Westerbeke W46 Antifreeze Drain ?

[Saltyhog]

I need to drain/replace the antifreeze in my W46. Does anyone know where the drain is on this engine? I looked through the manuals and they're not much help. From the manual, it looks like there may be a drain plug/bolt below one of the freeze plugs on the block, but the manual isn't too clear about it. Access to that area is not very good, it's behind the fuel injection pump ( I think). I need to do this for a couple of reasons. 1) When I removed the pencil zinc in the heat exchanger, the zinc had broken off inside. I need to remove the heat exchanger to clear the zinc. I figure I'll clean things up while I'm in there. No room to remove caps / core in place. 2) This engine is new to me and I don't know when the antifreeze was last changed. I figure it's a good idea to change it now. Thanks for any help.
-Tom

[Blue Stocking]

Core is not removable from jacket on my W46. You need about 1" to remove end caps bolt. I put doubled zip-lock bag over end to trap liquid. and manipulate slackened bolt by sight thru bags.
Good luck.

[Saltyhog]

How difficult is it to remove the entire heat exchanger from the engine? It looks to me that there are just 4 hoses and 2 bolts, and the whole thing comes off. I wasn't very clear in my original post. I plan to remove the heat exchanger, and then clean out the old zinc pieces and then clear out the tubes. I've seen recommendations to run a wire/welding rod through the tubes to clean the crud and scale. I can't replace the zinc because the hole is blocked inside the exchanger with the old zinc. I'm still puzzled as to how to drain the coolant from the block.
-Tom

[Blue Stocking]

2 bolts and 4 hoses is correct. When you re-install, connect all 4 hoses before tightening bolts. The short hose to the heater take-off can be a real pain in the neck if the h/exch is already bolted down.
Drain coolant thru heater hose.

[M C]

I have a new to me W44A and the manual indicates an elusive plug.

[Maine Sail]

Originally Posted by Saltyhog

How difficult is it to remove the entire heat exchanger from the engine? It looks to me that there are just 4 hoses and 2 bolts, and the whole thing comes off. I wasn't very clear in my original post. I plan to remove the heat exchanger, and then clean out the old zinc pieces and then clear out the tubes. I've seen recommendations to run a wire/welding rod through the tubes to clean the crud and scale. I can't replace the zinc because the hole is blocked inside the exchanger with the old zinc. I'm still puzzled as to how to drain the coolant from the block.
-Tom

This is how I do it on my 44B Four.

I remove the HX & stat then flush with fresh water. I then do a round of Rydlyme and follow that with another round of distilled water. I then let that drain off a bit put her back together and add AF until the desired mix is attained. The last step is to replace the stat and gasket.

My engine shipped with Dex Cool AKA Death Cool and was badly gummed up. The only way to correct this was a full flush and Rydlyme clean. The HX was boiled/cleaned sand blasted, painted and re-installed.

The two hoses go to an in/out bucket. I use a cheap Harbor Freight stainless 12V pump and place a valve on the return end of the set up throttled down to keep enough pressure to fill all the cavities in the engine.

My experience with block drains on engines in salt water use is that you simply stay away from them, especially if hard to access..... BTDT....

I have not found a better way to do a proper flushing on these engines...