Oil rec. Mercruiser 5.0L MPI

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Hi all,
Looking for oil recommendations for my winterization project. I have a 2003 Chaparral, it has a 5.0L Merc MPI with a Alpha One outdrive (gen 2 I believe).

The book recommends Quicksilver 25W-40, with API SH, CF/CF-2, and also need gear lube for the lower unit. Both of these items seem to be hard to locate locally and I wouldn't mind running synthetic if it was appropriate...

First winterization for me, any advice is welcome.

Thanks all
 
Shell Rotella T or T6 is what I would use (I use Rotella T). Walmart normally carries that along with lower unit gear oil. You want marine gear oil, not car. And a QT pump that screws onto the drain hole. Also best to use new gaskets for the drain and fill holes. Give it a couple of hours to drain. Fill from the drain hole with the upper hole open. When its close to being filled it will bubble a bit from the upper hole. Probably close to 2 QTs.

boatfix.com has great prices on anything you cannot find locally. And the AZ, AAP and NAPA.
 
Thanks Donald!

Another question, looking at grease for the fittings on the lower unit. Ok to use a general purpose marine grade? I also need to give a shot to the wheel bearings (bearing buddies) on the trailer but don't know if I can use the same grease.

Thanks
 
Originally Posted By: Nawtyflier
Thanks Donald!

Another question, looking at grease for the fittings on the lower unit. Ok to use a general purpose marine grade? I also need to give a shot to the wheel bearings (bearing buddies) on the trailer but don't know if I can use the same grease.

Thanks


I would use marine grease for the zerk fittings on the outdrive and trailer.

What about winterizing the engine's cooling system?

When was the outdrive last pulled?
 
Plan to pull all the plugs on the engine, drain, pour in pink antifreeze at the thermostat hoses until good pink comes out the plugs. Replace the plugs and top off the pink stuff.

This is the "right way" to do it I believe rather than running fluid through the earmuffs.

I haven't pulled the outdrive, this is second year I've had the boat. Whether the original owner ever did, I don't know. I think it's something within my ability but I don't have the alignment tool to put it back on. I figured next spring I'll have someone pull it, change the impeller, etc.

I'm a little nervous about winterizing the cooling system, but I think I can do it as long as I can locate all the plugs. I have the service manual so at least I know how many I'm looking for...
 
Mercury makes a fine synthetic blend 25w40. They back spec'ed all of their sterndrives to use it. I believe your drive calls for the mercury high performance fluid (blue). You can double check the manual. You're going to get all sorts of opinions, but, I always stick with the name brand. I read that Mercury is coming out with a full Synthetic, I just haven't seen it yet. You can order it online and have it at your door.

If she's freshwater cooled (FWC), In other words if it has antifreeze in a heat exchanger, you need to drain the seawater side and change the pencil zinc on the plug. Don't forget the Sta-bil and for overkill, some Startron in the fuel tank.
 
Sorry, in my first post I automatically assumed(we know how that goes) drive removal and storage. I didn't notice the NC in the profile. At the very least, after following the drive lube i structions so well explained by another poster, pull the prop, look for any fishing line that may cause the seal to leak. clean the spline, regrease the spline and reinstall the prop.
At least every two seasons change the impeller, look for any scratches in the "cup" that may affect performance. Any doubt, the whole pump kit is only like $20 more than the impeller kit. In fresh water, you can probably go like 3 seasons unless you are in an area with zebra mussels. then every 2 years. I am anal about it since I am in a very sandy salt marsh area. I change mine every season. I waited once and it quit in the 2nd season. I had to pull the boat and have the whole pump kit put in since the heat melted the plastic housing. Have fun.
 
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You are on the right track. Pull the block drains (one on each side). When drained, poke a nail in to make sure its drained and rust is not blocking the drain hole. Then reinstall the drain plugs. Pull the plugs on the bottom of the exhaust manifolds or pull the hoses off and let drain. Reinstall hoses or plugs. Pull the largest hose at the thermostat and keep pouring in the pink stuff until you fill it. Reconnect the hose. Pull the two hoses at the engine going to the risers and pour in maybe a pint on each side. Pull the intake hose going to the outdrive and pour in the pink stuff until you see if come out of the outdrive.

I like to stall it with fogging oil. I use 2 cans at once.

I like to pull the outdrive every other year to grease the u-joints and put spline grease on the spline and replace the water pump.

Store outdrive all the way down.

Remove battery and put on float charger.
 
John, drive oil is black on the sticker...and I don't think there's any heat exchanger on this boat, just cooled with straight seawater. I look forward to that full synthetic by Merc, just gives me more peace of mind!

Thanks for your post too, Donald. As far as the fogging, it's fuel injected and the book recommends running a oil/fuel mix through the engine for 5 mins, so that's my plan. Just have to figure out how to hook up a fuel line.

BTW, looked at boatfix.com, they seem to have gone out of business. Wholesale Marine seems to have a good selection.
 
Originally Posted By: Nawtyflier
John, drive oil is black on the sticker...and I don't think there's any heat exchanger on this boat, just cooled with straight seawater. I look forward to that full synthetic by Merc, just gives me more peace of mind!

Thanks for your post too, Donald. As far as the fogging, it's fuel injected and the book recommends running a oil/fuel mix through the engine for 5 mins, so that's my plan. Just have to figure out how to hook up a fuel line.

BTW, looked at boatfix.com, they seem to have gone out of business. Wholesale Marine seems to have a good selection.


Boatfix.com sponsors boatfix.com and that is up and running with recent posts. Maybe the boatfix.com is down.

Its common to have a PS heat exchanger I think. Hard to find.
 
If straight seawater, you would probably want to put on the old muffs and flush the salt out. Maybe a salt awah treatme t wouldn't hurt. If not, follow the other posters stuff. Msrcruiser oil only comes in 2 colors, gold and blue that I know of. I don 't know what the prev. guy used. I don't know if you change the zincs every year or not, but, if you are able to reuse em' its always a good bet to remove em' clean and grease the threads, reinstall em. Sometimes 2 seasons without removing em' makes for a really hard replacement... Just think of the fun next season when she hits the water again.
 
Originally Posted By: johnachak
If straight seawater, you would probably want to put on the old muffs and flush the salt out. Maybe a salt awah treatme t wouldn't hurt. If not, follow the other posters stuff. Msrcruiser oil only comes in 2 colors, gold and blue that I know of. I don 't know what the prev. guy used. I don't know if you change the zincs every year or not, but, if you are able to reuse em' its always a good bet to remove em' clean and grease the threads, reinstall em. Sometimes 2 seasons without removing em' makes for a really hard replacement... Just think of the fun next season when she hits the water again.


The problem I see with running the pink RV antifreeze through the engine via muffs is that you are counting on knowing when the thermostat is fully open and switching from plain water to the pink stuff. Add to that the issue of trying to stall the engine with fogging oil just at the point your container of pink stuff is empty and its not easy to get all pieces done right.
 
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