What are these for?

[crus]

i just opened up these caps and both are virtually empty.
i have a feeling that's not a good thing.

what fluid should i put in there and where is it for?

one:



two:



this is on a mercruiser 4.3LX v6 alpha one engine from around 1993

[MoonRiver]

crus,

The first picture is of your power assist steering pump. It should be filled with power steering fluid as indicted on the stick below the cap.
The second picture is your engine oil fill cap. You should not see fluid through this hole. But you should check your dip stick (yellow handle located on the front left side of engine).

[crus]

ah thx.. should have guessed.

just bought the boat and the previous owner put way to much oil in it.. is this really bad?

can i pump out some of the oil throught there or should i use some valve to let it out?

and oh, are there any other fluids i should check on a regular basis besides these?

this is not a closed cooling system right? (so as far as that goes thats the only real difference with a car engine, right?)

thx

[MoonRiver]

Yes you should extract some of the engine oil to get it back down to the FULL mark on stick. I would use an extraction pump to remove through the dip stick tube.

Fluids to keep an eye on (check/ fill):
- engine oil
- steering fluid
- out-drive lube (clear plastic reservoir located above the engine, fill to line)
- out-drive trim/ tilt pump
- trim tabs (separate pump from trim/ tilt)

It looks like you do not have closed cooling system. Which means you have a fresh/ sea water pump. This pump utilizes an impeller to send fresh water to the cooling jack of the engine block through the thermostat. If the boat is new to you I would highly recommend installing a new impeller first thing.

Grease/ lube:
- coupler
- u-joints
- steering rams
Also check:
- tighten ALL hose clamps
- check nav lights
- safety equipment
- anchor tackle

Done forget to check your trailer:
- grease wheel bearings
- if hydrophilic fill break fluid reservoir
- lights
- tire pressure (look for dry rot, very common on boat trailers)

[Gugi47]

Originally Posted by crus

ah thx.. should have guessed.

just bought the boat and the previous owner put way to much oil in it.. is this really bad?

can i pump out some of the oil throught there or should i use some valve to let it out?

and oh, are there any other fluids i should check on a regular basis besides these?

this is not a closed cooling system right? (so as far as that goes thats the only real difference with a car engine, right?)

thx

I would question that to much oil.....Maybe you have water in the oil.
I suggest to change the oil. But if the owner just change the oil. Pumped out and check if is not water in it and you can fill it back to the engine. All this just to be in the safe side. I would do that, no question on my mind. Or you can run the engine see if the oil become milky. But again if is synthetic oil that will not happens. Good luck and enjoy your new boat.

[mmwjr]

I agree with what the guys have said.

With winter coming you will need to winterize the boat. I would change the engine oil and gear lube at this time. To winterize the engine it should be flushed with fresh water, drained and backfilled with antifreeze. The fuel should also be treated with stabilizer and ran through the system by running the engine for about 10 minutes. Do you have a fresh water system to sinks or a head as these need to be winterized as well. When do you plan to lay the boat up for the winter?

[crus]

@moonriver
thx for the detailed instructions!

about winter storage.. im thinking of storing it inside.

also... just replaced the sterndrive gear oil. should have been light green but came out superdark green.. almost black.. someone at the wharf joked that if he didnt know any better it was engine oil.

probably hadnt been changed in years.. (the oil seals had completely dissolved... or where never installed) so obviously i was very worried it might have water in it but i couldnt detect any so thats a relieve.

im going to order a new impeller kit but i noticed the bolts on top are very different (look like gear heads) from what i have ever seen so need to find the correct tool for that.

[mmwjr]

The concern with indoor winter storage is if a power outage happens you loose heat. I would drain the cooling system of water to be safe.

Most time the gaskets don't come off on the drain plugs but stay in the bore, did you verify they this did not happen? If they were in the bore and you installed a new gasket this would double up which tend to leak.

The Alpha has hex head bolts (English) and a allen head bolt on the tail end that holds on the trim anode. This needs to be remove to expose another bolt that inserts up into the upper half of the drive.

[crus]

is it theoretically even possible to leave the boat in the water in the winter?

i can fill the motor and hoses with amti-freeze but not the sterndrive while in the water so any water in the sterndrive that freezes would expand and break stuff.. right?

[mmwjr]

Definitely in fresh water, still possible in salt water. IMO just not worth the risk as you probably won’t check on it as much and rain and snow can weigh it down leading to sinking.

[MoonRiver]

Unless you have an indoor lake what you plan on using through the winter, I would change the engine & out-drive oil and filters. And then pump the pink through until it comes out the exhaust. $30-40 worth of RV/ Marine Pink is cheap insurance for the long winter lay-up.

[crus]

Originally Posted by MoonRiver

Unless you have an indoor lake what you plan on using through the winter, I would change the engine & out-drive oil and filters. And then pump the pink through until it comes out the exhaust. $30-40 worth of RV/ Marine Pink is cheap insurance for the long winter lay-up.

pink? you mean blue? this is a really old engine

[MoonRiver]

I apologize Crus, the pink stuff I was referring to is RV/ Marine anti-freeze which comes in different strength levels over here in the U.S. Protection levels: -50deg is Pink, -60deg is purple, and -100deg is blue (no to be confused with the blue windshield wiper solution).