Winterize Boat?

[BRIAN0214]

Ok its my first winter with a boat. I see a lot of people winterize their boat? What should I be doing to my boat to protect it from the winter? Its an 301 Ford with a Volvo I/O that will be stored in a non heated garage. I am a fishing fanatic and if there is a warm day in November I will be on the big pond. So I realy don't want to do anything to shut me down from using the boat. Is this possible or am I crazy since its in a non heated garage? Any input would be great!

[JWheeler]

As long as we don't have freezing temps for a few days you should be okay. I think it would take a bit of time below freezing to freeze the block. A trick a buddy of mine has mentioned, is that when it gets colder to stick a work light in the doghouse and leave it on to keep the motor from freezing.

[tbromund]

yes, the trouble light under the doghouse works as long as it doesn't get too cold, the incandescent light bulb in the confined area generates enough heat that the block won't freeze.

If it gets below the mid 20's I'd start to worry about the effectiveness of this solution at that point.

Tim

[JWheeler]

yes, the trouble light under the doghouse works as long as it doesn't get too cold, the incandescent light bulb in the confined area generates enough heat that the block won't freeze.

If it gets below the mid 20's I'd start to worry about the effectiveness of this solution at that point.

Tim

Agreed, it is a temporary solution to keep it from freezing until it's too cold. Lately with the temps at night and the warmth during the day you should have no issues. Regardless of temps the last trip for me is the weekend of 11/4 and then it's off to storage. This is the biggest downside for owning and I/O.

[Line Dancin]

West marine has a kit for winterizing that i use to get some coolant through the block in the early spring. It is a container with a hose set up to screw into a set of muffs. now depending on what model volvo outdrive you have is the type of muffs you need usually the recgangular ones. I dump 2 gallons of coolant into it sratr the flow down to the outdrive(set it on the back of the boat or swim platform start it up and have somone watch as soon as it runs out shut it down. ususally 2 to 3 gallons is enough just watch for the water to turn to coolant coming out of your exhaust ports. Then you dont take a chance that way. it is quick costs a couple bucks but you also dont have to worry about a lightbulb going out. then when you want to use it you can and be able to put it away esy enough during cold weather times. In the winter for lay up i have mine done professionally to store through the winter including oil change outdrive lube etc etc.

[steeliebob]

My last boat was an I/O I would winterize it in Sept and put it in the water in May thus I missed out on 3 months of fishing every year. My next boat will be an outboard, you can winterize them in the winter and they are very easy to take care of. With a smaller motor I may just pull it and keep it in the house for the winter. The I/O is a great salmon boat though, I will just have to rig the outboard differently

[A-Fishy-Anado]

I'll post up some pics later of a contraption i made out of a five gallon bucket some hose fittings, a 3 way garden hose fitting with shut off valves, a couple 4' washer hoses and some muffs. Works great and very cheap and easy to build with parts from the hardware store.

[anthonyyost]

If you run the antifreeze through the outdrive, do you still open the drainage petcocks on the motors to drain the block and stuff?

[jimbobber]

I dont drain the engine block,it should also be full of anti freeze thats why you let it run long enough to come up to running temp before you run the antifreeze into the system.It would not hurt to drain it though.

[Nailer]

If you run the antifreeze through the outdrive, do you still open the drainage petcocks on the motors to drain the block and stuff?

Last year I ran 2 gallons of antifreeze through the above mentioned method. I also opened the petcocks afterwords. One side was mostly water, the other was a mix. There is no reason to leave the antifreeze in there.

[Line Dancin]

if it is just a saftey type of job cause it is supposed to get real cold for few days you can leave it in. if it is for lay up then you would want to open the petcoks after running it through just to make sure.

By the way when we are saying anti freeze we are talking about non glycol, for example rv antifreeze so as to not harm the environment when you do start the engine in a lake.

[BRIAN0214]

Thanks for all the help guys I learned a lot!