Driveway De-Winterize

[rucaradio]

So I've got a Volvo AQ131d. I've got a whole box of parts (mainly coolant system seals and stuff for a tuneup - points, wires, etc) that I want to install in the next week or so. I'm trying to get her on the lake by April 10th. Here in NE Ohio I think the worst of the bad weather is over and daytime temps have moderated. In the extended forecast, nighttime lows MAY get as low as 20 degrees F.

Obviously I don't want to deal with any cracked pipes or exhaust manifolds. I've read on the forums before people have gotten away with putting a 60 watt lightbulb inside the doghouse until the weather warms. Has anyone had any experiences with this - good, bad, or otherwise?

Should I just suck it up and drain the sea water system after each use?

 

[HT32BSX115]

Re: Driveway De-Winterize

Howdy,


It's fine until the plug gets pulled, the light burns out at an inopportune time or power goes out......do you feel lucky?

Also, a spark at the wrong time in the bilge sometimes goes "boom"


I would drain it.

 

[Bondo]

Re: Driveway De-Winterize

Should I just suck it up and drain the sea water system after each use?

Ayuh,... Yes,... Absolutely...

 

[fat fanny]

Re: Driveway De-Winterize

rucaradio I live right down 62 from you and if anything I have learned over the last 44 yrs is that in our neck of the woods it is better to be safe than sorry I wouldn't trust a $1.00 light bulb to protect my $10.000 toys power plant period as Bondo agreed drain it. But remember it could 60 today and tonight -10 tommorow 20 and tommorow night 50 a/c on in the day and furnace on in the evening with all that being said I just make a day of it the week before we decide to launch and do everything on a Saturday and Sunday so as to be thourough as possible. Good luck and glad to hear of another I boater from my neck of the woods.