Winterizing Boat Engines

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Winterizing boat engines above the topics is an essential to prevent the engine from getting damaged by the severe frost and freezing conditions. Boat owners living nearer to the equator do not need to worry concerning this since the climatic conditions there are stable and are rarely fall below 0°c the freezing point for water.

There are several factors that must be tended to

Winterizing Boat Engines

by boat owners before the winter sets in to avoid damaging their engines during the freeze as mentioned below. Since water plays a critical role in the cooling process of most marine boat engines, it is important that the cooling fluid ‘in most cases water’ be flushed and replaced with fresh cooling fluid containing anti freeze fluid that reduces the freezing level of the cooling fluid within the engine block. This must be done before every winter since constant fill up of used fluid could lead to dilution of the antifreeze leading to the freezing of the liquid within the engine block.

Plug in heaters must also me checked for any mal function before the winter set in, the heater plug in are usually plugged in to a electrical supply that gradually heats the frozen fluid or maintains the fluid at a temperature above freezing during the winters. Plugs that have malfunctioned must be replaced and tested. Besides maintain a higher temperature within the engine they also play an important part with making the engine easier to start during the winter season. Winterizing boat engines helps reduce starting problems in freezing conditions but by maintain a worm atmosphere within the engine block the engines start easier whatsoever the weather condition they may be exposed to.

Most engines also have an additional feature know as freeze plugs, this is a safety feature that help reduce the damage to an engine block in case of forgotten heater plug in or cooling fluid drainage during winter. Heating plugs’ can be installed instead of the freeze plugs can to maintain wormer cooling fluid temperature within the engines water jacket during winter. The freeze plugs are designed to pop out in case the cooling fluid freezes to ease the strain within the engine block and avoid damaging the block since ice occupies a greater volume than water thus expanding when frozen.

Greasing and lubrication of all moving parts is also

frozen boats

critical since a layer of grease or lubrication prevents moister from find its way in to the moving parts and freezing. This is very important since the moving parts are usually connected to the acceleration and steering of the boat and gammed ones could lead to disaster. When not in use it is also advisable to drain the fluid from the fuel tank and pipes and run the engine out of fuel before storage. This helps prevent the fuel from freezing within the pipes and causing starting inconvenience when required.

Manuals concerning winterizing boat engines are available from most engine manufacturers and one could easily obtain this information from the internet if required but it is important to study different methods of winterizing boat engines to avoid getting stranded or suffering damages to your boat engine that could easily be avoided advance knowledge
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