To Winterize or Not to Winterize, that is the question

[Fwat220]

I live in Scottsdale, Arizona and keep my boat (2007 SANTE) at Bartlett Lake. We keep it out of the water when not in use. The low temperatures up at the lake during the winter are in the 30s perhaps even high 20s at times. The highs are in the 50s. We plan on running the boat every other week throughout the winter weather depending. We are still riding on the weekends!

Do we need to winterize the boat in anyway? Stabilizer in the fuel? Antifreeze in the ballasts? Is there water in the pipes that can freeze up? Thanks

[SkiTower]

RE: To Winterize or Not to Winterize, that is the question

First: do you mean by low temps high for the day or low for the day? If it gets that cold over night but back up to 40's and 50's for the day, then it's not necessary. It takes time for the water to freeze to the point of doing damage. Winterizing is more for when the high's of the day don't reach 35ish. And if it's in a garage, no problem. If you're using it that often, winterizing isn't going to help unless you want to drain or flush with antifreeze every time you go out.

My dealer said we're right on the border between needing to winterize and not, and I winterize just so I don't have to replace the engine. I also don't run it during the winter, though.

[mf01]

RE: To Winterize or Not to Winterize, that is the question

I semi-winterize, but I don't think I even need to. All I do is drain the block/manifolds and put stabil in it. I don't put antifreeze in it. Temps here are probably similar to yours. I mainly do it out of piece of mind.

Last winter I went out a few times. I just drained it after. It only takes 5-10 extra minutes.

[chris196]

RE: To Winterize or Not to Winterize, that is the question

I live in Austin, TX and what I do is drain all the water in the passages.
I usually run my boat once a month or so. There is usually a nice day. I ran mine this past Sunday and it snowed here (a little) last night.
I have a GT40 and the previous owner installed ball valves at each drain point. There are 5 on the GT40 (each side of the block, each manifold and the elbow below the water pump). It makes it quite easy. My boat is on a lift in a marina. So I just take out the drain plug, then open all the ball valves and let it drain while I do other things. Make sure you pull your plug first, otherwise you have some very hot water in your bilge.
I see you have a SAN. I have a 196 which is obviously direct drive. That does make it very easy to get at everything.

I used to have a mercruiser and it has a single point to drain everything. Just one valve to open, very slick and easy.
You might look into installing something like that. It would make things much easier.

It adds no more than 5 minutes to my total boat put up time.
I always close the valves and put the plug back before I leave so there's no chance of forgetting next time.

[Fwat220]

RE: To Winterize or Not to Winterize, that is the question

The daily highs are 50s-60s. The daily lows are 30s possilby 20s.

I am going to look for the drains for the passages and look into installing ball valves. Thanks for the help!

[DavidF]

RE: To Winterize or Not to Winterize, that is the question

by draining water from block and leaving it that way is a good way to build up rust scale in the block. The rust scale can clog internal water passages. If you do not winterize properly, you are probably better off leaving water in the block so long as you do not let it freeze...

[Fwat220]

RE: To Winterize or Not to Winterize, that is the question

Everything was good to go this past weekend. I think we will keep checking the water lines evertime we go up there. Like I said earlier, we are planning on running the boat twice a month.

So I have one vote for draining the block and one vote against draining the block. Anyone else?

[mf01]

RE: To Winterize or Not to Winterize, that is the question

I wouldn't risk leaving it in. To me it's piece of mind more than anything.

[chris196]

DavidF has a good point, but if you're not putting antifreeze in it and there's the possibility of freezing, you should drain it.
I'll take my chances with rust scale over a cracked block.

Just an FYI, I've been doing it this way for 15 years on my engines (mercruiser, pcm) and never had a problem. That doesn't mean I will never have a problem, just haven't yet.

I think if you're running it twice a month, you'll be ok.

[j2nh]

If you have access to power slap one of those magnetic oil pan heaters on it. Heat will conduct through the block and it will not freeze. Put it on a timer so it only operates for a couple of hours a night.

Half of the dealers that I know in Northern Wisconsin drain and leave the blocks dry and the other half put in marine antifreeze. I personally choose the antifreeze route but these guys have been doing this hundreds of times each way for years and I am unaware of either method having issues. I do agree with the corrosion theory but doubt it is that significant, none the less I do put anti-freeze in mine cause it's not just a boat its my Nautique.

[DanielC]

Drain It! Your internal engine passages have got rust in them already, every cast iron boat block that is raw water cooled has rust in them already.
Here is another option. Go get a "rope light" You are looking for one that has a lot of small incandesent lights in it, and draws about 100 watts or so. Wrap the rope light around the engine, close the hatch, plug it in. The rope light does not have a localized hot spots, that will damage anything, the vinyl tube will protect the light bulbs in the rope light, and the engine as well. You could also use an "old school" Christmas tree light string to do the same thing, but you have to be really careful with the glass bulbs on the engine parts when you are putting the lights in, and removing them.

Where is the boat at when it is not being used? On a lift, just above the water? In a garage? If the boat is outside, and it is windy, that will suck the heat out of the engine much faster than if it is calm.
If the boat is getting run once every other week, no need to fog the engine. More than a month, the engine should be fogged.
If it takes you a few months of use to use up a tank of gas, I would use a fuel stabilizer also. If you run through a tank of gas every month or so, fuel stabilizer is probably not needed.

[Fwat220]

The boat is on the trailer uncovered. The area is not very windy. the uncovered is a good thing I think becuase the solar radiation here in Arizona is a big influence on temperatures since it is rarely cloudy. We have had real cold weather lately and the temps up there have not gotten below 32 yet. We have been running the boat every weekend so far, but this may be the beginning of the end (the high this weekend will be 62 and the water temp last month was 58). So we run through about 12 gallons of fuel every week so stabilizer is not a worth while option. There is a power source at the marina so the block heater or lights would work.

[8122pbrainard]

I really don't feel you would have a problem with your daytime high temps and the brief overnight freezing temp. It really take several days of below freezing to get to the engine. What are other people doing in the marina? Since you have power available and want to be on the safe side, these are designed for keeping the engine compartment warm.



I do not recommend the magnetic oil pan heaters or even worse the dip stick heaters. Their watt densities are high to get the btu's in a small surface area so the surface temps are high. They are know for burning/degrading oil.

I'm with Daniel regarding the rust. Wet or dry, it's really not going to make a difference.

[Mikeski]

I wouldn't winterize and wouldn't worry as long as the AVERAGE 24 hour temperature did not drop below 30 degrees.

[GoBig]

Mikeski, how did you pull that data? That is good info. Where do you store your boat?