96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

This is my first year of boat ownership. I'm unsure of what steps are necessary to winterize my boat. I've read through other threads but some of the terminology is new to me since I've never done this before. I run star-tron in the gas on a regular basis. I last took the boat out on Thanksgiving. It is about 1/2-3/4 full of gas. Will the star-tron keep the gas from going bad and/or keep the water out?

I've looked online at different fogging oils, crc makes a can that has a tube that goes on the maintenance port. Is the maintenance port the valve with the red cap for the choke? I know that you can also spray fogging oil into the carburetors with the engine running. I know nothing about carburetors, I assume when you advance the throttle the plates will open and allow me to spray in the oil? I believe you also remove the spark plugs and spray fogging oil into the cylinders. Do you start the engine after this step?

I purchased this boat used and the gear oil was changed in late July. There didn't appear to be any water in the oil at that time but I also don't know the history of the motor. Do I need to change the oil now or just check for water? I assume the oil needs to be changed once a season.

Sorry to have rambled on. If someone could please tell me what order to do the winterization steps in I'd greatly appreciate it. Also, what products do you recommend? I am familiar with automotive repair and maintenance but marine is a new beast for me. In springtime, will I just need to start the engine and burn off the fogging oil? I obviously know for all of the above that I need to have a flusher hooked to the motor.

Thanks!

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

Anyone? I picked up a can of stabil fogging oil tonight and will likely be winterizing this weekend. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

Sure, easy to winterize. I use just the spray fogging oil since I have Mercs and Johnnys and the mercs don't have the schrader valve. Add fuel stabilizer to the fuel tank. Agitate to mix it in. Start the motor on the flusher and warm her up. Now at idle speed spray the fogging oil into the carb intakes. You will have 4 carb, so get them all. They will be under the airbox, which may come off with 4 round elastic strings.

Move the fogging oil spray from carb to carb trying to stall the engine. if it won't stall spray her up good and turn the ign sw off. Now, remove the flusher and let her drain, with the motor all the way down. Reinstall the airbox. If the motor was used in saltwater, rinse off the block and let her dry, with the cowling off. Pump some grease into the grease fittings. Drain and replace the gear oil. Disconnect the battery and put it on a charger.

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

Thanks for getting back to me Chris. I figured I was stressing myself over nothing about winterizing. Is the Star-Tron that I have in the gas currently considered a stabilizer or does it just help with ethanol? Is there a particular product that works best?

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

Your engine has a special red-tipped schrader valve on the side of the fuel primer solenoid. This will accept a special hose from an aerosol can of storage/fogging oil which you can purchase from any Bombardier dealer. They also sell that small connector hose. This whole factory setup is to make it really easy to fog the engine for winter storage. Also, the preferred recommendation is to completely drain the fuel system when putting it up for 6 months. Today's ethanol fuels will accumulate water in them if stored for long periods of time. You can put the leftover boat fuel in your car tank. Chris 1956 has some good techniques.

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

Unfortunately I have a pontoon with an internal gas tank that is very hard to get to. I will not be able to drain it. Thank you for your suggestions.

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

It's easy to drain the tank on a pontoon. Hold the engine end of the fuel hose over the side of the boat, so it is below the bottom of the fuel tank. Temporarily remove the engine end of the fuel hose barb. Prime the hose bulb and the fuel will drain completely out of the tank. It's handy to have a couple of 5 gallon cans to catch the fuel in.

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

I feel really stupid now. lol I would've never thought to do that. Very good idea. I have a new hose with primer ball to put on anyway. I can't use the gas in my vehicle because it is premixed with oil. So basically what I need to do is:

Put the ear muffs on the engine and idle until warm.
Remove air silencer and spray fogging oil into each carb until it stalls. Replace air silencer.
Remove spark plugs. Spray fogging oil into each cylinder. Rotate flywheel and respray each cylinder. Replace plugs and wires.
Grease all fittings and other friction points.
Drain fuel into gas cans and store for the winter.
Drain and refill lower unit.

Did I miss any steps for a proper winterization?

I stopped into walmart to get gear lube and they only the quicksilver high performance. I used Evinrude's gear lube in July. As long as I allow the lower unit enough time to drain out the old lube it should be fine, right? I would've purchased it from the Evinrude parts dealer but they will be closed before I can get there. It mentions on the back it's fine for all outboards 75 hp and up with the exception of OMC electronic shift. I don't think that applies to me but forgive me for being ignorant.

Another stupid question - what is the difference between marine gear oil and regular gear oil? I assume it has something to do with the oil's ability to protect the gears if it becomes mixed with water.

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

I burn my premixed fuel in my car all the time. The small amount of oil in the fuel will not damage the catalytic converter or anything else internal to the engine. You can also use it in your snowblower, lawnmowers, etc-just smokes a little more. The Quicksilver High Performance gear lube is the best that Mercury makes. It will be fine in your lower. You need not worry so much about mixing it with the oil still inside the gearcase. You are correct - the Marine lower unit oil is special: a hypoid oil. This oil will mix with water and still maintain some lubrication. That is the exact oil you want in a marine lower unit gearbox. One other winterizing step on my list: I go one step further on my carbed engines: I pull the drain plugs out of the carb bowls and let the last of any fuel drain onto a rag. Probably an overkill step on my part.

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

I put all 8 gallons or so in my truck and it ran just fine. With fuel prices at almost 3.50 here in NC, those spare 8 gallons were nice. lol

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

One last question. My air silencer was held on with 5 bolts and has a paper gasket between it and the carbs. This gasket was in bad shape, I didn't have a replacement at the time because I didn't know it was there. I've noticed a small amount of fuel mixture puddling under the air box. Will this gasket cause a fuel leak? I will be replacing before spring time.

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

That cork airbox gasket is meant to keep any excess fuel inside the airbox. That fuel will get recirculated (combusted) into the engine via the drain hose which connects the bottom of the airbox to the front lower crankcase hose barb. If that gasket is missing, you will get fuel/oil accumulating in the lower cowling. Also, make sure that drain hose is connected to the powerhead. The gasket won't do any good if the airbox drain hose is missing/disconnected.

Re: 96 Evinrude 112 SPL Winterization

That sounds like where the fuel is coming from, the cowling is wet under the airbox. I will order the gasket and check for the hose. Thanks for your advice!