question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

[bob johnson]

I have never had an inboard...but have had many outboards... I use my boats all year round and especially in the winter. Up here on the new england coast it can get to freezing the salt water, it gets so cold...the water temps are as low as 28 degrees!!!

the air temps can fall to -10 degrees at times.....but 10 degrees happens a lot anyway!!

how....do you keep the inboards from freezing and cracking the block from week to week, when you are not in the water. i use my boat on weekends mostly...if i pull out with an inboard.....how do i assure i dont crack the block in the next 4 days while the temps fall to the teens or lower??

on an outboard the water drains....or the pockets are holding a large amoutn of water that if it froze it would break something..

i hear about so many ruined inboards because of frozen water breaking the block or manifolds


thanks

bob

 

[dozerII]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

Hey Bob, you are up against it with an I/O, it either has to be winterized or put in a heated garage or storage when the temp drops even a couple degrees below freezing or you can have real expensive repairs. If you are running a 120 Mercruiser there are only two drains to open and probe to make sure they drain, as well as the big hose off the circulating pump, but I think I would be nervous doing it that often, I get in there with my compresser blow gun and make sure the water is out.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

Hey Bob, you are up against it with an I/O, it either has to be winterized or put in a heated garage or storage when the temp drops even a couple degrees below freezing or you can have real expensive repairs. If you are running a 120 Mercruiser there are only two drains to open and probe to make sure they drain, as well as the big hose off the circulating pump, but I think I would be nervous doing it that often, I get in there with my compresser blow gun and make sure the water is out.

my buddy thinks Ill be ok, because I only will use the boat in the ocean in winter... and the salt water really never freezes solid where it has strength

you think the 6 cylinder is only 120 HP??

bob

 

[dozerII]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

my buddy thinks Ill be ok, because I only will use the boat in the ocean in winter... and the salt water really never freezes solid where it has strength

you think the 6 cylinder is only 120 HP??

bob

Hey Bob, I didn't realize it is was a 6, they were 165 hp, If you post the serial number off the motor, should find that on the starboard side on the rear of the block and post it in the Mercruiser section one of the pros there will tell you the year and hp.

 

[bob johnson]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

Hey Bob, I didn't realize it is was a 6, they were 165 hp, If you post the serial number off the motor, should find that on the starboard side on the rear of the block and post it in the Mercruiser section one of the pros there will tell you the year and hp.

here is a picture with the serial #

bob

 

[heyyou325]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

I have a sbc 350, and only have 2 plugs, 2 caps, and to be safe 3 hoses ( one is all supposedly necessary) to pull. Takes maybe 5 minutes, figure 15 or 20 til you have them found. I also pump compressed air thru the logs, as I have had one didn't drain all the way and cracked. You can run a tank and use anti freeze, but I'm not sure how. I leave mine outside all the time, and know a lot of others do too. A V-8 had 2 drain pugs low on the engine, 2 caps on exhaust logs, and the hose to the water pump. I also pull the 2 hoses going into the exhaust logs, and blow air thru each to be safe. The first pics shows the hoses from the front, and the second, sort of the side, and you can see the 2 caps under the log in the back of engine. You'll have to look at a book or something to find on your six, I don't have pics of them. I also poke something into the block where I pull the drain plugs to break the rust up so it will drain. I would imagine in salt water you would have more corrosion in the engine. Good luck with it, and enjoy. Draining it really isn't that hard, and it gets below 0 here almost every winter. We've been having freezing off and on since mid September.

 

[Lyle29464]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

Salt water will freeze and break things just as bad as fresh water. 25 deg for 8 hours and it's gone.

 

[dozerII]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

The other thing with salt water is you should be flushing the engine with fresh water as soon as it comes out of the salt to help prevent internal corroision. Which then means your dealing with fresh water in the block and manifold.

 

[dozerII]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

I tried a search for your serial # and I could not find an exact match, but it fits in this range 2770032 - 5178958 1970 thru 1978

here is a picture with the serial #

bob

 

[bob johnson]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

Salt water will freeze and break things just as bad as fresh water. 25 deg for 8 hours and it's gone.

so how do all the lobster, or oyster boats working maine and new england all winter not loose thier engines???


bob

 

[dozerII]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

On the bigger ones they could be running APU or closed cooling systems with antifreeze.

 

[jbcurt00]

Re: question for all you Inboard affliction addicts......winter???

There is lots of info already posted @iboats forums:

OMC I/O thread cautions against using a space heater

Winter use of a trailered boat in Texas

Mercruiser I/O questions about block heaters

Various opinions about heating a stored outside boat

But as a non-I/O owner, it seems the largest majority of suggestions involve draining the boat, every trip, anytime there is a RISK of being 32* or less.....

And no matter what powered heat method you choose, shore power to the trailer is really only good as long as the power is on. W/out electric, it won't take long to have the temps drop on the block, and once it drops, it won't take long to do damage..... Eventually a battery tender won't be available to recharge the batteries, if you run the heat from a deep cycle marine battery...

I only lost power 3 times in the last 2 winters, total. Once for about an hour, once for a couple, and the 1st time was for almost 9hrs. In 9hrs, the whole house dropped significantly. I'm only in WV, even w/ our elevation, and mountainous terrain, I suspect you get much more winter weather regularly and at a much lower temp for a much longer winter......