PSA to all my Lake Sinclair friends: Were expecting unusually cold temperatures in the morning (perhaps 23 degrees!). If you havent winterized your boat yet, you can protect it by draining the water from the engine block. Water in the engine block will freeze and expand which could cause very expensive damage to your boats engine. Its incredibly easy! This is only applicable to boats with inboard and inboard/outboard engines with raw water (open) cooling systems. Vessels with outboard engines and most personal water craft will drain when they are shut down. To drain the water from your engine follow the following steps: 1. Locate plastic drain plugs (pictured). They are usually blue, but a few are yellow or orange. Most V6 and V8 engines will have five of these plastic drain plugs, though some (like mine) will only have four. Two plugs will be located on the left side of the engine, two on the right, and one more (if equipped) in front by the water pump. On each side of the engine, one plug is on the engine block and the other is under the exhaust manifold riser. The ones on the block can be hard to reach and even see, so youll have to reach way down into your bilge to find it. Dont be shy, theres nothing in there that can hurt you. 2. Once you locate the plugs, just take em out. Lefty loosey! Careful not to drop em! There will be a little rubber washer/seal on each one; dont lose it. Sometimes the little washers get stuck in the holes. You should feel water coming out and draining into your bilge immediately. 3. When the water stops, carefully put the plugs back in the holes where you found them and hand tighten. Righty tighty. Be careful not to cross-thread the plugs, theyre only plastic. THIS IS A GENERAL TIP BASED ON MY OWN EXPERIENCES. IM NOT LIABLE FOR ANY STUPID THINGS YOU DO TO YOUR BOAT OR YOURSELF WHILE ATTEMPTING THIS. SOME BOATS WILL REQUIRE ADDITIONAL WINTERIZATION STEPS.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 20:50:04 +0000