Winterize or not? - Austin Boat Forums

livesound Veteran Austin Boater Offline Austin Boater Posts: 366 austin tx Gender:	Winterize or not? Dec 22^nd, 2011 at 7:44pm ok guys really explain this to me. we never have a hard freeze here. what are we worried about. as you guys know i go out all year long part of why i moved here. plus I'm indoors and a slightly heated place.
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livesound Veteran Austin Boater Offline Austin Boater Posts: 366 austin tx Gender:	Re: Winterization deals in Austin? Reply #1 - Dec 22^nd, 2011 at 7:44pm by the way we are some thread jackin mofos on this board.
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nathan

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Re: Winterization deals in Austin?
Reply #2 - Dec 22^nd, 2011 at 8:07pm

we dont hijack threads we take them to a new level. one subject can get boring. Grin

now on to the original question. you only need one or two days of freezing weather to crack a block. the motors in the boats use almost the exact same block as the cars do. just because you take your boat out of the water you are not draining the water out of the motor. it is just like running straight water in your car. if you are in a heated storage you wouldn't have to worry about it as much. you can take you boat out all year but if it was mine I would be pulling the engine drain plugs after every trip to make sure you don't end up needing a new motor. just search craigslist and you will a few boats with cracked blocks.

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current boats:
1983 chaparral 235 XLC (restoration)
1977 playcraft p24 pontoon (parents own now I am the mechanic)
1975 skeeter hawk (on hold)

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Captain YARRR

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Re: Winterize or not?
Reply #3 - Dec 22^nd, 2011 at 9:25pm

I personally know almost a handful of people who cracked their blocks last year because they didn't think they needed to winterize.

It's really not hard to pull the plugs. Dry stack is kind of tough though. Once my Monterey was done for the year, it's out of commission until the freezes pass.

The Dominator tho...it's got a super bad ass two plug drain system on each engine...piece of cake. I'm looking forward to a January run!

The bright side of Texas boating, I really don't think you need to go through the winterization heroics everyone else does. But you do need to drain the blocks.

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2005 Sunsation Dominator 32 MCOB - twin 6.3L
2004 Dodge Viper SRT-10: 460 RWHP, 503 RWTQ

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Jay Gadsby

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Re: Winterize or not?
Reply #4 - Dec 22^nd, 2011 at 10:04pm

Make sure you are not just draining the blocks guys. The manifolds, the raw water pump, and the block all need draining. You can split a manifold as easily as a block. Bravo guys, the raw water pump is a must as that plastic crap splits easy. In total my EFI500 has 5 drain plugs on her. I am assuming all of yours should as well. Draining the block does not drain the rest of it. I pulled out my block plugs, watched till they were empty, then pulled the manis, about another gallon came out of mine. Each.

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2000 Nordic Heat- 500 EFI with all the fixin's

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nathan Lake Admiral Offline Going Home !!!!! Posts: 2120 Leander, TX Soon Gender:	Re: Winterize or not? Reply #5 - Dec 22^nd, 2011 at 10:33pm great point Jay always better safe that sorry.
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livesound Veteran Austin Boater Offline Austin Boater Posts: 366 austin tx Gender:	Re: Winterize or not? Reply #6 - Dec 22^nd, 2011 at 11:09pm DefinTly don't want to buy a new block. Now I just have to find my drain plugs. I appreciate it. For fun I was looking at new engines for my boat and damn 8500 for stock one.
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Jay Gadsby Lake Captain Offline Naturally Obsessed Posts: 613 Killeen TX Gender:	Re: Winterize or not? Reply #7 - Dec 22^nd, 2011 at 11:32pm I can build you one cheaper than that With more horsepower.
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nathan Lake Admiral Offline Going Home !!!!! Posts: 2120 Leander, TX Soon Gender:	Re: Winterize or not? Reply #8 - Dec 23^rd, 2011 at 6:43am what type of warrenty do you offer?
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Captain YARRR

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Re: Winterize or not?
Reply #9 - Dec 23^rd, 2011 at 9:02am

Jay Gadsby wrote on Dec 22^nd, 2011 at 10:04pm:

Make sure you are not just draining the blocks guys. The manifolds, the raw water pump, and the block all need draining. You can split a manifold as easily as a block. Bravo guys, the raw water pump is a must as that plastic crap splits easy. In total my EFI500 has 5 drain plugs on her. I am assuming all of yours should as well. Draining the block does not drain the rest of it. I pulled out my block plugs, watched till they were empty, then pulled the manis, about another gallon came out of mine. Each.

That's absolutely what I meant, thanks for clarifying...yes if there's a plug...pull that sucker. For those of us with outdrives, make sure to lower them to let it trickle out too.

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2005 Sunsation Dominator 32 MCOB - twin 6.3L
2004 Dodge Viper SRT-10: 460 RWHP, 503 RWTQ

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Jay Gadsby Lake Captain Offline Naturally Obsessed Posts: 613 Killeen TX Gender:	Re: Winterize or not? Reply #10 - Dec 26^th, 2011 at 11:08pm Nathan- My warranty is that if it breaks, call me and we will get it fixed lol. I do want to build another engine for the Nordic, see how she turns out (high performance, high compression, high octane) and go from there. Was thinking a stroker 540 with some Dart Pros and a custom intake setup.
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