heat lamp

could you put a heat lamp in the engine compartment to keep alittle warmer?

one or two lightbulbs do the trick.

I've seen little magnetic heaters that go on an engine block before. I've always wondered if that would do the trick

like alan said, in the pat, I've just thrown a shop light in my engine compartment.

It is amazing how much heat a 75 watt lightbulb will put out in a confined space. Not sure exactly how warm it gets, but I have gone a few winters that I did not winterize and only used lightbulbs and when I go to the boat and open the engine compartment, it feels like 50+ degrees.

I thought about not winterizing my boat and just using a drop light with a 75 watt bulb, but last year snow knocked the power out for several days. I would hate to do a last minute emergency winterization.

Don't forget to put another light wherever your heater core is if you have a heater. One thing people forget. I did that one or two years and it worked fine. I just set them on a timer to come on at night when it would get really cold.

Spend 30 minutes & drain it all. Cheap insurance.

And if your serious about heating it, the safest way is to use a bilge heater actually designed for the task. Their made by Xtreme & BoatSafe & cost $200 or $300.

Won't do you a bit of good if your power is out though. Get a buddy & learn how to drain it.

I took off all the heater hoses and drained all the water from them. Is that enough? or do I have to run anti-freeze through the coils?

You need to get a compressor and blow the water out of the core, there will still be enough water in there to do damage. Opinions vary, but if blow all the water out, there should be no reason for anti freeze.

well just went ahead and drained the motor and ran 4 gals of antifreeze through the motor.

Matt, thats what I did but I didn't have the heater running, so I still had water in all the heater lines, heater coils, and the engine, so now I am winterizing it manually. I just pulled the water heater hoses from the engine and drained the water from it, it looked like it drained it fairly well. There is also a thermostat that lets water into the engine and if the engine is not warmed up the thermostat will not open.

Similar to the lightbulb idea, I use the heater bars used in gun safes to raise the temperature (thereby decreasing the humidity / raising the dewpoint inside), a 12" or 18", on each side of the engine, and one under the heater core.

They get about 160 degrees, not enough to melt something or start a fire, they are waterproof, and designed to be run 24 hours.
They won't burn you, but you would not want to hold one for too long, they are pretty toasty!
The premium name is GoldenRod, they are not cheap, but now Goldenrod has a budget version that is $20 for either a 12" or 18" (longer=more heat).
A 12" one heats a 100 sq. foot area, the 18" heats a 200 sq. foot area, so the engine compartment is nice & toasty.
One would be plenty for the engine compartment, but 2 is cheap insurance.

I just mount mine permanently, and leave them in there year around, connected to the same plug as my battery trickle charger. They come with 2 little clips that hold the rod about 1" above the surface when mounted.
When I put the boat away, I plug it all in...helps keep the mold & mildew down, even in the summer.

I have had one of the gold colored ones in my safe for 11 years now, 24/7, and it is still going strong.

"winterization" is not just to drain the water from areas for freeze expansion, fuel system should be addresed also being you fill the pup up at a gas station with
more than likely e15 unless premium is used. How about lubrication of cyl. walls "fogging" many an engine with 1000hrs or more will get ring to bore surface
deterioration, its worth the effort in the long haul. oh and keep those batteries warm and charged we have 8 months of winter here.