Anybody in the south NOT winterize?

Me and my roommate are thinking about just getting wetsuits and still getting to the lake 2 or 3 times a week. It rarely even gets below freezing here (I know last Christmas I was wearing shorts.)

What's the consensus on not winterizing and just running it through spring?

BTW, I am near Houston.

Lake Wales Fl; They don't even sell antifreeze here! All those years in Ohio, I never knew what I was missing. Enjoy it year round, life is short!...john

If temp's have been in the 60's on average and you have the hood closed, that engine is the "heater" when the temps drop in the 20's and it would have to stay in the 20's for a few days in order for the engine to drop to 20 degree's. On rare occasions if the power goes off the old light bulb trick under the hood may not work, but I've never experienced both power loss and temp's below 20 for more than a few hours below I20.

Same principle in the summer. Shut that monster 289 down after an evening skiing and you still feel the heat 12 hours later the next morning. The engine and hood are a great combination.

I still suggest you pull the rubber impeller just to keep it fresh, drains the majority of water and is easy to re-install.

It's also very easy to drain the block so a little bit of PM even when you ski on occasion shouldn't deter you from climbing in when it's cold outside.

Thanks fellas. That's kind of what I was thinking, but this is my first winter with my boat.

I'm in New Braunfels. I didn't winterize last year. There were some nights when I got nervous and would put a light in the doghouse. I've got the boat on the boat lift and don't plan to do anything to it this winter (as far as winterizing) unless it stays below freezing for over 24 hrs. Then I might have to take it for a spin to get it warmed up again. My wife won't let me bring it in the house.

You guys are killin me, we woke up to 9 below this morning.

81nautique wrote: You guys are killin me, we woke up to 9 below this morning.

Yeah, that's the downside. On the other hand, I think you guys in the cold weather states, really cherish summer and the warm weather. We tend to take it for granite. Hell, I've travelled to Hawaii, Mexico, Jamaica, and the Costa del Sol, and thought to myself, big deal, I could get this at home. If anything, I prefer winter vacations to Utah, the Rockies, or Canada. I guess the grass is always greener, but it's kind of fun to do a little ribbin' anyways.

BKH

[QUOTE=billgatesceo] I'm debating this too. I live about 100miles north of houston. This morning I woke up to 25F cold weather with ice everywhere. QUOTE]

No kidding. I thought that was kind of ironic that the day after I asked this, there was the first ice storm here in about 7 years. I had no idea it was coming, and didn't have the cover on yet since we just had it on the lake. Ouch.

It bearly got above freezing today. It's supposed to be 19 tonight. I'm going to put a light in the motor box tonight. Saturday's high is forecast to be back up in the 60s. Perfect weather for a cruise around the lake.

Just a suggestion and I don't know if it would be enough but how about an engine block heater. The ones I've seen up north here are like a heated dipstick to keep the oil warm. Would that help, anybody use one?
DIpstick heater
oil pan heater
I have no idea if these would work but might be worth looking into

If it were me livin in the south instead of running the snow blower to remove 5"s that fell yesterday....I would only drain the block,water pump,strainer and manifolds...fire it up a few times to keep it lubed.

just draining the block is so easy, if you are at all concerned just do it.

Drop lights work great, even down in the teens, but have a backup in case the bulb goes out on one of them.
Dallas

Carl, I think you can find them at the auto parts store. Just take your plugs with you and match the threads. I had some laying around (I'm a packrat and sometimes it pays off).

They definitely let enough water out that I won't have to worry about freezing (and it does get cold here). They let out just as much as pulling the plugs (well, maybe you are right about the 1/8 inch, but I can't imagine that breaking a block). I installed them last year. ...So far, no problems with scale.

I certainly don't mean to imply that that is all I do to winterize. There are many other steps involved. The petcocks just make one step a lot easier.

Thanks Jameski.

Skidim has sets for different applications. They're about $55 bucks for my application. Probably check the autoparts store first. I've looked at hardware stores and haven't found exactly the right stuff yet.

http://www.skidim.com/products.asp?dept=1044