when to winterize a boat

[hondakid]

i'm going to be picking up my "new" used boat today.
my question is when should i winterize the i/o? i would like to get a couple more trips out this year, but i don't want to have any problems later. unfortunately, it will be stored beside the garage. do i have any worries for now or anything i can do in between trips to keep it safe?
secondly, does anyone have any good tips for the "final" winterizing chore?

thanks for any help you can give!!

[lawnboy]

Being around marinas for years some go real late into the season. Myself I started doing it early. Reason being it sucks spending a whole day freezing while trying to do a good job. I myself would never go beyond the middle of November.

[Getaway]

I'd have her done by the end of October. Just watch the weather. If you see 2 days in a row below freezing, you better have it done by then.

[Jason Adam]

If in doubt, throw a trouble light under the doghouse. if its in a garage anyway, that will buy you a little extra time. Search this and other sites for winterizing tips. There are some good run-downs out there.

[hesslakeman]

I just brought mine in last night to the marina for a full service including alignment, etc. Before I did this I flushed the motor with pink antifreeze. I don't know how long it will take for them to get to it and it's supposed to freeze the next week. Flushing is fairly easy by yourself. I first run the motor on muffs to bring up to operating tempature and sure that the thermostat is open and all water is fully flowing throughout the entire motor. I rigged up a 5 gallon bucket with a spout at the bottom connected to a length of hose connected to the muffs and set the bucket on my swim platform. Once hooked up start the motor again and let run until you see pink antifreeze coming out the exhaust and until about 4 gallons have been run through. This should get most of the water out and any left should be treated. This took me about 15-20 minutes and it's a way you could still use your boat late but still protect it quickly. I almost hated to bring mine in so early but I won't have the time to properly winterize in the next month so this worked for me.

[FishTales]

I would do it like Hesslakeman said, but if I know it's absolutely the last time I am using the boat and it's going to sit all winter, when your bucket of anti-freeze is almost gone, pour some oil down the carb and stall it out. Start pouring the oil till it starts to smoke out the exhaust then just dump the rest in and stall it, you might use about a pint of oil to do this. In the spring all you have to do is crank it up, she will smoke like the dickens the first time but it will be fine after that.

[Burksee]

Rather than oil foul your plugs by dumping oil into the carb get a $5.00 can of "Fogging" oil from Murray's. I would also consider adding some "Stable" to the gas before you start your flushing of the lower unit and let it run til you know its got the carbs full of the fuel with it in there. To be honest I've never had an issue with water/freezing in any lower unit and dont go thru the flush process on any outboards anymore. Making sure it sitting straight up and allow the water to drain by itself is usually ok. I do always change the lower unit lube in the fall and check it for moisture again in the spring before I'll put it back in the water. If your keeping it outdoors I'd also suggest tapeing the exhaust and stuffing a rag with moth balls in the carb/air intake to keep the mice and other un-wanted roadents out of the engine, those buggers can ruin an engine! Good Luck! ;)

[FishTales]

Burksee,
Hondakid was asking about winterizing an i/o, not an outboard, the reason for running the antifreeze through it is not for the lower unit but for the engine itself. As far as using fogging oil or regular oil you get the same effect, just cost less to use regular oil and you probably get a better coating of oil on your cylinders.
I had my first boat winterized at a marina and watch him do it there, after paying 25 bucks to have this done, I figured that would be the last time I pay someone else to do it.

[Burksee]

You are correct, I read it as an "Outboard"........

I've always done better with pictures than words! ;)

In the past I've also used a 2 cycle mix with "stable" in it for winterizing I/O's. It gets the oil and stable thru out the whole system. I used to use an old outboard tank and gravity feed the carb or if it was easy enough access I'd take it thru the fuel pump. On an I/O I would always suggest adding "stable" to the fuel tank and fill it up. That helps keep condensation from forming and in turn keeps moisture out of the fuel.

$25.00! For an I/O thats a deal! I've heard people paying upwards of $100.00 to get this done. And doesnt include getting it covered, shrink rapped or storage!

[FishTales]

Burksee, I forgot to mention that 25 was back in 1976, in those times compared to now it might be 100, and that was only to winterize the engine.
That did not include the oil change for the lower unit.
I have been doing it ever since.