Closed cooling on an older freshwater boat

[hillsideshortleg]

On our 1989 280 Sundancer with the 5.7s is it a good move to install closed cooling. We only boat in freshwater but would like to leave the boat in the water later in the winter and not worry about freezing.
Will closed cooling eliminate the need for winterizing?
Thanks in advance

 

[BillK2632]

As far as corrosion manifold life etc, there is really no benefit to closed cooling in freshwater - my boat for example is 20yrs old, 750hrs and I have never even thought about replacing risers or manifolds. Same with other boats I have had - they just are not a problem in freshwater. On the other hand, a closed cooling engine is less susceptible to freeze damage - unless you have a full system that includes the block AND manifolds, you still have freshwater that can freeze in the manifolds. Most systems are a 1/2 system that only includes the engine block, you would want a full system that includes the manifolds if your main reason for a closed system is for freezing. Realize also there are other "things" you should be doing to properly winterize an engine that is not going to be run for a period of time (fogging, etc).

The cost of installing a closed cooling system might not be worth it in your case - if you are just looking to extend your boating season, you might want to look into other things - bilge heater or just draining the engine / manifolds after each use. Idaho is a little colder than NC, but my 290DA stayed in freshwater year around, I never winterized, just had a BoatSafe bilge heater installed.

 

[hillsideshortleg]

BillK2632 Thanks for the reply. A couple things I have considered. They say the power supply to the docks or marina is susceptible to outages during the winter. We drained the engines and manifolds and cockpit heater last fall when we knew a hard freeze was coming then brought the boat up to running condition again for another weekend of fun boating. I really didnt enjoy the work. LOL I believe it is a full system. I have a friend that is selling me these. They are new in the box. Not any super deal but it will push me into finally doing it. Is there a self contained bilge heater?
Thanks for your help
Rick

 

[BillK2632]

Yes, a couple of the boat bilge heaters - these are heaters that are on a thermostat and ignition protected so they are safe to use in an engine room:

Xtreme
BoatSafe

There are probably others - I have a 450w BoatSafe that I have had for years and used in my 290DA. It was designed to keep the engine room around 40deg. Of course if you don't have stable power at your dock these won't be reliable.