Yanmar 6LYA-STP Winterization

[JackD]

Rookie question - The manual for my 370HP Yanmar shows how to drain the raw water side of my engine. As an alternative, can't I just suck antifreeze through the intake line (with the engine hot and T-stat open) until I get antifreeze coming out the exhaust??
Thanks for any guidance.

 

[Bacchus]

That's exactly what our yard does when they pull us for winter storage.
They have a slick set-up w/ a 50 gal drum of AF right on the travel lift connected via hose & valve to a toilet plunger. The plunger gets placed over the intake on the hull bottom and they run the engine full of AF. Just be sure the muffler is drained or enough AF in it to prevent freezing.

 

[DavidM]

I just did my Yanmar 6LY last week that way. No need to worry about engine being hot and thermostat open. That is on the coolant/antifreeze side. Just close your thru hull, open the top of the strainer, suck out as much water as you can with a manual bilge pump to limit antifreeze usage, start the engine and pour antifreeze into the strainer while the engine sucks it up. Mine took a bit more than 5 gallons to get a strong pink out of the exhaust.

David

 

[JackD]

That's brilliant!