One night below freezing?

[Kalani 938]

I am a new boat owner so all of this info about winterizing is very new to me. I purchased an 06' Tahoe with a 4.3L I/O Mercruiser motor. I plan on winterizing it really soon, but I'm worried b/c I just looked at the weather and it is supposed to get down to 31 degrees tonight and then the low is 52 for the next week or so. I live in East Texas and the weather changed a lot this past Wednesday when a cold front came in and dropped the temperature about 20 degrees in less than an hour. I guess my question is........will my boat be okay tonight when the temp is supposed to get down to 31 or should I worry?

 

[Bondo]

Re: One night below freezing?

Ayuh,....

I'd Drain it if it were Mine....

Water Freezes at 32?....

 

[ziggy]

Re: One night below freezing?

will my boat be okay tonight when the temp is supposed to get down to 31 or should I worry?

i dunno, water freezes at 32*F. as dons is saying. do ya feel lucky?
mighty new boat too. big bucks w/much labor if it does freeze.... at least drain the water out of it would be a good idea if it were my new boat...... hum, even if it was my old boat too..

 

[Kalani 938]

Re: One night below freezing?

my boat didn't come with a manual and i'm new to this so where do i drain the water out at?

 

[Chris1956]

Re: One night below freezing?

A V6 motor has two plugs on the block and one plug on each manifold. The manifold plugs are near the rear on the bottom. The ones on the block are a bit up from the oil pan, one on each side. They might be blue plastic.

Dump a bit of non-toxic antifreeze down the raw water hose. That is the one that runs to the transom shield.

 

[mikeneal]

Re: One night below freezing?

I live in FLA so never winterize but when we get a cold snap to ~ freezing I will put a drop light in the bilge . If you are done using it for the year though why worry and just winterize it.

 

[ziggy]

Re: One night below freezing?

I will put a drop light in the bilge .

to me, that's an ign. sorce just looking for some fumes in an i/o bilge...... imho.......

 

[Kalani 938]

Re: One night below freezing?

Well I just drained the 5 blue drain plugs, but I don't know enough to know where the manifold hoses are and I don't want to drain the wrong hose. Updated weather report says it is only supposed to get down to 34 now so it's not quite as bad. I've heard mixed stories as far as winterizing goes in my area of Texas. A friend of mine owned a Malibu Wakesetter inboard for 5 years and said he never winterized it. He said he drained all the water every year and put something in the fuel and he never had any problems? Is it different with I/O motors?

 

[ziggy]

Re: One night below freezing?

did ya see this thread...... http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=282918

Is it different with I/O motors?

in the s/m, if you could get it. (maybe try ebay for a book version, or mercruiser will sell ya one) is a maint. schedule that gives exact things to check on your i/o and in what periods of time your supposed to make those inspections. there are pages of inspection items.... so yes. it's a little more that putting stabil in it and draining the water. though for a freeze, it's real big deal to get the water out. most important to do.....

 

[fishingdan]

Re: One night below freezing?

Get an inexpensive shop drop light, put a single low wattage bulb in it, turn it on and leave it in the engine compartment for tonight. It will keep it above freezing until you get a chance to drain it or winterize it.

 

[oops!]

Re: One night below freezing?

the weather man can be wrong....all it takes is a cloud to move outta the way....and it gets cold...

i read some where here it takes 4 hours at freezing to do in a block......

i have put in a small ceramic heater.....

but that is not the best idea.....go with bondos "drain the block"...

also there is a power steering cooler....drain that too !

 

[Kalani 938]

Re: One night below freezing?

How do I locate the power steering cooler? Also, how do I locate the hose that I need to drain for the water pump?

 

[chrisg]

Re: One night below freezing?

If the boat is in the water, you have no problems, one or 2 days wont hurt it. its when the high temps say low is when you have issues.if you are running near freezing, they say to keep boat and motor in the water ( takes longer for large body's of water to freeze.) But do get it winterized soon.

Heck, the temp here has dropped to the 20's at night, and 50's in the day, And people still have their boats in the water- they are calling for a heat wave this weekend -64!, break out the skies!. Ice does not form immediately. If the boat is covered up, a few cold nights wont hurt it ( by the time the internals get cold enough to freeze. its morning, and will warm back up)

and 31 deg is not freezing to a point of hurting anything.