water in bilge over winter

[isbtown]

I just got a bad email from the guy storing my boat. He said he was moving it and when he picked it up a bunch of water drained out of the bilge and that I probably should check for freeze damage.

any ideas on how I would go about checking for freeze damage?

[M3Fan]

RE: water in bilge over winter

It could be condensation. It's normal for a small amount of water to end up in the bilge in the spring. There was probably just enough that it drained out a bit when he moved it. No worries.

[jhiestand]

My first thought would be to check the freeze plugs on the sides of the engine. If one of those popped you would most certainly get some water/coolant in the bilge.

[jmo]

It's not uncommon to have some water in the bilge, especially after winterizing as water will spill down there as part of the process of draining the block, manifolds, hoses, etc. Ideally whomever winterized it tips it up from the front to have all the water drain into the rear bilge, but even then you won't get it all out.

If the boat wasn't properly winterized, then jhiestand could be right (hopefully not for your sake) that you could have some freeze damage - heaters are the most vulnerable component to freezing. Check around the drain plugs on the block, exhaust manifolds, hoses, etc.

On a side note, most people pull the battery and store it somewhere warm and leave it on a trickle charger so come Spring your battery is ready to go.

Hope this helps.

[DanielC]

A lot of water in the bilge over the winter has at least two problems I can think of. First, if it is higher than the end of your steering cable, it will work up the cable, and cause rust inside the cable, and the steering will be hard, or not move at all. Second, the water could seep into the area forward of your pylon, and under the cooler in the floor, and cause freeze damage there.