Winterizing boat

[Cris Nauta]

Morning; I know this is a Sea Ray forum, but I just sold my Sea Ray and bought a 2003 Chaparral 200 SSI and have a question on winterizing. Live near Smith Mountain, VA and while it gets cold enough to require winterizing, we also get decent enough days to take the boat to the lake. The Chappy has 5.0 MPI Merc with the single point drain system. With the single point drain, do I still need to do the antifreeze procedure? The boat lives in an unheated fully contained garage.
Thanks.

 

[Cris Nauta]

Wow, thanks.

 

[Stee6043]

Anitfreeze generally protects from corrosion as well as freezing. I'd still run it. Otherwise, does your garage have electric? You could potentially run a bilge heater instead. Get yourself a low temp alarm or something to notify you if that fails?

Just a thought.

 

[Lazy Daze]

Wow, thanks.

Sometimes you have to wait for answers - patience is a good thing. Not everyone works on your schedule.

That said, yes, an engine is an enigne is an engine. You still need to properly drain it and fill with the correct antifreeze. The single point drain system is not fool proof. It can clog and if you "trust" it, you run the risk of the block cracking. You MUST fully drain (and check those small hoses on water distribution module) and then backfill via the hoses at the t-stat housing.

You also need to drain the cool fuel module and the raw water pump if you have a Bravo.

Check/search for recent threads on this exact topic. It's been discussed a couple times in more detail.

 

[sbw1]

How cold does it get in your garage?

 

[Groucho]

Wow, thanks.

I would check over there on that Chaparral forum. Bye.

 

[Cris Nauta]

Hey, sorry for the impatience, I sometimes get antsy. Thanks for the replies and advice. The garage will get down into the 20's on real cold nights. No bravo so no cool fuel module. I did inquire at Chaparral forum and got mixed answers. I also go addl. info with a history search.
Thank you.

 

[Lazy Daze]

FYI, you still have a cool fuel module - but not an engine-mounted raw water pump.

 

[Cris Nauta]

FYI, you still have a cool fuel module - but not an engine-mounted raw water pump.

Thanks.