I/O freezing question
 

With air temps. predicted around 10 degrees for Friday night, how will that affect I/O's regarding freezing? The water temp is about 39 degrees, is that enough to keep the motor warm enough to prevent freezing?

I would not leave it to chance. That's just too cold to leave a boat unprotected. I'd drain the blocks and manifolds, and use a drop light to heat the engine compartment, if I was forced to leave a boat in the water Friday night. I know there's a risk in using the drop light, but I think it's lower than the risk of freezing.

This is always the big problem with trying to maximize the boating season. All it takes is one really cold night to cause a major problem. With the water only being 39 or so degrees I agree with Dave, draining the manifolds and the block and coming up with a way to give some heat to the engine compartment.

Incidentally does anyone now how much a closed loop cooling system adds to the price of a motor... I know there are still some parts with fresh water in them but the block is filled with antifreeze which is where the real money is.....

You can buy kits for less than $2000 per engine.

http://i-netmarine.com/fwc/fresh.htm

Or less than 1000 per engine:
http://marineengineparts.com/shopsit...l/page141.html

I have heard that it's a bad idea to add one of these to an engine that's been raw water cooled and used in the ocean. I imagine previous lake use would not be a problem.

Outboard??
 

Do I have to worry about this with an outboard?? I plan on floatting the boat Friday and head out to my camp Saturday A.M. Is there something I should do differently because of the cold weather??

Dan

I'm going out this weekend as well, I plan to pull the boat out when I'm done. Even with Ice Out I'm not ruling out another snow fall......did I just say that?

With the cold water and the possibility's of some well below freezing nights I'd be carefull

If you keep the outboard Verticle....boat in the water....you will be fine. The water in the powerhead..etc. drains down to water level and the lake water will be above freezing. Not a problem.

If the boat with an outboard is hauled out of the water..the whole unit will drain down as long as you keep the motor Verticle...Again..No Problem NB

Gledale docks
 

Some of the islanders already have their boats in the water. Both I/O and outboards. Guess they are not worried about the freeze. :rolleye2:

Outboards are a beautiful things... if I had an island property there is no doubt I would have at least one boat with an outboard..... I miss mine sometimes... of course the fact that it was a 1974 Merc Tower of Power that I couldn't find anyone with the skills to keep running is another story.....but after an estimated 1200 to 1400 hours I suppose it deserved retirement.....

OK. Volvo Penta In/Out.
In the water. Air is freezing. Water is cold.

Drive up or drive down?

Last night got down to 27 at my house. My Sea Doo PWC, which is on the trailer in the driveway, had about 1/2" of ice on the water in the footwells. I was actually surprised at how much ice there was. Not worried about freezing the block, as it is closed-loop.

Always have the drive down in the water unless the depth prevents it.

Thanks for the info on outboards, I just learned something new.:)

Thanks!
 

Thanks NB!

Dan

Drive down but that's more for your bellows than draining of wafer.
Your block, manifolds, and power steering cooler will not self drain. Only takes 5 minutes to drain everything. I simply wouldn't risk it if it goes below freezing.

U joints too and upper gears too... I cringe whever I hear someone fire up an I/O with the drive way up. The U-joints rattle like crazy when the engine jumps to life. That just hammers the upper gearset in a VP or Bravo drive.

Dave R,

Thanks for the info on starting i/o board with the drive up. I was unaware of that. I'm new to this forum and have learned quite a bit trolling the forum for the last hour. I have a 1996 17' sea ray. It's an i/o 6 cylinder mercruiser engine.

Question. I never put the boat in the water until May because I'm afraid the engine bloc will freeze. So how does one know when it's safe to leave your boat on it's mooring for the season?

I glad I found this forum, very informative.

My pleasure.

Any time the water in the engine block can freeze, you are likely to have damage. No way to predict the safe time of year. I got mine wet in April last year, but there were a couple of frosty nights afterwards that required a drop light in the bilge to avoid freezing damage (my boat is trailered, so it was easy). I think May is gonna be safe no matter what, but I bet there's folks here who drop the boat in for the season earlier than that.

Glendale
 

Talked to one of the islanders about leaving his i/o in the lake. He claims the boat goes in at ice out and he takes it out when the ice forms around it! I can tell as the boat badly needs detailing and there was lots of trash in the boat. It's an old late 60's early 70's OMC drive. He says he haven't had a problem yet. If it freezes, it's frozen.

Well, our baby is in the lake tonight. Out drive down. Light bulb on a thermostat in the engine compartment. Hopefully that will insure warm weather.