Winterizing

[hogluvr]

Hi,

New boat owner and newbie here, I just bought a 1992 Four Winns 190 Horizon with a 5.0 HO OMC Cobra. I've found some stuff in an OMC manual that was given to me but I want to order supplies so I can winterize this thing, and I'm afraid I'm going to forget something. I saw too many people trying to sell boats with "milky oil". I looked at the other thread on a similar boat but have some specific questions. What weight and type of oil do I need for the motor, same for the outdrive? How do I find out things like what filter I need, and servicing things like the water separator? I can't find anything specific to this boat, just generalizations. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated, thanks in adavance!

 

[Scott Danforth]

first, welcome aboard

what supplies besides oil and filter?

process:
with engine on muffs, fire it up and warm up the oil
change engine oil and filter
turn on the muffs again, fire up the engine and check for leaks.
turn off engine

if you want to change the fuel/water filter, do so prior to changing oil.

pull the 4 plugs - both the block plugs and the manifold plugs. probe around the ports with a screw or wire to make sure the ports are clear

pull the big J hose and drain
pull the hose to the transom shield and drain

engine is now winterized

drain the gear lube from outdrive
pressure test if you find milky lube.
re-fill per factory manual

drive is now winterized

remove drive and inspect gimble bearing, alignment, u-joints and bellows
pull raw water impeller for inspection

re-grease wheel bearings on trailer
adjust and service the brakes

then to prevent critters, use drier sheets and irish spring soap cut into shavings and placed in disposable bowls around your boat

cover with a good weather-proof cover and store the boat.

 

[Lou C]

As far as motor oil you can use Merc/Quicksilver 25/40 or Rotella 15/40 or Delo 15/40 if you want something less expensive, I've used the Merc oil for a long time, for the drive you can use the Merc High Performance gear lube it works very well in the Cobra. If you are going to change the gear oil keep in mind most Cobras take at least 2 qts of gear oil and you have to do it the way OMC specified in the manual, if you don't and you don't get enough gear oil in, it will ruin the upper gearset.

And now there are a few more things peculiar to the Cobra, on the pivot housing (the part of the transom mount that the drive bolts onto) there are 3 drain plugs, you have to tilt it up to see all 3. On the port side it is a drain for the water hose that goes through the transom (and the plastic fitting that it attaches to, which will crack if its not drained) the starboard side ones are a vent (upper plug) and a drain in case water gets in the pocket where the shifter bellcrank is (lower one); if water gets trapped there it can crack the housing. So....after your other winterizing, tilt the drive up, remove all 3 plugs, tilt it down, poke each one with a pick, water should come out of the port side one, possibly the lower starboard side one as well, if so that's leak that needs looking at...then put some gasket sealer on the threads and replace....

If water does not come out the port side one, then you have a choice, pull the drive, if you were going to remove it then it will drain, if not removing the drive before freezing weather comes, then get some -100 AF and disconnect the hose that goes from the transom mount up to the thermostat housing. Hold this hose down to drain it in the bilge, then hold it up and fill it with -100 marine AF till the AF runs out the drive water intakes, this will push out any residual water that did not drain.

 

[hogluvr]

Thanks guys for the quick responses, lots of good info here. I spent a while looking for a boat that I felt was well taken care of, don't want to screw things up now!

 

[hogluvr]

I'd also like to know how to find out things like what oil filter I need, doing a search on the net I'm not coming up with anything consistent. I know it's a Ford 5.0 but searches show long filters, short filters etc. There's gotta be an easier way to find parts for this thing

 

[Lou C]

There is; get a hold of an OMC on line catalog (we can’t post other sites here so you need to search on your own) and a Sierra aftermarket catalog for parts you can’t get from OMC/BRP. I’m sure you can get stuff right here on iBoats, look around. Keep in mind that Volvo Penta also used the same engine for some years so certain parts you can’t get from OMC you can get from VP.

 

[hogluvr]

Ok, thank you!

 

[Scott Danforth]

factory manuals available here: https://outboardbooks.com/

 

[Lou C]

Also:
If you’re old fashioned and like to buy stuff in person if there is an Evinrude outboard dealer near you they can order any OE parts that are available from BRP. I have a boat parts dealer who can order parts from Volvo Penta, BRP or Sierra. So one way or another I get the parts I need from this one place. What I can’t find that way I get on eBay.

