Winterizing Universal 5411

Sep 1, 2013
53
catalina 30 suttons bay
Good morning,

As far as winterizing a 5411 diesel. I removed the pickup hose from the raw water intake, placed it in a clean 5 gallon pale and ran 4 gallons of -100 RV antifreeze until i had a solid "blue" exhausting out the back. Can anyone recommend anything else i forgot?. Kind regards, Shannon
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,721
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Good morning,

As far as winterizing a 5411 diesel. I removed the pickup hose from the raw water intake, placed it in a clean 5 gallon pale and ran 4 gallons of -100 RV antifreeze until i had a solid "blue" exhausting out the back. Can anyone recommend anything else i forgot?. Kind regards, Shannon

Most 5411's were sea water cooled. This means if the t-stat was not open your AF likely by-passed the engine...

The most fool proof way to winterize a sea water cooled engine is to remove the thermostat, reinstall t-stat housing and suck in the AF. This ensures AF in all cooling passages.
 

jrowan

.
Mar 5, 2011
1,294
O'Day 35 Severn River, Mobjack Bay, Va.
Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't the raw water run directly into the raw water pump & then into the passages around the block in order to cool the engine? I thought that the thermostatically controlled loop kept the raw water recirculating around the block until it warms up the engine, to create faster warm up. If the coolant is being pumped out overboard the stern discharge, it has to have run through the engine first, as the exhaust stroke forces it out through the water muffler. Although I know that the thermo loop takes several minutes to open up during a cold start, I thought that some raw water always enters the system, unless the raw water is shut off. Otherwise the impeller would burn up if no water entered the cooling system, via the water pump.
 
Feb 6, 1998
11,721
Canadian Sailcraft 36T Casco Bay, ME
Maybe I'm wrong, but doesn't the raw water run directly into the raw water pump & then into the passages around the block in order to cool the engine? I thought that the thermostatically controlled loop kept the raw water recirculating around the block until it warms up the engine, to create faster warm up. If the coolant is being pumped out overboard the stern discharge, it has to have run through the engine first, as the exhaust stroke forces it out through the water muffler. Although I know that the thermo loop takes several minutes to open up during a cold start, I thought that some raw water always enters the system, unless the raw water is shut off. Otherwise the impeller would burn up if no water entered the cooling system, via the water pump.

There is a bypass so you don't melt the exhaust hose waiting for the t-stat to open.. If the t-stat is closed sea water still gets to the exhaust via the by-pass but does not mean all cooling passages have seen flow...
 
Feb 8, 2014
1,300
Columbia 36 Muskegon
Actually the 5411 is plumbed differently than any other engine I've ever seen. The water gets to the thermostat after its gone through the entire engine. If you remove the t-stat the a/f will blow out the exhaust and will miss the return line back to the pump. The proper method is to remove the mixing tee from the seacock, and attatch the hose going to your a/f bucket to the tee. Then run the engine until a gallon or two has been consumed. Try to catch some of the exhaust discharge to make sure its all a/f and not diluted. This makes sure the muffler was filled. Some folks put that sample in the freezer for a couple of days. If it does more than slush up, you didn't run enough through.
 
Oct 15, 2008
87
Catalina 30 Mexico
We don't have to winterize the engine here, but do leave it for about 8 months. T'd off the raw water input line with a valve and connected to the sink drain. By closing seacock on raw water input, and seacock on sink drain, a full sinkfull of fresh water is circulated thru the engine for flushing after use. When leaving for 8 months, a/f or simply anticorrosive is added to the full sink and run thru the engine. Nice to get that salt water out of the engine without having to disconnect hoses etc.