Why do I need to winterize?

[kdcdds]

Question: why do i need to winterize? i guess the reasoning is this; water might freeze, expand, and crack the block, right? but honestly, how much water should be in there? and if there is only droplets, can that actually cause the block to crack? just curious. thanks in advance

[Evening Shade]

Metal parts that have fresh water (ie lake water) circulating through them will be FULL of water, not just droplets. When that water freezes the metal parts holding that water will absolutely crack. It happens ever winter to people who don't winterize or do it improperly.

[NautiqueJeff]

If you live somewhere where the temperature is below 32 for any amount of time, you need to winterize. If you've never done it (assuming you're doing it yourself), you'll be amazed at how much water is in the block, exhaust system, transmission, etc.

If your engine was just one year newer, you could winterize it yourself in about ten minutes. The '16 and newer engines have these little blue plugs that you just unscrew by hand. Once the water is drained, you're done (unless you have a heater). Your boat will require using some tools to remove the drain plugs, but it is still pretty quick.

[DocPhil]

Is he serious?

[keithh2oskier]

So many of you in the North winterize due to temps. Would you still winterize if you store in a heated garage where the temps never drop below say 40*?

The OP is in SLC where it certainly would need to be winterized if stored outside. But perhaps a heated garage removes the freezing aspect.

[DocPhil]

Unless there was backup power I would still winterize

[jtryon]

So many of you in the North winterize due to temps. Would you still winterize if you store in a heated garage where the temps never drop below say 40*?

The OP is in SLC where it certainly would need to be winterized if stored outside. But perhaps a heated garage removes the freezing aspect.

if i lived in a climate where the outside temp never went below 40 in the winter and also had it in a garage, i might skip winterizing. however if your winter gets colder than that, you're leaving to chance that you'll never lose power in that garage. what if you go on vacation and lose power without knowing it? $5,000+ mistake on these newer boats with motors that are expensive to replace.

it's not worth trying to get away without winterizing. it takes an extra 15-30 minutes when you're prepping to store it, so it's worth the peace of mind.

[Blamey]

but honestly, how much water should be in there? and if there is only droplets, can that actually cause the block to crack?

I'd guess about 2 to 3 gallons of water as that how much antifreeze it takes to fill the block on my 351w and yes, it's pretty much guaranteed to crack the engine if you didn't drain it where you live.

[Quinner]

You really need to drain the raw water portion of your cooling system if there is any potential of it seeing below freezing temps, If you have a 343 that may include your block, on the closed cooling motors it will be trans cooler, heat exchanger, manifolds, trans, etc. After everything has been drained you may at that point still have some droplets in the system, as an added security you should then backfill those same areas with anti-freeze.

[DaveNH]

Unless there was backup power I would still winterize

Exactly. The last thing I want to be doing during a power outage is winterizing my boat!

On my 351 it really doesn't take long to winterize, I spend more time on the fog (pull each spark plug and fog) and oil change than the drain and add antifreeze.

[Neverenough]

All good points for freezing but you also consider oil change for any moisture that may cause rust during lay up.