 

[hogluvr]

I guess where I'm having my biggest problem at the moment is figuring out what supplies I need to do this. For example I can find all sorts of info on the stern drive and even internal engine components but I can't find anything telling me specifically which oil filter to use, I ordered one and hope it's right. It looks like I need things like new washers for the outdrive drain plugs, things like that is where I'm running into difficulty. And the gear oil you suggested looks like it comes in more than one variety, with different part numbers. This not like doing a job on a car where you can input make, model and year and find everything at your fingertips! We've had a couple of frigid days here and looks like we're going to get our indian summer over the next several days, I'd really like to get my ducks in a row and order everything I need so I can take advantage of the weather. I'll keep chugging along...

 

[Lou C]

You have a Ford 302 any filter that fits that engine will work. I used both Sierra and Mercruiser filters in the past, but a car oil filter like a Purolator will work fine. I like the Merc/Quicksilver oil, because I did an oil analysis and it held up very well in my use. For the drive oil the original spec was OMC Hi Vis gear oil, which was superseded by Evinrude HPF gear oil but they are not easy to find unless you have an Evinrude dealer nearby. So make it easy and use the Merc/Quicksilver High Performance gear lube (bluish/green color) it works great in a Cobra, I've used it for 15+ years. The drain/fill washers get them from OMC/BRP, again I can't post my sources but if you look you will find them.

 

[hogluvr]

Thank you for all your help, hopefully I got everything ordered!

 

[hogluvr]

Now for the REALLY dumb questions, knowing nothing about boats . How do I use the muffs? (I know, I know, sorry...)

 

[Lou C]

First you have to have a hose that puts out good water pressure and is not kinked. If you're doing this at home make sure someone is not taking a shower or doing the wash at the same time because it will drop the water pressure enough to overheat the engine...
Put the muffs on the lower unit, with the rubber cups covering the water intakes, make sure they fit tight. Put the drive down, you should not run it with it tilted all the way up. Turn on the water and start the engine. Then get out of the boat and look to see if water is exiting under the transom mount. If so just watch the temp gauge, it should run at approx 160* after it warms up, that can take 5-10 min of run time depending on the outside temp. When shutting down, turn off the engine FIRST then shut off the water.

Cobra running on the water hose.MOV

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[hogluvr]

Getting started on this, quick question: will this plug drain the bilge, or is this something I should leave alone?

 

[Lou C]

yes that drains the bilge, remove it or else if water leaks in round the cover your bilge will be full of water, ruining the starter and freezing into a block of ice! That's the first thing I do when I pull the boat for the season.

 

[hogluvr]

Thanks Lou, from what you're saying I assume you leave it out over the winter?

 

[Lou C]

Thanks Lou, from what you're saying I assume you leave it out over the winter?

Yep any water that gets in there you want it to be able to drain out. I also remove the outdrive and put a cover on the opening in the transom mount.

 

[hogluvr]

So this is what I got done yesterday: changed fuel filter/water separator, ran engine until warm and changed oil and filter, ran again and fogged motor through carb. Opened draincocks on block, removed rubber caps on end of manifolds. Could not see the bottom of the large hose so disconnected at t-stat and poured antifreeze in it, it drained through starboard side draincock so hopefully I'm ok? Pulled hoses for manifolds and poured antifreeze through them, it came out the drains. Pulled the 4th hose at t-stat (raw water intake?) and lowered to drain, added antifreeze but it didn't come out anywhere? Any concerns so far? Looks like I still have to drain power steering cooler, where do I do that? Attaching a pic, is this it? Anything else I need to do as far as the engine is concerned?

 

[Lou C]

Ok I’d still try to disconnect the bottom end of the big hose because on the GM engines this holds a lot of water (inside the circulating pump) I’m not sure if the same is true on the Ford engines which is what you have.
For the P/S cooler there is a drain plug on it but they can be tough to access. The way one is mounted it looks like it’s self draining but I’d first:
Remove the water passage plug on the port side of the pivot housing and poke the hole with a pick, residual water should drain. Look above I posted pix of the Cobra water drain plugs. If it does not drain then hold up the hose & fill it with AF it should run out the water intakes on the drive where you hook up the muffs.