Water Muff Question?

[Take5]

Hello,

I was out on the boat at the weekend and prior to this weekend I have always ran antifreeze through the leg/engine when putting the boat away for the week.

The guys at the boat yard told me I won't need to do it again as the "boat season" is about to start (1st March?).

My question is this: For the rest of the year, am I supposed to clean the saltwater out of the leg / engine using freshwater on the muffs after each outing or is it OK to leave the saltwater in?

Thanks

 

[ulava]

Would think that so long as its in salt water and not ashore you will be ok ,unless the water is brackish .ie 1/2 salt fresh

 

[Take5]

Im at a park and launch. So she comes out of the water after each days use.

Im really interested in what it is I should be doing even if it was Mid-July. I do not know if it is the norm to flush it throught after every outing to get rid of the salt water.

Cheers

 

[ulava]

Strictly speaking you should flush with fresh water each time regadless off the time of year, and for peace of mind i would flush with the antifreeze untill April.
Antifreeze cheep damage to legs = £££.

 

[gjgm]

what engine do you have? The two cooling methods are through the engine itself, or a seperate coolant around the engine with a heat exchanger then cooling the hot engine coolant. If the former, then the idea of flushing is to get salty water out of the engine block.. I used to do it each time, though I think the benefit is over the long term (6/7/8 years??), rather than right now.
As regards when to stop with antifreeze... well, evenings down south are about +5degrees at the moment, so you could well argue you dont need to do it.. in fact salt water will give you another few degrees of chill protection as opposed to fesh water!
Dont think March 1st is any magical date.. its just a question of when we arent going to get sub zero nights again...

 

[PCUK]

If you can do it every time you will extend the life of the engine and leg by keeping them salt free internally. If flushing with fresh water you will definitely need the anti-freeze for another couple of months otherwise the flushing water may freeze!

 

[Major Catastrophe]

[ QUOTE ]
If you can do it every time you will extend the life of the engine and leg by keeping them salt free internally. If flushing with fresh water you will definitely need the anti-freeze for another couple of months otherwise the flushing water may freeze!

[/ QUOTE ]

That is quite worrying. I always flush my Suzuki 90 outboard after every use and have done for four years. There is no mention of antifreeze in the manual.

 

[Kipper]

I agree better to be safe than sorry. I used to work on park & launch in Pwllheli and always encouraged a fresh water flush after every use, you dont want salt water sat in there for too long it just rots the engine from the inside. Exhaust risers on V8s were particularly prone to rot and very expensive to replace.

Gary

 

[ulava]

Not so bad with the out board as it is pretty much self draining, just remember to tilt it down after flushing and back up before setting of on the trailer.

 

[Major Catastrophe]

[ QUOTE ]
just remember to tilt it down after flushing and back up before setting of on the trailer.

[/ QUOTE ] ...and that is the problem, the boat is in the water. If I tilt back down, it fill with salt water again.

 

[Take5]

Hi,

Thanks for the above replies.

The engine is a Mercruiser 5.7LX (Bravo 3 Leg)

 

[ulava]

In that case keep a close look on the weather temp /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif i hear what your saying but to be honest i think you will be ok you could give it a turn over just to clear the fresh water out when tilted but just a turn over. i would but iam sure someone will come along and say no.