'Vegas Winters? To winterize or not?

[solaidrider667]

Hey everyone. Well I have had my 24V since 2nd week in August and put 40hours on her allready!(it had 90 when I accuired it) It has a closed cooling system so I believe I dont have to do much there. I do plan on using it through out the winter(my wetsuit's on the way) and I am not sure what to do to stay safe from freezing and cracking my engine and components. It does have a heater and I believe lake water flows through it. It will be stored outdoors.
Any info on what to do to keep it safe and be usable at a non windy days notice would be great.

[chpthril]

Well, it's due for an oil change and some Stabilizer in the tank never hurts. Even with closed-cooling, there still is some water to drain. You have a heat exchanger, V-drive cooler and trans cooler all cooled by lake water. I'm also thinking that is a partial closed-cooling and the exhaust manifolds are lake water cooled.

[xpjim1]

Talk to Matt at the Boat Shop. 2 winters ago a few boats that were stored outside had some issues on the few freezing nights they had in Vegas

[evil0ne]

X2 for what Jim said. Do you store your boat in a garage? If so, I doubt the garage will get that cold and you should be good. If you store it outside there are a few nights that will get you into some trouble.

[raythompson]

Keeping it Warm

For those few nights when it does get cold you can avoid any problems by placing a 100 watt incadescent light in the engine compartment and close it up. The light will produce quite a bit of heat and will avoid any freeze damage unless it gets really code for an extended period. Then just use a standard 1500 watt space heater, with thermostat and fan circulation (preferably ceramic heater), and you can survive some fairly extreme cold.

[LovinPowell]

When I bought my boat, Matt (the boat shop) told me to drain the water from the engine block. There are four places to do this from two wing nut types from the upper block and two that require a wrench from the lower block. He also told me to detach the heater hoses from the engine blocks and blow into them until all of the water was out of those hoses. Pretty simple to do and it is still ready to go at a moments notice. I do that during the winter months, even though I store it in my garage. I am at a little higher elevation than Vegas but it still isn't so cold that I worry about it since it is in the garage.

[moved2ski]

I have done the lighbulb trick here in Las Vegas for several years with dips down into the low 20's. I usualy does not stay that cold for more than a few hours. I just used a trebble light with a 60 x bulb hung so it did not touch anything. I am now able to keep my boat indoors. Makes life better.

[solaidrider667]

Thanks for the info, I will be on Lake Mead this weekend and will look for the drain plugs. I used to own a Mariah and stored it out doors and also used the lightbulb trick. I am mostly worried @ the trans-heater and v-drive.
Unfourtunatley it must be stored outdoors under a portable garage(Coscto type) with a fitted cover.
The impeller was serviced along with the oils at @ 88 hours----now mid
120ish. When should one change the impeller? I will change the oil within the next 5-10 hours.

[chpthril]

IMO, the best time for the new impeller is Spring, that way it's new for Summer season. Some say every year, some say every 2, I'm a 2 year guy.

I wouldn't worry about freezing with the shop light, you would have to see well below freezing or below freezing for a number of hours to be worried

[lee]

Thanks for the info, I will be on Lake Mead this weekend and will look for the drain plugs.

Do not drain the block, it is closed cooling like you said and filled with antifreeze.

[dmgski22ve]

What do the heater hoses look like? I store mine in the garage and keep it above freezing... but I still drain the engine block and manifold plugs as well... if I know what hoses to blow out that would be even better...
thanks...