Re: Water circulating pump not turning
I'm going to tell a true story here in the hopes it will serve as a warning to new boat owners, and prevent more of these threads.
I was working with a young fellow (19-20 year old) several weeks ago on a farm, and he asked me about my Sea Ray hat. Well that lead to a long conversation about boats, and I learned that he had just bought a bowrider during the summer of 2013. Him and his buddies had cruised the local lake a few times and put in away for winter. He asked me if I knew anything about his engine (4.3 LX 205 hp) and how he could make it go faster for next season. During our discussion, he mentioned winterizing it. He wanted to know if he should leave the spark plugs out after fogging the engine. I said, "Umm, when did you winterize it?" His response, "I haven't done it yet...have been too busy." So I look at him in utter astonishment and say, "You do have it parked in a heated garage, right?" to which he says "No, why?"
I think you can see where this is going. This was in mid-December. We had already had several days with temps in the teens, and this poor kid had no concept of the idea that an engine filled with water was doomed for the scrap yard. When I asked him repeatedly if he had drained the engine and manifolds before parking the boat, he literally gave me the deer in the headlights look. I just about choked when I told him that he was going to be buying another engine for his boat in the spring. This was a very nice kid, very hard worker on his dads farm, and attending a community college. I'm not sure, it may have been the cold wind in his face, but I believe he was actually getting tears in his eyes when I said in the most gentle tone I could muster..."What do you think happens to an engine when water is trapped in a space it cannot escape from, and freezes?" I told him that short of a miracle, his engine was already destroyed. After telling him all about how he should have pulled the drain plugs and hoses, he still couldn't fathom that his boat was not going to be running in the spring without spending thousands of dollars that he simply didn't have.
Let this be a lesson to those of you who just bought a boat, or who are considering the purchase of one in the spring. THIS STUFF HAPPENS! As the above posters mentioned...know what you're doing BEFORE you do it! Ask questions. A little bit of time researching proper procedures is certainly cheaper than long block replacements.
I felt so bad for this kid, that I offered to help in out in the spring, by offering my donated labor and equipment to pull his busted engine, swap over the marine parts onto another one, and reinstall and align. I suspect he cannot afford to re-power, and that boat will be at the dump or a Goodwill donation site very soon. What a shame.
