Winterizing question

[Augoose]

Sorry all if this has been covered before, but this is my first winter as a boat owner.

I live in Columbia, South Carolina and my boat, a 20' Caravelle Elegante open bow with the 4.3 mercruiser is stored on a trailer at a public storage site. Currently I have no bilge heater and no 110 v source of power running out to the boat. I would like to continue to use the boat throughout the winter and was wondering if I posted the typical winter climate, someone could comment if winterizing was necessary.

December -
Avg High - 57F
Avg Low - 36F

January-
Avg High - 55F
Avg Low - 34F

February -
Avg High - 59F
Avg Low - 36F

It has gotten cold enough for the water in the dog's bowl to have a skim of ice in the morning, but its gone by 9:00 am. We had snow twice last year and it too was gone by about noon.

How cold does it need to get for water in the block to freeze and crack the block? Are we talking sub zero temps or can a light freeze thanks to an abnormal 30 F night cause a cracked block?

Thanks!

 

[Bondo]

Re: Winterizing question

Ayuh,... It ain't all that hard to Drain the water out of it,...

Just a year ago, you folks were slammed with a Cold Snap...
You can drain it after each use, for Nothing,...
Or,...
Do what your doin',... Rollin' the dice, 'n praying for the best...
So,...
It's Your choice,...
A few minutes Draining it, or a couple of Grand to replace the motor if you loose...

 

[ziggy]

Re: Winterizing question

just drain the water out of the cooling system. all the water from whatever drain points you have. ie manifolds, block, etc. your oem service manual will let you know where and what to drain..
when the waters out, there's no chance of freeze damage cause there's nothing to freeze...
fwiw. i'm layed up for winter right now. i winterized my engine with air.. no anti freeze.. dead winter around here will be sub zero F for weeks on end..

 

[Augoose]

Re: Winterizing question

Ayuh,... It ain't all that hard to Drain the water out of it,...

Just a year ago, you folks were slammed with a Cold Snap...
You can drain it after each use, for Nothing,...
Or,...
Do what your doin',... Rollin' the dice, 'n praying for the best...
So,...
It's Your choice,...
A few minutes Draining it, or a couple of Grand to replace the motor if you loose...

Is draining it really that simple? I do have the factory service manual so I'm sure I can find the drain plugs - I just assumed that removing all the plugs was a fairly arduous task. Power steering fluid shouldn't be a concern should it? I recall a freeze point for that well below zero?

Thanks Bond-o and Ziggy for the lightning fast responses!

 

[ziggy]

Re: Winterizing question

Is draining it really that simple?

yep, it really ain't to hard. + the more often ya do it, the easier it gets cause ya know what ya need to do.. granted, in my case i have an old engine, about as simple as ya can get. easy access to the drain points. i have three drain points. block, 1 manifold and 1 riser. i also take my water pump hose off, though i never get anything out of it.. i never get anything out the riser either for that matter..
takes me maybe 15-20 min. to do the deed.
be sure and probe the drain holes with a small wire or the likes while draining to be sure nothing is preventing water flow. like rust scale or sand or the likes. my manifold always has rust scale that prevents water flow initally. probe it a little and the scale clears and runs out with the water.. but the scale does stop the water from flowing..

 

[Lyle29464]

Re: Winterizing question

I live in Charleston. It is a lot warmer. I would not even think about not taking care of my boats. I have replaced most plugs with a wingnut type valves. Takes about 5 seconds to open. I have seen the salt water in my strainers freeze.

 

[Augoose]

Re: Winterizing question

Excellent guys, this news allows me to do three things now...
1) Use the boat in the winter
2) Not worry about being unprepared for bad weather
3) Help keep the cooling system cleaned out by regularly draining the system and allowing the rust and other garbage to flush out of the system.

Thanks all!

 

[JasonBo]

Re: Winterizing question

saw alot of project boats this year that had cracked blocks from that little 1 week freeze

 

[jmarty10]

Re: Winterizing question

I used to worry about freezing temps, especially in the spring. After reading these forums on how easy draining the engine is, it was literally one less thing to worry about. I have a 4.3 merc and it takes about 90 seconds to open up my 5 drain plugs/wing nuts. Drain it!

 

[Augoose]

Re: Winterizing question

I used to worry about freezing temps, especially in the spring. After reading these forums on how easy draining the engine is, it was literally one less thing to worry about. I have a 4.3 merc and it takes about 90 seconds to open up my 5 drain plugs/wing nuts. Drain it!

jmarty - thanks for the info and a question for you since you have a 4.3 also (mine is a '89 though). In looking through the manual, I found the following drains:
1) Manifold - port and starboard drain
2) Cylinder block petcocks - port and starboard (I'm assuming these are brass?)
3) Manifold Elbows - port and starboard
4) Manifold Risers - if so equipped, port and starboard
5) Power steering oil cooler
6) Hose to Thermostat
7) Water inlet hose
8) Circulating pump hose

Any others I'm missing? Are the petcocks the only drains for the cylinder head?
Thanks!

 

[Bondo]

Re: Winterizing question

Any others I'm missing? Are the petcocks the only drains for the cylinder head?

Ayuh,... It sounds like ya Got it,...

The heads drain down though the block drains...

 

[Augoose]

Re: Winterizing question

Ayuh,... It sounds like ya Got it,...

The heads drain down though the block drains...

Thank you Sir!

 

[jmarty10]

Re: Winterizing question

Oh ya -you got it. Every plug and hose found. Also, go on mercury marine website (think you said you have a merc?) and put in your model enginge and year. It will give you a diagram of your engines colling system.

 

[Augoose]

Re: Winterizing question

Excellent - thanks guys.

One more question - is there anything to drain in the lower unit? How about the water intake or the hose leading through the transom? Does gravity take care of that part?

I hope the heck it does because dropping the lower unit after each winter run would sound like a more challenging job!

Thanks!

 

[StitchSC]

Re: Winterizing question

assuming its an alpha, just lower it all the way, gravity will take care of the rest