Another winterization question

[GMTK]

My boat is in South Texas and 99% of inboard owners don't winterize down here, but my gut is telling me to at least think about it this year. If I pull the drain plugs in the engine, is it a MUST to then run anti-freeze in to the engine or am I ok just leaving the engine dry (no anti-freeze)? I might just buy a bilge heater and be done with it. 4.3L GXI-E.

 

[Lou C]

Think back a few years about what happened; unusual freezing weather & thousands of boat engines ruined!
At a minimum drain the engine, manifolds & raw water intake hose. Put the drive down so it drains.
No you don’t have to add AF and in fact in freshwater it might not be that necessary. Merc does now advise that in their manuals though.
Pull the drain plug on the drive to see if it is milky which means it has water in the gear oil. If so you must drain the oil because freezing temps could crack the gear case. However if you find milky gear oil I’d get it fixed right then so it’s ready for next season. Don’t leave the drive with no oil in it over the winter or the gears & bearings might start to rust…

 

[BRICH1260]

Pretty much what is said above. At a minimum, drain all the water out. A cheap time investment given the cost of a new motor.

 

[GMTK]

I always to the engine oil, gear oil and pull the outdrive first weekend in November. I was just dreading having to use anti-freeze and pump get it cycled in the engine. Going to drain and pull hoses and be done with it. Thanks for the responses, I do appreciate it.

 

[Lou C]

Do no have to pump in af. What I’ve done for 20 years:
Drain engine & manifolds & poke drain holes to make sure it drains
Disconnect bottom end of large J hose at bottom of front circulating pump
Disconnect raw water intake hose at thermostat housing, hold it down in the bilge to drain
Then get your AF & a funnel
Put the out drive down & fill the raw water intake hose till the AF runs out the water intakes on the outdrive, then re connect that hose at the thermostat housing
Put some grease or gasket sealer on the threads of the drain plugs. Re install the plugs in the manifolds & engine block.
Now to fill manifolds & engine:
For manifolds disconnect each feed hose at the thermostat housing & fill the manifold vis the hose til AF runs out the exhaust on the ground. Then reconnect each hose. For the engine, reconnect the bottom of the J hose & disconnect the top end at the thermostat housing. Now fill the engine via this top hose till AF spurts out the thermostat housing. Then reconnect the hose. That’s it!
Tip: get a set of hose remover tools those hoses can get really rusted in place. I put some marina grease on each nipple before re installing each hose that keeps them from getting rusted in place.

 

[Bondo]

My boat is in South Texas and 99% of inboard owners don't winterize down here, but my gut is telling me to at least think about it this year. If I pull the drain plugs in the engine, is it a MUST to then run anti-freeze in to the engine or am I ok just leaving the engine dry (no anti-freeze)? I might just buy a bilge heater and be done with it. 4.3L GXI-E.

Nope,..... Air doesn't freeze, expand, 'n bust engine blocks,.....

 

[airshot]

Draining is the safest move bar none !!! With that said...to get a longer season I used to put two 75 or 100 watt light bulbs in those big funnel looking aluminum housings inside the dog house. Temp never dropped below 60 degrees even when outside temp was 25... Experimented to see if one bulb would keep from freezing and it worked. 45 plus degrees inside when outside temp was only 15 degrees! Kept the bulbs low in the bilge to keep pan warm.

 

[GMTK]

Draining is the safest move bar none !!! With that said...to get a longer season I used to put two 75 or 100 watt light bulbs in those big funnel looking aluminum housings inside the dog house. Temp never dropped below 60 degrees even when outside temp was 25... Experimented to see if one bulb would keep from freezing and it worked. 45 plus degrees inside when outside temp was only 15 degrees! Kept the bulbs low in the bilge to keep pan warm.

My concern is the power going out. Was going to get a bilge heater but when the winter storm hit texas, my boat shed lost power for 4 days. Thankfully I had a buddy that was able to go over on day 1 and pull all the drain plugs in the engine.

 

[airshot]

Years back a neighbor used the light bulb method for his boat, had it in a small unheated barn. He put a light in the window that he and the neighbor could both see. If they looked and no light, they knew the power was out and they would fire up a small power generator to keep the bulbs going. Just a thought....

 

[Donald0039]

You have not said RWC or FWC. Assume a V8 so a drain plug on both sides of the block. There is the possibility of pockets of water in the block even after draining. Many pour some pink RV antifreeze into the block. It will mix with any water in the block. Couple of gallons.

You need to drain the exhaust manifolds and risers. Either remove a drain plug or pull a hose.

Disconnect the two hoses going to raw water pump and drain.

Fuel pump may have a fuel cooler that is cooled by raw water.

If you have a hot water heater heated by engine heat that line needs to be blown out.

All the correct info is in the VP owners manual.

There always is the possibility of water in the outdrive gear case so that should be drained.

 

[Scott Danforth]

change engine oil, pull all block drains, manifold drains, intake manifold drain (only on the 4.3's), and then drain the large hose, and the raw water pump and supply hose. you are now winterized. add antifreeze if you want.

to do the remainder of your yearly maintenance, pull the drive, inspect the bellows, u-joints, gimbal bearing, and alignment. inspect the gear oil, replace if you havent done it recently.

 

[Scott06]

My boat is in South Texas and 99% of inboard owners don't winterize down here, but my gut is telling me to at least think about it this year. If I pull the drain plugs in the engine, is it a MUST to then run anti-freeze in to the engine or am I ok just leaving the engine dry (no anti-freeze)? I might just buy a bilge heater and be done with it. 4.3L GXI-E.

Bilge heater doesn’t work when the power is out … not sure how many plugs to pull-my mercruiser has 5 plugs takes all of ten minutes to drain. Not sure why fo,ks down south dont do this

 

[Scott Danforth]

Not sure why fo,ks down south dont do this

Having lived down here for a while...... I have my theory