Engine flush hose in place of fake a lake?

[yomotha]

Might be a dumb question, but can I use the engine flush hose connection to run water through the engine instead of using a fake a lake to run my engine out of water? My guess is no, but I'm not really sure.

[Tookeymonster]

Yes, that is exactly what it is for. Just make sure no one turns the water off and you have plenty of pressure.

[eecyclone]

Does this flush location also work for running antifreeze through the engine?

[yomotha]

Yes, that is exactly what it is for. Just make sure no one turns the water off and you have plenty of pressure.

Oh, interesting. Well, I bought a fake a lake not knowing I could use this connector instead. This is my first year with this boat so I'm still learning what's what.

I want to fill the gas tank and then add stabilizer as I'm pulling the boat out for the season, so I'll use this connector to run the engine to allow the stabilizer to work it's way through the system.

Thanks

[Cyoder1]

eecyclone,

Using the fitting is exactly how my Xstar was winterized at the dealer. They put a small sump pump in a 5 gallon bucket and used that to help push the pink into the fitting and on to the motor.

Chris

[Thrall]

Oh, interesting. Well, I bought a fake a lake not knowing I could use this connector instead. This is my first year with this boat so I'm still learning what's what.

I want to fill the gas tank and then add stabilizer as I'm pulling the boat out for the season, so I'll use this connector to run the engine to allow the stabilizer to work it's way through the system.

Thanks

No, fake a lakes are a pain in the @ss at best.
The flush connection is meant to run water through while the engine is running. Never just flush water through, it can fill up in the exhaust manifolds and get into the cylinders.
Without a flushing hookup, I simply remove the raw water hose from the hull valve and stuff a garden hose down it, turn water on full blast and start the boat immediately.

[yomotha]

So don't hook the hose up and let it run for long before starting the engine? I might have to put a valve on the hose to control both from within the boat. I don't really like the sound of water getting into parts of the engine it shouldn't. Makes the fake a lake sound safer, but I haven't done either method yet, so I don't really know much at this point.

[bloup101]

I remove the raw water hose from the hull valve and put it in a 5 gal bucket, I put 2 garden hose in the bucket and let the engine pump what it needs. You can finish by shuting off the garden hoses and manually add plumbing antifreeze in the bucket. Shut off the engine when the bucket is emptied of antifreeze.

[Cyoder1]

When my winterization was done they had a hose attachment with a valve between the garden hose from the sump pump and the flush connection. Filled the bucket with anti freeze and started the sump pump making sure the valve was closed. Jumped in boat, opened valve and immediately started motor. Sucked 6 gallons through, stopped motor, then closed valve. Very quick and easy.

Chris

[jus]

Anyone got a recommended hose connector to use in this flush point? The one I m, I screwed in but it didn’t seal nicely...

[yomotha]

When my winterization was done they had a hose attachment with a valve between the garden hose from the sump pump and the flush connection. Filled the bucket with anti freeze and started the sump pump making sure the valve was closed. Jumped in boat, opened valve and immediately started motor. Sucked 6 gallons through, stopped motor, then closed valve. Very quick and easy.

Chris

My Ilmor manual has a non-pressurized glycol method where I can just drain the existing water with a valve, close it then remove exhaust hoses on each side, raise them up and fill them with the glycol until filll and reattach. No need to run the engine. Your method sounds similar to the pressurized glycol method.

[Cyoder1]

Sounds right. The dealer told me the sump pump wasn't necessary because the motor should suck the antifreeze out of the bucket just fine but they figure it can't hurt having the extra help of the pump.

I believe when doing the non-pressurized method you have to fill the sea strainer first and then fill the exhaust hoses? The sea strainer on the GDI motors looks like it would be difficult to fill due to the way it's mounted. Also, I haven't looked closely at the exhaust hoses but on my old X25 they used special clamps on those hoses that needed to be cut off and replaced with regular hot clamps. In the back of my mind I would wonder if regular hose clamps were sufficient why wouldn't Ilmor have used them in the first place.

I'm no expert on winterization by any stretch. I went to the dealer with the new boat so I knew how to do it going forward. Their method seemed pretty easy so I'll just do it the way they showed me.

Chris

[yomotha]

Yes, forgot about the sea strainer. The hose clips look pretty standard to me on my engine; nothing special that I can see. Anyway, I used the engine flush connection to run the engine after adding the fuel stabilizer and it worked like a beauty. I just added a hose valve as well so that I could adjust the flow from within the boat as required.

Thanks

[gwozhog]

the toilet plunger fake a lakes are a good way to ruin your boat. I could never get mine to work on the first try and always end up getting soaked. I bought this contraption on ebay. 85 bucks and money well spent.

[JimN]

Does this flush location also work for running antifreeze through the engine?

It does, but not as well as a hose that's connected directly to the raw water pump or just after the hull fitting because some can escape and loss of seal creates a path for air to get in with the anti-freeze. Gravity and a good seal work best.