't cracked. That's the way he wintered it.

In essence, if I remove those three valves and let it drain, then replace those valves with the proper freeze plugs I should be ok as far as water in the block, besides what might be in the oil?

 

[Don S]

Re: Will these valves drain it enough for winter?

In essence, if I remove those three valves and let it drain, then replace those valves with the proper freeze plugs

They are NOT Freeze plugs (that goes back in there) by any stretch of the imagination. They are drains. All you would put in there is a brass pipe plug. Nothing fancy, and that is what they are called. Pipe plug.
When you drain the water, use a piece of stiff wire and probe the hole to make sure it hasn't plugged up while it was draining.
Be sure the engine is level so the max amount of water will drain.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Will these valves drain it enough for winter?

All you would put in there is a brass pipe plug. Nothing fancy, and that is what they are called. Pipe plug.

Ayuh,......
The 1 in the Block should be 1/4" pipe,+ the manifold,+ riser Might be 1/8" pipe,.....
Can't quite tell in the pictures.........

Btw,.......
It's Good Insurance to Pull the Big Hose from the circulating Pump too,......
It'll sometimes hold a Qt. of water.......

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Will these valves drain it enough for winter?

Are these the only three drain locations on a 165 inline 6?

I just got a 1981 version and I haven't been able to find any other obvious drains other than the three pictured.

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Will these valves drain it enough for winter?

Manifold and block thats it in a raw water cooled eng. unless you have a power steering cooler.

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Will these valves drain it enough for winter?

http://www.imgfreehost.com/show.php?14107_DSCF0008.JPG

http://www.imgfreehost.com/show.php?14108_DSCF0009.JPG

Ouch, looks like I might need a new exhaust manifold soon.


<edit>
1970 165 mercruiser Inline 6

Your pics remind me of what would work well in a perfect world. Trouble is, it isn't. Follow the advice above, make them disappear and use the wire trick to make sure the passages are clear and install pipe plugs in their place.