A little bit annoyed

[Ace52]

So last week when i went to pick up my boat it was a nice and sunny 61 degrees, now the shop kinda assumed i wanted to have the boat started up and see how it ran, which i kinda did...


but i didn't really think about the whole de-winterizing process until now b/c this Sunday its suppose to get down to 28 with a chance of snow after being 60 this whole past week and all of this week....

should i go get it winterized again for a few more weeks? or do you think i could get away with it not freezing its only suppose to be 28 for this one night and a high of 44 in the daytime..

I'm also tempted to park it at my house and stick one of our space heaters in the engine area to which should keep it above freezing easily.

this is the kind of space heater i would be using its operated by electricity and should not create any type of spark

http://www.google.com/products/cata...ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCAQ8wIwAA#ps-sellers

give me your thoughts even if they are negative i'm fairly open minded

 

[koko1]

Re: A little bit annoyed

I am assuming you have not had it in the water this season yet? If you have not I would not worry about it.. It really needs to be below freezing for 2-3 days/nights in a row for any freeze damage to occur and with there being no water in the motor one night of below freezing temps will not hurt it at all....

 

[Ace52]

Re: A little bit annoyed

I am assuming you have not had it in the water this season yet? If you have not I would not worry about it.. It really needs to be below freezing for 2-3 days/nights in a row for any freeze damage to occur and with there being no water in the motor one night of below freezing temps will not hurt it at all....

you are correct the only form of water it has seen was ear muffs at the shop for maybe 1-2 minutes

 

[lmannyr]

Re: A little bit annoyed

So last week when i went to pick up my boat it was a nice and sunny 61 degrees, now the shop kinda assumed i wanted to have the boat started up and see how it ran, which i kinda did...


but i didn't really think about the whole de-winterizing process until now b/c this Sunday its suppose to get down to 28 with a chance of snow after being 60 this whole past week and all of this week....

Looks to me the engine was started, hopefully with water running through the impeller. So there is water in the system.

don't know how safe space heaters would be in the engine bay (kaboom?) but I use a couple mechanics lights with 60-100watt bulbs. With the hatch closed, keeps the engine plenty warm. This is for S. FL winter temps of 30s. Don't know if that is enough for temps in the 20s.

Another option is to slip it for that below freezing night. They say that the water takes longer to cool to freezing temps. One day of below freezing temps should not be an issue ( this depends on the current water temp of coarse ). The above freezing water will keep the boat nice and cozy awaiting your arrival for a great season of boating.

Good luck....

 

[Bart Sr.]

Re: A little bit annoyed

I would just drain the block and manifolds and make sure the leg is all the way down to drain.Also if you have the water pump on the front of the motor as I do then take the lower hose off to drain.

To quote one of our experts--"Air Don't Freeze."

 

[lmannyr]

Re: A little bit annoyed

Without heaters or keeping it slipped overnight on above freezing waters,
definitely go through the MERC ENGINE WINTERIZATION instruction to avoid BIG BUCK expenses later.

I would do the heaters or slip if the water is warm enough.

 

[roscoe]

Re: A little bit annoyed

I am assuming you have not had it in the water this season yet? If you have not I would not worry about it.. It really needs to be below freezing for 2-3 days/nights in a row for any freeze damage to occur and with there being no water in the motor one night of below freezing temps will not hurt it at all....

1- He said they ran it, either muffs or lake, it likely has water in it.

2- Freeze damage can certainly take place in less than 6 hours.

Frozen and cracked is frozen and cracked, makes no difference if it freezes once or a dozen times.

If you can get that heater in the engine compartment, it should work.
But, many home space heaters have an automatic shut-off if the heater tips over. So you may have to keep it vertical, or it may not operate at all.

Second option is to drop by the local dealer and tell them the situation. Tell them you don't want to winterize for just one night, offer them $20 to let it sit inside their shop over night.

 

[Ace52]

Re: A little bit annoyed

I'm still leaning towards the space heater i know i can fit in in their and if fumes are really that big of a deal i could also add a small fan in their as well to keep the air ciruclating

 

[koko1]

Re: A little bit annoyed

1- He said they ran it, either muffs or lake, it likely has water in it.

2- Freeze damage can certainly take place in less than 6 hours.

Frozen and cracked is frozen and cracked, makes no difference if it freezes once or a dozen times.

If you can get that heater in the engine compartment, it should work.
But, many home space heaters have an automatic shut-off if the heater tips over. So you may have to keep it vertical, or it may not operate at all.

Second option is to drop by the local dealer and tell them the situation. Tell them you don't want to winterize for just one night, offer them $20 to let it sit inside their shop over night.

Where I live, which is in Alabama, freeze damage does not occur that quickly in 28 degree weather...I was offering my thoughts on it as I have been in the same situation before with an overnight freeze and had no problems, but I also drained all the water out...But like you said, it can take place, anything can happen but it is not likely with one overnight freeze like that....I think the best thing to do is find a place to park it inside like you suggested to be on the safe side...

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: A little bit annoyed

drain the water..... takes less than 10 minutes..... anything else is just silly..... I mean DRAIN THE WATER....

almost no chance that your heat plan will fail... but IF it does it WILL cost you BIG... It just isn't worth gambling

 

[Ace52]

Re: A little bit annoyed

drain the water..... takes less than 10 minutes..... anything else is just silly..... I mean DRAIN THE WATER....

almost no chance that your heat plan will fail... but IF it does it WILL cost you BIG... It just isn't worth gambling

since you seem to have answered most of my other questions in previous threads you got any good links on how to drain the water?

I almost feel like a pain in the *** asking all these questions....

