starting OB without water and fogging

[hank55]

Ive been lurking a bit,there seems to be some nice folks here

Does it hurt an OB if you start it for 15 seconds or so while out of the water and no muffs on. I figure that maybe, it would be bad for the water pump, but cant think of any thing else it would harm.. Ive seen this done a lot at the ramps, and recently started doing it myself.

I also wonder about this Fogging spray, I have never fogged a motor in the 25 plus years Ive boated,I guess from reading here I should.I was taught as a kid to squirt motor oil in small engines that were being stored for winter though.

I guess my question is, if your trying to prevent corrosion and ring sticking, wouldnt W-D 40 work for this, whats special about fogging oil.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

You are correct, starting the motor without water will only hurt the water pump, at least for the first couple of minutes, then it may possibly destroy the rest of the motor.

Every time it gets run without water damage is being done to the impellor, it may be completely destroyed the first time, or the tenth time, you?ll never know until the motor over heats and seizes in the middle of the lake. $$$$$$

In other words don?t do it.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

hook up the muffs everytime you start it.
WD-40 is silicone, and other stuff. not intended for that. use oil, or fogging spray. WD-40 is fine to spray on the outside of the block and wires, to repell water.

 

[Woodnaut]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

I never run my engine without water. New outboards are just too expensive to put at risk, and ANY outboard - whether old or new - is a complete heartache if you're broken down on the water. The fact is, you can start and run out of the water for a very short time and probably not sustain any damage, but the risk versus benefit just doesn't seem to justify it for me.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

Fogging oil is heavier bodied than something like WD 40 and is designed to stick to the surface for long periods of time to help protect from rust and corrosion. WD 40 may help short term, but it goes away fairly quickly and is not what?s needed.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

Hank, Like you, I was taught to put some motor oil into small 4 cycle motors, like mowers, for over the winter. I also never fogged an outboard until recently. Of course the motors I had when I was young were 24::1 gas oil mix, and had plenty of oil already in them. I only fog outbaords now since I live in a salt water environment and it is easy and cheap insurance. Do they really need it, is the question. We also never stabilized the gasoline. We knew that varnish would form eventually, however, over the winter was simply not long enough for that to happen, at least in those days. Today, stabilizing the gasoline is another cheap insurance task. Is it really necessary?

 

[Silvertip]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

If you ever saw a repair bill for an engine that had pieces of the water pump lodged in the water jacket of an outboard you would immediately stop the practice of running it without water. There is simply no reason to run it without water. In this day where Stabil and SeaFoam are just a few bucks a can it does not make sense not to treat the fuel for long term storage. Again, all you need is one repair bill and you will say "why didn't I do that!"

 

[mthieme]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

I got a 50 Merc last summer. Didn't know the history. We ran it for a minute just to make sure it ran. Without even running it in water, I popped the lower unit knowing it should have a new impeller. It had completely disintigrated. I had to blow out the debris with compressed air out the exhaust.
Always use water.

 

[Shizzy]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

arent a set of muffs like $9?? I see no reason to ever start your OB without them.

 

[timdan94]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

I got a set of muffs from kmart for about $5 its cheap insurance.

 

[hank55]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

thanks for the replies

I never thought about the water pump parts being sucked up into the motor,so no more dry starts for me. I always use Stabil in all of my engines that will be stored over winter, and low use items like the garden tiller.

It only took 2 carb and tank cleaning jobs on the tiller to convince me that gas can and will go bad.

I do know the cost of OB engine repairs I bought a very neglected 1982 Skeeter several years ago with a 115hp in-line 6 Mercury for 500$, it had a cylinder/piston damaged from bearing loss.

I had the the entire motor rebuilt,rods pistons bearings and carbs plus all the other goodies that go along with a rebuild.I payed a good repair shop to add the life back to this motor, Ive rebuilt car motors,but didnt want to tackle this OB.

I still have some gauges that need replaced or rewired,the only one working is the gas gauge...sort of

I have redone most of the wires, all of the carpet, and added new steering cables plus a lot of trailer work.This winter I plan on sanding and buffing the finish.

 

[KeyWestBoater]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

I'm wondering how many times you've already run it without water. Perhaps the impeller is already damaged...

 

[Cricket Too]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

In my opinion it only takes one dry start, or even a good crank to do some slight damage to the impeller, maybe not destroy it, but definitely put wear on it.

Anybody who's done one, knows how tight that impeller sits in that cup, won't take much to scrape that rubber impeller up on the edges that are supposed to have a tight seal.

As for fogging oil, if you're storing for the winter, it's neccesary. It is the only thing that will coat and protect all your internals. I would think that WD-40 would strip any 2 stroke oil that was on the internals to begin with, so not only would it not protect internals, it may strip off whatever was there that was protecting it.

Stabil is a good stabilizer, but you should also use something to treat the ethanol in the gas as well. I suggest Star-Tron in addition to Sta-Bil, double up the dosage on both and you'll be good to go.

 

[ebry710]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

If you just installed the impeller, then you would have greased it. You probably could turn the unit over.

With that said. You will not catch me turning my motor over without water even with a greased impeller. It just seems to me that there is always a "just didn't think of that" every time you try a short cut. As someone said, new motor are just to expensive to temp fate.

Case in point. Last summer, when I was testing my engine, the ignition got stuck in the "on" position. I finally had to disconnect the battery to turn it off. Imagine if the water wasn't pumping through the engine. I think I would have had a heart attack.

 

[hank55]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

you guys have me convinced , Ill replace my pump soon and no more dry starts.

I should have stated better that when I was wondering about the WD-40 as a fogger, I was just thinking about spraying it in the cylinders and then replacing the plug, without starting the motor.

I should have looked up the Fogging spray first, its cheap and that is what Ill use ,It will have to wait tell I stop fishing since am still going out once a week, but a thin skin of ice is starting to form in places, so I may be done soon.

 

[Cricket Too]

Re: starting OB without water and fogging

You can use the fogging oil for both spraying down the carbs while running it, and also afterwards for spraying down the spark plug holes into the cylinders, although I'm not convinced that that really does anything, even though I do it every year.

Everytime I pull my plugs after fogging, the top of the piston and cylinder are coated, so not really sure spraying more down really does anything, but it can't hurt so.

Double treat your fuel with both Sta-Bil and Star-tron and replace your fuel/water separator in the spring and you'll be all set.

Still fishing once a week myself, but striped bass season ends on 12/15, so only two weeks left, and I'll be pulling, fogging and shrink warapping also.

Winter sucks!!!