Winterizing....to drain or not to drain....

[Schmoe]

This stems from a post I put up a couple of weeks ago. In a nutshell, I've been draining my block and exhaust manifold after each use. Boat probably sits on the trailer inside dry storage at least two weeks before I put her back in the water. My thinking was keeping the cast iron parts dry, will prolong exposure. However, others here have said just the opposite, especially since I'm running a fresh water cooling system. That got me to thinking when it comes to winterizing, what do ya'll do? Do you totally drain the block and manifolds, or do you get antifreeze in the block and manifold and then store it. I typically will drain the block/manifold and pour some antifreeze down into the water pump and call it good. That methodology has worked for me since '99. I'm just wondering if I'm actually doing harm as opposed to doing good to those problematic rust areas.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Winterizing....to drain or not to drain....

Ayuh,... Air just Don't Freeze,.....
I Drain from late september on thru december when it's pulled,+ mothballed....
Drained Dry of course...

 

[danond]

Re: Winterizing....to drain or not to drain....

I will never understand the point in putting antifreeze in fresh-water cooled engines. Drain them entirely and there's no chance of cracking anything. As Bond-o says, air won't freeze.

I don't drain my after each use. Fresh water only, and it sits on the trailer in my garage.

 

[P 0 P E Y E]

Re: Winterizing....to drain or not to drain....

My personal boats, I cut corners on. I have a Crusader with FWC. I drain the salt water out of the four parts its in (Raw water pump, oil cooler, Heat exchanger and risers) and call it a season.

Actually, when I have a bunch of non toxic red, I drain the heat exchanger. I have a valve that connects the raw water pump to the freshwater tank. If I winterize the fresh water to the boat first, I am able to close the thru hull, open the supply valve and use the winterized fresh water from the boat to do the engine. This takes some time pressure off the fogging process.

Depends if the old girl is running at the time of lay up.

 

[scipper77]

Re: Winterizing....to drain or not to drain....

I always drain the engine. then because I am a little OCD I pour marine antifreeze into the hoses to dilute/flush out any water remaining anywhere in the motor. Good thing I'm ocd because I just learned that I need to drain the power steering cooler . That antifreeze saved my but from damage for 3 seasons (counting my blessings).

 

[gadget73]

Re: Winterizing....to drain or not to drain....

My winterizing procedure goes something like this:

run engines until warm.
shut down and pull block and manifold drains
suck out the oil while thats draining
replace with fresh oil and filter
re-install drain plugs
hook up my 5 gallon container full of non-toxic antifreeze to the outdrive muffs
fire the motor, when it starts to spit some coolant out, fog the engine and shut it down

Usually takes about 3 gallons per engine, and one can of fogger covers both motors. I always try to do the oil and winterize when the motor is warm so that any dirt in the oil is suspended and it flows out easily.

When I've had to do this with a non-running motor, I pull the drains, and disconnect the hoses from both sides of the seawater pump, and at the thermostat housing. A bit of antifreeze backward through the PS cooler takes care of one side, and more down the hose to the circ pump gets the block. I also feed some into the hoses that go to the manifolds.

 

[Pierutrus]

Re: Winterizing....to drain or not to drain....

What's winterizing mean?

:

Oh, I do drain the engine just in case of global cooling, or is that warming?
Can't be sure at this point!

 

[wca_tim]

Re: Winterizing....to drain or not to drain....

I've actually started draining almost every time I come home... and installed more convenient drains. I saw some potential evidence of glavanic corrosion on the insides of my aluminum exhaust manifolds. Previously I've always drained to winterize unless using the boat through the winter and keeping the boat in a protected garage (ie heated above 40 F). It doesn't get that cold for long where I live now.