 

[Philster]

Re: A little bit annoyed

Where I live, which is in Alabama, freeze damage does not occur that quickly in 28 degree weather...I was offering my thoughts on it as I have been in the same situation before with an overnight freeze and had no problems, but I also drained all the water out...But like you said, it can take place, anything can happen but it is not likely with one overnight freeze like that....I think the best thing to do is find a place to park it inside like you suggested to be on the safe side...

Please stop "contributing" to this thread.

Your posts are causing someone great confusion.

To address one major issue: The engine has water in it.

Second: Just because it didn't freeze for you one night at 28 doesn't mean it won't freeze for him at 28. How long was it a 28? Was that 28 on the local news.. 28 in your area? There are too many variables. He might live in an area that gets down to 25... and cloud cover in the morning might mean 25 for a few more hours. A stiff breeze might bring on faster cooling the evening before.

And for the love of pete, YOU DRAINED THE ENGINE!

 

[JoLin]

Re: A little bit annoyed

Please stop "contributing" to this thread.

Your posts are causing someone great confusion.

To address one major issue: The engine has water in it.

Second: Just because it didn't freeze for you one night at 28 doesn't mean it won't freeze for him at 28. How long was it a 28? Was that 28 on the local news.. 28 in your area? There are too many variables. He might live in an area that gets down to 25... and cloud cover in the morning might mean 25 for a few more hours. A stiff breeze might bring on faster cooling the evening before.

And for the love of pete, YOU DRAINED THE ENGINE!

+1

AND, stop dicking around with non-certified heating "solutions" that could cause an explosion if you have any fuel vapor in the bilge. DRAIN THE ENGINE!

 

[Bondo]

Re: A little bit annoyed

I would just drain the block and manifolds and make sure the leg is all the way down to drain.Also if you have the water pump on the front of the motor as I do then take the lower hose off to drain.

To quote one of our experts--"Air Don't Freeze."

Ayuh,... Amen,... This whole thing is a No Brainer,... Drain it....

We can't tell you How to drain it, til you tell Us exactly What We're talkin' about....

I also find it Quite Hilarious that somebody with a Drained block is having No issues with freezing weather.....Duh....
A Full Winterization Isn't needed,.. Just Drainin'....

 

[ziggy]

Re: A little bit annoyed

nothing real unusual here. water being in the system and possible below freezing temps.
in my mercruiser s/m they call this kinda boating, an extended season. nice days, freezing overnight lows...

the answer has been stated and is also in the mercrusier s/m. drain the system. all the water out of it. yer gonna need to figure out how to do that anyways so now's a good time to get on to it.

another vote for drain it... no chance it'll freeze if ya get the water out..

 

[Bondo]

Re: A little bit annoyed

Originally Posted by Bond-o
Ayuh,... Amen,... This whole thing is a No Brainer,... Drain it....

We can't tell you How to drain it, til you tell Us exactly What We're talkin' about....

I also find it Quite Hilarious that somebody with a Drained block is having No issues with freezing weather.....Duh....
A Full Winterization Isn't needed,.. Just Drainin'....
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

STOP IT BOND-O !!! If it were not for people that think "it will be ok" I would not be able to buy project boats with cracked blocks so cheaply. You trying to ruin a good thing for me???

Ayuh,... Have No Fear Bubba,...

There's Millions of Fools who Don't read the forums here at iboats....
I'm pretty certain your Market won't dry up....

 

[RicardoMarine]

Re: A little bit annoyed

Ayuh,... Have No Fear Bubba,...
.............. I'm pretty certain your Market won't dry up....

Hee hee! Well, I should not laugh...... It's not a funny ordeal!

In '96 we had quite a freeze here. We saw the need for engine replacements for the next three years because of that. Amazing how that one severe freeze created work for the next three years. I suppose that some of these boats were sold, and the new owners were the ones doing the replacements. Hard to say!

Yep.... good ole plain vanilla frozen "Air" does not cause freeze expansion damage! It doesn't cool very well either!

.

 

[bomar76]

Re: A little bit annoyed

Ayuh,... Have No Fear Bubba,...

There's Millions of Fools who Don't read the forums here at iboats....
I'm pretty certain your Market won't dry up....

Don't forget the legions of boaters that take the REALLY REALLY bad ideas from people that have no idea what they are talking about, usually because it's what they want to hear or it's cheap.

 

[sickwilly]

Re: A little bit annoyed

What you need to understand is that people do not use the word Winterization to always mean the same thing.

Winterization often means 1- going through a process to protect the engine from freezing and 2- prepping the boat for storage.

You simply need to worry about #1 -- protecting the engine from freezing as you will be using this boat regularly soon.

You are getting a new boat, get a manual from the marina or spend some time reading the winterization thread in the adults only section here. All I/Os are built with ways of freeze protecting the boat.

We have no idea what engine / outdrive set up you have to advise you. However, on my boat, its as simple as removing 5 blue plugs and putting a piece of wire into the hole to get all the water out, and have my boat protected for days on end of freezing temps.

#2 above involves changing oil, getting fogging oil into the cylinders, and stabilizer. None of that has anything to do with freeze protection, its all about having the engine if the best possible state for sitting and not being run for 6 months.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: A little bit annoyed

since you seem to have answered most of my other questions in previous threads you got any good links on how to drain the water?

I almost feel like a pain in the *** asking all these questions....

Ace,
as others have mentioned the procedure for draining the water is dependant on what engine and drive you have..... post up and someone with experience with that unit can likely offer help BUT the best solution is to purchase a service manual so you have it in black and white and you (mostly) rule out bad info.

Also don't feel bad for asking questions.... At least you aren't another bonehead who doesn't ask and thus screws up a new engine with a guess... We all have to learn sometime