Flushing the sea water cooling

[tom52]

I am winterising my Volvo 2020 ( S-Drive ) and the handbook says flush the seawater cooling with freshwater when the boat is out of the water.

Since this obviously involves running the engine whilst out of the water I am concerned about the vibration on a fin keeled boat supported only by wooden chocks/stakes.

Is there some good reason why I can't do this before being hauled out ?

 

[ccscott49]

No reason you can't do it before your hauled out, just cllose and disconnect the seacock and pour suck the fresh water through there, IO would add some antifreeze to the water I flush with. to stop any lefy in the raw water side from freezing.

 

[dickh]

The obvious way is to do it afloat as colin says - apart from running A/freeze thro' it, however if you do it ashore, make sure the wooden shores are well cross braced diagonally with nailed/screwed wooden braces. This is usually possible on shores in front and behind the keel, and also cross brace the shores on each side. This should make an immovable framework which will support the boat.
I suspect you will get more vibration from winter gales in the rigging than running the engine for a minute or two.
After running a bucketfull of fresh water thro', make up another small bucket with 50% antifreeze solution and run that thro' the engine, stopping the engine just as it sucks up the last ½" of mixture. This will stop any fresh water in the water jacket freezing over winter.

dickh
I'd rather be sailing...

 

[Miker]

Mine's a drop keel so it does not sit so high. It is supported by large wooden chocks braced by a wooden beam to prevent the chocks moving apart. I flush the Volvo engine after lifting and do not notice any vibration. As already said, if the chocks will stand up to the gales, they will not be moved by engine vibration.