To Winterize Or Not To Winterize

[Jshae]

Hello all,

I'm going into my 1st winter as a boat owner. I bought a 2008 Tige 22ve last spring, put 77 hours on it this summer, mostly surfing and taking my wife and 2 lil boys out for some fun in the sun. I'm a Libra, enjoy long walks in the park, a hot cup of coffee...lol, kidding...For real, I keep my boat on a lift at our neighborhood marina. I hesitate to ask the onsite mechanic this question bc who's gonna turn down business, especially from a newbee like myself. I'm on Lake Travis in Austin, Texas. The average lowest temperature of the water is 53 degrees, in February of each year. We have an average of 13 days of below feezing temperature each year. Do I need to winterize the boat, if so, what do I need to do? I have a couple of buddys with boats on slips, same lake, and they say the water acts as an insulator and they don't winterize or do anything to prepare the boat for winter. They haven't had any problems...change the oil after winter and their set for the season. Seems too easy to me. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated...

Shae

[boardman74]

They are correct that the water will act as an insulator, but thats if the boat is sitting in the water. If your on a lift your not in the water and hence you will not get the insulating affect. If your not going to use the boat i would winterize it. if you plan to use it I wouldn't. You are just going to have to keep an eye on the temps. If you have 50's during the day and high 20's at night you will be fine. You start having 30's during the day and low 20's or colder at night and you may run into issues. You can always put a shop light in the engine bay if you are going to have a few cool nights in a row. If the guys are telling you they haven't had freezing issues you might not either. Thats considering they have the same type of boat as you(V8 block engines, not outboards) and they store the same way as you, on a lift versus sitting in the water.

[Joeprunc]

Shae,
I have a pretty much exactly the same setup/winter as you do. Except our water gets colder than your's, down to mid 40s. This is what I've done for the past two years, and plan on this year.

1) Most would recommend changing your oil before winter, so you have fresh oil sitting in your motor all winter, and not dirty grimy oil.
2) Get 2 large dehumidifying Crystal Canisters and fill with fresh crystals (you can buy them at Homedepot for a fraction of the cost of West Marine).
3) I purchased a dehumidifying air dryer, and leave it plugged in all winter. http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...1#.UnlsXXCmiTI
4) I put a dehumidifying stick under the engine, this produces some heat.
5) Disconnect the battery (some say to leave it so the auto bilge will run, but my boat doesn't have an auto bilge)
6) Be sure water will not pool in your cover (even if you have an awning over your boat) we do not. If water gets into your bilge and produces enough weight you could end up with your boat back in the water (especially if its a pneumatic hoist)
7) Install a tarp over my cover to keep extra water proof.

Check on it after the first rain storm.
If you have an pneumatic hoist, check the ballasts once a month and re fill them (older hoists develop leaks) Also with the cooling temperature they tend to loose air.

Change impeller in the spring (I change ours every other spring, and each one I pull out looks brand new).

[Matt Garcia]

At the very minimum you should at least unscrew the drain plugs and drain the water in the engine block. Takes all of 5-10 minutes. I did this for several years and I live in North Texas and never had an issue.

[chpthril]

I agree with Matt. Due to global warming, you can easily get a deep freeze in TX. If the boat wont be used as much as it was during summer, I would add some fuel treatment to the tank and change the oil.

[loudelectronics]

Different thought up here. We change the oil only at the start of the season. Due to our temps and varying humidity we let the old oil take in the moisture over the winter. This way going into the season the oil is fresh and less moisture contamination.

Do you know oil has a holding time? As oil sits open to atmosphere in a motor it starts to degrade. The polymers used in oil can start to break down over time even with out use. Moisture can speed up this process.

So... We change our oil only in the spring before we use it for the summer. Just a thought.

[Jshae]

Thanks for the responses..Matt, how do you drain the water from the engine block? Drain plug, you mean the drain plug under the swim platform?

[chpthril]

Different thought up here. We change the oil only at the start of the season. Due to our temps and varying humidity we let the old oil take in the moisture over the winter. This way going into the season the oil is fresh and less moisture contamination.

Do you know oil has a holding time? As oil sits open to atmosphere in a motor it starts to degrade. The polymers used in oil can start to break down over time even with out use. Moisture can speed up this process.


So... We change our oil only in the spring before we use it for the summer. Just a thought.

Used oil is caustic and can pit the soft engine metals such as bearings and pistons.

Used oil contains hydrocarbons (unburned fuel) that can soften and swell rubber seals and gaskets

A crankcase with used oil contains condensation created by the heat up and cool down cycles.

Im a fan of changing before layup.

[chpthril]

Thanks for the responses..Matt, how do you drain the water from the engine block? Drain plug, you mean the drain plug under the swim platform?

Uh no, thats the drain for the bilge water. The engine, v-drive and transmission cooler will have a number of drain plugs to drain the water.

What engine do you have?

[Jshae]

Boardman, I thought about the shop light idea but our dock is separate from the ship store dock due to low lake level so we have a generator to operate the lifts, but that's it. We shut it off when we leave the dock. These dehumidifying sticks sound like they could help. How long do they put off heat? Does it need electricity or is it like a glow stick? Thanks again for yalls responses!

[Jshae]

Chpthrl it's the 340

[chpthril]

Chpthrl it's the 340

Knock sensor on each side of the block, a plug in each exhaust manifold, pull the inlet hose off the trans cooler and outlet hose off the raw water housing. This drain the water and prevent freezing. It can take 15 minutes once you get the hang of it. we ride year round and used to do this right on the ramp.

[Jshae]

Knock sensor on each side of the block, a plug in each exhaust manifold, pull the inlet hose off the trans cooler and outlet hose off the raw water housing. This drain the water and prevent freezing. It can take 15 minutes once you get the hang of it. we ride year round and used to do this right on the ramp.

I'll get down there this week and start unhooking stuff until water comes out and report back

[FBCoach]

Im in austin also. Your boat is extremely easy to drain the water out of the engine. If we get a week long cold front like we did a couple of years ago, you can just do a quick drain of the block. If its our normal winter, you should be fine dropping it in the water on the nights when its going to freeze. When the lake goes back up and you have power, I have an extreme heater that works great.

[Matt Garcia]

Thanks for the responses..Matt, how do you drain the water from the engine block? Drain plug, you mean the drain plug under the swim platform?

Remove the knock sensors and blue drain plugs. This thread show how to do it. (assuming you have the Marine Power engine.) http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/show...-Power-engine)