Re: wionterizing my outboard
Re: wionterizing my outboard
Outboards are pretty easy to winterize. Before you start, take the boat to the gas station, fill the tank(s) and add double the normal amount of StaBil to the fuel. Now it's time to winterize - The first step is to drain and refresh the lube in the lower unit. This will ensure that no water has leaked in that might freeze. The second step is to raise trailer at the tounge and trim the motor all the way down so that all of the water drains out and any rain or snow doesn't enter through the prop. You can place a garbage bag around the lower unit to keep the water/snow out but still keep it tilled down all the way with the tounge raised. The final step is to remove the drain plug from the boat. Covered or not, this will ensure that your boat doesn't fill up with water. That not only damages the boat but can blow the tires on the trailer.
FYI, you can fog the engine according to the manual but to tell you the truth, I've never done it and I've never had a problem. Don't get me wrong, that's not a recommendation against doing it but if you can't figure out how it's done then don't sweat it, there's plenty of oil in the cylinders to survive one winter. Any more than that and I'd recommend taking it to a shop to have it done. You can also change the water pump impeller as part of the winterization process so you don't forget to do it in the spring. It's preventative maintenance not mandatory.
Anybody think of anything else?
