Winterizeing for a week or two
 

I just purchased a formula 242 with twin 5.7s. The boat is at my parents house in detroit but I am in miami. I am bringing the boat here in 2 weeks or so but I'm worried they may have freezing temps before I get up there. My dad is to old to be hanging around under the engines trying to drain them. I have never owned a boat up north so I have never had to winterize before, not sure what all needs to be done to get all the water out. Im trying to not have someone winterize the boat for a few weeks of cold. I've been looking at magnetic block heaters, put one on each block and plug it in, should be enough to keep the block from freezing. Has anyone tried this, did it work? Any thoughts or ideas appreciated. Do I need to worry about the outdrives freezing as well?

over the next couple weeks you have nothing to worry about.

I'll disagree. We've had frost in Virginia already, and I know Detroit has been colder than us.

Have your Dad hang 2 trouble lights in the bilge with 100W bulbs. That will keep the engine compartment a good 10 degrees warmer. Just make sure they do not contact anything.

1 light would work, but if it burns out, then you could be hosed. That's why I suggest 2.
I actually use two of the clamp on work lights from Lowes/Home Depot.

A small heater, if not rated for a boat use could cause fuel vapor to explode. That's why they have bilge heaters made for boats. They are not cheap.

"nothing to worry about" Didn't the Fox in the Hen house say that??/ lol I would watch the temps real close, and have a back up plan. Can you get it in a garage until you pick it up?

Just have a small heater in the bilge on standby . going to take several days and nights of temp being consistently below freezing

Put it in the water, you will have nothing to worry about. And temps that cause a frost aren't going to crack anything. Even nights that get into the high 20's are fine. It is really the amount of time spent below freezing that matters more. This time of year you will be just fine.

or find inside storage that has heat for a few weeks if your really worried....

You guys are making me feel better, I was thinking about the drop light as well. Hopefully I can figure out a way to get the boat down here soon.

I'm in Ohio and have never winterized before the middle of November. Always like to be ready for that last nice day.

I'm in Kentucky and we get an occasional cold snap that will send temps below freezing. Even then, I don't worry much if the boat is inside an enclosed garage. I'm assuming your boat is sitting outside, so it's a little more worrisome, but still probably not a big deal. Like others have said, the light bulbs should work. I actually drop one of the oil filled radiator space heaters in my bilge until I have a chance to winterize. Works well, and I have it plugged into an outlet that is controlled from a switch in my attached garage, so it's easy to kick on if I want. I usually set it on the low setting with the T-stat turned all the way up so it will run continuously without any chance of a spark from the switch. Never had a problem with it. I usually give in and winterize around Thanksgiving.

I remember one year with my first boat when the clock-radio alarm went off with the weatherman announcing that the temperature outside was 19*. I had the boat outside in a carport, so I sprang out of bed with visions of cracked blocks in my head. I ran out there and drained the block and manifolds - no harm. I have heard that the rule of thumb is 8 hours at or below 28*, but don't hold me to that one. I'm sure 24 hours at 31* would do it too. ;)

AMEN

It has got to get pretty cold for a significant period for a block to freeze to cold soak and THEN freeze. this time of the year this shouldn't happen. now towards the mid to end of November that could be a different story

3pointstar

I am in the metro Detroit area and the coldest it might get is around 30 saturday night with most temps in the mid 40's to mid 50's during the day. I'm not worried about a block freezing from an overnight low in the 30's.

There is more to freeze than just the block folks.

Oil cooler
Fuel cooler
Heat exchanger
Thermostat housing
Manifold/header jacket
What else?

True it is not just the block to worry about. But we all know that liquid has a much higher thermal transfer coefficient than the ambient air does. So even if the ambient temps fall below freezing for a short period of time liquid will not following the same thermal loss. There is also radiant heat from through-out the day and with ambient temps ranging in the mid 40's to upper 50's. There is no way liquid will freeze or even gel in this area based on the current forecast in the next week.

Just my 02 cents

Thurs night friday morning there calling for a hard freeze in my area. over night lows around 25.

Is the 24 for 24 still a common saying? 24 hrs at 24 degrees or colder for a engine to freeze.

I live a hour from Detroit and my boat is sitting in the driveway and I have no worries with the up coming weather... Saturday looks to be the coldest with a low of 28 in the overnight hours... but thats only for a few hours at the very most... which is not enough for anything to freeze in an engine compartment. After that its nothing but 40's and 50's. No worries man!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2nwiba0N0Y

This is your engine...This is your engine on ice.... Any questions?

I pulled this motor out of a boat that was given to me. It had sunk on land and was then given to me in January. It was winterized thankfully. Miraculously, once thawed out it was in pretty good shape.
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Well as long as it lived through last weekend, it only has to worry about salt and sun now. Boat is now in sunny south fl

Nice!! I was just thinking of this thread last night whne I heard the forcast here in MN. Weather man is talking 20's for day time high's.

Good to hear it made it down to FL with no porblems.!!!