TOPIC: Proper Winterization - Outboard Motors

I wanted to see if anybody/everybody would help put together a good checklist of things to do to prepare your outboard motor for winter. I'm not quite ready yet, but I know a lot of folks are. Please feel free to throw your thoughts and suggestions out here for others (like myself) to learn and/or consider:

Lower unit - Drain and inspect gear lube. Any metal particles or water in the dope spells trouble, now's probably the best time to deal with it. (If it's been a couple years since you replaced the water pump impeller, now would be a good time to do that as well.) Remove any and all drain plugs to make sure all water is drained from cooling system. Refill with the best gear lube you can afford.

Propeller - Remove and inspect prop for nicks, damage, etc.. Inspect prop shaft for abnormal wear, signs of seal leakage, corrosion. Grease prop shaft and splines in prop hub. Reinstall prop or place nut, washers, etc. on shaft and put prop in suitable storage container for those who prefer to leave prop off motor while in storage. Inspect skeg for trueness and damage.

Midsection - Inspect for damage, loose mounting bolts, bracket clamps, etc.. Grease all pivot fittings

Powerhead - Drain carburetors, replace or clean fuel filters, inspect all fuel hoses and connections, wiring and clean connections as required. Open carb choke and butterflies and spray fogging oil into throat(s). Remove spark plugs and spray fogging oil in spark plug holes. Rotate crankshaft 1 1/2 turns and repeat fogging in carbs and spark plug holes. Reinstall fresh spark plugs. Lubricate throttle and shift linkage points, starter bendix shaft, etc..

Have I forgotten anything? Better ideas?

I just winterized 3 vintage motors today. One thing you did not mention was to stabilize the fuel. I can still get ethanol free gas at Shell so standard stabilizer is fine, if you can't get ethanol free fuel buy a stabilizer that neutralizes the effects of ethanol.
My Process for 50's OMC's:
-Add stabilizer to fuel as recommended on the bottle
-Run the motor for 10 min to ensure it is up to temp (observe water pump performance change if needed) and that all the fuel in the fuel system is stabilized
-disconnect the fuel line from the motor and run the carb empty
-drain the fuel bowl and wipe out any debris
-remove plugs and add 1 teaspoon of TCW3 to each cyl pull motor over several times
-reinstall plugs (I have a lot of motors so each gets little run time, I clean the plugs in the spring and only replace as needed)
-Drain LU and refill with SAE 80/90 Hypoid oil*
-wipe motor down and hang it on the rack

* I use the cheapest hypoid oil I can find, it is packed in 4 litre jugs and is sold as heavy duty gear oil for truck differentials. I used to buy overpriced "outboard" gear oil until I did some searching of the specifications and found that they all meet the same standard! I also noted that in the OMC manuals for the 50's motors it is clearly stated that "automotive Hypoid oil" is to be used in the gearcase but SAE30 can be used in a pinch though it should be swapped out as soon as possible.

If you have an OMC with an electric shift unit make sure you source out type "C" oil

If you have a modern outboard follow the manufacturers recommendations for all fluids
Al

al lockhart wrote:

-Drain LU and refill with SAE 80/90 Hypoid oil*


* I use the cheapest hypoid oil I can find, it is packed in 4 litre jugs and is sold as heavy duty gear oil for truck differentials. I used to buy overpriced "outboard" gear oil until I did some searching of the specifications and found that they all meet the same standard!

Ive been doing the same thing for the last couple years now and havent had any problems at all. Many of the guys on the scream and fly forum also recommended the same thing.

What weight for the truck differential gear oil? 90? Would synthetic be better?

Frank

The oil I use is SAE80/90 Synthetic would be fine but I don't see the point in it in these older motors as regular Hypoid oil works just fine. Now in my 2000 Mercruiser Sterndrive the factory fill was synthetic so I have stuck with it.

i have always sprayed the fogging oil in the carbs after disconnecting the fuel line and then running till it stalls. never put oil in the cylinders. change gear lube annually. grease wherever i find fittings. can't get at the starter shaft to lubricate it. for the amount i use it impellor is changed every 3-4 years. ron

I'm no expert here Ron, but I would think an impeller gets more set in one position when it sits too long, then when a motor is run a lot. Maybe someone could chip in here. I'd be curious to know what other folks think about that.

Frank

change your impeller yearly (ideal) but no more than every other year.
change your gear oil
stabilize your fuel
run the motor up to temp and fog it well, when the motor quits pull the plugs toss a little oil in the cylinders roll the motor around by hand clockwise and then hand tighten the plugs back in place cover the boat and have a nice winter.
You should be inspecting your boat before and after each use anyway. You would then know if you have a project ahead of you or repair.
Keep it simple otherwise the Monkey is %^&*-ing the football. FUn to watch but after a while makes you crazy.

frank, tim changed the impellor for me in june.(last changed in 2005) i ran the boat 3 times this year. burned 18 gallons for a total of about 7 hrs. run time. i would think the impellor is like new. ron

Ron, the impeller is squeezed into place. I think if it sits there squeezed into place and just sits a lot, it needs to be replaced more often because it's lost it's flexibility.

Am I making any sense at all or am I just blowin smoke?

