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Freezing issues?


thejean

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Hi Folks. So I bought a boat a couple of weeks ago. Lake tested it, brought it home. And now it's sitting outside and it might down to -5C (23F) tonight. I was worried it might get cold so I drained the block and blew out the heater lines. I removed the hose on the inlet to the heater and blew it while engine block drains were open until no more water came out. The engine is the Indmar 409 in a 2013 LSV. A Mastercraft Tech happened by while I was doing this (I left the boat at the gel coat repair place) and suggested to do that and I should be good to -15C (5F). Do you guys think it will be ok? Should I be worried? I did have the boat here at home one night and it went down to -1C (30F) and the block temp was still +5C (41F) using an infrared heat gun so it looks like there is at least a 6C or 10F delta from ambient inside the actual engine compartment and elsewhere. Thoughts? I think I will go put a water bottle inside one of the vehicles parked outside and see if it freezes tonight for peace of mind...

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ahopkins22LSV

As @oldjeep said, the exhaust manifolds need to be drained as well. There will either be plugs on each manifold or there will be a garden hose from each manifold that attaches to itself. I haven't winterized a 409 in awhile though. Also I believe there are some water lines and plug for the v drive that need to be drained too. Did you review your manual for where all of the drain points are?

If you drain everything correctly you will be fine as there won't be any water to freeze.

Edited by ahopkinsTXi
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I didn't drain the manifolds as I reviewed the manual but the pictures were terrible and I couldn't find any other obvious drain lines. I honestly looked for at least 20 mins for the stupid things. I did find one drain on the backside of the motor and I drained it. No water came out and it was so tight back there I couldn't tell where in the heck it went. 

Regardless, I put a small amount of water in a plastic bottle last night and put it inside my recycling bin and checked it this morning. Not even a single ice crystal. So I am pretty sure I am totally fine. I've read that you need to be around -5C (23F) for at least a couple of days before the cold soak gets the entire machine down to freeze temps. Which makes sense as all of the materials in the boat itself have a heat capacity (yes, I'm an engineer lol). 

Edited by thejean
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25 minutes ago, River Monsters said:

I used that exact heater all winter (in Texas) kept things safe even when it got to 1*F.  

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