Winterizing Question
 

Hello,

I have a 86 scarab panther, 7.4 mercs. Keep in a lifted slip and had originally planned to pull boat for winter and drop at marina last weekend to winterize, decided to leave in slip for winter under cover and not clog the driveway up. Needless to say marina can’t winterize til Thanksgiving now. We live in Virginia but looks a little colder than normal. Calling for 45/25 and 45/27 this weekend, then a few more nights in 30/28 range next few weeks.

Marina told me unless it stays below freezing solid for a day or two, no worries. Thoughts??

5 hours at 23F (-5C) will freeze and prob split.

There is another thread on here about a thermostatically controlled/ C.G certified bilge heater - don't recall price but cheaper than engines if the threat of a freeze is there.... or drain your cooling systems to minimize damage

https://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/...ine-block.html



24* for 24hrs is the general rule.

Id pull all the plugs, who can predict the weather

i have a couple of these,dont remember what they cost but they work well.

If those are the actual low temps, they will only be that low for a couple hours and you'll be fine.
If it changes and they're gonna be lower, I'd do the lightbulb option or just drop it in the water. The water temp will be significantly warmer than the air temp.

Another thread on this and I decided:

https://www.boatownersworld.com/cafr...-400-watt.html

Xtreme Small Boat Heater - 300 Watt

You should be fine at those temps, especially this time of year over the water while the water temps are warmer than air temps. This time of year at LOTO many marinas will tell you sustained temp around 20 for 24 hours given the water temps are still around 60. Testing their theory would make me a bit nervous, but the light bulb or 2 will work for the next 3 weeks.

Just put a 100W bulb in a droplight in the bilge. These work great for that task. I always went with two in case of a bulb failure.

Attachment 576534

as already mentioned , i would remove all plugs in water system,
or you could do the light for heat .

I remember reading on this site abt a guy who stored on lift and relied on a bilge heater of some sort. Big ice storm hit. Power went out and he couldn't get to the boat in time due to roads being impassable. 3 cracked blocks.

I would drain it and sleep well.

^ this...its not hard to do....why risk it?

Ive even put ball valves on my drains...I drain it every time I pull it out of the water since I get sent out for work on less then a moments notice.

4 plugs, circ hose, raw water pump hoses, 5 minutes.

Anyone use a heating pad...like you use when you have a sprained back?

Ask 92nsx ( Rob ) how the heating blanket worked for him..........:poopoo:

I will reach out to Rob BUT don't leave me hanging :-)...what happened?

The blanket caught the boat on fire, lucky he didn't lose the shop

Wow...that seems like a rare occurrence...maybe I'll just go with the shop light idea.
I actually thought about putting the heating pad on the outdrives and allowing the heat to "conduct" into the engine bay.

Agreed...unfortunately my bilge heater does not arrive until tomorrow...and tonight in NC is going to be record cold.
The garage is subterranean on three sides...so I am probably overly concerned.

^^^ I'll do this soon!

i think GETRDUNN posted this how to do,,,i added 3/8 pipe to AN 6 fitting, then 16-18 inches of number 6 stainless, then AN 6 fitting and cap plug.
works great ,as before my closed water system was added , it was really hard to reach fitting on side of block, and now with closed coolant system , i can t reach anything on STBD motor,,so works great as fitting / plug lay in front on motors.

DRAIN THE MOTORS...

I have open cooling and big blocks in a Formula. Its tight in the engine bay but I will retrofit a system...I just need to learn more about the boat/motors.

I've always drained mine or pull the thermostat and dumped anti freeze in the block.

My kept a light in his boat but lost power during a winter storm one year and it cost him a 454. After that I won't take chances on being dependent on power.

My storage garage up here (North Carolina) this year did not get below 50F but I need to figure out how to do this.
I might get one or two cold snaps in Pensacola (boat will be on lift over water)...but "boatable" weather come all year round. So I don't want anything too finite/permanent/expensive.

As nice as your boat is, and as much as you plan to use it, I would put closed loop on it and only have the exhaust running the salty crap through it.

When I get it down there I will use your experience and investigate that option.
Tom

send you PM.............

Replied...come on down!

Thanks for all the help, drained and backfilled with anti. Picked up a bilge heater as well for insurance if we go through early cold snaps next year.