Frank

If the impeller sits in place for a number of years unused, it may take a set where the blades no longer straighten out on their own. Personally, I swap mine out every 3-4 years. If you run in really silty or brackish water, more frequently may be in order...

one thing I do a little differently, not saying better, just different

I don't run it out of gas, just run it until the stabilzer is throughout the system. I also agree with fogging while the motor is running on the hose as it assures it's throughout the entire motor.

Nows a good time to grease all fittings as it pushes any water out and when changing the lower unit oil make sure the rubber washers for the fill and vent in the lower unit are in good shape.

If in doubt about the impeller...impeller cheap...powerhead expensive I change mine every other year...

but the labor cost to change the impellor can run up to $150, for those of us who are mechanically challenged. chinewalkers opinion saves me money.

.impeller cheap...powerhead expensive

g3jim wrote:

.impeller cheap...powerhead expensive

True, but impellers are designed to last much longer than a year. It's the guy who digs a 50 year old motor out of the barn, throws it in a barrel, fires it off and sees water come out - ASSuming that the pump is "fine"- that is in for the rude awakening.

An alternate rule of thumb for when someone asks me if I think their pump needs changing is that if you have to ask, it probably needs changing.

"True, but impellers are designed to last much longer than a year."
thats what i assumed, but wasn't in the know to say so.

I suggest every year, every second year if your a gambler, even if your a gear head and watching the performance and maintenance of your motor closely, loose some water pressure and you may loose some horsepower, it only takes running in shallow water beaching the boat one time to possibly cause you some problems from sucking up some sand or a pebble

I have a MK55A model inline 4 cyl....the water jacket cover has a water fitting cast into the cover for water pressure gauges etc
this fitting is half way up the tower between 3 & 4 cylinders, on 3 separate occasions over the past 2 years the the plastic hose has come off, or wore a hole thru the plastic hose....when it leaked the water pressure was reduced and the coolant didnt make it to the top of the tower the top 2 cylinders got hot.....easy fix, but the speedo showed me running 1 mile an hour slower, now I didnt put 2 & 2 together immediately, 1 mile an hour isnt even detectable, so I thought its the speedo....few months later the same issue happened again and I lost another 2 MPH....this time I changed the water pressure gage hose, thinking I need to stop this problem and now Im thinking maybe this isnt the speedo

a year later the hose sprung a new leak from another area, a friction issue, and again the motor shut down from getting hot and again I lost another 1 mph,...this time I removed the hose plugged the factory fitting, drilled & tapped the top of the block for a new water pressure gauge fitting at the top....now if the darn hose ever leaks again atleast my top 2 cylinders are still getting coolant till I see the leak

long story I know, & you wont have the same issue as I did, but I wanted you to understand, that ironically, despite having a water pressure gauge to watch the condition of the water pressure, @ WOT it all happens too fast, just from a little loss of water pressure 3 times I have lost 10% of my top end speed & need to re-ring her

so apply my story to your motor but say a blade from the impeller breaks off , maybe from sand maybe from the set it got sitting all winter, second or third season, and that piece of rubber gets pumped up the water tube and worse into the block

that is what I was getting at but with fewer words. The fact that A. the rubber has neoprene in it which has memory as other plastics and B. beaching/shallow water and things that can get sucked into the water way.
it is cheap insurance is all.

RE: Water pressure gauge line - I bought a 100ft roll of it last time, it was cheaper than the 17' install kit! If anybody needs some, let me know I'll drop it in the mail to you. 1/8", new improved something-or-other proclaimed to be much tougher than the old "plastic" style.

Also, anywhere the 1/8" line may come in contact with an engine cowling or anything else, I found you can run it through 1/4" rubber hose which will serve as a protective sleeve! (I also did this the entire length it is exposed from the motor to the bilge area.)

I guess it's about that time of year again for some folks, thought I'd bump this to the top for our friends dealing with the dilemma already.

Please feel free to add any additional ideas or thoughts if you have 'em!

I run stabilizer all year round. I leave the motor die after the hose is disconnected and fog through the spark plug holes. It is a 4 stroke so I change the oil in the winter months and also gear oil. One thing I always done was pull the starter rope every month a few turns when I top the battery off. I exercise the battery some to by running some lights on it. I get around five or six years out of them. I just broke the boat down for the season. My outboard is about 3 feet from me now in my computer room. My trolling motor is in the cellar with my poles and such. I need to put new line on most of them too. The boat is covered and It needs cleaned inside but it will wait for spring when I pull the deck and check my lumber in the keel. I know I need a new light on the trailer before next spring also. I might just use my TeeNee though.

This may sound like a crazy question to you guys but for us new to boating ....... what is fogging oil?

It is available from any number of places. NAPA sells their own brand, but so does Sta-bil and many others. Just follow the directions on the can.

Frank

Not crazy, it's an aerosol oil used to spray into carb throats and spark plug holes to protect the bare metal surfaces from corrosion in the off season during storage.

Edit: sorry for the repeat answer, Frank was posting while I was typing.

i spray in the carbs only.ron

I really appreciate threads like this 'cause it is teaching me the things I need to know. And for those of us that are learning and may forget to say thanks let me say it for all of us...... THANKS to all of you for sharing your knowledge and experiences.