Step-by-step winterization of PCM 343

[HutchCanada]

I think the 10min in takes to pull the plugs, yank off the tranny cooler hose and the heater hose, drain and reattach is worth the peace of mind. Charles what you're saying makes sense to me though. I just feel better knowing all the water is out of the motor before adding AF

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[jslipher]

Either way is just as good, Nick. It's about keeping the goal in mind: "Get the water out, get antifreeze in." Just pulling the drain plugs alone will get most of the water out and the service manager at WLM told me that will keep a block from freezing. That said, they do displace all the water with antifreeze anyway because it's cheap insurance and an easy way to make sure the heater core doesn't freeze.

Does this mean, you could bypass all the hose removal and plug removal all together? Just hook a fake-a-lake up to AF and wait to see it spit out the back exhaust? That would really speed things up.

[vanhanbr]

I just checked average weather in NC and the average low barely hits freezing temps. We see -20 regularly in WI. I always drain the block and then add antifreeze. You have no way of knowing how much water got mixed with the antifreeze when sucking it from a tube. This is the first time I ever heard that engines didn't have drain plugs. I had them in my '97.

[scottb7]

Per the attached the gt-40 has drain points via the engine block, with one side having to remove the knock sensor.

IMO: Just drain, and don't put in antifreeze, and keep oil changes on the regular schedule, (do not change at end of season un-necessarily).

[evanrude]

This is ALOT more entertaining than the title of the post led me to believe!

[scottb7]

Your welcome...

We should vote on who is the "Jabroni".

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Jabroni

P.S. Don't leave your batteries on a trickle charger all winter either...

[Evening Shade]

Per the attached the gt-40 has drain points via the engine block, with one side having to remove the knock sensor.

IMO: Just drain, and don't put in antifreeze, and keep oil changes on the regular schedule, (do not change at end of season un-necessarily).

Why does this say GM 5.7 when the GT-40 is a Ford 5.8?

[scottb7]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_herring

So you dispute there is a drain plug on either side of the engine? And you disagree that this is the correct manual, but you are NOT offering the correct one yourself?

P.S. Don't fog your engine.

[Evening Shade]

Just an honest question.

[scottb7]

Anyone can fire off a question honest or not. No offense, but do some research to show if the manual is correct or not. That would helpful to all. It is supposedly for ford and chevy from 1995 to 2001 as noted above.

I did a chunk of research to find what I did. Now you can do some.

[Quinner]

Does this mean, you could bypass all the hose removal and plug removal all together? Just hook a fake-a-lake up to AF and wait to see it spit out the back exhaust? That would really speed things up.

,
Yep. That was really the only way we had to do winterizations in the 90's. The engines, transmissions, heaters, v-drives, etc just didn't have winterization plugs. The only way to get the water out was to displace it with AF.

-Charles

jslipher, please do yourself and your boat a favor and do not listen to this person, the only thing that should be getting displaced is his advice, lmao

Seriously chucky, "no drain plugs and the only way to winterize...", roflmao, unreal

[scottb7]

I spent a few minutes looking at what charlesml3 posted over past couple weeks. I think usually he makes sense. I think maybe his computer just has a virus...

[vanhanbr]

I love all the name calling, but lets be clear. The GT40 has drain plugs on both sides of the block. Sucking up antifreeze is a method that some people choose to use, but it was never the only way to do it in the 80,90s. When I pull the plugs, I can see with my own eyes that the water is gone. When using the suck method, there is no way of knowing if the liquid coming out of the exhaust is 100% antifreeze or some mixture of antifreeze and water. -50 antifreeze mixed with water is not -50 antifreeze anymore. If you do it the suck method, better make sure you let a few extra gallons come out of the exhaust and don't just kill the engine when liquid comes out. You also need to drain the antifreeze out of the water strainer when you're done.

[Tom_H]

Yea, I have a 1994 PCM 351W. All those blocks have/had drain plugs charles. I usually agree with most of your postings, but your method of winterization could very possibly end up with disastrous results up here where it actually gets cold. It's not necessarily true that any anti-freeze coming in via your raw water pump (with a block full of water) will automatically displace block water. If your thermostat starts to close, you'll just be shunting much of that anti-freeze right into your exhaust risers. Now if you drain first and have an empty block, then yes sucking up anti-freeze with fill the block through the circulation pump. Personally, I think sucking up anti-freeze is a waste of anti-freeze since you're generally sucking up 5-6 gallons to make sure you covered everything. I just pop off the thermostat and pour in there - takes 1-2 gallons with a little extra if you have a heater and is all of 5-minutes work.

[scottb7]

As we can see by this post and a lot of other similar winterizing posts, what is best for a Noob - or for someone experience - for winterizing is debatable.

You do realize you lost a lot of credibility when you said, "My 99 Air Nautique's GT-40 did not have drain plugs"? I am not saying everyone has to be right all the time...But I would not be baffled by people giving you a bit of a hard time.