question about ice causing engine damage.

[jaysen]

hello everyone. A few weeks ago I bought my first boat which happens to be a 2016 Yamaha fsh 190 sport.
I followed this forum and found it very helpful in making my decision.

The issues I have is that I was preparing to winterize the boat last week but my supplies didn't arrive until yesterday. I will not have the time to do it until Monday or Tuesday. when I last flushed the boat, I let the engine run for around 10 seconds after cutting off the water as instructed. I place the front of the trailer on 2 cinderblocks and fully extended the front trailer wheel. I noticed more water draining out of the back than I saw in the changing area. I know the boat gets wet and figured it may be from the lower hull.

The last few days the cold front has hit hard. I am in NY and didn't expect it to hit freezing so quickly (last year it wasn't until January). I am concerned about engine damage due to ice because I didn't rev the engine after flushing it. It is expected to warm up soon but I was hoping to get some more info for my beginners mistake. Will lifting the front of the boat drain any remaining water in the engine due to gravity and the angle, or is there a valve that keeps water in the engine block and the only safe way is to use anti freeze?

Any specific places to check for damage visually?

 

[swatski]

@jaysen I wouldn't worry about it too much, although the best thing you can do during storage is to prop the trailer jack up high which causes water to drain out the back of the pump. Water left in the water box that you can never completely remove will have plenty of room to expand so no worries there what so ever. Everything else drains out, or collects at the bottom of the pump where it will not cause any damage when freezing - again - plenty of room to expand.
Many of us do not winterize, w/ zero issues.
But then of course we also run the boats in the winter, as long as there is no ice cover.

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[jaysen]

@jaysen I wouldn't worry about it too much, although the best thing you can do during storage is to prop the trailer jack up high which causes water to drain out the back of the pump. Water left in the water box that you can never completely remove will have plenty of room to expand so no worries there what so ever. Everything else drains out, or collects at the bottom of the pump where it will not cause any damage when freezing - again - plenty of room to expand.
Many of us do not winterize, w/ zero issues.
But then of course we also run the boats in the winter, as long as there is no ice cover.

--

thank you. this is what I needed to hear.

 

[zipper]

I agree with @swatski. I know it is too cold to start your engine, -2 degs here yesterday, but you still might want to use a fuel additive, Sta-bil or SeaFoam if your fuel contains ethenol and it is best to keep the tank full, reduced condensation/ice buildup in the tank.

 

[jaysen]

I agree with @swatski. I know it is too cold to start your engine, -2 degs here yesterday, but you still might want to use a fuel additive, Sta-bil or SeaFoam if your fuel contains ethenol and it is best to keep the tank full, reduced condensation/ice buildup in the tank.

i just got fuel med rx. i wont be able to fill up the tank but i was thinking of adding a little extra. do you think that will work?

 

[zipper]

Yes, that will help stabilize the fuel. My remark about being too cold to run the engine, was about getting that additive into the fuel lines, pump and injectors where untreated fuel containing ethanol will sit all winter. But you might not see any adverse issues this spring with such a new boat. If you run non ethanol fuel it is not that big of a deal.

 

[jaysen]

Yes, that will help stabilize the fuel. My remark about being too cold to run the engine, was about getting that additive into the fuel lines, pump and injectors where untreated ethanol containing fuel will sit all winter. But you might not see any adverse issues this spring with such a new boat. If you run non ethanol fuel it is not that big of a deal.

i plan to run the engine with it on tuesday when i fog it. it should be 50 degrees.

 

[Tailwaters]

Like others have said you'll be fine. I did run antifreeze through mine via a 5 gallon bucket and a small hose just to be safe. But even my local dealer and friend that does the service work said not much to do other than stabilizer. Raise the front up as high as you can as it's an open cooling system and will self drain. He also said whatever you do , don't fog it! They've seen too many plugged injectors after fogging

 

[zipper]

i plan to run the engine with it on tuesday when i fog it. it should be 50 degrees.

I do like that you will be able to run your motor if it does get to that temp, although the motor may be cooler, heatsink effect, but I do agree with @Tailwaters about not fogging. I do run a pair of MR-1s, 1.1l, not your 1.8l and I do not fog. And I can see there is at least one other that agrees whose opinion I respect. I don't want to tell you not to, it's not my boat. If I were putting the boat up for an extended period of time, I might. All I do is get all the water out, I run the motors to blow out any water and I usually put any fuel additive in on the last run to assure it gets circulated. Jack the boat up before temps freeze. Water likes to accumulate in the forward area of the boat and can be seen thru the ski locker drain, on mine. But sounds like you have done that allready. And then I put the winter cover on. I am lucky to park mine inside during the down time. Cover keeps it cleaner. One other thing I do to my Mfi trailer is to block the tongue where it meets the rails. My trailer jack is mounted to the port rail of the trailer and I don't like the twist that puts on the trailer under load. That's it. Your boat should be all set once the fuel stabilizer gets in there.

 

[biglar155]

Like others have said you'll be fine. I did run antifreeze through mine via a 5 gallon bucket and a small hose just to be safe. But even my local dealer and friend that does the service work said not much to do other than stabilizer. Raise the front up as high as you can as it's an open cooling system and will self drain. He also said whatever you do , don't fog it! They've seen too many plugged injectors after fogging

Interesting take on fogging. I haven't' heard of that before. Since the fogging oil is going in through the air intake and not actually passing through the injectors, I can't imagine much more than the tip getting plugged up - but just the tip mind you and only for a few seconds.

I do the exact opposite: I fog but don't use anti-freeze. This will be my 10th WI winter (9th in un-heated storage with temps well below 0 deg F) and have no issues with freezing. I flush/fog in October and rev 'em per the procedure.